ustxtxb_obs_1981_01_16_50_00023-00000_000.pdf

Contraband . . . from page 20 I prefer to think that Carter would have thought the matter a small nuisance, rather than a major crisis necessitating a special flight to bring back a twin ham, and would have quickly reverted to worrying about the problem of Jerusalem, or how to get more jello into the free school lunch program, or some other worthy matter of state. If nothing else, telling the president of a problem such as The Missing Ham Crisis and letting HIM come up with a solution on his own could have added immeasurably to his sense of selfesteem, a feeling that he was actually in charge of matters around the White House, and was not just some grinning figurehead waiting to be put through the media meatgrinder and salted and peppered to the voters’ taste for re-election. I have solved the great ham problem, he could have said to us. And many, thinking the president meant he had finally gotten rid of Ham Jordan, would have sighed with relief and approval. We can only hope that when one of President Reagan’s hams comes up missing, his staff will have the courage to tell him it has been eaten. Because if the president of the U.S. is dining on false pretenses, the rest of the country is surely living by the skin of its teeth. El Dialogue .. . number of reliable sources that less than 50 miles from here the Ku Klux Klan is training people to kill “Jews and Niggers.” I have similar reports from around the U.S. and the world for that matter. It was only a few months ago that French synagogues were being attacked. The wonders of modern media have made it possible for me to actually see these smug, self-righteous bastards with the AR-15/M-16 rifles. I know from my personal experience that they are capable of carrying out their intentions. I have been in situations with the Klan before and it is a fairly well known fact that there is no love lost between us. The last time I found myself openly opposing the Klan I received between three and five threats on my life every day for almost four weeks. I very seldom went to my own home and when I was there I was never more than two steps from a very lethal Enfield Jungle Carbine loaded with 180-grain, soft-point ammunition. Several friends offered the loan of handguns to keep with me for selfprotection, but I demurred. I don’t even trust myself. They are so easy to use. I wonder now whether there will come a day in my life when I will have to start carrying a gun, a handgun. Do I dare foreclose that option? Ten years ago I was discharged from the Army as a conscientious objector because I refused to have anything to do with killing people. Last year I found myself taking solace as I loaded my Enfield, knowing that its sole use was to be the utter and ultimate destruction of anyone ‘who entered my home and attempted my undoing. If I have evinced a willingness to breach the commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Kill,” can I logically refuse to own and, if necessary, carry a handgun? And there is the double bind. Handguns have caused more death, misery and destruction than any other hand tool in the history of man. Today, one of them in the hand of some heretofore unknown snuffed out the life and genius of a person who touched the whole world and made it better. How much better I don’t know. That is irrelevant. Is it any less heinous to kill a grocery clerk than a John Lennon or a Robert Kennedy, or a Martin Luther King? Yet, I wonder if I too ought not own one. Have I become a hypocrite or do I justly intend on surviving, and, is the price of the security which I seek the deaths of John Lennon and thousands of other human beings? Louis F. Linden Executive Director National Asibciation of Criminal Defense Lawyers Houston Workers and stockholders It is clear from the text of Bernard Rapoport’s commercial for the American auto industry [Advt. in Obs., Dec. 30, 1980] that he is unaware that the “fuel efficient domestic cars” marketed by Chrysler are in fact manufactured by Mitsubishi in Japan. No wonder they show “little or no difference in the base price” with honestly Japanese cars! The Chrysler stockholders get the advantage of bamboozling the public into thinking they are buying American cars, while taking importers’ profits and escaping the UAW. Chevrolet is doing the same thing, because the American buyer is not smart enough to recognize the difference between American-made and American-controlled. The difference is that between workers and stockholders. J. Derral Mulholland Austin classified_ COMMUNITY ORGANIZERSACORN needs organizers to work with low and moderate income families in 16 states for political and economic justice. Direct action on neighborhood deterioration, utility rates, taxes, health care. Tangible results and enduring rewardslong hours and low pay. Training provided. Contact ACORN, 503 West Mary, FREEWHEELING BICYCLES. 2404 San Gabriel, Austin. For whatever your bicycle needs. THE SAN ANTONIO Democratic League meets the first Thursday of each month. For information, call Jim Bode at 344-1497. POTTERY & BASKETS. Ancient Indian BACKPACKING MOUNTAINEERING RAFTING. Outback Expeditions, P.O. Box LIBERAL and still feel illegal immigration should be controlled, legal immigration have a limit? Join the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Write FAIR, Box 57066, Washington, D.C. 20037. JOIN THE ACLU. Membership $20. Texas Civil Liberties Union, 600 West 7th, Austin 78701. BOOK-HUNTING? No obligation search for rare or out-of-print books. Ruth and John River Hills Road, Austin 78746. MOUNTAIN RETREAT & HOT SPRINGS in private valley. Enjoy room, meals, swimming, sunbathing and exercise classes from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. THE PEACE MOVEMENT is alive and well in Texas. The American Friends Service Committee works for disarmament, human rights, economic justice. Join us. Write AFSC, 1022 W. 6th, Austin 78703. Classified advertising is 30 per word. Discounts for multiple insertions within a 12month period: 25 times, 50%; 12 times, 25%; 6 times, 10%. THE TEXAS OBSERVER 23