Showing posts with label John Kerry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Kerry. Show all posts

Monday, December 15, 2014

One More Immigration Court Date

Official photographic portrait of US President...
Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: (Wikipedia)
(statement for court date on December 19)

In case you have not noticed, my trial now has lasted longer than Nelson Mandela's! I am amused. In the first few years I felt frustrated. How long can you feel that way? Now I feel amused.

There are things I know and things I don't know. And I am fairly humble about things I don't know. Honest to God, I don't understand your legal process. I don't have the slightest clue how this works. It is not about logic, and it is not about justice. It is strange, it is bizarre, it is weird.

It is not logical because when I first appeared in front of you people from Nepal were being granted political asylum in the thousands per year, maybe even tens of thousands, and that rate is still intact. So it is not possible this judicial process is not aware of the ground situation in Nepal. And I was the only among the 300,000 plus Nepalis in America to have worked full time for the democracy movement in the 2005-06 period. And I again did full time work for the Madhesi Movement a year later, and my comrades from the democracy movement from Nepal to NYC now had become bitter opponents. On top of all that, I became Barack Obama's first full time volunteer in NYC for which I paid the price I paid: the worst experience of my life. In this city. In this oldest of democracies. But I have no major begrudges. I am of Bihari origin. Democracy gets really rough and tumble in Bihar.

Logic would say that when you put all this together my case was a no brainer. But it has been anything but. It has been a major headache. I have missed wave after wave in the tech startup world, thanks to you. Your process has many of the worst aspects of a Third World bureaucracy. Reminds me of the Nepal I left: you would have to wait in line for years to get a landline. And to think it is lack of immigration that Japan and Europe are in the sorry shape they are in.

Half a decade later I am being made to realize this process has been trying to figure out if I am a good guy or a bad guy. This blows my mind. I am a gift to this country. I am a really, really good guy.

You mention Texas and 2002. Those brain dead cops, when I first talked about them in this court it was not a hot political issue in this country. How times have changed! They started firing after they saw my face. The truck was safely parked on the shoulder of a side road by someone about to call it a night. About a dozen brain dead cops emptied their guns into my truck. The closest bullets hit maybe five feet from my body. I was not scared in real time, because I am like, who is thumping so hard on my trailer! I am scared now! Your process is not about justice, because those brain dead dozen are the clear bad guys. Why is there even a debate! From where does the confusion come?

Talking about 18 wheelers --- just one minor observation --- I have seen more of America than anyone who ever ran for President Of The United States. That is just a fact.

There are things that I know, and there are things that I don't know. Let me tell you what I know. I beat Bill Clinton before Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton. John Kerry is the only presidential candidate in history not to have received a bounce from his convention. I did what I did, and then Bill Clinton did what he did. But he should not feel bad, because he did achieve his goal. He meant to clear the 2008 deck for Hillary, and he was able to do that.

In case anyone might think it was a fluke, I did a repeat performance a few years into this judicial process. I walked all over Williamsburg for a few hours taking pictures left and right, up and down. And, lo and behold, I was being followed around like crazy. I noted a special police van, fully peopled. A cop with a sniff dog had the dog sniff me. I said hello to the dog. As I walked down a street, as I neared a corner, I gave a fast right jerk to my head and spotted a cop quickly pull away, only moments before having had the gun at the ready. And I remember thinking, am I having a Jason Bourne moment here?

Look, I don't do physical. Free hand exercise is as far as it goes for me. What I do is political. But sometimes the conceptual gets so intense, you kind of spill a little into the physical realm. I am someone who is never going to run for public office. I don't have a country. It is not Nepal, it is not India, it is not America. At least I feel I am on the right planet, thank God. I would like to do all I can possibly do to help cure poverty, that is all. And I have determined digital tools are my best bet. They suit my style, and they are amazingly effective tools. I am going to use and build, build and use even more powerful tools. And to that end the rest of my life will be dedicated. That is the reason I need to be a successful tech entrepreneur.

But out of respect for this court, I have done what I have been asked to do. On Monday, December 15, I got legal insurance through Legal Shield (www.legalshield.com). But then I proceeded to do all the work myself.

I called a bunch of numbers in Texas. And I was able to locate someone who said she will fax Rudra the traffic ticket from May 27, 2002 to his fax number (212) 290-2303. I believe that is what you wanted.

I called the Gray County District Attorney, 205 North Russell Street, Pampa, TX 79065, Phone:(806) 669-8003 who led me to the Pampa TX DA's Office at 806 669 8015 who led me back to the Gray County number who then led me to one of the three judges' office, Judge Curfman's at 806 669 8015 who gave me the numbers for the other two judges Martinez (806 669 8032) and Carpenter (806 779 2721). I was told it was probably Judge Carpenter who received my 60 dollar payment since he deals with the Interstate 40 part. And that was correct information. Someone at Judge Carpenter's office was able to pull up information related to the number you gave me (TX 06911603). The wonderful lady at the other end of the phone said she will fax that document to Rudra at his fax number that I gave her.

I explained to them that the immigration court wants an attorney representing me to contact the DA's Office in Pampa Texas to get some kind of a form for a May 27, 2002 incident involving the 18 wheeler I was driving. The words on the ticket were "failure to control speed." The speed limit was 70 miles per hour. My truck was programmed to not go faster than 68 mph. So I could not have been speeding. How often does this country give speeding tickets to a standing truck! But since I was not native to TX I thought it best to just pay the 60 bucks and be done with it, probably an unwise decision.

Now if we can please proceed to let me get going with my tech entrepreneurship, I would be most grateful. I want to do good. I have always wanted to do good, political demonizations here and there aside.


Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Apartheid In Israel

[Israel]
[Israel] (Photo credit: edoardocosta)
Kerry warns of 'apartheid' without Middle East peace

Israel is a remarkable story of survival. No ethnic/religious/cultural group in human history has been of such a small number with such an outsize influence and identity. And then there is the blemish of the Holocaust, the largest state crime in history. Tech in Israel is inspiring. The state of Israel is a leader when it comes to dealing with day to day terror acts.

But that does not change the fact that Israel today is an apartheid state. Either there is a two state solution, or all people living in the disputed territories of the West Bank and Gaza strip become full citizens of Israel. There is not a third option.

It is the most complex geopolitical knot on earth. That is there. Some of the larger changes that could help the situation is if there were a near total spread of democracy across the Arab world.
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Monday, September 09, 2013

Kerry's Proposal Is A Good One

English: SOCHI. With President of Syria Bashar...
English: SOCHI. With President of Syria Bashar al-Assad. Русский: СОЧИ, БОЧАРОВ РУЧЕЙ. С Президентом Сирии Башаром Асадом. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If Syria hands over all its chemical weapons, that can be a nice way out of the current quagmire. Wars are always ugly. There is no such thing called a surgical war. But pressure has to be maintained, and preparations have to be made.

Other than the weapon, a few good things about the move would be that one, maybe Assad will agree to a ceasefire and a political solution, and two, it is a good thing that Russia and the US are cooperating.

The tech community feels differently about Snowden than does DC. The nation state is in a clash with the Internet. The Internet has a libertarian bent to it. So the Russia-Snowden affair is not all that black and white.

If Assad will agree to hand over his chemical weapons, maybe Assad will also agree to a political solution that will start with an all round ceasefire to bring the mindless killings to an end. But then the roadmap has to lead to elections to a constituent assembly, to start with a caretaker interim government. Or am I asking too much?
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Sunday, March 06, 2011

John Kerry Has The Solution

U.S. Senator John Kerry of MassachusettsImage via Wikipedia
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the U.S., in conjunction with its allies, could put into place all the trappings of a no-fly zone and then wait to see whether Qaddafi tries to massacre his people or the global community decides it needs to intervene. "The last thing we want to think about is any kind of military intervention. And I don't consider the fly-zone stepping over that line. We don't want troops on the ground," Kerry said. But, he added, "One could crater the airports and the runways and leave them incapable of using them for a period of time. I don't think this is going to be a long-term kind of thing, frankly. That's just my judgment. ... It's not a very big air force. We're not talking about, you know, this gargantuan kind of force that we face."

No Fly Zone Or Massacre
No Fly Zone Or Surgical Strikes
Sound Military Options
Make Surgical Strikes, Take The Guy Out
Bomb Gaddafi's Tent
Khameini, Gaddafi, Caecescu
How Many People Could Mubarak Kill?


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Sunday, August 15, 2010

Reshma's Integrity On Ground Zero Mosque And Wall Street

Schumer's district from 1993 to 1999Image via Wikipedia

The Washington Post: Democrats' Craven Silence On Ground Zero Mosque Continues: I asked Chuck Schumer's office for his position on the Islamic center this morning. All his spokesman would say is that he "not opposed" to the plan. Asked for Schumer's views of the opposition, and asked if he actively supports the right of the center's builders to put it two blocks from Ground Zero, Schumer's spokesman declined to elaborate and said Schumer was declining an interview. ..... Schumer is also refusing to answer direct questions from reporters about this topic. ...... Dem Rep. Anthony Weiner, who's been widely hailed as a hero on the left for his supposed willingness to engage the opposition, is also refusing to say word boo about his position on the Islamic center. ...... he can't bring himself to stand up for their right to worship two blocks from Ground Zero. ...... Here's another Dem who has done the right thing: Reshma Saujani, an attorney and activist who is running against Dem Rep. Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan.
President Obama needs to give this country a second stimulus bill, and this is what it has to look like. Reshma wins big on September 14, and he needs to outright go ahead and endorse her to make doubly sure she wins on September 14. Then he crisscrosses the country with her all the way to November. She requests her to raise as much money as possible. She enters Congress. He asks her to help him mend the frayed relationship between Wall Street and Main Street. That is what the second stimulus "bill" will look like. You want Reshma Saujani in Congress because you want this country to go back to work. This Reshma-Maloney contest stopped being just about District 14 a long time ago.

The bozos don't tire of calling Reshma "Wall Street's candidate." These are people who wish a permanent 10% unemployment rate on this country. Reshma wants that to come down to a more manageable 5%. And she knows the US federal government can not afford another trillion dollar stimulus bill. But she also knows private companies are sitting on a trillion and a half dollars that they could be putting to good use right now but aren't because Wall Street demonization has gone too far. When Maloney criticizes workers on Wall Street for making their individual contributions to Reshma which they can do as citizens while taking gobs of Wall Street PAC money herself, you know Wall Street demonization has gone too far, you know Maloney's hypocrisy has monkeyed to ever new heights.

Reshma Saujani was John Kerry's top 10 fundraisers in 2004. But that was in the pre-Wall Street demonization era, and so noone called her Wall Street's fundraiser back then. And now she has been raising money like an incumbent, and bozos are like, wait a minute.

She is really good at raising money. Like really, really, really, really good. Fundraising happens to be one of my personal blind spots, so I appreciate it even more. Da how?

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Bible)

Money, message, organization are the three fundamentals. She is exceptionally good at all three of them. I have never met or read about a politician anywhere who was so exceptionally good at all three. Most people are good at one or two of the three at most. Some are excellent at one of the three. She is excellent at all three. That is remarkable.
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