Oregon Measure 105

I try to attend every town hall in my area by my federal and state senators and representatives. I've asked a question only once, at my state representative's public meeting, mostly because there were just a dozen or so people there and I just kinda wanted to see what she would say. I usually already know all of the positions of my state and federal representatives. I'm at these town halls mostly to make sure Trump supporters don't highjack the meeting and make it seem like they are in the majority - they are not. There's usually someone standing at the entrance to the town hall with paper signs - one is green with "agree" on it and one is red with "disagree" on it. Display of the signs is how the speaker knows what the room is thinking.

I like to live tweet town halls I attend. I tweet about questions being asked and how the representative is responding. It's my way of reminding people that their representatives are (or should be) available to answer their questions in public and that people need to take advantage of opportunities to hear directly from their elected officials. My overall message: It's easy to be "involved," and this is what it looks like.

At a recent meeting I attended, one of the audience members said that she is a survivor of sexual violence: she said that, in 2001, she was raped for 15 hours by men in the USA illegally. She asked our Representative to change her mind and support Oregon Measure 105, which will repeal Oregon's Sanctuary State Law (ORS 181A.820). Repeal would mean local police and sheriff's deputies could ask people for proof of their immigration status and arrest people for violating federal immigration law, even if they aren't being investigated for such. The woman at the event believes that most illegal immigrants are criminals, that they commit far more violent crimes than other people, and that Measure 105 will protect people - and that it would have protected her.

Her horrific experience is something that deserves our empathy and sympathy and ANGER, no question. These men that did this are beyond evil. I hope they were prosecuted. In fact, I wish them nothing but pain. But I wish all of this not because they are illegal immigrants. I wish it because they did something reprehensible beyond measure. I would feel the same way had they been legal immigrants. I would feel the same way if they were citizens that were born in the USA. Their legal status as residents or citizens in no way changes the nature of the horror they inflicted.

So, if this survivor had been raped by people where legal immigrants, would she now want all legal immigrants banned? I guess she would say, "If people are willing to commit one crime - crossing the border and living here illegally - they will commit any crime." Never mind that such is not backed up by facts. Yes, there are illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes. There are FAR more natural born citizens who commit violent crimes.

And consider the actions of these immigrants:

William Ramirez, a father of two from Colombia, was on his way to his maintenance job at a boatyard when he witnessed a man trying to gun down a Miami police officer. Ramirez drove his van into the line of fire, shielding the policeman from the shooter and pulling him to safety.

Antonio Diaz Chacon, from Mexico, was in Albuquerque and saw a young girl being abducted off the street, and unhesitatingly pursued the kidnapper to rescue the child.

Jesus Manuel Cordova saved the life of a 9-year-old boy stranded in the Arizona desert. The boy’s mother had died in a car crash, leaving him helpless — until he was discovered by Cordova, who had just entered the country illegally. Cordova stayed with the boy, keeping watch for hours until someone eventually found them and contacted the authorities.

On the day of the Boston marathon bombing of 2013, Costa Rican Carlos Arredondo rushed to help the victims just after the explosion of the two bombs. He made a tourniquet for Jeff Bauman, a victim who lost both legs. His picture in a cowboy hat next to Bauman in a wheelchair circulated around the world.

José Gutierrez, the first American soldier killed in combat after the invasion of Iraq, on March 21, 2003, was an orphaned Guatemalan who had entered the U.S. at the age of 2.

Damián López Rodríguez, a Mexican from Nogales, joined the USA military and he died on April 6, 2007, along with two other soldiers when their Humvee was hit by home-made bomb.

Some of the aforementioned were here legally, some came to the USA illegally. Can you tell which ones just by their actions? Would you really look at the people these immigrants saved or served and saved, "I don't care, I wish they had been deported and not helped you or your family"?

Fearing deportation, many domestic violence victims are steering clear of police and courts. Is that what we want, for people that commit domestic violence, many of them NOT immigrants, to get away with that crime because of fear of deportation? How does that keep us safer?

Immigrants are being scammed by NON immigrants but are reluctant to call police about the crime. How does that keep any of us safer?

When people commit crimes, they should be punished. When people prevent crimes or help people, they should be celebrated. What their immigration status is doesn't in any way make people more likely to be criminals nor heroes.

Washington County, Oregon District Attorney Kevin Barton and Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett have issued a joint statement saying they do not want the repeal of Oregon Measure 105 and that "Our community is safer when citizens and non-citizens alike report crimes and testify in court so we can arrest and prosecute criminals." I agree.

Globalization

If you paid attention in history class, you learned over and over how humans have always lived in a global society with frequent migrations: the hunger people had for spices, silks, food and items from other countries has always been there, different languages have always influenced each other, there has always been a global economy and while country and borders may change frequently, the influence that different countries have on each other has always been present, and different groups have moved into new places.

To pretend that "globalization" is something new and something that threatens your country's sovereignty is disputed by at least 10,000 years of recent history.

Also, you can love your country and love experiencing food, music and customs from somewhere else. You can be proud of your country and acknowledge that another country does some things better. It is ignorant and misguided at best and arrogant and reckless at worst to think otherwise.

Once again, Donald Trump is wrong.

what losing KLR means

Kawasaki is going to discontinue its KLR line of motorcycles. And I am sad.

