Gun Massacre Nation

I express my deep condolences to the families and friends that lost their loved ones at the horrific shooting on February 14, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where the 19-year-old teenager Nikolas Cruz shot 17 people with a semiautomatic rifle.

This tragic event affected many people, and raises a lot of questions, about Cruz as an individual (how does a person arrive at the point of committing such an act of destruction?), but also about wider societal issues: How can a young boy have the opportunity to pack an AR15 assault rifle, load several magazines filled with full metal jacket bullets and enter without obstacle a 2,972 student school? On the latter question, I feel the need to take position as a parent, as a citizen of the United States, as a gun owner, former NRA (National Rifle Association) member and practicing marksman. 

Growing up with guns

Similar to any other child in rural America, I grew up around guns, with the difference that I lived in Venezuela and not in Kentucky. During my childhood it was absolutely normal that when arriving at our farm on the weekends, we would fire some shots into a safe direction to make sure potential robbers knew we were there and armed. When laborers came onto our property asking for work, carrying their basic tools, which were long and sharp machetes, more than once I saw my mother place the Colt 38 special revolver on the table just to show that she was not defenseless. 

I found my first gun at 11 in an old monastery's general store and my father bought it for me thinking it was an airgun. Later I realized that from my bullet collection, the 22 caliber rimfire fitted perfectly into the barrel. When I told my father, he immediately took the pistol from my hands and we went out to the garden to test-fire it. We both were shocked when becoming aware of the danger that I had been in. From that moment on, I could only use the pistol under my father's supervision and he taught me how to handle it with extreme precaution. My uncle on the other hand, did just trigger my fascination for guns and at the same time my sense of self preservation. When I was about 14 he once asked me to get the Colt Python 357 Magnum from under the seat of his Lincoln Continental saying: “take out the bullets and bring them to me”. After, he let me have the revolver to handle it all by myself. So as you can see, I am not a “anti-gun liberal pacifist” and I understand them as an effective defense tool for certain situations.

In my house I exercise strict gun control

I have three boys (14, 25 and 28), and I keep my weapons locked up in a safe of which only I know the combination. Every now and then I take my sons and nephews to the shooting range to have some fun and at the same time teach them how to shoot and handle guns safely. Even if you have your firearms locked up, other households might not. Kids could get them into their hands anywhere. Therefore it is important they learn to handle and respect them as they learn to handle a knife, a kitchen stove or a car, that can be deadly too. 

Of course my bigger sons could legally purchase their own weapons, but as long as they live in my house I would not allow them to keep them. You might think that applying this double standard is not right, but I would like to explain my reasoning to you: I do not see that they have the level of maturity and control to possess a gun yet. And probably they recognize it too and have therefore never even asked me if they could.

It is our collective and individual responsibility

Maybe the issue with Nikolas was precisely the missing father figure, or the sudden loss of the last remaining parent, his mother, or being a foster child or everything combined. When events with this level of impact happen, mostly it is not the fault of a single person, but a failure of the whole society. A society that did not detect on time what was building up inside this human being, a society that allows military firepower in hands of disturbed individuals, a society that is mainly focused on business, culturally attached to their instruments of war and sufficiently corrupt to put the economic interests before the wellbeing of its citizens.  

This massacre problem cannot be left to the politicians to be solved alone; each citizen has to become active and it has to be tackled from deep within our society.  We will need a lot of conversations, common sense and emotional intelligence to be able to agree on a new base. Because when we are not able to protect our young ones, all parties, all groups, all of us parents, all teachers, all neighbors, all law enforcement, all mayors, all pediatricians, all governors, all senators, all presidents (past & present) have dramatically failed. Events like this put our society to a tough test and we basically have two choices: We can enter into the usual actionism, trying to cure the symptoms, or we could (and in my view should) dig deeper and start by diagnosing the route cause to then initiate a transformation developing ourselves to a new level.

There is urgent need for change

The consequence of not having tackled the issue so far: 14 kids and 3 staff members were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland. This happened only 26 miles away from where we live and has therefore touched us significantly. The killer is a young man that had been expelled from that same high school last year. My son will start high school this year and I find myself asking:“Is this really the society I want my boy to continue growing up in?” Well, the answer is that it is in my hands, in our hands and only in our hands to change it. I am a world citizen and I could live wherever I wanted, but 14 years ago I chose the US and it would be really great if I could be part of a transformation here.

