Podcasts about John Sutter

The State of Pediatric Healthcare: Challenges, Advocacy, and Systemic ReformsThis episode is made possible by the sponsorship of Freed.ai, which Dr. Rogu and Dr. Bravo use in the clinic. Please visit their website and support our sponsors as they make the show possible. In this episode, hosts delve into pediatricians' multifaceted challenges, touching on key topics such as the Pediatrician's Bill of Rights, the financial and administrative struggles within the pediatric healthcare system, and the pressing need for systemic reforms. Dr. John Sutter shares his 40 years of experience, highlighting the motivations behind his advocacy for better pediatric care and the inefficiencies within the current healthcare framework. The discussion showcases the dire state of pediatric healthcare, emphasizing underfunding, disparities in reimbursement rates, and the negative impact of value-based care systems. It also explores financial burdens related to Medicaid and vaccine administration, the role of policy changes, and the importance of public awareness and legislative action. Personal anecdotes and the urgent call for reform underscore the need to prioritize children's health and support pediatricians through advocacy and community efforts.00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:27 Dr. Sutter's Background and Motivation01:33 The Pediatrician's Bill of Rights02:52 Challenges in Pediatric Care03:52 The Role of Organizations in Healthcare05:38 Financial Realities and Legislative Issues19:39 Value-Based Care and Its Implications29:24 Medicaid and Healthcare Disparities39:05 Pediatricians' Workload and Compensation39:48 Insurance Companies' Exploitation40:15 Case Study: Medicaid Expansion in North Carolina42:43 Challenges with Vaccine Payments57:49 Administrative Burdens in Healthcare01:00:37 Attracting Talent to Pediatrics01:01:56 The Financial Sacrifice of Pediatricians01:10:52 Proposals for Legislative Change01:16:06 Conclusion and Future StepsSupport the show

Sutter keeps the debts a' comin', keeps the near international incidents a' comin', keeps enslavin' the native population. Keeps on being a dick. #howthewestwasfucked#htwwf#americanhistory #oldwest#wildwest#sutterville#fortross#california'sgold How The West Was Fucked | Podcast | Patreon T-Shirts by How the West was Fucked Podcast | TeePublic

Chase talks about Fort Ross, and how a powder horn started the search. An item handed down by his grandfather, starts a search into a time when Russians were trying to colonize the American continent.

A real American hero. But he might have just as well have been Swiss, German, French, Russian or Mexican, whatever made 'em the most money. A drunk conman who happened to be in the right place at the right time multiple times. Also, he dressed like a circus clown. T-Shirts by How the West was Fucked Podcast | TeePublic How The West Was Fucked | Podcast | Patreon #howthewestwasfucked#htwwf#americanhistory#oldwest#wildwest

He had it all, 50,000 acres in California, cattle, sheep, horses, acres of wheat. He needed lumber, so joined with James Marshall to build a sawmill. When Marshall found some shiny stones, it was the end for Sutter. With the gold rush he lost all his employees, his land was overrun with gold seekers, his cattle scattered and crops trampled. He died a poor man. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The California Gold Rush was ignited by James Marshall's discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on January 24th, 1848. The news led to a lawless and chaotic surge of wannabe prospectors heading to the State, enduring perilous journeys to do so. Over 300,000 people arrived in just seven years, transforming a region previously inhabited by just 8,000 white settlers. But not everybody struck it rich, and, despite owning the land the gold was found on, the discovery dashed John Sutter's dreams of establishing a water mill bearing his name. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore how ‘the 49ers' laid the template for California rushes yet to come, in the form of Hollywood and Silicon Valley; reveal how Levi Strauss used the gold rush to grow his burgeoning fashion business; and ask how, exactly, normal people knew how to verify the gold they'd found in a river, in the days before YouTube…   Further Reading: • ‘Gold Rush: California, Date & Sutter's Mill' (HISTORY, 2010): https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/gold-rush-of-1849 • ‘The Rush - America's Fevered Quest for Fortune, 1848-1853, By Edward Dolnick' (Little, Brown, 2014):  https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Rush/xCEaBAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=America%E2%80%99s+Fevered+Quest+for+Fortune,+1848-1853&printsec=frontcover • ‘Gold Fever: How The Rush Began' (Discovery, 2014): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKHIYs1KA9o Love the show? Join 

More than 400 celebrate historic Native American monument in Capitol Park honoring tribeson whose land the state Capitol now standsState marks Native American Heritage Month by unveiling 10thtribute in the park commemorating California heroes & protectors SACRAMENTO—On a cool, breezy Sacramento morning, more than 400 tribal members, dignitaries and students gathered to unveil the first-ever Capitol monument acknowledging tribes residing in California and their millennia-long, resilient presence on land now known as California.The historic tribute specifically recognizes the Sacramento region tribes of Wilton Rancheria, Ione Band of Miwok Indians, Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, and Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians.The new monument is the tenth addition to a park memorializing California's firefighters, veterans, and public safety officers. It is the first addition to the park since 2009, when the statue of Thomas Starr King was brought to California from Boston. King was a Civil War-era minister, orator, and abolitionist. The park was envisioned in 1863 as a place to reflect and celebrate the state's history and natural beauty, according to the Capitol Park website. Assemblymember James C. Ramos—first California Native American elected to the Legislature since statehood in 1850—authored AB 338 in 2021, which authorized the monument.Ramos said, “This monument—now a centerpiece of Capitol Park—adds a new and long overdue chapter to California's relationship with its tribes. As a state, we are beginning to tell our history from a broader, more complete, and accurate perspective by including the voice of California Native Americans.” He added, “As Native Americans, we have been invisible, romanticized, minimized, or disparaged for centuries. That is not easily or quickly undone. But today I am proud to be Native American and proud to be a Californian.”The Miwok skirt dancer portrayed in the monument is modeled after William J. Franklin Sr., the late respected Miwok leader and cultural dancer. Franklin played a critical role in preserving Miwok dances and traditions, and helped build three Northern California roundhouses, dedicated spaces for Native American ceremonies, songs, dances, and gatherings. Sacramento sculptor Ronnie Frostad designed the project.“Mr. Franklin was a teacher of Native culture and he understood that our stories, songs, and culture need to be shared and taught to new generations,” Ramos said. “He would have been pleased to see so many students here, of all ages—and particularly proud to see students from a school recently named Miwok.” Until June, Miwok Middle School was named after John Sutter, who enslaved Native people during California's Gold Rush period.Wilton Rancheria Chairman Jesus Tarango stated, “Today's unveiling signifies the start of a new era at the California State Capitol. One where we stop uplifting a false narrative and start honoring the original stewards of this land by telling a true and accurate portrayal of California's journey to statehood. “Every tribe across the state has their own Bill Franklin, a leader who fought to keep our cultures and traditions alive during a time where it was dangerous to do so. This monument serves to thank and honor each one of them.“It also celebrates the power California Tribes have when we work together to achieve a common goal. I would like to thank my fellow Tribal Leaders and Assemblymember Ramos for their collaboration throughout this legislative process.”Sara Dutschke, chairperson of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, applauded the joint tribal effort. “AB 338 [the law authorizing the statue] paved the way for real collaboration and partnership among many of the Miwok tribes of the Sacramento region,” Dutschke said. “Working together, we have achieved an amazing accomplishment: Installation of the very first monument on State Capitol grounds that honors California's First People. This sort of recognition for our people is long overdue and represents an important step toward telling the true history of California.”Lloyd Mathiesen, chairman of the Chicken Ranch Rancheria, stated,“We are so excited for this day—for this day and this statue to forever be a reminder of where we came from and that if we stand together, we can accomplish anything.”Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians Chairwoman Rhonda Pope said, ”AB338 is a step toward healing for the hundreds of thousands of our ancestors who lost their lives due to the genocide of the missions led by Junipero Serra.”Dignitaries attending the event included state Treasurer Fiona Ma, local school board members and other elected officials, regional tribal leaders, and more than 300 students from area schools. AB 338 (Ramos, 2021) History1965: Governor Pat Brown signs AB 1124 into law, paving the way for a Father Junipero Serra monument and its maintenance by the state for 50 years. 1967: The Father Junipero Serra monument erected.July 4, 2020: Protestors topple Father Junipero Serra monument in Capitol Park Jan. 28, 2021: AB 338 is introduced and paves the way for construction and maintenance of a monument honoring California Native American people of the Sacramento region on the grounds of the State Capitol.  Supporters of the measure include Barona Band of Mission Indians, California Tribal Business Alliance, Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-wuk Indians of California, California Nations Indian Gaming Association, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations, and Yocha Dehe Wintun NationMay 27, 2021: California State Assembly approves AB 338 by a vote of 66-2 and moves to the State Senate.Aug. 24, 2021: Debate takes place on the Senate Floor. California State Senate approves AB 338 by a vote of 28-2 and heads to the governor's desk.Sept. 24, 2021: Governor Gavin Newsom signs AB 338 into law. Nov. 14, 2022: Groundbreaking for the California Native American Monument.Nov. 7, 2023: Unveiling and Dedication Ceremony for the California Native American Monument. About William J. Franklin Sr.: Miwok Elder and Inspiration for Capitol Park MonumentWilliam J. Franklin Sr. was a Miwok Indian leader and cultural preservationist whose efforts to preserve and promote the Miwok and other Native American cultures—most notably, the traditional dances—will be long remembered. He was born in Nashville, California, located in El Dorado County, on September 20, 1912, and crossed over on May 2, 2000.Mr. Franklin was proud of his Native American roots and championed fostering knowledge and respect of California Indians. This included successful lobbying to create a place where California Indians could practice their traditional heritage on historical lands which led to creation of Grinding Rock Park, also known as Grinding Rock-Chaw'se in Pine Grove, California. He also served as a consultant to the Department of Parks and Recreation and helped build three California roundhouses — dedicated space for ceremony, songs, dances and gatherings. In 1979, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. appointed Mr. Franklin to serve on the Native American Heritage Commission.Even as a young man, he was a farsighted advocate for his people, and petitioned the United States government for land on which the Ione could build homes without fear of being moved.In the 1940s, Mr. Franklin and others founded the Federated Indians of California to voice Native American concerns. About this same time, he also began researching Miwok ceremonial life by assembling regalia, interviewing elders, and collecting songs. Mr. Franklin had been a dancer since the age of 12 at the Jackson Valley roundhouse and refused to let Miwok traditions die. Mr. Franklin's many endeavors helped ensure traditional and historic practices continue and continue to inspire younger generations.At his passing, Mr. Franklin was survived by four sons, seven daughters, 38 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren, and 12 great-great-grandchildren. 

