Let Go of Your Hate– Grow Weeds and Find Freedom

I knew I had to let it go, but I never realized the depth of my anger and the cost of its toll. So many years, so much energy and so much grief. Who knows the progress I could’ve made, the skills I could’ve acquired, and the successes that because of it, have escaped me.
But, I think I finally have done it. The weights that have fallen from my shoulders, the scales from my eyes and the burgeoning of my love has been unimaginable. Yes, I have finally came to terms with it all and think that it is finally all behind me.

You should do the same.

So should we as a community and nation. We should apply the same to our businesses, our religious institutions, and our governments. The freedom of spirit, the un-shackling of our creativity, let alone the millions of dollars we will save that can better be spent to more highly compensate our teachers, our artists, and our caretakers will be revolutionary.
So give it up, come to terms with your hatred of weeds and your libertine love of mown monocultural grasses that drain your rivers and streams, require the sweat and blood of your labor force, and drain your governmental coffers and leave you with budget deficits.
Don’t hate weeds; love weeds, embrace weeds, and while you should trim them and manage their encroachment upon your vegetable gardens, let them take over your lawns-- those last and enduring remnants of the Cold War and its plot to enslave capitalists into fighting a never ending and unwinnable war to maintain little square patches, long strips, and sprinkler riddled pitches of selfish, boring, monotonous acres upon acres of unrelenting Kentucky bluegrass and various other burdensome varieties of grass.

If God had wanted men to have miles of mown, monocultural turf fields, he would have planted it on their heads and the planes of the United States, the pampas of South America’s flatlands, the savannas of the African, the steppes of Asia, and the pastures of Europe would have been covered with green artificial turfs with fairways, greens, sand traps, bunkers, and benign water hazards in which conquests and migrations would have been accomplished via driving and putting competitions instead of wars and imperialism.

Wait you say, won’t all those weed-riddled “lawns” look distasteful, drag down property values, and take jobs from herbicide, fertilizer, insecticide and landscaping companies? No and yes. After a few years our eyes will grow accustomed to and find more beautiful the “weed” riddled lawns or xeriscapes that take less maintenance, no water, no herbicides, fertilizers and insecticides and are more beautiful and we will come to think that the grass lawns are ugly.

And yes, we will lose jobs, but given that humans are enterprising and resourceful, we will have money for other services and people will train for and be hired for those new jobs.
So come to terms with your hatred of weeds. Let whatever grows on those flat areas that you have not xeriscaped and do not need for soccer fields to grow whatever your climate and ecosystem allows, pay only enough to trim it and take up a new hobby, one that does not include spending hours on creating the perfect monocultural lawn that should not be the envy of our existence.

If I could trade in all of the hours that I have spent in my life, mowing and taking care of lawns and instead have spent them enriching my life and mind, that would’ve been more praiseworthy, virtuous, lovely, and of good report than having the mowing skills. Don’t teach your kids how to mow, teach them how to play guitar instead. Don’t use water for your lawn, leave it in the creek and river and teacher kids how to fish. Don’t spend tax dollars maintaining acres of Kentucky bluegrass, spend it on teachers and artists. That will make your world more beautiful than all the patches of lawn in all the world. Now breathe, do a sun salutation, and exhale your anger against weeds.

Loren M Lambert, April 10, 2016©

Storms of Charity

Perfection is such an unforgiving task master, let alone just passable mediocrity. Can I just have that?

And what a beautiful storm. I love it when the sky works itself all up into this dark visible basin as substantial as a Roman bath until it empties its deluge.

And while it did, one story on NPR held up hope that there are those who provide for the less fortunate while the next story on another station revealed that we just don't like and look down upon the same less fortunate with we're suppose to serve when they access that charity.
Its not charity without guilt, its charity without a purpose. To make matters worse, the priest talking about charity says people are inspired to serve because they love God and want to serve him and so to serve God you serve your fellow brothers and sisters.
Can't we just love our brothers and sisters to begin with? But maybe that's too much like perfection, too difficult so we have to settle for mediocrity by having to put Gods face on everything in order to love and respect it.

I guess then and only then the storms of charity can pour forth. Bring on those clouds.

Loren M Lambert © April 12, 2016

Saturday’s Warrior, Refugees, Legalized Abortion, Zero Population And Religious Propaganda + Something to Make Everyone Unhappy

I went to see the new rendition of the LDS oriented film, Saturday’s Warrior. As is often my place in life, whereas I wish I could say something nice or not say anything at all, I am going to instead say something that makes people on both sides of the spectrum mad at me. What is that? I both loved and was uncomfortable with Saturday’s Warrior. It struck an emotional cord and made me cry and it also made me cringe--just a little bit.

Saturday’s Warrior had all the elements of a powerful and engaging musical: the hook, familial love and commitment, the mystical romance in which we all seem to feel that there is that one special person for each of us, good acting, teenage rebellion against tradition and a loving family, the conflict between the “us and them”and between independence and conformity the power of love to bring the rebellious teen back home to all that is good and pure, and last but not least, incredible vocal performances and a well-written score.

Saturday’s Warrior also had all the elements of a superficial and propagandistic morality play: stark, unsophisticated and stereotypical depictions of good and evil; the fantasy of the mystical romance; the depiction that teenage rebellion invariably leads to addiction and heartache; the puerile depiction of “bad people,” who have opposing ideas and “good people” who conform to convention;” the depiction that true love always means complying with the expectations of others; good acting; and last but not least, incredible vocal performances.

