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Trustmaker's Thursday

“If it's worth striving for, it's worth protecting.”

October 13, 2005

Between Katrina, Rita and Allah.
By Rob Lambert, President of Asset Protection Corporation

My wife and I were in Paris last week. While we were there, we continually saw graphic images on television of the video taken during a suicide bomber’s attack inside a Bali nightclub. Two things in the video caught my attention: One was of an attractive young lady in a white dress passing the bomber moments before he detonated the bomb. I don’t know if she survived. The other was an image of a charred, severed, hand lying on top of a table. My wife had nightmares about that hand for several days afterwards.

What angers me is that this hate-filled Muslim killed himself, and at the same time, murdered and wounded innocent people in the name of Allah. All he managed to accomplish by this cowardly act was to hurt the gentle, Balinese people. Bali’s economy, which was badly shaken by terrorist bombings three years ago, could collapse as a result of these new terrorist acts. Worse, still, is the fact that with the collapse of the economy, every Balinese will suffer.

While in Paris, we had the opportunity to dine with a couple from Texas who had just arrived from Bali. Both had witnessed what happened; they had seen the death and destruction. Knocking down a number of stiff drinks, he related to us what he had seen. His eyes looked very haunted. His wife, still in shock, said nothing.

I’m a realist. I know that the U.S. has the capability to rain down massive retaliation against these terrorists. However, it can’t be done. Terrorists are mobile with no fixed country where they can be hunted down and punished. What must be done to end this violence is for Islamic religious leaders to speak out and condemn the actions of these terrorists by reaffirming that Islam is a religion of love and tolerance.

Enough about Bali; let me say a few things about the French. On the day my wife and I were leaving, Paris had a general transportation strike. Subways, buses and trains were shut down, and taxi cabs were impossible to find. But, throughout all of this, the French had this attitude: “C’est la vie,” which roughly translates to “that’s life.” When I spoke to Parisians about the strike, they just shrugged. “Why worry about the strike,” they said, “it means that you’ll be able to stay in Paris for another day or two. C’est la vie.” In short, the French simply got on with their lives. The strike was just another inconvenience.

I promise all my readers that in the following weeks I will endeavor to give you the best information about Asset Protection that I can. But after the events in the past weeks, all I have to say is “C’est la vie.” That’s life. It goes on regardless of what happens to us or what we do, so why overly concern ourselves.

I like the attitude of the French. I believe that their attitude is the reason why few French people die of heart attacks.

Best,

Rob