Rigid positions lead us nowhere

When everything is categorized in black and white or in this case "for" or "against" guns, there is no constructive discussion possible. As the author and research professor Brene Bruce very well puts in her article https://brenebrown.com/blog/, we have to stop this "bull shit" of knocking down the arguments by disqualifying the other positions and ignoring the valid demands (like the example of the picture). Instead, we have to work together all sides to define and implement the requirements and conditions that a civilian should comply with to be allowed to posses or carry a gun? Not the other way round: everybody can have guns and there are some exceptions, like in the case of convicted felons. But criminals will get them illegally anyway. 

In my opinion, it is absolutely outdated to continue granting this freedom and right to everybody through the 2nd constitutional amendment. It is not logical that you can buy a semiautomatic high caliber rifle at the age of 18 and for entering a bar and purchasing alcohol you have to wait until 21. Even car insurance companies categorize men under 25 as higher risk categories and they know what they are talking about, because they analyze this with accident statistics.

Violence should be shown as crude as it is

Instead of declaring thoughts and prayers again and again after every massacre, maybe we should as a society, consider what it will take to change the mindset.  In example, the media could start showing the real graphic pictures of the wounded bodies and corpses so people understand the effect of destruction that these war artifacts infer. 

We have no problem in doing so in movies and TV series, where guns and violence are glorified.  When it comes to real happenings, we prefer to look away and hold up the “in America everything is great” flag. Nobody likes to see his weak or dark side and it requires even more greatness to be self critical.

There is not only one cause, it is a combination

Our type of gun freedom is really unique in the world, and combined with the high degree of mental health issues and drug usage in this country, it adds another ingredient to an already deadly cocktail.

I remember several crazy characters when I was a student at the German school in Caracas. Some of my schoolmates were angry and mentally unbalanced enough to maybe have done something bad. Of course we did not have the violence abstracting video games and internet access to all kind of distorted and sick content from all around the world.  But most important, we did not have access to the means of power to massively harm anybody. Therefore the maximum expression of craziness was a chair flying through a window, a fist fight or a teacher or fellow student being yelled at. I have to say, that things were not so anonymous and individualistic as they are today. We knew the crazy guys out there and were always alert and trying to anticipate what idiotic thing they could be doing next. In some cases we would even talk or scare them out of it.

The illusion of defending ourselves against a tyranny or "whatever"

I fully understand the argument, that being able to form an armed force, theoretically gives us civilians the possibility of protecting ourselves against potential tyrannies. 

Nothing would I enjoy more, than watching the Venezuelans blow Maduro and his gang of criminals out of the country. But this thought is total utopia, because even if all civilians had guns, in the extreme scenario of a civil war, the government would be able to use warplanes, tanks, bombs, chemical and biological weapons and exercise control over the infrastructure. There is very little chance that the people can defend themselves against a military supported dictatorship (just look at Syria).

The craziest thing of all is how our society has even created a fictitious threat of a post-apocalyptic zombie invasion to sell more weapons. You can buy zombie targets to practice shooting on them and even specific weapons are sold for chopping zombies apart. We have to put a stop to this collective delirium or we will end up living that world as our reality.

Nowadays, the tyrannical governments have other more subtle methods of keeping us under control. They use a spider web with a façade of a democracy and its composed of manipulated elections, taxes, debt, laws & regulations fabricated by congress for the lobbying interest groups, consumerism, “health care” and media. To fight this excessive government control, the best weapon is education and not guns and schools definitely must stay gun-free zones.

Too many weapons in unqualified hands

It is simply to easy to get firearms in America. I have bought a gun on a show and high caliber bullets at Walmart without any background check nor restriction other than showing my ID. In fact, anybody can posses unlimited number of bullets, guns and assault weapons and potentially go crazy with them. This gives individuals too much power and therefore limits our own freedom, safety and peace of mind. This overpopulation of guns also leads to an escalation of fire power on the law enforcement side, a group that is also not exempt of mental issues or abuse. The only ones benefiting from massive arming is the $ 50 billion firearm and ammunition industry (0.27% of the national GDP). It is incredible that this minority group with selfish economic interests keeps the whole nation hostage. 