In this episode of Create Like the Greats, Ross Simmonds explores the growing trend of audio AI and its potential impact on various industries. He discusses the benefits and risks associated with audio-driven AI, including the possibility of deep fake voices, the automation of tasks such as audiobook narration and podcast hosting, and the future of call centers powered by AI. Audio AI is bound to reshape various industries and our daily lives, effectively challenging the status quo. While there are undeniable benefits to be gained, we must be cautious about the potential risks it poses. Balancing the advantages and disadvantages of audio AI is crucial, ensuring that we harness its power for good while minimizing the potential harm. The future of audio AI is promising, but it also demands careful ethical considerations and responsible implementation. Detailed Breakdown: 1. Introduction to Audio AI- Audio AI presents both benefits and risks. - Hackers can exploit audio AI to replicate voices for malicious purposes. - The future of voice technology and AI will have far-reaching implications. 2. Potential Impact on Creators- Authors could bypass traditional publishing processes by using synthetic voices for audiobooks. - Podcasts could be hosted by AI-driven synthetic voices, reducing human involvement. 3. Interview with PT: Audio AI in the Workplace- PT discusses the potential of AI-powered voice interviews and call centers. - Call centers could be fully automated, saving businesses time and money. - AI can analyze tone and sentiment, enhancing the customer experience. 4. CNN's John Sutter on Audio AI- John Sutter predicts that audio AI will replace call centers. - AI-powered conversations have the potential to provide better service. Key takeaways: - Audio AI can be used for both positive and negative purposes. - Authors and podcasters may no longer require human voices for their content. - AI has the potential to revolutionize call centers and customer service. Resources mentioned: - ElevenLabs ---

Opportunity is one of the many words that you can use to describe The United States, sure not everyone will succeed and not everyone will get the same opportunities but you get a heck of a lot more than you would in most if not all other countries. This is why so many people immigrated here and still do today. Well, even within this country there were and are places that may give you better odds of success than others. You don't need to stay where you were born and raised or where you arrived.  You can go wherever you like even if it means starting out lower than where you were for a little bit. It's all about perseverance and to put it simply, Hope. Back on the Eastern side of the United States, there was a young guy who had been here a few years from his homeland of Germany. The Eastern States were in a depression of sorts that started in 1837. Many people decided to pack up and leave for whatever was on the horizon, including this young man. He joined up in a travel party that was called the Bartleson-Bidwell party which was the first overland emigrant party to travel to California. When the party arrived in California this young man got a job working for a man you may have heard of; John Sutter, who was kinda like Elon Musk for California at the time if that makes any sense. This young man then changed his name for some reason from Karl David Weber to Charles Weber. After a year or so he basically got himself a letter of recommendation to the Mexican Government from Mr. Sutter and made his way to San Jose where he joined up with William Gulnac in business. They ran all kinds of businesses, A salt mine, a bakery, a corn mill, They made shoes, and soap, and were ranchers as well. One of the cool things back then was after living in California for a while you could apply to become a Mexican citizen and if you were granted that, you would be given a big piece of land. Land that was untamed, and essentially untouched, and may have Indians living there which would be an issue for you. But the point is, you got land. With some work could easily be a way for a man to get extremely rich, Just like today land can be a huge money maker.Well, Webers' business partner was a Mexican Citizen and was given this nice big land known as El Rancho Del Campo De Los Francesse which was over 48 thousand acres in modern-day Stockton and French Camp, He gave up on the land in 1845 and sold it to Weber who gladly took this opportunity to create a city. The next year 1846, the Mexican-American War broke out. This helped Weber with getting people to settle on his land where there would be some protection rather than being all spread out. This new city was called Tuleburg, yet some called it Mudville, and a few called it Weberville. It was growing nicely and as the war continued, Weber was asked to be a Captain for the Mexican Army but he refused. Not long after, He was approached by US forces and he gladly took on the title of Captain from them. Politically, this hurt him and some loyal to Mexico essentially boycotted him but it didn't matter in the long term because he knew America was greater than Mexico and it would be better for that to be on his resume' than that of an enemy of the US. A guy who became famous for his work in California, practically taking over on his own when he wasn't even supposed to be there was a man named Robert Stockton which you can learn all about in my episode about him. Weber wanted to honor the man who made California part of the US and renamed his city, Stockton. Around that time, Gold was discovered and he quickly got himself a mining operation near Placerville and bought the land near it to make another city. This time he named it after himself calling it Weberville. It would not have the same success that Stockton did in the long term but it was definitely a boomtown for a couple of years, it was abandoned sometime in the 1850s.After all this, he essentially retired and lived the rest of his days as a rich man in a land of opportunity. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this episode and learned something new. I don't have a regular schedule of when I post new episodes it all depends on how much time I have and how hard the topic is to research. but you can see me daily on all the main social media platforms where I go over 3 historical headlines for that date. typically between 30 and 60 seconds. So, if you haven't already be sure to follow me wherever you visit most often whether that beInstagram @busy_rickyX/Twitter @busy_rickyFacebook @rickyshistoricaltidbitsTikTok @rickymortensenorYouTube @rickymortensenAlso, if you like, I send out an email when I post a new podcast episode so it's easier for you to choose which way you'd like to enjoy the show. Whether that is reading, listening, or watching. Subscribe to that on my website rickyshistoricaltidbits.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rickymortensen.substack.com

Email Us:dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.comwill@calpolicycenter.orgFollow Us:@DavidBahnsen@WillSwaim@TheRadioFreeCARick ReiffShow notes:John Wayne's Birthday, May 26, 1907Chico State to rename Sutter HallUC Berkeley holds segregated graduation ceremony for black students onlyColumn: No shame in this sweep. Lakers battle to the buzzer of inspirational seasonMichael Block sinks hole-in-one as dream PGA Championship continuesDawn Staley and Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed Brittney Griner back to the WNBADodgers apologize, reinvite LGBTQIA+ group to Pride NightWomen removed from California high school track event for protesting against male participation in girls' sportsDisney scraps $1 billion plan to relocate Imagineering from California to FloridaSupreme Court rejects big pork producers' challenge to California animal cruelty lawRegulator proposes $3.4 million fine over 2021 oil pipeline leak off OC CoastFossil fuel companies to blame for share of California wildfires, scientists sayChallenging the premises of our destructionBONUS TRACKMark Moses, “The rise of the zombie cities”Mark Moses, “The Municipal Financial Crisis: A framework for understanding and fixing government budgets” (Palgrave Macmillan)

La découverte de l'or en Californie doit beaucoup à un aventurier d'origine suisse, John Sutter. On connaît moins le rôle de son compatriote Jean-Jacques Vioget. Pourquoi l'histoire a-t-elle retenu le nom du premier plutôt que celui du second? Etienne Duval a posé la question à Claudine Chalmers, une historienne établie de longue date à Grass Valley, un des hauts lieux de la ruée vers l'or en Californie. Photo: détail d'un plan de Yerba Buena (ancien nom de San Francisco) réalisé par Jean-Jacques Vioget en 1853. Successivement soldat dans un régiment suisse de l'armée napoléonienne, apprenti chez un ingénieur naval, marin de la flotte brésilienne, Vioget devient ensuite capitaine d'une barque qui fait du commerce le long des côtes du Pérou et de l'Équateur. Il débarque à Yerba Buena, en 1837, alors que le village ne compte que deux maisons. (© University of California, Berkeley)

Welcome to February 22nd, 2023 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate Gold Fever and wasting away the tropical way. California as we know it might not exist if it weren't for James Wilson Marshall. In 1848, he was building a sawmill near Sacramento for his employer, John Sutter. Here he spotted something shiny in the river. It turned out to be gold. Although the men tried to keep the find to themselves, news got out and soon people were coming from all over the country to strike it rich. In the span of a year, the population of the area increased from 1,000 to over 100,000. Because of this gold rush, California suddenly became much more important to the United States and became the 31st state in 1849. On National California Day, celebrate the Golden State, and the accidental discovery that made it what it is today. The 1977 song Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet struck music gold. Though it wasn't until 2016 that the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the trail that it blazed made Buffet a legend. He was introduced to the cocktail at an Austin, Texas restaurant and finalized the song lyrics while vacationing in Key West. It remains Buffet's highest charting solo single. If the long winter has you dreaming of Summer and warmer weather, cozy up to your favorite flavor, frozen or on the rocks. A margarita won't actually make the cold weather go away, but it always feels like celebration when you order this paradise in a glass. Stop looking for your lost shaker of salt and enjoy National Margarita Day.  I'm Anna Devere and I'm Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us today as we discuss (as always) a very complicated man who ended up being responsible for the entirety of American westward expansion. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

John Sutter

 In the last episode, we covered the early United States related history of John Sutter. Today, I pick up where I left off in John Sutter's timeline.  This episode will be longer than my usual episodes, and, frankly, took more research than my other episodes, to ensure I had a solidified story to tell, but, it's John Sutter … so, it's hard to tell what's fact from a creation of his mind.  