My ambivalent feelings about Saturday’s Warrior are similar to my view on abortion. On rational and moral grounds, I personally oppose abortion and wouldn’t want anyone that I love and care about to have an abortion. Yet at the same time, just as many conservatives have an issue with undocumented immigrants and refugees coming to inhabit our country, I have an affinity for and understand a woman who through rape, incest and other similar compelling circumstances do not want to have an “uninvited” conception and burgeoning child come to inhabit their bodies for nine months. What I wish for is that religions, societies, and institutions create dynamics in which abortions, through the exercise of agency and individual responsibility, are a rare thing. Yet I think they still should be legal and the decision to have one needs to be made, not by the government, but by the individuals involved and their physicians.

Saturday’s Warrior also creates an interesting springboard for discussions about population growth. The film appears to advocate that families (or maybe just Mormon families) should have as many children as they can regardless of circumstances. It appeared to propagandize that those opposed to such a position simply advocate for “zero population.” This is a false dichotomy. While I agree with the proposition stated by the late, and sometimes maligned, Mormon leader Boyd K. Packard that our position on family planning is that we plan to have them and we plan to take care of them, there has never been a position stated by the LDS church that a certain-sized family is the appropriate one. Therefore, how big should families be?

In that regard, the film also presents an interesting cognitive dissonance among many Americans who, on the one hand view themselves as religious and advocate that to be a true God-fearing American we must bear as many children as possible and there is no issue regarding resources for them, while at the same time they argue that there are not enough resources for us to invite immigrants and other refugees to our country. In fact, they suggest that we are so short on room and resources, we need to deport the 11 million undocumented families that currently live in the United States.

Again the fact is that it is not either one or the other. It is a complex and difficult problem. Our own policies, practices and humanity require that we have some flexibility in our treatment of immigrants and refugees. Yet our economic, geographical and cultural reality and our security require that we are cautious about the number of refugees and immigrants and the specific persons we permit to come and reside in our country and that we be equally judicious about the rate of our population growth. This is because while some of our resources are enhanced by population growth and its concomitant human ingenuity and enterprise, most of our resources and certainly our geographical square miles are finite and limited. Also, population growth and immigration bring with them an unavoidable degradation of our environment and an unsustainable depletion of our food sources.

Just as it is intellectually dishonest to believe and think that unlimited immigration will not have adverse consequences, it is equally intellectually dishonest to believe that our quality of life will remain the same regardless of the number of human beings that populate our country or our earth.

So, plan to have a family if that is your desire, but also plan to take care of it. And when, due to circumstances both specific to you and generally to your world, having more and sometimes any children would be selfish, unwise and harmful to you and your perceived family, be circumspect in your ultimate choice--sometimes the right choice may be to have few or even no children. Loren M Lambert, April 4, 2016 ©

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton --

Smart, Wise, Knowledgeable, Dignified, Measured, and Well Spoken.

And while she is far from perfect, and has made mistakes in her life as we all do, on the whole, she is unfairly maligned and defamed.

I know most of you may think otherwise, but those of you who really believe in seeing the best in others, that all are innocent until shown to be guilty, that it is often easy to tarnish the prominent with false or exaggerated claims, just take a little time to listen to some of the extended interviews of Hillary and to do so without preconceived judgment.

If you do, you may find yourself agreeing with me.

If not, I respect you for trying.

Lorebn M. Lambert, March 30 2016  ©

None Are Above the Law, Nor Beyond its Protection

Never forget that in every society there are those who riddle its structure, from the lowliest laborer, to the highest military, judicial or political office, who, given the opportunity, will use force to gain and keep power.

A good window into their hearts, are their statements about how they would treat those who they deem less deserving of respect, civil rights and protection because of their "other," "impoverished," "uneducated," "foreign," "undocumented," or "alien," status.

It is only the collective resolve and vigilance of those who understand that none are above the law and none are beyond its protection that keeps them in check. Vote wisely.

Loren M. Lambert, March 29, 2016 ©

Another Reason Why Bernie Has Resonance

Another Reason Why Bernie Has Resonance

Today I had a client consult me on a call he received from the police. His private disability provider reported him for insurance fraud. He had suffered a pretty horrific accident on a snowmobile that left him with some serious back and digestive track impairments. The issue was not that he had those conditions but his level of activity while trying to see if he could return to work. He lasted about a month. He couldn't. The insurance company would film him going to work and leaving. They didn't film him when he had to take breaks.

Another client came in today after PEHP denied his claim for disability benefits. He has the most compelling case I have ever seen for benefits. PEHP (Utah's Public Employee's Health Plan) has the very worst system for a fair hearing. He has severe arthritis, has had both knees, shoulders and hips replaced. He has had his ankles fused and needs back surgery. He's 48 and has worked in heavy jobs his whole life. He has the body of a 75 year old. Usually joint replacements can restore function but with severe arthritis its just a stop gap measure.

Now, I know individuals commit insurance fraud. I know sometimes people have more functionality than they think. But how many insurance company executives, insurance doctors or insurance adjusters are criminally charged for intentionally lying about a file, or intentionally losing documents to hide dishonest practices or maliciously stretching the limits of medical science to deny a claim?

Probably 0. Does it happen? Yes. Do you care? Probably not, but you should. It works both ways. Both parties should be held accountable and have an equal ability to prove their case. You will care when it happens to you and the longer the inequity lasts they more likely it will affect you or someone you love.


Loren M. Lambert, March 29, 2016  ©

No Right to a Specific Job

Generally, there is not any legal, ethical, or moral right that a person has to a specific job, whether it’s a job as a type writer maker, an elephant hunter, a steel worker, an old forest logger, a personal injury attorney, an insurance defense medical physician evaluator or an orthodontist, etc.