All the talking and calling for more intelligence and empowerment to detain mentally unstable, increasing police force, arming teachers inside the schools does only make it worse and distracts from the main cause of the problem, which is that roughly 310 million weapons are still out there and increasing in numbers every day. As long as we allow this level of fire power in hands of the unqualified public, these shootings will continue. You can only hope that next time it will not hit you or your loved ones. 

Gun rights should become gun privilege

As a gun owner in Florida, I have to be conscious that the Constitution / State is giving me a "license to kill" in an event where I could "prevent imminent death or great bodily harm" for myself or another person (Stand Your Ground law). This is a huge responsibility that cannot be taken lightly. This empowerment has to be made conditional to certain restrictions and control mechanisms. 

That is why I would accept a strict retroactive gun control legislation that would allow only men of 25 and women of 21 years and older to possess firearms. All gun owners should be required to obtain a  concealed weapons permit. Further, they would need to be member of a training facility / gun club, practise regularly and undergo bi-yearly psychological tests (as hopefully does law enforcement too). The city police would have the right to control availability and storage of the guns at any moment without announcement. Military weapons should be banned completely. This is not rocket science and there are many examples from other countries on how to do this. I would still be able to go to the range for fun and be better prepared to protect my home, myself and my family.

The greatest act of American heroism will be the partial sacrifice of our current gun liberties for the full safety of our children. If we don’t do it, they will.

Pedro Cabrera Scheider

South Florida

The Big Fat Democracy Show

Today Nov 8, 2016 is Election Day and soon our nation of 320 million inhabitants will have a new president. Thereafter, we probably will fall into a vacuum, thinking, what show are we going to watch next!? Thanks to Donald Trump and the media (I'd like to especially mention CNN and FOX News), this election has been one of the best reality shows ever! Unfortunately this is not a joke! From start to finish, this election has had no real content, substance, deepening on the debate issues, but on the other hand, lots of gossip, insults, intrigue, threats, trash talking, sexting, dancing, singing, etc., etc....exactly the material of a reality show. And all fired up by a huge fat spending of over 1.2 billion US$.

Even for a person like me, not affiliated to any party, this whole show does not help to make an informed decision. The contrary happens, all the noise, the manipulation and the contradicting negative messages just generate confusion...and probably that is the intention of the campaign strategists. They have drawn a sad, black and white sketch that is too much of a simplification. I hope that most of my fellow citizens realize that the panorama resembles more a diverse combination of bright colors and shades. It is also important to understand that today's world is more connected than ever and that people think and feel more and more similar around the world. Also, most of the key economic, environmental and human challenges need to be tackled beyond national borders. I have lived and worked in three continents and experienced how different countries, political systems and large private corporations govern and develop themselves. The ones most successful in solving problems, are the ones that foster a collaborative, constructive and consensus orientated culture and dialogue, even when there are opposing views of individuals and groups within. 

Unfortunately this is not what I have experienced during the 2016 US election process. Here one tribe claims "everything is a disaster and wants to make America great again" and the other party states "everything is awesome". They have not even been able to agree on the diagnosis of the key issues and therefore the "debate" has escalated into a contest of pissing, trash digging and repetitive slogan and name calling. Especially by Trump, who has chosen the well-known campaign strategy of a demagogue. Definitely a smart move for him, as it was his only chance to stand out in the pack and quickly smash his initially sixteen co-candidates within the Republican Party (a big failure of the party). Hillary had to fight starting five, and later, only one real "opponent", Bernie. And although he surprisingly managed to kick off a social-democratic ”Political Revolution” (political system that I well know and have learned to appreciate in Germany) many of his young supporters were victims of the restrictive party affiliation rules, which did not allow them to select their candidate if not registered already as democratic voters. This is important to remember, as a big number of people did not want any of the present candidates to represent them. 

