News on Youtube Mar 1 2018

When I was in eighth grade, I was very curious about how the states got their shapes.

Why are all the states so weirdly shaped

and then Wyoming and Colorado are just boxes?

Why are the states in the east real tiny, but the states in the west so huge?

I voiced this curiosity to my social studies teacher that year,

and she introduced me to the show, "How the States Got Their Shapes."

I loved this show.

I still tell people how some states got their shapes much to the annoyance of most of them.

If you're one of those people that would be annoyed by that, click away, go watch TheOdd1sOut or something

beacause I'm about to learn you a lesson on why the states are so weird.

Number one:

Why are the eastern states's borders squiggly lines, but the western states's borders straight and boxy?

Well it's because of choo-choo trains.

Back in the east they used rivers as borders because trains hadn't been invented yet,

and water was their primary source of transportations.

(That's also why most major cities are on water)

That's also why most state borders in the east are very squiggly.

Then comes the Industrial Revolution,

TRAINS ARE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, the U.S. is moving west and with that movement comes more states,

and when you have more states you have more borders, so what do you do to define these borders?

With the train tracks! That's why most state borders have straight lines and are so boxy.

Number two: Missouri.

Missouri seems like a pretty normally shaped state,

with the straight border on the bottom, top, and left side,

and the Mississippi River carving out the western side.

Everything's normal except for those two weird things on the side.

The little bit on the top left is the Platte Purchase which was acquired *FROM* the Natives there.

I don't get why it's called the Platte Purchase,

when I doubt there was any actual purchasing going on.

The bootheel of Missouri is actually an interesting story,

At least... it is to me.

Back when Missouri was first admitted to the Union, it didn't include the bootheel.

The people that lived there were all like,

"we have more in commom with Missouri,"

"Missouri is better than Arkansas,"

"Arkansas is bad," etc.

No,

after writing this I looked it up just to confirm if I was remembering it right,

and it turns out was I said was just a legend.

It turns out it was because the rich landowners didn't want to be part of Arkansas

and just wanted to govern themselves.

But that's boring.

Another version I heard from the aforementioned (ooh big word) social studies teacher was that

there was a huge earthquake in New Madrid, Missouri.

It rang bells in North Carolina,

made the Mississippi River run backwards,

and destroyed Memphis.

This earthquake devastated the area in what is now south-eastern Missouri,

which meant it was cheap to buy.

This guy bought the land,

and when Arkansas and Missouri were becoming states

he wanted to join Missouri because he felt that Missouri would have stronger political power.

I didn't see the version anywhere on Wikipedia, so I'm assuming it's not true.

That kinda makes me sad because it was pretty interesting.

I guess teachers can't always be right.

Next, Ohio and Michigan.

Have you ever wondered why Michigan has that upper peninsula?

No?

Well, too bad, I warned you I was going to nerd out.

Well,

back in the day Toledo was a pretty important city,

with it being on Lake Erie and all.

Michigan and Ohio both wanted Toledo,

and they actually had a war called the

Toledo War. Or the Michigan-Ohio War.

It depends on who you ask.

It lasted from 1835 to 1836

The U.S. government was all like,

"we can't have these states fighting, that's no good."

(Even though the Civil War would be like 30 years later)

So they proposed a deal.

Ohio would get Toledo,

and Michigan would get the land above Lake Michigan that no one had really explored or colonized yet.

Michigan was pretty sad at the time,

but I imagine they're just laughing now.

Finally, why is a part of Kentucky not actually in Kentucky?

Funny you should ask,

it's because that part of Kentucky actually used to be connected to Kentucky.

How did it end up looking like it either belongs to Missouri or Tennessee?

Interesting story, it's because of the Mississippi River.

Rivers, especailly rivers like the Mississippi or Missouri,

are constantly changing their position due to erosion and stuff.

The river eventually moved downward enough

that it separated that part of Fulton County from the rest of Fulton County.

I went onto Google Streetview to see if there were any houses or people living in the area

and all I saw was a bunch of farmland, which isn't really too weird for the U.S.