On the other hand, a person who can work and who honestly and diligently seeks work, should live within a society that, in every way possible and practicable, facilitates that person’s attainment of employment sufficient to meet his or her needs. This is much different than guaranteeing a specific job doing a specific thing or in a specific industry. Necessarily within this general principle, I further believe that such a society must provide a safety net (and not a hammock as conservatives metaphorically state) when economic, physical, and other hazards cause adjustments in our job markets.

Regardless of the availability of specific types of jobs or a society’s determination that certain types of jobs no longer provide a sufficient benefit for that society, either through market pressures or legislation, the most enterprising, healthy, resourceful, educated, and intelligent of a society will usually attain a higher level of economic success than others. Again, this is regardless of the market forces and legislative effects upon the existence of specific jobs.

Yet, because power, influence and resources tend to be unfairly amassed and allocated to an ever increasing fewer number of persons with in a society or nation, societies must organize and legislate so that it is truly the most enterprising, resourceful, and intelligent that rise based upon merit and not upon privilege. Any time privilege is championed within a society at the expense of merit either through force or acquiescence, that society will suffer economically and will stagnate.

Still yet further, a society or nation that does not ensure that it can independently provide all necessary resources to sustain its basic needs of food, clothing, shelter and military security, will be at risk to the whims of other societies or nation states either by force or cultural or economic annexation.

So a balance must be reached. This balance cannot be achieved either through a purely capitalist system or a purely socialist system of government. It is only through the balancing of the principles of both systems that healthiest societies or nations are created. Moreover, it is simply a misconception that aspects of socialism cannot be implemented without depriving individuals of agency or of relieving individuals of personal responsibility. It is likewise simply an exaggeration that principles of capitalism cannot be employed without impoverishing the masses or depleting a society or nations’ resources. It is only in their extremes that such things occur.

And why did I go down this road? I want to talk about a few specific jobs in my next post.

Loren M. Lambert, March 27, 2016 ©

Govern by Hope Not Fear

I try and I try and I try to figure out why some people feel and think the way they do and sometimes I just have to realize that some people just have a greater degree of anxiety and paranoia than others; some people let their fears govern them and not their hope. So how do you address them yet still maintain a connection to rationality and to balance it out with what is working right and by helping them focus on the millions of good people who surround the much smaller number who are beyond feeling.
Loren M. Lambert © March 20, 2016

A Scientist’s Doubt Defines the Beginning

The difference between a skeptic and a scientist is that while they both doubt, a skeptic's doubt defines her end and is her ceiling while a scientist’s doubt defines her beginning and is a trampoline to greater understanding.

I was a skeptic in my youth and it limited me. I have been a scientist for many years and it has broadened my vision. I sometimes wonder where my intellect could have taken me had I made that transition in my youth.

Hold onto your virtues, but do so as a scientist, not a skeptic. Our country has too many skeptics at this time and it will limit us. Be a virtuous scientist and let it define the beginning of your journey and not the end of your vision.

Loren M. Lambert February 4, 2016 ©.

On Populism

The interesting thing is, both the entrepreneurial moguls and the angry displaced American worker are seeking access to advantages that, if gained, have the potential of guiding us into tyranny.

I tend to gravitate towards the more progressive spectrum of the political divide because what I see in my own practice is that not only are the substantive rules of law being corrupted to serve the elite and very wealthy, but the procedural rules are being changed in manners that also tip the balance of power towards the very wealthy. I see this in a case I am trying in court at this very moment in which our corporate bankruptcy and business entity laws have allowed entrepreneurs to reap all the benefits of their investments without ever having to suffer any of the consequences of their bad decisions, nor their malicious and criminally motivated ones.

This whole phenomenon is made exponentially worse when these businesses can take both their ill-gotten and legitimate gains to further corrupt the political system by bankrolling those who would further bend the rules in their favor and keep them from suffering the consequences of their decisions.

Yet, it will be in an even uglier sight if the populist movement is so successful that it degrades into battles against certain religions, certain immigrants, and certain areas of the country. Such battles and depravity are inevitable unless the ruling class and elite are wise enough to relinquish their corporate socialism and their grip upon their privileged legal status and are required to bear their proportionate share of the burden and to suffer the consequences of both their bad and malicious decisions. They, like all, should rise based on merit alone. That isn’t what is happening today.

I understand and have affinity towards many of the ideas espoused by both Mr. Sanders and Mr. Trump. But intent matters, diplomacy matters, civility matters, practicability matters, economics matter and the heart of the leader pursuing those goals matters.

Loren M. Lambert February 4, 2016 ©.

Ancestors and Modernity

The question isn’t necessarily how our ancestors centuries ago lived like our imaginations envision they lived- as beautiful, active, vigorous souls, unburdened by the excesses of modernity.

The more interesting question is: if you took a spattering of those ancient ancestors and you plunked them down into our modern existence, then how would they live and why?

I suspect that they would have the same challenges that we have now because while the individual must have liberty and freedom for self-direction, the fabric of our society must be formed and shaped to allow us to achieve our best natures.

Without both interests being fully honored, we will not reach the perfection that is possible and within reach.
Loren M Lambert © February 13, 2016

The Power of Apologies

According to most Christians, the only person who is a good candidate for never having needed to apologize, was Jesus Christ and even he asked his followers to forgive his Roman executioners. So when did it become a sign of weakness to apologize for mistakes or lapses in judgment? If it’s not a sign of weakness for individuals to do so, why is it a sign of weakness for nations to do the same? Apologizing does not equate to appeasement, nor to declining to defend self, home, family, community or nation. It is a means of reconciliation and harmonizing instead separating and antagonizing.