So basically Trump advanced because of his smart and assertive tactics and Hillary because the system was "rigged" for her. As a media and marketing veteran, Trump based his campaign strategy on "fear" and a "KISS" message. Kiss not as the affectionate gesture, but meaning: "Keep it Simple Stupid ". I am hopeful that the majority of voters are still conscious enough to see through all this foggy campaign and media storm. After balancing the little valuable information of what I could use from the campaign and taking a closer look at the personalities of the two choices, I did vote, and early. 

Stepping aside from all the questionable statements and noise generated in this election circus, I feel the need to look for a more universal explanation of this insane situation, and I found it: According to the Chinese calendar, we are in the year of the "Fire Monkey", who is "ambitious and adventurous, but irritable"! I do not guide my life based on astrology of any kind, but this collective state of mind is really present right now and considering it, we must stay calm and civil by all means and not be provoked by any extremist reactions that might follow after this emotional rollercoaster and in some segments of the population anger-loaded process. Whoever wins, we have to respect each other and be peaceful.

Democracy means that even if our candidate does not win, we accept the result. We definitely maintain a position of strength, consciousness and willingness to continue working together on improving quality of live on this earth, regardless of who is momentarily in office. Each one of us has more power than we imagine. In our daily role as a consumer, as a colleague, as a family member, as a neighbor, as part of a community and as a voice in social media, we can influence.

In order to better exercise this power, we must team up and work together on specific topics, speaking up and fighting for what matters to you...let it be protection of your private data, improving schools and teaching methods, conserving traditions, historical buildings, the natural environment, expanding the network of safe bicycle lanes, eliminating GMO and chemicals from our foods, getting rid of outdated laws and regulations and many more.

I do not see that our current democracy really wants us that involved. Do you think that politicians and special interests would want us active questioning what they do all the time? No, they want us entertained following the Kardashians or any other mindless TV show and sport event and just have us vote "yes" on any name or amendment they strategically position on the ballot? Why do you think the media and show industry have gotten so big!? Is it all part of a system that wants us uneducated, fat and passive...consuming everything that is thrown at us? If you are also unsatisfied with the current political process and status quo, if you have voted or not, if you are addicted to sugar, fast food or other comfort drugs, there is one thing you can do, kick yourself in the butt and right now, write down the topics that you care for most, go online and look for groups that are active in those areas. Join the one with whom you identify most and start getting into action as a citizen creating your own new reality! Happy Election Day!

Honda CB500X, La Moto perfecta para las Islas

Cuando terminé mi bachillerato tuve la oportunidad de vivir en Tenerife por unos 6 meses y desde entonces uno de mis sueños era darle la vuelta a la isla en moto. Ya en aquella época, la máquina que tenía en la mira para realizar este paseo, era una Honda, específicamente, la VFR750 que a mediados de los ochenta fue introducida al mercado mundial como una innovación tecnológica. Con 195 kilos, la actual CB500X, gentilmente cedida por Aucasa (importador de Honda para las Islas Canarias), pesa 5 kilos menos y me pareció una alternativa interesante para realizar mi sueño.

Después de sacar estos 47 caballos de fuerza de su establo en la Calle Ramón y Cajal, mi primera impresión fue, que la CB500X avanza con suavidad y ligereza por el tráfico de la ciudad. Su sistema de escape produce un susurro agradable y obviamente fue diseñado pensando en reducir al máximo la contaminación acústica. A mí me gusta sentir más el motor y por ende uno de los primeros accesorios que le colocaría a esta moto, sería un buen escape Yoshimura o Akrapovic, lo que definitivamente le destaparía el carácter deportivo. De todas maneras el andar de la CB500X enseguida transmite la sensación de confianza, calidad y control que son características del DNA de las motocicletas Honda.
 