Today's episode is about the complicated life of Johann Augustus Suter, better known as John Sutter. There is more to this man's story than I anticipated, and, I went into this knowing there would be a lot to tell. I underestimated how much backstory there was before Sutter arrives in California.

Welcome to February 22nd, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate Gold Fever and celebration in a glass. California as we know it might not exist if it weren't for James Wilson Marshall. In 1848, he was building a sawmill near Sacramento for his employer, John Sutter. Here he spotted something shiny in the river. It turned out to be gold. Although the men tried to keep the find to themselves, news got out and soon people were coming from all over the country to strike it rich. In the span of a year, the population of the area increased from 1,000 to over 100,000. Because of this gold rush, California suddenly became much more important to the United States and became the 31st state in 1849. On National California Day, celebrate the Golden State, its natural beauty, and the accidental discovery that made it what it is today. When Mariano Martinez began serving frozen margaritas at his restaurant in the 1970s, most people loved the new version of this drink. But his bartenders complained that it took too much time and preparation to make them. Martinez found a solution at a 7-Eleven convenience store. He noticed the Slurpee machine and thought it could easily make a large batch of margaritas. Using a soft serve ice cream machine, he began experimenting with recipes to get the consistency of the margaritas just right. Eventually, he found the perfect mixture of tequila, simple syrup, and water. And voila! A new twist on an old favorite was born. On National Margarita Day enjoy your favorite version of this perfect celebration drink.  I'm Anna Devere and I'm Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EPISODE 30:  Behind the Tour – California, Here we Come! SUMMARY On this podcast, Host Aaron Cronk is joined by ACTS Education Program Leader (EPL), Teri VanKlaveren.  Teri works primarily on our West Coast California and Arizona programs. They will discuss the fun and exciting ACTS California State History tour programs.  They will highlight the purpose of the ACTS California Programs and then Teri will put on her guide hat and walk Aaron through a brief highlight of what they see on an average program.  The discussion will focus on Sacramento, Coloma, Yosemite, and San Francisco.  In the Behind the Stone segment, they will talk about the Pony Express Memorial in Sacramento.  Even though it is cast in bronze we figured it could fit in with all the stone statues! Then the lives of Theodore Judah, John Sutter, and James Marshall are all highlighted in the conversation in the Behind the Person segment. Finally, the conversation wraps up with a Call to Action. We encourage listeners to consider participating in on of ACTS California tour programs. LINKS: Check out the different California tour programs available through American Christian Tours: ACTS California and West Coast Education Tour Programs KEY WORDS: Behind the Tour, American Christian Tours, California Education Tour Programs, ACTS, Education Program Leader, Sacramento, Coloma, Yosemite National Park, San Francisco, Central Valley, California State Capitol Building, Old Town Sacrament, California State Railroad Museum, Sutter's Fort, Pony Express Memorial, John Sutter, James Marshall, Jeremiah Judah, education student tours, California

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine California legend John Sutter. Recorded live in Sacramento, California. ONLINE SHOW DECEMBER 16SourcesTour DatesRedbubble MerchSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Foreign Policy recommends: Heat of the Moment This week on FP Playlist, we feature Foreign Policy Studios' second season of Heat of the Moment. CNN climate analyst John Sutter dives deep into stories of those at the grassroots battling the climate crisis. Heat of the Moment host John Sutter sat down with FP Playlist to discuss the upcoming COP26 climate conference and how the podcast got started. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With leaders from across the globe preparing to convene in Glasgow, Scotland for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) Heat of the Moment, begins its season by looking back at the historic agreement reached at 2015 conference in Paris. In this episode, host John Sutter speaks with Rachel Kyte. Currently the Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, she previously served as s World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change. In that capacity she was front and center during the Paris negotiations.Leading off the episode, Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director for Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, recounts how smaller island nations were able to have an outsized impact during Paris talks and shares his hopes for the upcoming Glasgow conference.Interested in learning more in the run-up to COP26? We're offering free access to a Foreign Policy Analytics' team briefing called “Firm Zero-Emission Power”. Normally that's only available to FP Insider subscribers, but you can read the report for free by submitting your email. Go to https://foreignpolicy.com/cop26 to learn more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What are the functions of climate journalism? With polarization preventing consensus, where do reporters meet their audience? John Sutter, Emily Atkin and Emily Holden share insights about covering the climate crisis in a roundtable discussion. Atkin, who writes the HEATED newsletter, says she is not preaching to the choir, she is "teaching the choir how to sing." Holden talks about her new nonprofit outlet Floodlight and the value of newsroom collaboration. Sutter, a filmmaker and CNN climate analyst, describes how climate coverage has evolves and shares his hopes for the first installment of his documentary series "Baseline." To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Guest: Britta Guerrero, CEO Sacramento Native American Health Center As the nation grapples with its history of racism, genocide and exploitation the term BIPOC has emerged which stands for Black Indigenous and People of Color. It is important to recognize why we need to link and center the experiences of Black and Indigenous people as we confront the myths and lies that have held up America and its “heroes” for so long. As we topple statues of rapist murderers (whether it's Robert E. Lee, John Sutter or Christopher Columbus) and reconsider brands like Aunt Jemima and the Washington Redskins, who just today announced a decision to change its name, it is critical for us to to tackle these changes together and to understand the commonality of the respective struggles of these communities. To have this discussion we invited Britta Guerrero, CEO of the Sacramento Native American Health Center and an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache tribe to discuss America's past and the importance for collaboration and unity between the Black and Indigenous Liberation/Justice movements.

As the world looks to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, there’s hope in the growing renewable energy market. In this episode of Heat of the Moment, Daniel Schrag, the director of Harvard University’s Center for the Environment, speaks to host John Sutter about the benefits of renewable energy and the policy challenges involved in moving to greener power sources. Later, the reporter Sebastian Bouknight travels to Morocco and the Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex to get a firsthand look at the remarkable advances being made in concentrated solar power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Darrell Castle talks about the growing levels of anarchy and violence in America. Transcription / Notes THE TRUTH IS A PRECIOUS COMMODITY Hello this is Darrell Castle with today's Castle Report. Today is Friday June 26, 2020 and on this Report I will be talking about the growing levels of anarchy and violence in America. In addition, we will look for the truth and examine why it is sometimes hard to grasp. For the Castle Family this is week five post quarantine and so far so good, but there are ominous storm clouds hanging over my city with calls from city council members to go back to stage one lockdown which would be death to many if not most businesses. In times like these I really miss the family daughter who is safe but just a face on the computer screen thousands of miles from us. I don't know when if ever flights from her island will be permitted so we pray for her and we wait. There are some very strange things happening in America today. Statues of people who built nations and who achieved great things are being toppled by people who have never accomplished anything in their lives. I'm not talking about Robert E. Lee here folks because it has gone far beyond Confederate generals. It started with monuments to Confederate dead and the Confederate battle flag and has progressed to anything by white Europeans. Here is just a partial list of monuments recently removed, destroyed, or defaced by either an angry mob or by an unelected bureaucrat who just made the decision to do it without consulting any voters. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Phillip Schuyler, Caesar Rodney, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Juniperro Serra, Juan de Onate, William McKinley, Robert E. Lee, Christopher Columbus, Stand Watie, Miguel Cervantes, Queen Isabella of Castile. Diego de Vargas, Francis Scott Key, The Texas Rangers, Orville Hubbard, Jerry Richardson, The Richmond, Virginia Police, Delaware Law Enforcement, Oregonian Pioneers, Oregonian Pioneer Mothers, John Sutter, Theodore Roosevelt, Raoul Wallenberg. Cities across America and Europe have allowed mobs to pull down vandalize and destroy statues of historical figures from different walks of life. Cities could stop it if they choose to, but no one in the media is asking them why. The statue of Raoul Wallenberg in his native Sweden donated by Jews who survived the holocaust was torn down and destroyed. No one presumed to be white or to represent Western Civilization has been spared. President Trump, upset because of vandalism of Iconic monuments in the nation's capital, including Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and the World War Two memorial, signed an executive order allowing federal authorities to arrest and prosecute those who vandalize federal property. Whether out of genuine concern or just virtue signaling to his base, Washington DC is a federal protectorate, so no such order was necessary for federal authorities to act. Some city mayors are starting to have second thoughts about allowing anarchy in their cities. At first, they seemed to have some degree of sympathy and even admiration for the goals of the mobs, but these things have a way of escalating and becoming all consuming. I suppose they learned the hard way that just because you are down with the cause does not mean the cause is down with you. In addition, lots of private tax paying citizens get caught up in the mob's effort to destroy civilization. In Minneapolis where this all started, people used to be able to live peaceful middle America lives but no more. Now the city competes with Chicago, Baltimore, Seattle, as a haven for crime. Not just any crime but crimes of violence, especially murder. When it was limited to minority neighborhoods as it is in Chicago the city was apparently willing to put up with it, but now it is all over the progressive enclave of Minneapolis. In downtown Minneapolis, where I have spent many days, visiting friends, attending ball games and attending the Ron Paul Convention in 2008,

State lawmakers order the century-old statue of Cristoforo Colombo removed from the capitol, the FBI cracks widespread corruption in LA City Hall, the real John Sutter, what causes homelessness (a brief survey), Oakland’s mayor sees lynching where others see sports equipment, Vallejo’s real-time experiment in “defunding” police, and the Cal State faculty union’s dumb teaching of American history.