Only the ignorant and the disingenuous would claim that the United States of America has never made a mistake and cannot benefit from apologizing, even when there may be fault applicable to both parties. That is true in a marriage, in a partnership and among nations. It is not a sign of weakness or cowardice to apologize, it is a sign of courage, charity and strength. Only the confident and the secure are able to apologize.

Are some Americans so insecure or so ignorant about our place in history that they are threatened when leaders or individuals seek to apologize for our mistakes and misadventures?
Loren M Lambert © February 13, 2016

“We Will Investigate That but You Should Know That If We Find That You're in the Wrong We Are Going to Come after You.”

(Please share this post with any police officers or HR representatives you know, I’d be interested in hearing what they have the say).

I have a case I’ve been working on involving a fatality in an auto accident. One of the witnesses was following behind one of the cars involved in the accident right before the accident occurred. She stopped to give assistance. She knew information that contradicted the official police report. Although she’s from a small community in which most people know each other, she has no relationship with the victims or parties other than having known one of the deceased in high school over 20 years ago. She tried to provide what she knew immediately prior to the accident. The police officer involved in investigating the accident immediately told her she was lying and that if she tried to give an official statement she would be prosecuted.

Let me acknowledge something. Her perception of what happened may be wrong, but that does not make her a liar.

I have interviewed hundreds of people who have been business owners, management employees, government officials, HR department employees or have been supervisors. I have heard these persons in positions of power say--when interviewing an employee who claimed to have information about wrongdoing or claim to have been a witness to or the victim of a particular type of harassment or discrimination–they started the interviews with such employees with the statement, “if I find out you’re not telling the truth I am going to fire you.”

I have also interviewed hundreds of employees. I have heard many employees indicate that, when they came forward with information that they thought was helpful to the company or the governmental agency because they had been a witness to or victim of wrongdoing, harassment or discrimination, verify that they had been threatened with termination if what they were telling their bosses or HR representatives could not be shown to be the truth. (The other interesting side note is that the same bosses and HR representatives have a problem with recording and often have policies against it).

Let me acknowledge that some employees are incorrect about what they say they have seen, heard or experienced. But that does not make them liars.

Let me further acknowledge that there are a few rare individuals who make up information to report to the police or their employer. When that occurs, action can be taken but threatening somebody with a criminal prosecution or termination will silence good people long before it stops those who purposefully lie.

Here is some actual testimony of a police officer from a police force within the Wasatch front: “We get complaints, there is no question. Nobody is ever happy all the time with police officers and so complaints come in. And when those come in, it's my opinion when you field that complaint as an investigator like that, the first thing that should be said is, ‘Well, if you are willing to fill out a written complaint and -- we will investigate that but you should know that if we find that you're in the wrong we are going to come after you.’”

Why do so many people in positions of power not understand that such attitudes and statements are a problem? Does it surprise us when horrible things go wrong in police forces, corporations, government agencies when such attitudes are shared by those who should know better? It shouldn’t because these wrong-headed attitudes are strongly held by many who do not understand how difficult it is to come forward with information about wrongdoing, harassment and discrimination.

Loren M Lambert © January 23, 2016.

Who Won Republican Debate? Who Lost?

Winner: Fox News--I have to take my hat off--they put on a good debate.

Who lost along with Trump?

We will lose if we elect most of the Republican candidates because they will unnecessarily take us to war, they will arm those who will use those same arms against us, they will alienate our allies and we will stand alone. They will not make us great but will bring us down to the petty level of our enemies, and they will create more terrorists than they will kill, as we return to thinking that belligerence, torture, and destruction perpetrated abroad against those outside the confines of our borders and not under the cloak of our flag of citizenship, will make us safer at home and will not bring the same to be rained down upon our own children.

It is not a war against depraved warlords we fight, it is a war of ideas, philosophies, ideals, ethics and morals. We need to worry more about winning the hearts and minds of those under either the spell or the heel of their oppressors and less about death, war and destruction.
Loren M. Lambert © January 25, 2016

“Oafissication Atrophic Sympathetic Syndrome” or “OASS” Strikes Seven Out of Ten Affluent White Male Men

I recently learned, in the middle of the night, that I suffer from a mild form of this condition. So I know something about it.

Oafissication is a condition that usually strikes men, rarely women, between their 40s to 60s, and oddly enough, a high percentage of those with a net worth over $500,000. However, it can affect all adults over age 12, during or after puberty, and all socio-economic groups. It is now considered a stage of development or better said, retro-development in many males’ lives, between the height of physical health during a male’s 30's and before aging completely robs them of their virility in their 70's.

It occurs when a person’s incipient thoughts about their material world, incipient business ideas and their unspoken biases and prejudices are transformed into ossified convictions. This usually occurs when a person has reached a certain amount of expertise or excellence in one very narrow realm of study or economic achievement and that person then extrapolates from that success and believes he is competent in all economic endeavors and in all intellectual disciplines.

It also causes a person to believe that everything he says is ingenious- not because it is, but just because they say it and to look back on his or her life and reconstruct it so that everything he has done was a success, whether this is actually the case. He also believes that he is still as attractive as he was in his or her prime and that anyone who pays attention to him are interested solely in him and not his money or positions of power.

Surely and slowly, such persons, without significant intervention, by age 65 to 70 turn irretrievably into an oaf. Some of these oafs are viewed as lovable and endearing grandfathers, depending upon their dispositions, so that their outdated and bad ideas can be seen as simply a remnant of their ignorant pasts, but others become boorish, overbearing and intolerable- especially if they obtain positions of power that give them authority over other human beings.