Con mi esposa, a quien le encantan las islas, salí a dar un paseo de reconocimiento por Santa Cruz y sus alrededores. Fuimos hasta las Teresitas, la playa de arena sahariana que sirve de balneario a los locales. El motor bicilíndrico en paralelo de 471cc con doble árbol de levas (DOHC) nos propulsó con ligereza a lo largo del puerto y luego por las estrechas curvas subiendo la cuesta hasta el mirador de San Andrés. Reaccionando frente a un cambio de carril indebido por un conductor distraído, probé los frenos ABS (sistema de antibloqueo electrónico) que ya vienen de serie en todos los modelos Honda a partir de la CB500X. Felicitaciones al fabricante por esta decisión en pro de la seguridad! Esta tecnología es vital para el manejo en situaciones de frenado brusco frente a una situación imprevista, especialmente para los motociclistas. Dos amigos míos han sufrido graves accidentes con meses de estadía en el hospital por haber bloqueado los frenos en una frenada de emergencia y perder el control de sus motocicletas.

 

El gran día de mi gira a la isla comenzó saliendo de Santa Cruz rumbo al Teide vía La Esperanza. Aunque la lluvia del día anterior había eliminado la Calima (nube de polvo sahariano que había cubierto las Canarias por dos días como efecto del Siroco), las calles todavía estaban un poco resbaladizas por la mezcla del agua de la primera lluvia y la arenilla berebere. Así mismo, la sombreada entrada al Pinar de La Esperanza, cuyas verdes torres forman un contrastante túnel vegetal manteniendo la humedad sobre el asfalto, me recordaron que adaptar la velocidad a las condiciones es la clave para el manejo seguro.

 

Revolucionando el motor solo en la medida necesaria para navegar suavemente las curvas subiendo por el pinar, llegue algo frio, pero relajado al mirador del Monte de Joco donde ese día tuve por primera vez una vista despejada del volcán del Teide. Para los que todavía no le saben, con 3718 metros sobre el nivel del mar, el Teide es la montaña más alta de España y muy impresionante cuando se le conoce en persona. 

El día estaba espectacular y la CB500x prometía ser una excelente compañera para darle la vuelta a la isla. Así seguí con un ritmo más dinámico rumbo al Teide entrando en territorio de la lava, que durante la historia geológica de la isla ha formado unos paisajes increíbles y donde te sientes transportado a la luna u otro planeta desértico. Pensé que si algún día fuese a realizar un viaje de aventura en un planeta distante, definitivamente lo haría con un vehículo robusto y fiable como la Honda. La CB500x inspira esta sensación de movilidad segura en el tiempo.

Esta vez con mi hijo de "parrillero", bordee todo el Valle Ucanca para luego cruzar rumbo a Chío. El asfalto en esta sección de la carretera estaba bastante arrugado. La horquilla telescópica delantera de 41mm y el conocido sistema monoshock Pro-Link regulable atrás, me conectó fielmente con la carretera y sus imperfecciones. Definitivamente la suspensión de la CB500x está diseñada para andar en asfalto en buen estado permitiendo así un manejo muy dinámico en las curvas y al mismo tiempo ofreciendo excelente maniobrabilidad.

La TF-38, bajando desde las Cañadas del Teide, es uno de los tramos más atractivos, donde a mano izquierda se puede apreciar una hermosa vista panorámica de la Gomera. Este monolito estrujado de piedra volcánica que sale del mar es el lugar donde nació mi padre. Ese día sus cimas estaban totalmente cubiertas por una sola gran nube que permanecía estacionada sobre la isla. Me dieron ganas de extender mi viaje para tomar el ferry y conocerla más a fondo, pero decidí dejarlo para mi próxima visita a Canarias.

 

En Santiago del Teide me paré en un café donde descansaba un grupo local de moteros con sus pesadas Touring alemanas. Pensé que para la isla este era un despilfarro de cilindrada, potencia y dinero, ya que en las cortas y estrechas vías con sus curvas cerradas, estas naves no tienen ninguna ventaja frente a la ágil y divertida CB500X. Aproveché la parada para comerme un jugoso bocadillo de solomillo y conversar con un turista alemán, quien se quejaba de lo congestionado que estaba la zona turística del Sur.

De aquí quería cruzar por la TF-346 de Masca a Buenavista del Norte y luego seguir a la punta. Cuando comencé a subir la montaña y reconocí que esta ruta era un largo "espagueti Vermicelli", tan estrecho que en la entrada de cada curva había que turnarse con los coches o buses que venían en sentido contrario para pasarla. Como iba a tardar demasiado en recorrer esos 22 km de estas infinitas curvas, opté por regresar a Santiago para tomar la ruta rumbo a el Tanque. Para la CB500X el recorrido de curvas del “Vermicelli” no hubiese sido ningún problema, pero yo no quería que me cogiera la noche en el Norte de la isla y todavía me faltaba un buen trecho por recorrer.