The attempts at eradicating any trace of Western history continue this week, but who would have thought that the one to exhibit the most spine in the West would be Emmanuel Macron? Our editors give credit where it is due, discussing French nationalism and the struggles that are giving way to our full-blown regime crisis. Finally: the leftists come for poor John Sutter, and our editors aren’t having it. 

PG&E CEO Pleads Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter in Camp Fire It’s pretty extraordinary to hear the CEO of a big company plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, but it happened in a Butte County courtroom Tuesday. Pacific Gas and Electric CEO Bill Johnson entered guilty pleas again and again for the deaths of 84 people, all of them victims of the 2018 Camp Fire which was sparked by PG&E equipment near the town of Paradise. As Coronavirus Spreads in Prisons, Non-Violent Inmates Can Get Early Release The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says it will allow for the early release of inmates who have 6 months or less left on their sentences. The non-violent offenders will have to prove they have a place to live once they’re free. Cases of COVID-19 inside California prisons continue to balloon. Reporter: Alice Woelfle, KQED Developments in Case of Black Man Found Hanging in Palmdale The family of Robert Fuller, the 24-year-old Black man found hanging from a tree in Palmdale, says they will seek an independent autopsy to determine Fuller’s cause of death. City officials initially called his death a suicide, until that conclusion was challenged by protests. Reporter: Darrell Salzman, KCRW Statues Coming Down in Sacramento You might’ve heard about statues being pulled down around the country, and around the world. The artworks commemorate historical figures, once hailed as heroes, but who now are seen by many as oppressors and exploiters. In Sacramento, a statue of John Sutter was removed from a hospital and the state legislature promised to remove statues of Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain. Fort Bragg Considers a Name Change There’s a push to rename U.S. military bases that are named for Civil War-era generals who fought for the Confederacy. The small Northern California coastal town of Fort Bragg now confronts the issue. Like the Army Base in North Carolina, the town is named for Braxton Bragg, a slave-owning Confederate general. Guest: Mayor Will Lee, Fort Bragg

The Amazon rainforest has been called “the lungs of the planet” as it plays an outsized role in absorbing the Earth’s carbon dioxide output. But industrial interests have led to rapid deforestation in parts of the Amazon, which is not only disrupting ecosystems but also indigenous communities. To get a better sense of the human impact of deforestation, host John Sutter speaks with the climate activist Nina Gualinga. Gualinga is from the Kichwa community of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Later in the program, what if the forest itself could become more profitable than logged timber and meat? The journalist Paula Moura brings us a story from the Brazilian Amazon on how local communities, NGOs, and scientists are combining conservation and technology in search of ways to make sure that trees are more valuable if they’re kept alive.

Two decades after Hawaiians helped build a fort for John Sutter in California, another group of Hawaiians would find themselves stranded in Massachusetts. And take up arms in America’s bloodiest war.

The Amazon rainforest has been called “the lungs of the planet” as it plays an outsized role in absorbing the Earth’s carbon dioxide output. But industrial interests have led to rapid deforestation in parts of the Amazon, which is not only disrupting ecosystems but also indigenous communities. To get a better sense of the human impact of deforestation, host John Sutter speaks with the climate activist Nina Gualinga. Gualinga is from the Kichwa community of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Later in the program, what if the forest itself could become more profitable than logged timber and meat? The journalist Paula Moura brings us a story from the Brazilian Amazon on how local communities, NGOs, and scientists are combining conservation and technology in search of ways to make sure that trees are more valuable if they’re kept alive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the world looks to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, there’s hope in the growing renewable energy market. In this episode of Heat of the Moment, Daniel Schrag, the director of Harvard University’s Center for the Environment, speaks to host John Sutter about the benefits of renewable energy and the policy challenges involved in moving to greener power sources. Later, the reporter Sebastian Bouknight travels to Morocco and the Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex to get a firsthand look at the remarkable advances being made in concentrated solar power.

Live from quarantine! Mary and Amy talk to The Correspondent's Eric Holthaus about how to remain optimistic, the ways corona and climate do and don't intersect, and why you can't sleep on climate just because there's another catastrophe unfolding. Reading List We're Not Just Stopping Coronavirus, We're Building a New World, by Eric Holthaus in The Correspondent: https://thecorrespondent.com/385/we-arent-just-stopping-coronavirus-were-building-a-new-world/50968856015-625b9768 Trump Moves Forward On Biggest Environmental Rollback To Date Amid Pandemic Chaos, by Alex Kaufman and Chris D'Angelo in HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-auto-emissions_n_5e834685c5b6d38d98a50868 States Quietly Pass Laws Criminalizing Fossil Fuel Protests Amid Coronavirus Chaos, by Alex Kaufman in HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pipeline-protest-laws-coronavirus_n_5e7e7570c5b6256a7a2aab41 Will Pandemic Relief Become a Petroleum Industry Slush Fund? by Amy Westervelt in Drilled News https://www.drillednews.com/post/will-pandemic-relief-become-a-petroleum-industry-slush-fund Exxon Now Wants to Write the Rules for Regulating Methane Emissions, by Justin Mikulka in DeSmog https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/03/16/exxon-write-rules-regulating-methane-emissions The Analogy Between COVID-19 and Climate Change Is Eerily Precise, by Gilad Edelman in Wired https://www.wired.com/story/the-analogy-between-covid-19-and-climate-change-is-eerily-precise/ What Climate Grief Taught Me About the Coronavirus, by Mary Annaise Heglar in The New Republic  https://newrepublic.com/article/157059/climate-grief-taught-coronavirus The Climate Crisis Will Be Just as Shockingly Abrupt, by Melody Schreiber in The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/article/157078/climate-crisis-will-just-shockingly-abrupt Here's Why We'll Never Treat the Climate Crisis With the Same Urgency as Coronavirus, by Amy Westervelt in HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronavirus-climate-change-fossil-fuel-profits_n_5e786da4c5b6f5b7c547329e Sorry, But the Virus Shows Why There Won't Be Global Action on Climate Change, by Jason Bordoff in Foreign Policy https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/27/coronavirus-pandemic-shows-why-no-global-progress-on-climate-change/ The Pandemic Isn't Fixing Climate Change, by John Sutter in CNN https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/opinions/pandemic-not-fixing-climate-change-sutter/index.html How the Coronavirus Crisis May Hinder Efforts to Fight Wildfires, by Kendra Pierre Louis in The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/climate/coronavirus-firefighters-wildfires.html This Is What Climate Change Looks Like in an Era of COVID-19, by Jocelyn Timperley in Earther https://earther.gizmodo.com/this-is-what-climate-change-looks-like-in-an-era-of-cov-1842539967 The Great Barrier Reef Is Heading for a Mass Bleaching of Unprecedented Scale, by Maddie Stone in Vice https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/y3mxmg/great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching-2020 That Discomfort You're Feeling Is Grief, by Scott Berinato in Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief Keeping Things Whole, by Mark Strand from Selected Poems by Mark Strand https://poetrysociety.org/poetry-in-motion/keeping-things-whole What the Coronavirus Means for Climate Change, by Meehan Christ in The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-climate-change.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from quarantine! Mary and Amy talk to The Correspondent's Eric Holthaus about how to remain optimistic, the ways corona and climate do and don't intersect, and why you can't sleep on climate just because there's another catastrophe unfolding. Reading List We're Not Just Stopping Coronavirus, We're Building a New World, by Eric Holthaus in The Correspondent: https://thecorrespondent.com/385/we-arent-just-stopping-coronavirus-were-building-a-new-world/50968856015-625b9768 Trump Moves Forward On Biggest Environmental Rollback To Date Amid Pandemic Chaos, by Alex Kaufman and Chris D'Angelo in HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-auto-emissions_n_5e834685c5b6d38d98a50868 States Quietly Pass Laws Criminalizing Fossil Fuel Protests Amid Coronavirus Chaos, by Alex Kaufman in HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pipeline-protest-laws-coronavirus_n_5e7e7570c5b6256a7a2aab41 Will Pandemic Relief Become a Petroleum Industry Slush Fund? by Amy Westervelt in Drilled News https://www.drillednews.com/post/will-pandemic-relief-become-a-petroleum-industry-slush-fund Exxon Now Wants to Write the Rules for Regulating Methane Emissions, by Justin Mikulka in DeSmog https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/03/16/exxon-write-rules-regulating-methane-emissions The Analogy Between COVID-19 and Climate Change Is Eerily Precise, by Gilad Edelman in Wired https://www.wired.com/story/the-analogy-between-covid-19-and-climate-change-is-eerily-precise/ What Climate Grief Taught Me About the Coronavirus, by Mary Annaise Heglar in The New Republic  https://newrepublic.com/article/157059/climate-grief-taught-coronavirus The Climate Crisis Will Be Just as Shockingly Abrupt, by Melody Schreiber in The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/article/157078/climate-crisis-will-just-shockingly-abrupt Here's Why We'll Never Treat the Climate Crisis With the Same Urgency as Coronavirus, by Amy Westervelt in HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronavirus-climate-change-fossil-fuel-profits_n_5e786da4c5b6f5b7c547329e Sorry, But the Virus Shows Why There Won't Be Global Action on Climate Change, by Jason Bordoff in Foreign Policy https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/27/coronavirus-pandemic-shows-why-no-global-progress-on-climate-change/ The Pandemic Isn't Fixing Climate Change, by John Sutter in CNN https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/opinions/pandemic-not-fixing-climate-change-sutter/index.html How the Coronavirus Crisis May Hinder Efforts to Fight Wildfires, by Kendra Pierre Louis in The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/climate/coronavirus-firefighters-wildfires.html This Is What Climate Change Looks Like in an Era of COVID-19, by Jocelyn Timperley in Earther https://earther.gizmodo.com/this-is-what-climate-change-looks-like-in-an-era-of-cov-1842539967 The Great Barrier Reef Is Heading for a Mass Bleaching of Unprecedented Scale, by Maddie Stone in Vice https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/y3mxmg/great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching-2020 That Discomfort You're Feeling Is Grief, by Scott Berinato in Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief Keeping Things Whole, by Mark Strand from Selected Poems by Mark Strand https://poetrysociety.org/poetry-in-motion/keeping-things-whole What the Coronavirus Means for Climate Change, by Meehan Christ in The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-climate-change.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The California Gold Rush started on John Sutter's Ranch in 1848. Initially, the secret was hidden until President Polk Announced the Gold Rush in far-off California. Then, Eureka, meaning I have found it! set off one of the greatest movements of people and wealth in the 19th century. Let's explore how the miners got to California.