In his psychological evaluation, the Donald (Trump), was determined to be terminally stricken with this malady. Please send donations to me and I will use them in a manner that advances ameliorating this condition in all those who suffer from it.

Loren M. Lambert, © Jan. 12, 2016.

The Real Dangers of Anthropomorphizing. In Case You Wondered.

I was warned by biology professors not to anthropomorphize animals. I have followed this rule to great benefit–I’ve come late to the (nevertheless very important) movement that even if we use animals for our benefit, we should at the very least make sure they are treated humanely, or at least animal kingdomly.

My professors had no idea about the real dangers ahead- anthropomorphizing my PC, cell phone and laptop. Worse than that, romantopodomestisizing my devices.

I expect them to read my mind, bend to my will, be my constant companions, share in my joys and lighten my burdens and--not only never break down, crash, or passively ignore me--but correct, or at least take the blame when some mis-keying mistake causes me to end up with a computer doing exactly what it was programed to do because of my inadvertent blunders.
 And because they don't, I know, at the bottom of my heart that it's due to some mischievous or malicious motive inside their high capacity memories to mess, spite or prank me. And when they do, they sit back and lol, lmao or luvbaecmt, as I pout, rave and hurl insults at them as if they were listening and as if they cared. Don’t they?

It just drives me crazy!! Why didn't I get that warning!

Don't anthropomorphize or romantopodomestisize your electronic devices!

Unless, however, it’s something that has three or less functions and its easy to power up--then, just like a me and other men--it's pretty easy to figure out, know when to recharge, teach to take out the garbage, put the toilet seat down and bring in a paycheck.

I sometimes miss the days when I was so excited to get a head lamp for Christmas. I didn't anthropomorphize it. I just put it with my back pack and there it sits waiting for me each summer, to hardly ever hear a cross word.

Loren M. Lambert © Jan. 12, 2016.

When I Am President

“When I become president, America will be great again.

Our allies will proclaim our exceptionalism, will recognize my infallibility and will defer to my omniscient knowledge of what is right on all decisions. Our enemies will be so stricken with terror that they either fade into obscurity or will die from fright and all of their relations and children will praise me for saving them from them.

I will resolve all world problems and peace will break out.

All Americans will take comfort in knowing that in our past, present and future, we have done no wrong and those who think otherwise will be shunned and ignored as the miscreants they are.

All our professionals, athletes, entrepreneurs, scientists, and workforce will be superior to all others on earth. And there will be, as my first decree as President, no poor, disabled or downtrodden among us.

Our streets will be paved in gold, our cities will be crime free, and our businesses will be unfettered and only regulated by our markets. There will be full employment. Everyone will be happy.

Our wild places will be left as all wild places should be left- unregulated, unprotected, and open to what anyone can conceive of or desire to do to them, and therefore, truly 'wild.'”
Loren M. Lambert © Jan. 12, 2016.

Narcissism--The Prozac of Our Progression

Even the most self aware need to take measure of areas of their lives that would benefit from improvement in a deliberative and documented way. I've been doing this.

I say this about the "most self aware" because I've always thought of myself as being someone who was highly self aware. The problem is that we are only as self aware as our narcissism allows us to be and narcissism is like that blind spot in our vision that is simply filled in by our brains to be consistent with that which is visible.

If that which is visible is pretty good, who knows what we are hiding in the blind spots. I have a lot of blind spots. So I'm documenting one. Forgivingly, it's probably not as graphic as if I had a videographer following me around 24/7 to record my worst moments, which would probably be enlightening, but perhaps too discouraging.

And isn't that the benefit of having a little narcissism? It's like the Prozac for our progression. It allows us to have the vision of our possibilities always before us as a template we are stepping toward and may some day actually step into. Yet, on the other hand, might it just be a mirage of self deception that we think we have achieved when we have not?

It's both. So I am going to continue my chronicling and steady adjustment so I can truly live up to my own narcissistic view of myself and thereby maybe really end up being be self aware.

Loren M. Lambert © Jan. 12, 2016.

The Problem or The Beauty

Problem is, or the beauty (if that's how you view it) is at this time, opinion and emotion are driving public discourse, and not fact and reason.

As erstwhile Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee might say, the proof is in the pudding and we disagree about how that pudding was made, it's ingredients and what it tells us.

I believe, or my opinion is, that the facts of history and human achievement show that progressives, artists and thoughtful rebels lead and advance civilization and progress and that conservatives reign in the excesses of that progressive vision and help implement and execute the blueprints of that forward vision.

As long as there is freedom, liberty, security and civility, we can find the balance between those two human tendencies.

Any disequilibrium to the extremes lead to greed, envy, hate, tyranny and war.

Loren M. Lambert © Jan. 12, 2016.

"I Am Ammon Bundy" – Media Scoop by Sean Penn

Ammon Bundy, the leader of the armed “Hogtie and Occupy Woodsie the Owl” movement, in a brilliant exposé, stated: “Ugh, we welcome all the un-deodorized and pot smoking bird kissers and Indian folklore mongers to do whatever they want up here, but just know that Native Americans lost their rights to this land a long, long time ago and that ranchers and loggers have priority over all other takers.”

When asked why by the sorry-assed, liberal media guy, Sean Penn, he responded:

“It’s in the Bible dumbass, and it’s in the second witness to Loggers and Ranchers rights-- even the Book of Mormon. In Ezekiel 4: 15 it says, ‘Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shall prepare thy bread therewith.’ And in the second Book of Nephi 30:13 it says, ‘and the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together.’”

Then Mr. Penn said, “Wow that’s some really heavy and deep shit, man. Can you whip out your seer stone and translate it for us simple folk?”