I have a 2008 KLR. It is my second motorcycle. I'm the third owner. I bought it when it had just 3700 miles on it. I paid $3500 for it. I adore it. My KLR has taken me up and down gravel roads to gorgeous, remote camp sites and intriguing, hidden ghost towns and vistas too beautiful for words, as well as on many thousands of miles of pavement. My KLR has been to 10 states and provinces in the USA and Canada, and in 2020, it's taking me through Baja, Mexico. In addition to making me an "adventure rider," my KLR also been my backup transportation when I need to take short trips around town.

Though this is an "adventure" or "dual sport" bike, I'll probably never do a back country discovery route (BDR) with my KLR, because those "roads" are beyond my skills, but my KLR could! I may have struggled to get to Silver City, Idaho via the back road from Jordan Valley, Oregon, but my KLR didn't at ALL.

In addition to loving all that my KLR is capable of, and how easy it was for my husband to do things to it so that it was low enough for me to ride (I'm 5' 4"), and how durable it is (I've dropped it twice), this motorcycle is affordable, even if you buy it new. You can get a new KLR for about $6700. By contrast, other dual sport motorcycles cost FAR more: a new Honda Africa Twin costs about $13,500. A new BMW F 700 GS costs about $10,000. A new F 800 GS is $12,300. A new F 800 GS Adventure is almost $14,000. That doesn't even get into the 1000 and 1200s.

What the KLR has given me access to is hard to put into words, but I'll try: it's been central to maintaining any physical and mental health I've held onto through my 40s and into my 50s.

And that's why I am so sad to hear that the KLR is going away. According to Tri County Honda Yamaha Kawasaki Polaris in West Virginia, Kawasaki announced on September 15 that, after 31 years of production, the company has discontinued production of the KLR. Apparently, it isn't selling well.

My fear is that this is another step making adventure motorcycle riding only for people who are financially elite. I can't afford to spend $10,000 on anything at this point in my life, and probably never will. And I'm far from alone in being in that position financially.

If KLR sales are slumping, as they are for Harley Davidson, then Kawasaki has only itself to blame. I think all motorcycle companies do a LOUSY job of marketing. LOUSY. They will spend many thousands of dollars on photo sessions with greased-up almost-naked women, standing in high heels next to a motorcycle they don't know how to ride, but motorcycle companies won't bother to contact women who actually ride and that post fantastic photos of the places their motorcycles take them and say to them, "Hey, could we pay you a few hundred bucks to use these amazing photos in an ad campaign?" There's Facebook groups for women motorcycle riders, including niche groups like Women Adventure Riders for women that ride dual sport motorcycles. Are motorcycle dealers, designers and gear shops monitoring these groups and looking to see what REAL customers are saying? I rarely see product placement in movies or TV shows for motorcycles - do you know what it would do for sales to see a character in a halfway popular TV show riding a motorcycle even SOMETIMES? And I have never seen a motorcycle dealer have a display at a big event that attracts people under 50 or women - not at large concerts, not at big outdoor expos... Why not?

There are so many people, particularly women, who think about riding a motorcycle but have no idea where to begin - I know because they approach me all the time when they meet me standing next to my bike or when they find out that I ride, in gas stations and grocery store parking lots and at rest stops and campgrounds. They are buzzing with questions and then start with their comments about how much they would love to learn to ride but don't know where to begin. They also write me because of this page on my web site talking about how I got started riding and this page on how I started riding a dual sport. Why do they approach me? Because I'm approachable - I'm an overweight 50ish woman riding backroads and having an amazing time and I won't shame anyone for being hesitant or intimidated for their questions about riding a motorcycle, including off-road. I'm no Dakar Rally rider, and they see me and realize they don't have to be either to take a gravel road to somewhere really amazing.

I promote motorcycle riding because of my passion for it - imagine what I could do if I had something to sell, if this were my full time, paid job!

The motorcycle industry, at least in the USA, cannot operate the way it has for decades. It must change and it must cultivate new riders, not just hope people will come along. Baby boomers are aging out of their motorcycle riding years, and middle-aged and young adults are burdened with debt - and getting rid of affordable motorcycles is going to further turn them away. Plus, the demographics of our nation is changing drastically - and that means the customers for any product are changing drastically. By 2050, the USA will be a place where white people will no longer be in the majority: our minority population, currently 30 percent, is expected to exceed 50 percent before 2050. In fact, most of America’s net population growth will be among its minorities, as well as in a growing mixed-race population. Latino and Asian populations are expected to nearly triple. What is the image of motorcycle riding that will make this changing demographic want to ride? The peace of mind? The adventure? The fun? The empowerment? The zen? The escape? The feeling of connection to the environment and the road? The role someone assumes as a motorcycle rider, a role that is far different from that of their day job, as a software developer, a checkout clerk, a delivery driver, an accountant, a Mom?

If the motorcycle industry takes away affordable adventure motorcycles, they can kiss that part of their industry goodbye, because it WILL die out. Is that really what they want?

And if you DO have a motorcycle, check out the fantastic products my husband has to offer:

Adventure Motorcycle Luggage & Accessories
www.coyotetrips.com


Aluminum Panniers and Top Cases,
Top Case Adapter Plates,
Tough Motorcycle Fuel Containers, & More


Designed or Curated by an experienced adventure motorcycle world traveler
Based in Oregon
You won't find these exact products and this level of quality, at this price, anywhere else - available only from Coyotetrips

Also see:
Nonprofits can learn from motorcycle manufacturers? Yes!