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we look at one of the most important pieces of California’s history, the Gold Rush of 1849. While many people know about the football team called the 49ers, many don’t know that this name came from a term given to the hundreds of thousands of people who moved to California in search of gold. When the gold was first discovered, people were able to just pick it out of river beds with no mining equipment, and people were making several year’s pay in just a matter of months. When word got out, everything changed. When the Gold Rush started, California was not even a state. In fact, the US was at war with Mexico, and California was a lawless place with a very small (non-native) population. In 1848, a carpenter named James Wilson Marshall was building a mill for John Sutter, a man who was trying to build an agriculture colony where modern day Sacramento is. Marshall found gold in Sutter’s stream, and when word got out, everyone flocked to find more. Most people were at first skeptical about the abundance of gold laying around in California river beds, but an entrepreneur changed it all. He bought up all the mining equipment from several cities and set up shop in Fort Sutter. Then, he stormed San Francisco with a vial full of gold. Everyone followed him, and word spread. Eventually, people as far as Hawaii, Europe, and the East Coast all headed to California. It was a state with no laws, few cities, and nothing much to offer. The travel there was incredibly dangerous, and people sold their houses and everything they owned just to become a 49er and have a crack at the gold. This led to boom towns filled with murder, gambling, prostitutes, and gunfights. It was the epitome of the lawless old west. As more almost 300,000 people moved to the state, the gold inevitably dried up to where the only people making a fortune were those selling gear to miners. Once the surface gold was gone, the mining was turned to large scale operations that would strip mine mountains to get the gold laying beneath the surface. This process, and the racism of the white miners led to the destruction of natural habitats, indigenous people, and any hope of agriculture near the streams now filled with tons of soot. It was a crazy time. Women took on roles traditionally held by men, a true melting pot of people from all over the world descended on one state, and the idea of the California Dram was ultimately born.   Visit Our Sources: https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/gold-rush-of-1849 https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-california/ Letter from 49er: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/californiagoldrush.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_rush https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-goldrush/ https://www.historynet.com/california-gold-rush Scared Sh*tless: 1003 Facts that will Scare the Sh*t out of You. Author: Cary McNeal. Perigree Press, 2012.

As more and more settlers began to pour into California throughout the 1840s, the local Mexican authorities regarded them with suspicion. This would set off a chain of events culminating in the Bear Flag Revolt.

While sipping on the Gold Rush cocktail, Bekah tells us about the life of John Sutter while Shelley recounts the 1797 San Miguel Massacre. Drinking: The Gold Rush Cocktail 2 oz. Bourbon 3/4 oz. Lemon Juice 3/4 oz. Honey Syrup Put all ingredients into shaker, shake, strain into ice-filled old fashioned glass

Forgotten Sacramento Murders 1940-1976 explores the crimes by Sacramento's Greatest Generation. The murders that shocked Sacramento two generations ago are now only remembered by a handful of people, but during its time they startled Sacramento to its very core. Including...The original Boogie Man who in 1956 murdered a young boy in a downtown movie theater's men's room.The Mad Basher of 1941 who disappeared after his spree, only to reappear in 1956 to kill five moreTeenager Raymond Latshaw grew tired of his abusive father, so he killed him, his new wife, step-brother and grandparents in 1943.From 1949 to 1951, hobo Lloyd Gomez murdered eight men, in hobo camps up and down the Central Valley. His conscious caught up to him after he murdered a fellow hobo for a couple bottles of beer in Sacramento.The despicable Robert Nicolaus, the CSU-Sacramento graduate who murdered his three small children in 1964, and was astonishingly paroled in 1977. This evil man stewed in hatred for his ex-wife, murdering her in 1985. He died in prison.The unsolved double murder of grocery store clerks Philip Latimer and Michael McCandless in 1965.In 1958, Sacramento media was turned on its head after local television personality Ogden Miles was found murdered in a stubble field near Antelope. A violent same sex tryst doomed the married, father of two. Sacramento has a long and sordid history of murder. Beginning with the murderous founder, John Sutter who thought nothing of killing Native Americans to the recently captured Joseph DeAngelo who is accused of being the Golden State Killer, Sacramento has a reputation for creepy murders. FORGOTTEN SACRAMENTO MURDERS 1940-1976-David Kulczyk

Join Drew and Katie this week as they go into one of their favorite game shows, Legends of the Hidden Temple! Through its episodes "Galileo's Cannonball" and "John Sutter and the Map to the Lost Gold Mine," they talk about host Kirk Fogg, the ridiculous of young teenage contestants, the terrifying temple guards, and the joys of watching people fail at the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. Website: http://tfgifpodcast.com Twitter/Instagram: TFGIFPodcast Email: tfgifpodcast@gmail.com

California, the sunshine state of America, was gleaming for another reason back in 1848.   On a farm in Sacramento, near the town of Caloma in January 1848, whilst working on John Sutter’s ranch, building a saw mill, John Marshall found gold.   The two men tried to keep the find quiet, but word soon got out and before long people were coming from all around in search of fame and fortune.   The Gold Rush brought tens of thousands of people to the area from all over the world and with it the need for supplies, tools and workwear.   One man, recognizing the business potential this brought, arrived from New York to San Francisco to set up a branch of the family wholesale dry goods and garment business. His business grew quickly as did his reputation for quality.   Then one day an opportunity arose that he could not refuse, that opportunity was to change his life and the lives of many others and would start a 150 year success story that continues to thrive to this day.   This is the story of Levi's Jeans.   For the show notes links and sources for this episode visit injustoneday.com/levis. Thanks for being here.

In 1848, a worker of John Sutter found gold in California. Sutter had reason for wanting to keep the find quiet, but he didn’t count on Samuel Brannan, who was soon running down the street yelling “Gold! Gold on the American River!” Brannan, a former Mormon, businessman and journalist, wasn’t crazy – and had no desire to look for the valuable mineral – but he knew that a mad rush of fortune hunters was his key to fame and fortune. He would become California’s first millionaire, only to die poor and in relative obscurity. Show notes and links: * Ann Eliza Corwin Brannan (1823 – 1916) (findagrave.com) * Brannan Before the Brooklyn (byu.edu) * The Start of the California Gold Rush (1849) (youtube.com) * Sam Brannon (1979) – YouTube (youtube.com) * Sam Brannan and the Gold Rush: Biography & History – Video & Lesson Transcript (study.com) * Sam Brannan (sierrafoothillmagazine.com) * Latter-day Scoundrel Sam Brannan | HistoryNet (historynet.com) * Samuel Brannan (spartacus-educational.com) * HISTRORIANS REPORT (ecv1841.com) * Fortunes Made Through Global Trade (flexport.com) * Samuel Brannan – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org) * Chapter 2: Samuel Brannan and the Eastern Saints (byu.edu)

In episode 31 of America Adapts, Doug Parsons talks with CNN’s John Sutter! John is an award winning opinion journalist at CNN who focuses on climate change with his program Two Degrees.  Doug and John cover such diverse topics as: Subscribe to America Adapts on Itunes Write a Review! Listen here. On Google Play here. Please share on Facebook! Now on Spotify! Donate to America Adapts (We are now a tax deductible charitable organization!)   MARSHALL ISLANDS SEA LEVEL RISE - John describes his story on sea level rise in the Marshall Islands. John discusses how he used innovative media tools such as Snapchat to tell the story how climate change poses extreme risks to this island chain.   PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT - Doug and John discuss the Paris Climate Agreement and how it inspired John to develop the Two Degrees program.    THE HOCKEY STICK - Doug and John also discuss the 20 anniversary of climatologist Michael Mann’s hockey stick research.   CLIMATE IN RURAL AMERICA - John discusses his groundbreaking story where he visited Woodward, Oklahoma as he went on a funny and sometimes frustrating journey to try to identify citizens who actually believed climate change was happening. THE OTHER PEOPLE - John explains the challenges of interviewing people you do not agree with and the role of trust in these conversations. CLIMATE AS HEALTH - We discuss climate change as a public health issue. CLIMATE SINCE THE DUST BOWL - John describes talking with citizens of Woodward, Oklahoma and how historic events like the Dust Bowl influenced their perceptions on how humans can impact nature. CLIMATE CREATIONIST - John describes a conversation with a climate skeptic and young earth creationist who also installed solar panels on his property. WHICH WAY MARSHALL ISLANDERS?  We discuss climate change mitigation versus adaptation and how John’s experiences in the Marshall Islands has influenced his perspective on this issue. FROM THE PACIFIC TO ARKANSAS - We learn about climate refugees from the Marshall Islands who have relocated to Springdale, Arkansas. ANALYSIS - Tim Watkins comes on for a brief conversation dissecting the conversation with John Sutter. Doug and Tim also discuss how America Adapts will talk about how adaptation can be a pathway to educate, inspire and motive people to reduce their carbon footprint.   Additional Resources: John Sutter http://www.cnn.com/profiles/john-d-sutter Two Degrees program on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/specials/opinions/two-degrees John’s groundbreaking visit to Oklahoma here: http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/03/opinions/sutter-climate-skeptics-woodward-oklahoma/index.html Opinion: Common ground with climate skeptics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16_IupUxG8M   America Adapts also has its own app for your listening pleasure!  Just visit the App store on Apple or Google Play on Android and search “America Adapts.” Finally, yes, most of your favorite podcasts are supported by listeners just like you! Please consider supporting this podcast by donating through America Adapt's fiscal sponsor, the Social Good Fund. All donations are now tax deductible! For more information on this podcast, visit the website at http://www.americaadapts.org and don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on Itunes.   America Adapts on Facebook!   Join the America Adapts Facebook Community Group. Check us out, we’re also on YouTube! On Twitter: @usaadapts Subscribe to America Adapts on Itunes Doug can be contacted at americaadapts @ g mail . com .

