In 1889, 4 states were added to the union within 10 days. This is hardly an issue.

North Dakota (November 2, 1889)
South Dakota (November 2, 1889)
Montana (November 8, 1889)
Washington (November 11, 1889)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_date_of_admission_to_the_Union#List_of_U.S._states

I've driven though South Dakota, and I have to say, a football field every three seconds is what they consider gridlock.

Where are you getting 913?

From what I can see, it's 694.
North Dakota · 18
California · 475
Montana · 21
New Jersey · 126
New Mexico · 34
South Dakota · 20

Am I missing something?

Really? Is that your come back?

But of course it is...what else could it be.

It couldn't be that states like :

Georgia http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/georgia-abortion-clinics-follow-law-fetal-remains-/nnJSk/

Indiana http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/indiana-closes-investigation-into-planned-parenthood/34439976

Massachusetts http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/07/29/healey-mass-planned-parenthood-fully-compliant-with-law/Fc6pYYrY1ONGQvRTEqkWHK/story.html

South Dakota http://www.kdlt.com/news/local-news/Health-Department-No-Evidence-Of-Fetal-Tissue-Sale-In-State/34668964

...just couldn't find anything

Your willingness to grab on to anything , no matter how full of shit it might be, in the attempt to validate your beliefs makes others not listen to anything you say as you cant be trusted to be honest or maybe you're truly delusional. Either way i fear your opinions will never get much traction up in here.

...Or could it be me dunh, dunh, duh!!

Here's a funny yet serious thought -- will anyone watch this video and read our comments while they're dying on Mars, cold, alone, asphixiating?

If only I had taken South Dakota seriously..! Why GOD?! WHY!!!!!!!! ...why couldn't I have been as smart as those people commenting on Videosift? Those geniuses! No, instead, I moved to Mars -- for the evil ends of SCIENCE.

Like a convoluted Martian ecological science fiction horror murder mystery movie poster from the 1980s --

SHE MOVED TO MARS TO FIND LOVE...
BUT ALL SHE FOUND...
WERE THE MARTIAN MEAN STREETS...
A NEW WORLD WITHOUT LAW...
WITH ALIEN ARTIFACTS...
JASON VORHEES RESURRECTED...
AND VERY... LITTLE... OXYGEN.

FOLLOW THE MONEY TRAIL...
STRAIGHT TO CAPITAL HILL...
EARTH!

bum bum buuuuum -- THE TERRESTRIAL CONSPIRACY.

Your video, Why die on Mars, when you can live in South Dakota?, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

While I find it entertaining and hilarious, this is simply horrible strawmanning. The US has one of the simplest systems of inclusion of any major nation. He either is not understanding, or he's simply being a demagogue about it.

It's really, really simple.

Want full rights? Then join permanently. Become a state. It's literally the exact same thing that Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, Iowa, Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii did.

Guam, the Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands have the EXACT SAME OPTIONS as those states listed above had when those states were territories.

Samoa is different because they don't meet the minimum population requirement (60K) to be bumped up to qualify for statehood.

They're pretty close tho.

But yeah... it has nothing to do with race or bigotry or anything like that. If John Oliver can't understand that simple system, then how does he explain the different rights of citizens in the British Overseas Territories vs the British Crown Dependencies, or how Wales and Scotland are sort of countries and sort of not countries.

I'm assuming he can understand the wonky UK system, and if that's so, he should easily understand the simple US system (want full rights, vote to join permanently).

Just last year, there was a movement in Guam to call for a vote of statehood. Basically a glorified (but meaningful) petition. They didn't get the required % of people wanting to vote, so, in essence, Guam doesn't even care enough to vote for statehood.

They have every right that every other territory has had in terms of what category they fall under.

Basically, just look at states as permanent (and thusly more rights as well as more responsibilities) and territories as temporary until they decide what they want to be. Or territories can stay in limbo forever.

Guam, PR, and the rest can go the route of Hawaii (okay, that was naked imperialism but whatever) or the route of Cuba and the Philippines... or just stay how they are.