Ammon then said, “In order to eat our bread we need a little cow shit everywhere, and the cows they get equal rights with wild animals. Plain as day.”

Mr. Penn then asked about logging rights.

“Well,” Ammon said, “That's in the Bible too, God gave man dominion over all things. Everybody knows that only loggers and ranchers are men. All the rest of you are just a bunch pamsy wamsies, fruitcakes and women.”

Unassailable logic. I declare I, too, am a rancher and a logger. Now how to get me a little bit of that unclaimed federal land that I own. Any of you want to join me?

Loren M. Lambert © January 16, 2016

The New God

I never thought the Iron Curtain would fall when it did, that I would teach law in two former Soviet Block countries and I definitely never thought I'd live to see the day when the Chinese stock market would bring the U.S. stock market to it's knees.

There is a new God in town and it is not Christian nor Muslim. She dines on U.S. jobs in a Beijing restaurant. She bathes in U.S. dollars in a Turkish bath. She sleeps on a French bed stuffed with Chinese Yen, hand-fluffed by senior members of the Chinese politburo. And, best of all, She knows She will never fail like so many gods before her, because with the complicity of her Washington Savior and her Holy Ghost in New York, She is too big to fail.

Loren M. Lambert Jan. 13, 2016 ©

Monkey Toes, 50 Pound Back Packs & A Love of Pain

Pain. I love it. Maybe you should love it too. And the longer you’ve carried it and more intense it has been, the more you love it when it’s gone. But you will learn, that like a faithful companion, it doesn’t stay away for long. Not if you are alive and living.

When I was a teen, I sometimes wore these 5 pound ankle weights during my days at Wasatch Junior High School. I was a Wasatch Warrior. Then when summer came, I went on a fifty mile week long hike with a 50 or more pound pack through the Uintas and up Kings Peak, with Mark Smith, his brother Steve and their friend Peter Campbell, who had toes as long as a monkey’s. 

We knew this because in camp each evening, he would discard his shoes and peel his sock off to unveil those toes and sing the song, “I have ten toes, and I keep them as my-men-toes...” Then he would comb his hair and pick his belly button lint out with them before retiring to a nearby tree to hang ten upside down from a convenient branch.

In the winter I would ski all day on Saturdays at Park City West (The Canyons) and then in the evening go swimming to earn my swimming and life saving merit badges. A few skills we had to learn were retrieving weights off the bottom of the pool, towing a fellow Scout the length of the pool, and treading water while fully dressed until permission was given to strip them off and make them into a life raft in case we were ever on a cruise or a Lake Powell boating excursion and fell overboard and nobody noticed. I am still waiting to use those skills.

I was told these activities would make me strong and turn me into Eric Heiden or Dan Gable and give me a little cachet with the women. And they did, in part. But I probably could have done just as well bowling, playing Marco Polo in the pool or Red Rover or learning to play the guitar.

Yet, they did something else. At times, for awhile with those ankle weights, the backpack, the wet clothes on in the pool, I got used to them and didn’t notice the burden until fatigue set in with its follow-on friend of exertional pain. Then, when I unbuckled the ankle weights, slid the pack off, or jettisoned the wet clothes, I always had this amazing sensation of lightness. The longer I had borne the burden, the greater the sensation and the longer it lasted. 

Pain is like those weights, that pack, those wet clothes. You drag it around. If you are lucky, it’s not too punishing, and you have the physical, emotional and mental resilience and facility to ignore or push it outside your consciousness, or to focus on more compelling things like surviving, it becomes just like white noise to our ears. So we drag it along without complete awareness of the burden.

Then-with some beneficial medical treatment, drug, injection, surgery, meditation method, or good sex-we unbuckle, slip off or jettison that pain, maybe for an hour, a few weeks, months or even years. When that happens, because your body has become numb to the burden it has been bearing and has forgotten what it was like to be pain free, it’s like you’ve been reborn, it’s like a huge weight has been lifted from your shoulders. You experience this wonderful sense of lightness, like you are walking on air. Like you are once again a Wasatch Warrior who could think that putting on those 5lb ankles weights to walk around in is a sensible thing to do.

No wonder so many are tempted to do anything to maintain that sense of renewal. It’s such a liberating experience, and in that moment we love our pain so much that we think we can go back there to stay, back there to be that Wasatch Warrior. But we can’t. Not completely. Not until we can figure out how to regenerate like salamanders. So, try the treatments that can safely work, but, if at all possible, don’t love your pain so much that you feed it opiates. Too many of my clients have died going down that road, or have become addicted and alienate their common sense and their families.

Just think of that pain as your ankle weights or backpack that you have to haul around to get stronger on that fifty mile hike. As for me, since I’m going to live until I’m 110, I’m going to have to get used to a lot of white noise from the pain that I have been blessed enough to work around. Yet have compassion for those who are not so blessed or resilient. It often is truly not their fault. Living with pain sometimes is too heavy a burden. We can’t all tote around 50 lb packs and wear ankle weights until our death beds.

So, in the mean time, I have to have gratitude for modern medicine and I have to be grateful with the realization that the load I’ve been carrying allows me, in direct proportion thereto, to experience a hopefully enduring sense of lightness and liberation at this time. I am a Warrior once again, walking on the clouds. But don’t ask me to put on any ankle weights. That would not be a sensible thing to do. I’ll leave that to the real Warriors.
Loren M. Lambert, Winter Solstice, 2015 ©

A Victory for the Underdog

On the last day of this year I was granted a victory in a workers compensation case that I have been pursuing for several years for an injured Hispanic worker. The case is: Guzman v. Labor Commission, Case No. 20140662-CA and as soon as I can, I’ll post a link to it. He had been working for over a decade doing an extremely arduous job in a pig farm. We have him to thank for the ham, pork, bacon and pork roasts we eat.