As more and more settlers began to pour into California throughout the 1840s, the local Mexican authorities regarded them with suspicion. This would set off a chain of events culminating in the Bear... The latest in science, culture, and history from Smithsonian Channel.

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

Sarah, Bryan and Eric begin a fun discussion about the impact of the California Gold Rush.  Enjoy! Click here if the media player does not load. Photo Credit: Sailing card for the clipper ship California, depicting scenes from the California gold rush, c. 1849, Public Domain. The post John Sutter Was Kind of An Idiot appeared first on NERDONOMY.

En juillet 1839, un homme du nom de John Sutter arrive à Yerba Buena (actuellement San Francisco). A l’époque, San Francisco est une bourgade de moins de 1000 habitants et la Californie est mexicaine. Depuis son départ du vieux continent, cinq ans auparavant, il n’a cessé de voyager. Mais cette fois, il est décidé à […] Cet article #11 – La ruée vers l’or est apparu en premier sur Batooba Culture Générale.

Introduction We're looking this morning at Matthew chapter 13, the parables of the Hidden Treasure and of the Pearl. Early in the morning, January 24th, 1848, a man named James Marshall was strolling along the American Fork river in the hills of California. He was trying to improve a river powered sawmill that was there. He was digging around in the soil near a part of the mill when he noticed something unusual in the soil. He took a pen knife out of his pocket and started to scrape. The world was never the same again for he had discovered gold in the hills of California. The owner of the sawmill, John A Sutter, was a Swiss-born investor who hoped to make millions in lumber and in the natural resources of the area. But this changed everything. Now he thought that he was going to make millions in gold, but the key was keeping the secret so that no one heard about it. That proved impossible. Rumors started to swirl that gold had been discovered in California, and he couldn't stop it. It wasn't long before the President of the United States was mentioning it in a State of the Union address. Within a month that kind of news could not be contained and held, and it wasn't long before the reports of the first prospectors came back, able to scoop up gold with teaspoons out-of-river beds and make a million in a short amount of time. Seven prospectors hired 50 Indians to work a claim and pulled 253 pounds of gold out in two months. The troubling part about these stories is that they were all true. That was the hard part, because once the rumors reached all over the world across to the east coast, even to Europe, to Hawaii to China, people started streaming to California. Selling everything that they owned for an ox-drawn cart and some provisions and for some prospecting tools and a little claim on a river somewhere in California. People were willing to sell it all, for the possibility of treasure hidden in a field, somewhere. They travelled across the howling wasteland, across the deserts braving river crossings and winters, and long hard arduous travel. They got there and the overwhelming majority of them never made anything in gold at all. John Sutter himself who owned the mill where the gold was found was financially ruined by the claim. He'd owned 50,000 acres of land. It was all taken from him by squatters who then got lawyers to uphold their squatter's rights. He lost everything. There was treasure hidden in his field, and he ended up with nothing. People sold prosperous businesses in the east and came across and sold everything they had for nothing. But Jesus in our parable here, promises greater return and more certain. He said that the kingdom of heaven is like a man who found treasure hidden in a field, and then, out of joy over the treasure, sold everything he had that he might buy that field and the treasure in it. He likens it also to a merchant searching for fine pearls, and when he finds one worth everything that he has, he sells it all, so that he might buy that pearl. Jesus is here teaching us the value of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let's remember where we are in Matthew's gospel. The overall purpose of the Gospel is to portray Christ as the King of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is the place where God rules, and where his subjects are glad about it and delighted in it. Jesus came, and proclaimed, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, it's here now.” He began to explain and to teach and to show kingdom power through His miracles. When he gets to Matthew 13, He wants to explain in a deeper and fuller, richer and more mysterious way, the nature of the kingdom of heaven. He said it's like seeds sown in different kinds of soil that has different kinds of results based on the nature of the heart receiving it. In some cases, it bears nothing, in other cases a little bit but then it dies out, and in some cases, 100, 60 and 30 times of what was sown. He also says that the kingdom advances, in a situation like a field sown with both wheats and weeds mixed together, and they're going to be mixed together. The progress of the kingdom will happen in a world where there are both believers and non-believers. It’s going to cause great torment and difficulty for the believers, but in the end, the torment is for those who will not believe. In the last sermon we saw that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed or like yeast which starts out small, and then just explodes and grows and takes over everything. He's taught us already some things about the kingdom, but here he teaches us in these two parables one central lesson, the immense, the incomparable value of the kingdom. It's worth everything that you have, it's worth everything that you are. A Treasure and a Pearl: The Infinite Value of Christ and His Kingdom The first is the parable of the treasure hidden in the field. You may ask why in the world would such an immense treasure be hidden in a field. In those days, the banks were untrustworthy. Marauding raiders would come in and take everything and go, like in the days of Gideon. Armies would come in. First it was the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, and then who knows who's coming next? What could you do with your possessions, to keep them safe, when these armies would come in? You really only had one thing you could do, go out into your property somewhere and dig a hole in the ground and stick it there. Hide it there, so that it not be taken away from you. It's exactly what Jesus said the man who received the one talent did remember, he went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money so that it wouldn't be taken from him. But the master intended he go out and use it, do something with it. But you can see that this was a common issue, hiding treasure in a field, so that it not be taken. Then at night, if you needed some, you'd go out and dig some up, take what you needed, leave the rest, cover it back over. But over the years, perhaps the place of the treasure was forgotten. Maybe a couple was childless, they had no relatives, they died. The weeds grew over the field and changed hands a number of times, nobody even knew it was there. Until one day, somebody maybe strolling through a particular part of the field that nobody had been in years or maybe working in the land a little bit, maybe he's in the employee of a master, starts to dig and prepare the field maybe for harvest and all of a sudden, as he's digging he hits something. Uncovers just enough of it to see what it is, to see the scope of the value, and he's overjoyed, he can't believe it, its treasure hidden in a field. Now, you'd say, "What happens next?” There are some ethical issues here, right? Doesn't it belong to the owner of the field?" Well, according to Rabbinic law it belonged to whoever found it. He was free to go and buy that field and only he would be the legal owner. He did not need to disclose that that treasure was there. Now the rules said if he was in the employment of someone else and he pulled it up out, it belonged to his master. He had done the work while he was on the job for his master, so he probably didn't fully pull the treasure out. He didn't have a full sense of the scope or the magnitude of the treasure, but he could tell already it was worth more than anything he had in the hut back home. So, go ahead and sell the hut, sell the clothes, sell it all, scrape together all the resources available that he might buy this patch of ground somewhere. He was willing to sell everything he had, and for him it was all done out of extreme joy. This fact is very vital to this text. I think the most noteworthy aspect of the story is the incredible joy that the man had over his discovery. In The NASB, in verse 44 it says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again and from joy over it, he goes and sells all he has and buys that field.” The joy is directly connected to the value of the treasure. He's not kicking rocks as he has to go sell everything, he's not upset. This is the best day of his life that he gets to sell everything, that he can buy this treasure. I think it very much like Jacob's attitude over the seven years that he had to serve to get Rachel. Genesis 29:20 says, “So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.” There was delight in this. We go from extreme joy, to extreme commitment. Everything goes. Everything — whatever is necessary to obtain that field. So that's the essence of the story of The Pearl... The hidden treasure. The pearl of great price is about the same story with a subtle difference. In this case, in verse 45, there's a merchant roaming the earth. He's searching for pearls and as an expert, he knows what he's looking for. The Greek word “merchant” relates to essentially the sailors that go out on the sea, and travel to find merchandise that they can bring back and sell at a profit. For example, in Psalm 107:23, it says merchants went out on the sea in ships. But it isn't just those that sail. Anyone that travels or roams a great distance is a traveling merchant looking for things. There were traveling caravans, for example, the Midianites who carried spices and incense across the desert, or traders who brought tribute to Solomon from distant minor kings and kingdoms. There were royal merchants sent out by Solomon to purchase fine horses in Egypt. The people of Tyre were especially known as merchants. They would send out their ships all over the Mediterranean with cargoes of spices, gold, silver, and such to accumulate wealth. Marco Polo traveled along the Silk Road into China, trying to find things he could sell back. Christopher Columbus was looking for a different route to Asia because the Muslims held the entire coastline of Africa along the East coast of Africa and it was dangerous to take that route, so he was looking for a Western route to India for trade. There was Magellan’s search through what is now the Straits of Magellan. It took 39 days to get through this area and at any moment one could be crashed, dashed against the rocks. Magellan finally got through to a sea that he called the The Peaceful Sea which became Pacific Ocean. Little did he realize once he had crossed that section of South America, that he had another 98 days and 12,000 miles of interminable ocean which lay ahead in order to finish sailing around the globe. What was his motive? Personal glory, I'm sure, but also money and trade. So also, this man, this merchant in the story, is a merchant to find pearls. He's been all over his region, all over the known pearl world. He knows what he's looking for since he's an expert in pearls. Pearls were deeply desired perhaps, I think, at that point, more than any other physical thing on Earth. Pearls were more valuable than any other physical thing on earth. They were believed to be produced by dew from