From a 2010 article on the Rapid City Journal titled "Two square off for county coroner", Rebecca Sotherland engages in a little self-analysis to woo voters:

"SOTHERLAND – I am a South Dakota Certified Law Enforcement Officer trained in death investigation, with specialized Coroner training. In the two years that I have been your County Coroner, my compassion for those in my community has grown exponentially. I have included a few of my duties so you can make an informed decision about who is best suited for the job as your County Coroner. I would appreciate your vote on November 6!"

She won.

It's explained in a link from the yt vid, which I overlooked when posting (sorry!):

http://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2012/10/05/rare-upward-lightning-videos/

In 99% of cases the current flows the other way, from the clouds to the ground. This vid is related to a study by atmospheric scientist Tom Warner of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City. He says companies running wind turbines are particularly interested in why 1% of lightning strikes go upwards, wanting to know what conditions favour it and how the effects can be mitigated. There is a link to the paper in the blog article linked above.

A high-speed camera captures a rare upward lightning in Rapid City, South Dakota.

But all land-air lightning travels upward, no?

I "got" it, except not in exactly the way you meant. Here's how I qualified:

1. I'm the right age -- 1981. *edit* ahh, the commercial is from 1981. So nope, I probably wasn't comprehending TV beer commercials just yet.
2. Nope, Kansas.
3. Nope.
4. While watching the video, I remembered my college Geology 101 "Rocks for Jocks" class and learning abouthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artesian_aquifer>artesian aquifers. Kansas has conditions that are good for those in some locations due to water in our local aquifer system flowing down from the Rockies (all subterranean, but still down). I'm betting that isn't what you were referring to?
5. Is the joke that Olympia Brewing used an artesian well, and he plays it like "Artesian" sounds like a nationality or ethnic group? Or is it a Pacific Northwest region/group? Wikipedia disambiguation refers to an Artesian South Dakota, but I don't think that's it.

Anyway, I've honestly enjoyed this little snipe hunt I embarked on due to your comment mentioning "artesian" which was my first thought when watching the video, but now I'm coming up empty trying to nail down your actual reference (and therefore the reference of the video you linked also). But it's been fun!

And, yes, non-Americans, every high school in this country can do this. Even in South Dakota.

Matt sounds not only like a guy I can share a beer with but also someone with informed opinions about what is best for the wider community. He's got my vote (if I were from South Dakota, or the USA, or the Northern Hemisphere).

80 percent of the country may claim to be Christian, but the real question is, how many of those are born again? I would be surprised if the number was even half of that. This pseudo-christ may have some points, but it's based on a faulty premise; that America is still a Christian nation. It was at one time, but no longer; it all started to change when Americans rebelled against biblical morality in the 60's and 70's. Before that, we had Christian values and a Christian culture. It wasn't perfect by any means; there were many problems. But on the main Americans were a moral people, and this was a wonderful country to grow up in. Now, after decades of secular indoctrination, the foundations have been ripped away and replaced with secular values and secular culture, and we see the fruit of that, in all areas of American life.

As far as helping people is concerned, Christians are by far the most charitible people in the country..who do you think is running all of those food banks and homeless shelters? Those making 49,000 or less gave 3 1/2 times more than secular citizens with the same income, donated twice as much of their time, were 57 percent more likely to help a homeless person and two thirds more likely to donate blood. Another interesting fact is if you compare two secular people..one raised in a religious household and one who is not, the one with a religious upbringing is twice as likely to donate money to charity.

Because religious and secular citizens tend to cluster together, you also have different parts of the country that are more charitible than others. For instance, arkansas is one of the most charitible states, whose citizens give around 3.9 percent of their income, versus the citizens of Massachusetts, who only give 1.8 percent of their income, which is one of the least charitible. Or that the citizens of South Dakota give away 75 percent more of their income than the citizens of San Francisco.

That still isn't really that significant for what we are commanded to do. Christ called us to a higher standard, one that is separated from the gross materialism of this age. I can agree with the criticism in that manner, but God intends to have Christians reach people in different ways. He gives all of us different gifts, but He intends for us to use those gifts for His purposes. It is okay for a Christian to have wealth, if He is using that wealth to do Gods will.

In any case, the church in general will certainly have a lot to answer for when Christ returns, but this commentary is not an accurate reflection of that. It's simply another anti-christian vehicle that atheists will all nod their head and agree with without any thoughtful analysis.