He provides a service every bit as important as what anyone else does in our society.

My practice as an attorney for employed workers has demonstrated to me that usually and thankfully, subconsciously (but sometimes consciously) there is a prejudice against certain races, against women and against certain professions. It is harder for these groups to get their benefits. This is for many reasons that start at the very beginning of their injury at work. They are treated more harshly by their supervisors and bosses. They are treated poorly by our industrial medical complex. And they are treated with greater disregard by our Labor Commission.

In this particular case, the Labor Commission’s Appeals Board bent over backwards to misconstrue the evidence, twist the law into something unrecognizable to try to deny my client his benefits, and elevated the role that medical panels play in these cases. In doing so, it also did what is happening in almost every area of law involving injuries and diseases--it relegated to medical doctors every decision in regards to whether or not the person should be awarded disability benefits.

Doctors now wrongfully dictate when we hurt, how much we hurt, and what the effect is of that pain. Doctors now wrongfully dictate what the extent of our injuries and illnesses are and how they affect our ability to function.

Medical science has progressed to an amazing level in its ability to provide for us great relief from many of the maladies that afflict us as human beings. Because of that amazing advancement, they have extrapolated from this achievement and become very arrogant and think they can make certain types of decisions that their science is too imperfect to determine. My further sentiment is depicted in the letter that I posted to the attorneys that practice in my area of law. It is as follows:

 Dear LightSaber Masters,

Attached is an appellate victory I had at the end of the year. It’s a short read but verifies the role of medical panels. Their role is not to be the judge, jury and executioner.

We as a country, as a state, and as a group of lawyers are relegating to doctors the absolute and infallible role of determining who is injured, how they were injured, why they are injured, what their limitations and restrictions are, whether they should be believed, whether they are worthy to be believed, and whether or not they are disabled and deserve workers compensation, Social Security, and long-term disability benefits.

I know many of you think that they actually can do all of these things, but the truth of the matter is, they’re one of those blind persons holding onto one part of the elephant. We think and they think that just because they know all there is to know about the elephant’s hind end, that they can extrapolate therefrom and not only tell us what the whole beast looks like, they can tell us where it’s been, who it’s slept with, the purity of its heart, the thoughts in its head, and where it’s going. They can’t. They only truly know one part of the picture that has to be combined with the testimony of the worker, the expertise of the vocational experts and the decisions that the ALJ must make.

I know this is just a workers compensation list serve, but for those of you who practice in all these areas of law, we need to push back. Doctors know way less than they think they do, doctors are asked by lawyers to answer questions that they cannot answer honestly, and we need to find a way to ensure that doctors with a healthy sense of humility and a good self-awareness of the limits of their science, serve on our medical panels and perform evaluations as medical experts. Impossible to achieve? I don’t think so. We just haven’t tried hard enough.

Sincerely yours,
your humble, LightSaber Caddy and Repair Person,
Loren M. Lambert
Loren M. Lambert, January 2, 2016 ©

There Is Hope: A Single Act

On my mad dash into Costco, I witnessed a miraculous act. It was something I often do but never thought anyone did- especially not when distracted by the feeding frenzy that grips your mind heading into Costco.

And what was it? (Salvation Army bells toll roll). He stopped and picked up a piece of garbage and put in the waste can. Simply stunning. He could have been trampled, or worse, missed out on the chocolate samples being given out at the northeast main corridor.

Spread the word. Do the garbage pick up challenge today. When it is not your designated job, not your business, and when not at your home, pick up a random piece of garbage and dispose of it.

Only good things can come next because it is a known fact that people who pick up garbage when they don't have to never become country western singers, used tooth floss hoarders, or white collar criminals. Don't believe me, look it up.

Loren M. Lamber, December 18, 2015 ©

Eat a Pound of Chocolate for Peace and Prosperity.

I banned my family from bringing any sweets, candy, deserts etc. into the house for Christmas. You see, I am trying to evade my several-year narrowing orbit around the Ghost of Christmas Present’s insistence that we adorn our bodies with internally integrated holiday trimmings around our midsections and nether regions.

So why not just avoid eating them and not subject my family to my lack of discipline?

That’s because I have this other problem. It’s a problem most kids, including my own, don’t have any understanding of. This is because I was too generationally distant to really, enthusiastically, and assiduously beat into my kids, the customs that were zealously beat into my parents (and in turn me), who were raised by my depression era grandparents. And what did they learn and pass on? You can’t let any food go to waste, especially since it may all disappear in a dust bowl and in a bout of over production.

My wife doesn’t have this later problem. So, the responsibility falls on me to make sure no food goes to waste and to also eat my fair share of some of the dessert and chocolate because it could all just disappear overnight and its an act of charity to help them also stay trim. So I’m like the bottom feeding crabs in the ocean--whatever food escapes the mouths of others and comes sifting down from them to settle and rest upon the dusty places in the fridge, cupboards and storage areas, has to be scavenged up by me.

Despite all of this, I’ve been ahead of the curve so far. I am just a couple of pounds over my usual weight, which I can lose in a week. Then, a client of mine brought by some baklava. Nobody would eat enough of it in the office. What could I do?

I went home with it. Upon arriving, there were more treats awaiting me from neighbors and extended family--worst of all, there was chocolate. I forgot about these potential culprits. How do you include them in the ban?