heaven and many myths came around about their origins. Pearls are actually formed when a little particle gets inside an oyster, a certain type of oyster. Little by little, the creature covers it with something called nacre. It just gets an iridescent sheen on it, and it grows. There are different kinds of pearls, there are different kinds of quality, but they were very, very rare back then. 100 years ago, there developed a way of artificially producing pearls, of cultivating them, and so, with the law of supply and demand, the price went down. Many of you perhaps are wearing genuine pearls today that would have been priceless 2000 years ago, but now, even though they're every bit as high quality and perfect, they're not as expensive because they're easier to produce. Back then you had to have certain kinds of oysters, in certain kinds of places, and with certain kinds of people that could dive down and get them, and only a few oysters would actually have a pearl. Of those, only one every ten years or so would be worth buying and selling at that level. They were incredibly valuable. When pearl fever reached its peak in the Roman Empire, the Roman historian, Suetonius, said that a Roman general Vitellius financed an entire military campaign by selling just one of his mother's pearl earrings. Pearls were incredibly valuable. There's a story of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. She was trying to overwhelm the Roman conqueror with a sense of the antiquity and wealth of Egypt. She said, "I'm going to put on a banquet wealthier and more expensive than any you've ever been to in your life." And she did because at the height of the banquet, they brought a tray and when it was uncovered, there was nothing on it except a goblet of wine vinegar and a magnificent set of pearls. She took one of the pearls and dissolved it in the vinegar and drank it. Historian estimates the pearl that she drank was worth $10 million. At that point, he said, "You got me. I can't top that. Never seen anything like that." He was aghast. The immense value of pearls. The kingdom of heaven in verse 45 is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. He's got an eye for detail; he knows what he's looking for. He knows when there's an imperfection, if the color is not quite right, if it's not perfectly spherical. He's willing at this point when he sees this pearl, he knows he's found at last, what he's been looking for all his professional life, the perfect pearl. Perfect in size, more immense probably than he could ever imagine. Perfect in its spherical nature and its color, its iridescence, everything just right. He says this pearl is worth everything that he owns. All of the other pearls that he has ever bought in his life he will gladly, gladly, trade them to get this one pearl. In Verse 46, “When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” When you buy something, for the most part, you don't buy it reluctantly. You decide that the thing you're going to get is better to you than the money you give to get it. You'd rather have the car, the house, the clothes, the groceries, the candy bar, whatever it is, than the money it takes to get it. There's a joy in the purchase or there should be anyway. This man is delighted to trade everything he has to obtain this single pearl. What's the difference between the two stories? I think the first man is just ambling through the field and kind of stumbles on the treasure or maybe is working in the field and uncovers it, never was expecting it, never looking for it and then just comes across it. I think this man is like somebody who really doesn't know what he's looking for in life. He doesn't know what's going to satisfy him, but when he sees it, then he knows. He's not searching for God, he's not looking for God, but God is looking for him, and at last, at a certain moment, he sees the value of the kingdom of heaven and He's willing, gladly willing to sell everything, but he wasn't seeking it to begin with. In the other case, there's a man who is looking for something. He knows what he's looking for, but he just can't find it. He has looked everywhere and at last he finds it. And it's the pearl of great value, and he is willing to trade everything. We have in effect two parables telling the same thing, the immense value of the kingdom of heaven. I think it's one central lesson. The pearl is the treasure. They're one and the same and they represent the kingdom of heaven and specifically they represent Christ Himself. Listen to what Richard Sib says, “Christ Jesus is the great Pearl, he's the peerless Pearl. He's the pearl of infinite value, who therefore becomes a ransom for many millions that were in bondage.” Christ then is this Pearl. He is the treasure. Paul himself found Christ to be the treasure and the pearl worth everything that he'd had in his life. Philippians 3 so beautifully depicts Paul's personal testimony to the truth of this parable of the treasure and of the pearl. He said, “I’d be willing to trade everything, to sell everything that I have, that I might have this one thing. Knowing Christ. Knowing him in his suffering, knowing him in his glory. That I might know Christ and be found in him, that is the one thing I want in life, nothing else.” Christ is the treasure; he is the pearl. Colossians 2:2-3 says, “In order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Christ is the treasure; he is the pearl. Questions about the Treasure and the Pearl How may we obtain the treasure and the pearl? One of the parables has already answered this. We obtain by believing the message that's preached. By believing the proclamation of the kingdom of heaven. That's what the parable of the seed and the soils tells us. The message is taken in the ear, weighed by faith, found to be of surpassing value, such that the person says nothing else that I've ever heard, no religion, no philosophy, no material possession, no earthly ambition is worth this to me. That's how you obtain it. By simple faith in hearing the message. Jesus said in Mark 1:15, “The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” By repentance and faith, we acquire the treasure. By repentance and faith, we obtain the pearl. The kingdom is a free gift. It says in Luke 12:32, “Do not be afraid little flock,” said Jesus, “your Father is delighted to give you the kingdom.” To give you the kingdom, it is the Father's good pleasure. He enjoys giving you the kingdom as a gift. A free gift. And yet, the two parables that we're studying today seem to imply that there's a sacrifice or a commitment made on our part. The kingdom is the most expensive thing you could ever obtain. It literally costs you everything you have to get it. That brings us to the question, what must we part with? In verse 44, “He goes out and sells all that he has and buys that field.” In verse 46, “When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” The question is, what must we part with? I'm going to give you two simple answers and a deeper, perhaps more complicated answer. What must we part with to get this treasure? What must we part with to get the pearl? First, the simple answer is, you must part with sin. It's impossible for you to treasure sin and get this treasure hid in the field. You can't have both. You can't treasure sin and get the pearl too. It's impossible. All sin must be sold forever. Richard Sibbes put it this way. "He that retains any one sin can never get this pearl. He that keeps in his heart but one beloved pleasure or profit of this life, let him read, let him pray, hear, profess never so much. The devil hath him sure by the leg or by the wing. As sure as if the whole man were in his hands. For he will willingly allow the man to go and use any good exercises, knowing they add to the man's damnation, so long as he retains a secret delight and liking to any lust, let it never be so small." Now, this does not mean sinless perfection, we know that. That's why Paul says in Philippians 3, “I press on. I press on to take hold.” There's not a sinless perfection being taught here. Philippians 3, “Not that I have already been made perfect.” No, that's not what it's teaching, but it has to do with a delight in the sin, a yearning for it. It's your secret treasure and pleasure, and you won't give it up. Well then you can't have this pearl. You can't have this treasure in the field. Psalm 66:18 says, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” He's not going to give you the treasure, he's not going to give you the pearl. So that's simple answer number one. You have to get rid of sin. You have to say, "No, I will not cherish sin ever again." Does that mean you'll never sin again? No, of course you'll be deceived, and stumble, and fall. We all stumble in many ways, says James, but there's a difference between stumbling and cherishing. It's a different matter. The second simple answer I want to give you is not only do you have to get rid of sin or let go of sin, you must also let go of anything that would hinder you from coming to Christ. Anything at all. Everything is sold, let's put it in terms that we understand. Even good things that hinder us from coming to Christ must be disposed of. Some bridges are burned when we come to Christ. Some friendships will never be the same again. Relationships with non-Christian relatives, parents, or children will never be the same again because you came to Christ. These are in themselves good things, but you're willing to turn your back on them for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. These things have been given up in favor of knowing Christ. Our career is sold, perhaps, it will never be the same again; you may never have as many advantages and opportunities for advancement now because you are a Christian. These are good things in of themselves, but we're turning our backs on them that we might follow Christ. Even pastimes, hobbies, possessions sold in one sense, if they have hindered us from coming to Christ must be given up. Those are the two simple answers. We get rid of sin and anything that would hinder us from coming to Christ. Now, we get complicated. In what sense do we have to sell everything? Well, what do you have to give up? And the answer is everything and nothing. Let's talk nothing first. You can't buy the kingdom. Selling all your possessions and giving to the poor doesn't get you to heaven. God is actually brutally offended if you try to do so. Nothing in all your possessions, nothing in your hut is equal in value to this treasure. If you think, "I can go buy this,” you are mistaken. It's far... A far greater worth than anything you have. You can’t buy it. So, in one sense, you can't sell everything to obtain this kingdom. It's not of equal value. But in another sense, I think the text is calling us to something here. I guess the question is, do I have to become, and this is what's on your mind perhaps, a wandering beggar to go to heaven? Do I have to literally sell all of my earthly possessions in order to follow Christ? Don't be so quick in answering because you remember the rich young ruler. Remember when he came and said, "What must I do to get eternal life?" He said, "Obey the commandments." And he said, "I've done this." Jesus said, "One thing you lack. Sell everything. Give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me." We are answering too quickly, when we say, "Of course not. Of course, he isn't calling us to be wandering beggars in order to go to Heaven." St. Francis of Assisi, 13th century, in his childhood and growing up, was a popular youth who lived a carefree life. He was the son of a wealthy Italian cloth merchant. He was headed for a successful life as a knight, when suddenly Christ got a hold of him. He was converted through illness to faith in Christ. After that, he left home clothed in a ragged cloak and a rope that he had taken from a scarecrow. He went and begged from the rich and gave to the poor. As a matter of