Quick note before I go to the end card,

while I was messing around with Google Maps

I found that someone had gone kayaking (or canoeing or whatever)

and took a 360 camera so you can do a streetview of that part of the Mississippi River

that surrounds that little part of Fulton County

Radical.

Alright, that's it,

I hope you enjoyed the video

and that I didn't nerd out too much.

This was really a fun video to make because it's just so interesting to me,

but yeah okay bye.

For more infomation >> How the States Got Their Shapes - Duration: 4:20.

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An Open Letter to President Trump and Members of the United States Congress on Gun Violence - Duration: 2:22.

I'm Father Michael Sheeran, the president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

This is an open letter to President Trump and the members of Congress.

Our grief and solemn prayers are with the victims, the families,

the friends of our sisters and brothers in Parkland, Florida.

Ours is a national tragedy. Yet we have hope because we have watched in admiration and awe

as the poised articulate young survivors of the Parkland massacre have beseeched adults

to fix this plague of gun violence in America. It is not lost on us that none

of them were even born when the Columbine High killings in Littleton, Colorado

claimed 13 lives. And yet the shootings have gone on and on.

We adults have repeatedly failed to fix this singularly American phenomenon.

Now we must listen to our youth. We must not cruelly disparage them in this time of trauma and grief and anger.

As Pope Francis has said, "Dear young people, do not bury your talents, the gifts that God has given you.

Do not be afraid to dream of great things."

Ending the horrific mass killings in our schools and streets is a great thing we are all called to do.

Now we urge you, as President and Members of Congress,

to listen and to fix this indeed.

For more infomation >> An Open Letter to President Trump and Members of the United States Congress on Gun Violence - Duration: 2:22.

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4 Your Health: Lung cancer states and pregnant moms who smoke - Duration: 1:33.

For more infomation >> 4 Your Health: Lung cancer states and pregnant moms who smoke - Duration: 1:33.

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Democrat State Found Hiding 100K Illegals On Registered Voter Rolls - Duration: 2:39.

For more infomation >> Democrat State Found Hiding 100K Illegals On Registered Voter Rolls - Duration: 2:39.

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Joseph Yun to leave post of U.S. State Department's top North Korea diplomat - Duration: 2:08.

The United States says it will continue its diplomatic efforts to denuclearize North Korea,...

despite news that its pointman on the regime is retiring.

This comes amid heightened hopes for U.S.-North Korea talks following South Korea's successful

hosting of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Park Soyun reports.

The announcement came just as signs were emerging that Pyongyang may be willing to talk to Washington.

The U.S. special representative for North Korea policy Joseph Yun says he will step

down from his post at the end of this week.

He said the decision was entirely his own,... but the timing comes at a surprising juncture,...

as South Korea recently relayed that North Korea is open to direct discussions with the

United States.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sought to dissuade him, but reluctantly accepted

Yun's resignation "with regret."

Yun, like Tillerson, is an advocate of engaging in dialogue with Pyongyang --- a tricky position

to take amid the Trump's administration's policy of applying maximum pressure over engagement.

Joseph Yun's diplomatic career spans more than three decades, serving as Ambassador

to Malaysia from 2013 to 2016 under then-President Barack Obama.

Yun played a key role in tackling North Korea's nuclear issues as the U.S. special representative

for North Korea, appointed by the Obama Administration in October 2016.

He also played an instrumental role in releasing Otto Warmbier, an American student detained

in North Korea for more than a year.

Yun's authority to negotiate with North Korea appeared to be undermined by a tug-of-war

between the White House and the State Department over the direction of North Korea policy under

the Trump administration.

However, Yun told the Washington Post that his retirement was not a decision based on

policy differences with President Trump or his inner circle.

He added that he's 'very hopeful' about the prospect of talks resolving the standoff over

North Korea's nuclear program.

Nevertheless,... his departure will leave the Trump administration without an envoy

for engaging North Korea or an ambassador in Seoul, a spot that has been vacant for

a year.

Park Soyun, Arirang News.