To make matters worse, I had thoughts of my 8th grade US history teacher, Mr. Richards, who somehow managed to escape detection from the administrative office when his cheeks seemed to get a little rosy each year before the holidays and whose breath smelled distinctly with an odor that was foreign to me yet might have been alcohol. He said that the best thing for the economy was to wear out a pair of blue jeans. He said that’s why the great depression happened–too many jeans that weren’t being worn out.

You see, back then, the 1930's economy was all about jeans, not cars, i-pads or houses and not enough blue jeans were being worn out. So jeans piled up on the shelves. Then cotton growers, jean makers (two back then–Levis and Lees), jean designers (three back then–the two who worked at Levis and Lees and my grandma), jean retailers and whole sellers, all went out of business and had to lay off workers. Then those workers didn’t have any money to buy spam, radios and refrigerators. Production piled up in those businesses, more workers were laid off, and then the whole economy collapsed. This then led to more liberal minded movies, WWII and FDR and that is why we are all now living in the socialist apocalypse of the Obama era.

Now in the 2010s, we live in the chocolate, baklava and other festive holiday-foods-driven economy. As a result, too many people make a living off growing stuff for the holidays- designing, baking and selling chocolates, baklava, salami, baked hams and other holiday foods. Not to mention the economy-driving, after-holidays gym-membership sales.

So what would happen if everyone, like me, were Scrooges and ignored the Ghost of Christmas Present and refused to adorn their bellies with fat from eggnog, chocolate, baklava and pie?

Obviously it would result in the collapse of our economy, more liberal minded movies, WWIII, the third wave of socialism–which we know would be the last this country could endure--and therefore the end of civilization.

 So, in the spirit of all that is holy and good, to bring prosperity and world peace, do your part and do what I did tonight, and then every night until you buy your gym membership on January 2nd- eat chocolate and baklava. Oh, and wear out some blue jeans and realize that the Donald is just bluffing, he really is a warm hearted and wise soul and he will bring the capitalist utopia that will last for a thousand years.

Loren M. Lambert, December 18, 2015 ©

New Scientific Study: The Bobble Head Effect and The Next Republican Presidential Nominee

A recent study verified that, if you fast forward the most recent Republican Presidential Debate Circus, here's what you'll learn:

The higher the candidate in the polls--the less he waggles his head around like a bobble head--meaning side to side and around. In fact the, just the opposite, Donald's head shows more vertical movement--but that's all up-and-down chin, lip, and eyebrow movement. The only exception to this rule is Gov. Kasich and he has an incredibly active karate chop--both hands karate chopping up and down.

Perhaps wobbling around means, "I don't know," and the up and down movement must mean, "Yeah, I know, I know." And the karate chop--maybe that's just too scary. At least to those who are influenced by all that.
Loren M. Lambert, December 16, 2015 ©

A Little Empathy for Mr Trump

Poor Donald, unlike the rest of us, he's had so much of what everybody has wanted from him that no one has ever told him that a lot of what he thinks and says is abject bullshit. Had they done so, he might not have been so appealing to the Republican base, polling at 35%.

Contrarily, I've rarely had anything anyone else wanted so I have had to par my thoughts and statements down to a very lean, "get out of the bathroom and give someone else a chance," and "treat everybody's bathroom, possessions and family the way you would want your bathroom, possessions and family to be treated.”

Loren M. Lambert, December 16, 2015 ©

What Is Gun Culture? Does It Require A Special Circumcision?

I was listening to gun talk radio today. I had no idea. But I learned on it that, because of certain political affinities I have, I hate all gun owners (which frankly includes myself and a lot of my family), and their culture–Gun Culture. I did not know this.

Now that I know I hate it, I need to find out what it is.

What is gun culture?

Can you grow it in a petri dish? Do you have to be born into it? Is it like race where, unless you're really rich like the late Michael Jackson (rest his soul--I loved a lot of his dancing and music), or really clever like Rachel Dolezal, you can't just get into it or out of it? Does it need its own country? Do you have to be baptized or take its sacrament? Does it have any special clothes, hair styles, tattoos or signals?

Based on what I was listening to, it sounds like some people who profess to be part of this culture are not, and are either wannabes or worse, frauds, who need to be rooted out from among those that have this culture. And they are looking for us.

Does it make you special and entitled to certain privileges? And are those privileges just given to you? Are there rival gun culture sects who claim sanctity over other gun cultures?

And most importantly, do I have to take some drug or not, does it require me to be circumcised in a special way to be in it, and is there a gun culture deity? At this point in my life I don't think junior could survive another circumcision, I need the drugs I'm on and everybody else’s drugs scare me, and if there is a deity, I want him, her, or it on my side--I suspect it could be important.

Any way, please let me know. Thanks.
Loren M. Lambert, Jan. 3, 2016 ©

Spaces, Where the Art Resides

I have often heard the quote of Austrian-American concert pianist Artur Schnabel, who, when asked what made his piano performances so beautiful, said, “The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes—ah, that is where the art resides.”

Similarly, after failing to interest the US Military and Britain in his and his brother Orvilles’ new invention–the airplane, Wilbur Wright, when visiting Paris to pitch the same to the French, said:

“There is always an open space as big as a city square in front of each building... And in addition there is nearly always a broad avenue leading directly to it, giving a view from a long distance. It is this, as much as the buildings and monuments themselves, that makes Paris such a magnificent city.” (From David McCullough’s The Wright Brothers Copyright 2015)

This reality is what I hope we all understand as individuals, as a city, as a state, as a nation, and as a world. We need our space, in our art, in our lives and between our living and community spaces. That is were the peace, the beauty, the solace, the hope and the art resides.
Loren M. Lambert, © Jan. 7, 2015.