 
Del pueblo El Tanque bajé por una pequeña calle de curvas cerradas y llegue a Garachico (ver foto abajo con el Roque), un pueblo muy pintoresco y de significado histórico, que representaba el principal puerto de la Isla antes de la conquista. Su plaza y el malecón sobre la lava, desde el cual se puede apreciar la bravura de su costa son sitios icónicos que hay que vivirlos. De Garachico me di un breve salto hasta Buenavista, esta vez por la costa.

Saqué unas fotos de los lindos paisajes costeros y me encaminé rumbo a Icod de los Vinos y luego a Pinelere, la Orotava donde me reuní con mi familia en el Guachinche de Lele y Lulu (ver foto abajo), quienes nos habían preparado una típica comida canaria con calderos llenos de exquisitas piñas, costillas, gofio escaldado, papas y vino de producción propia. La única manera de llegar a este Guachinche es ir con alguien que ya haya estado ahí y con un vehículo que pueda ascender la cuesta de casi 40 grados, lo que no fue problema para la CB500X.

Finalizado el banquete, regrese a la capital en línea casi recta por la iluminada Tenerife-5 (Autopista del Norte). A 120 km/h, que es la velocidad máxima legalmente permitida, la moto se siente extremadamente estable y así me llevo sin demora hasta la entrada de las Ramblas donde culminó mi gira a la isla. Cabe destacar el buen rendimiento de la CB500X que, pese al almuerzo canario, realizó la vuelta completa a la isla con menos de un tanque de combustible de 95 octavos.

Después de mi gira, me puse a ver las imágenes de la moto sobre los diferentes paisajes pintorescos que pude captar durante el viaje. El diseño de su parte superior y delantera me recordaba a una moderna embarcación marítima con líneas horizontales aerodinámicas y las partes bajas en tonos negros que se funden con el color de la vía. La parte alta del carenado en blanco y negro y el tanque en blanco mate, contrastan con el azul del mar y los cielos. Este diseño representa una fusión del estilo “adventure” y “sport” brindando una estética que cautiva y que seguro perdurará en el tiempo. Muchos de los llamados vehículos “crossover” tienden a perder la esencia del diseño original de cada tipo, pero en el caso de la CB500X, me parece que Honda logró un concepto muy limpio y balanceado.

Tomando en cuenta lo descrito sobre las características de excelente maniobrabilidad en las curvas y la buena propulsión que brinda el sólido motor bicilíndrico en paralelo en todas las situaciones, definitivamente puedo constatar que la Honda CB500x es el vehículo perfecto para las Islas. Se desenvuelve de manera profesional en todas las vías, sea en el agitado tráfico diario de la ciudad, las curvas de las carreteras de montaña o las rectas rápidas de las autopistas.

En una nota mas personal también les comento que en el mundo somos muchos los entusiastas moteros que en su territorio de residencia sea por mal clima, falta de curvas o tráfico excesivo, no tenemos las condiciones ni cercanas a lo que ofrecen las Canarias. Yo mismo, que vivo en Miami, básicamente recorro largas rectas planas con mucho calor y humedad. Para un motociclista acostumbrado al "cruising" en estas condiciones, Tenerife representa un paraíso de curvas, rutas moderadas de montaña, vistas espectaculares y la posibilidad de andar en moto durante todo el año con excelente clima (quitando la calima). Otros factores muy importantes son la cantidad de rincones y exquisiteces gastronómicas por descubrir, la buena condición de las carreteras, la hospitalidad de mi gente y la fantástica cultura motera que ya existe en España y que hace que los automovilistas tengan cierto entendimiento y respeto por sus compañeros de vía en dos ruedas. Compañeros moteros canarios, podemos estar orgullosos de nuestras 7 Islas y espero que sigamos fomentando la cultura de andar en dos ruedas. Ride on safely!