fact, in most Roman Catholic orders, people take a vow of poverty in order to join them. Is this what it means to sell everything? Prosperous evangelicals in America answer this one too quickly, I think. We forget that Christ lived this way. “If you want to follow me,” Jesus said, "Foxes have holes. Birds of the air have nests, and I have no place to sleep tonight." We forget that John the Baptist lived this way, out in the desert eating locusts and wild honey. Now you wonder where I'm going with this. Is this required to go to heaven? Do I have to live in the desert and eat locusts and wild honey to go to heaven? We forget also, in Hebrews 11, "The men of whom the world was not worthy,” lived this way, wandering about in deserts, and mountains, and caves, and holes of the ground. So, I think we're too quick if we say that God would never ask that of anyone. Elijah lived this way. I think it goes a little deeper than this. I think what happens is, in your mind, you have to be willing to. I mean genuinely willing. I got this image, driving around near where I am, they're removing some trees to put in a house or something, I'm not sure. I noticed that some of the trees had orange spray paint on them. If I were a tree in that area and I had orange spray paint on me, I'd be worried. I'd start to notice a trend. “All my friends with orange spray paint, they're all gone, and I alone am left. Here comes the woodsman. It's not looking good for a tree with orange spray paint in that particular region.” I guess what I'm saying is that everything in your life has orange spray paint on it. Everything. And the woodsman comes when he chooses and said, "This is mine, I'm taking it." And you can't say to him, "You can't do that. You can't do that." What would that include? Well, how about your native land? Living here in America. Is that sold? Yeah, it is. God said to Abraham, leave your country and your people and go to the land I will show you. So, living here in America has got orange spray paint on it. He might call you to leave. How about earthly possessions? Yes. Sell your possessions, Jesus said, give to the poor, provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Someday you'll have a conviction, something will come over you, and you'll be led by the Spirit to sell things that are valuable to you, so that you can in some way advance to the kingdom of heaven. Is that within the purview of following Christ? Yes, absolutely. How about your earthly career? Is it sold? Could he come and say, I want you to leave this lucrative career and I want you to go serve me in this or that way. Yes. Orange spray paint on each one of these things. He has the right to come do it. How about your earthly reputation? Suppose he comes and says, I want you to go to witness to your boss. “Wait a minute. They like me here, they really do. I mean, I've got good friendships here. My co-workers think well of me.” They don't think as well of you as you think; they really aren't thinking about you, I've learned. But you think, "Oh, what a good relationship I have with everyone here. If I witness, I will lose that." It's got orange spray paint on it. He can come and say, go witness to that person over there. You know that if they don't convert, they will treat you poorly perhaps from then on, and they do actually treat you poorly. I've seen it myself. Does he have the right to ask that of you? Yes, he does. How about your children? So, does he have the right to come and claim your children? Yes, he does. Sometime later God tested Abraham and said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and offer him up as a sacrifice.” Everything in your life is his. He has the right over it, he has the right of claiming it, and you would be delighted to give it up. That's the whole point. “Out of joy he sold everything he had, that he might have that treasure.” What must we give up? Everything evil, all sin, and anything that would hinder you from coming to Christ. Everything in your life as Christ demands it from you. Now, you say, well, how do I know when he's coming? When does the orange spray paint moment come, and the thing gets cut down? That's not for me to say. That's something that the Lord does, but He does do that. The more and more you grow in Christ, the more you'll start seeing some of these things get claimed, and the trees get removed. Final question, what do we gain? The gain is infinite. Sibbes said, "We shall think ourselves no losers in this trade. We shall have Christ and with him all things. And therefore, Christ in this life promises a return of a hundredfold. And it stands on God's honor not to make us losers when we trade with him." You're not going to look back and say, "Boy, that was the biggest mistake I ever made." In no way will that ever happen to you. On Judgement Day you'll not look back and say, "All the things I sacrificed. That was a waste, I shouldn't have done it." You will never say that for it's on God's honor not to make you a loser when you trade with him. Blessings of the kingdom you'll receive. Full forgiveness of all sins. A place with your name on it at the wedding banquet of the Lamb. You don't want to miss that one folks, you want to be there. To have a place reserved for you, a place in heaven, a face-to-face fellowship with Christ, forever, and in the meantime a fruitful, worthwhile, eternally significant life here on earth. The indwelling spirit to keep you company, and convict you, and guide you along the way. His law written in your hearts, a transformation of your own nature. What a deal. The treasure worth everything. And best of all, personal fellowship with Jesus Christ himself, the king of the kingdom of heaven. The Exclusive Joy of the Greatest Treasure This brings us to understand true conversion. What does it mean then to be saved? I understood more about this from John Piper than probably anybody else. This is, I think, the signature text for Piper's Desiring God. If any of you have read that, this is where it comes from, I think, more than any other text in the Bible. John Piper teaches us that there are two great drives in the universe. One great drive is for God to be glorified above all things in his universe. That he would be valued and held in honor and in esteem above everything else that he has created. That's one great drive in the universe. The second is yours. Your great drive is to be contented, joyful, and happy in your life. The two of them meet together in the treasure hidden in the field. What ends up happening at the moment of conversion is at last your eyes are open. You see the value of Jesus Christ. You see that there's nothing else in the universe worth him to you. So, God becomes most glorified in you, when you are delighted and satisfied in him, for the joy set before you, you take Christ no matter what it brings from you. This is conversion. If this hasn't happened to you, if you still see greater value to anything else other than Christ, then you're not converted. Whatever religious ceremonies and other things you're going through, you've not been transformed internally. Christ is not of greatest value to you. Piper put it this way, "Conversion is what happens to the heart, when Christ becomes for us a treasure chest of holy joy. Saving faith is the heartfelt conviction that Christ is both solidly reliable and supremely desirable." He is something you can build your life on like a foundation. But he's also something appealing and enticing like a treasure and a pearl. These two come together when you're converted. This joy is so great, it begins to expel other pleasures and joys, so that it becomes the central focus of your life. I can tell you right now, no one will be checking the score of a ball game at the wedding banquet of the Lamb. It's not going to happen. I don't think there'll be a ball game. It'll just be the wedding banquet of the lamb, and you won't mind. "Boy, I wished we had ball games up here." You won't be wondering or wishing. The wedding banquet of the Lamb will be enough. You'll not be wondering how your mutual funds are doing as you walk down the streets of the New Jerusalem. It'll be enough to have Christ. Similarly, here on earth, the perfection of conversion is to be totally consumed by the joy of knowing Christ. To realize there is nothing greater than knowing and being known by Christ. In a moment you're going to have an opportunity to sing, “All I once held dear, built my life upon, all this world reveres and wants to own. All I once thought gained, I have counted loss, spent and worthless, now, compared to this one thing. Knowing you Jesus.” That’s from Philippians 3. Paul was converted, wasn't he? That's what conversion is. Application What application can we take with this? First let me speak to those of you who don't know yourself to be converted. We've been talking economics today, and talking about value and worth, right? There's a basic law of economics called the law of supply and demand. The greater demand there is for something and the lower supply, the higher the price. Conversely, the other way, if there's not much demand for something and tons of it like sand, it's got very little price, very little value. If I came and said, "Hey, I've got a handful of sand I'd like to give you,” I’m not going to sell much of it. The price is low. If there's something of great, intense desirability and not much of it is available, the price will be high. I want to ask you something. On Judgement Day, what will be the value and price of conversion and of forgiveness of sins, and frankly, of your soul, on that day? What would be the value to you? The desirability, as perhaps an angel is assigned to bring you to the brink of the lake of fire and just before he pushes you in, says, "Right now, of all of the earthly collection that you once had at your disposal, no longer, but at one point you had it at your disposal. What of those things would you hold back and not give at this moment for Christ?" Nothing, nothing. Having Christ at that moment will be infinitely desirable. How about availability, however? No. Today is the day of salvation. Now is the time. The offer's available now and today, and not then, and so therefore there will be no grace available on Judgement Day, no opportunity for justification by faith. There'll be no faith possibly, you'll be seeing your judge. Infinite price, because infinite desirability, no availability. Today is the day for you to be converted. Today is the day for you to sell everything you have, that you might have this treasure and this pearl. But what about those of you that are Christians? I want you to set your heart on your treasure, for where your treasure is, that's where your heart is going to be. Focus on Christ, set your heart on him, let him be more valuable to you than anything in the universe. Let your joy over your treasure purify lesser joys. There are other things in this world, but as you focus on Christ, you start to see that everything's from Jesus. Eating a meal, being with your family, walking down a pretty mountain path and looking — It's all Christ to you, because He gave it. It purifies your lesser joys. Fill your days and your speech accordingly. Talk about your treasure. After that merchant bought the treasure, do you think he boasted about it? You better believe it. "What a deal I made. Look at this. Look where I'm living now, and I got all my old stuff back anyway. Just put it in hock and then bought it back. And now I've got all this profit. It's incredible. I've got it all." Yes, he boasted. Boast about Christ. Boast about him as your treasure, your pleasure. He's worth boasting over. Let me talk to you one more moment about sin. Let love for this pleasure drive out sin from your life. Piper put it this way, "Sin is what you do when your heart is no longer satisfied with Christ." When Christ isn't enough for you, then you sin. Oh, don't let it be. Let Christ be your treasure and your pearl.