Switching Mode

Brunch With Adam Carson

During the six months I felt the emotional presence of my sister first and foremost. And I also felt Adam's presence. And there were people in the Nepali community. Anil and Chandra would meet up with my Nepali lawyer to express concern. Binod Shah had me stay at his house after I got out. He is the most connected-among-Madhesis Madhesi in New York Metro. My brother-in-law bailed me out. My high school alumni association's North America's chapter founder, classmate Kiran also wrote a letter.

Adam was a top Web 2.0 person at Morgan Stanley. My job is to get him to drop out of business school when the startup can afford to have him full time. I feel like I compete with Facebook in having him with me full time, by my side, working, dreaming of billions, Facebook and perhaps some consulting company in NYC. For me personally it is not about the money, it is about the vision statement.

Madhesi, Jewish

There are some overlaps, and then there are not. Jesus was a Jew. Buddha was a Madhesi. There are about 13 million Jews and Madhesis on the planet, 13 million each. The Jews got their own state, Israel. We Madhesis are working to get our own state in a federal Nepal.

But there is a direct connection between Jesus and anti-Semitism. The Holocaust at some level was the Jews getting blamed for killing Jesus. There is no direct connection between Buddha and the anti-Madhesi prejudice in Nepal. We have nothing even remotely close to the Holocaust in our heritage.

Both Madhesis and Jews are good looking people.

Two Cases: Immigration, Criminal

And to think there were people back in 2000, 2001 who thought I should go to Law School. The legal process is not creative enough for me. It feels like people using clever words to keep bothering you.

The immigration case is exactly where I want it at this point.

January 5

I want the criminal charge drama to come to an end on January 5. I am in talks with a criminal lawyer. But on my own I have thought up of something. I have no desire to go down the spiral of lawsuits and counter lawsuits. And fuck Charlie Rangel. I want to spend some time thinking about Caroline Kennedy, not Charlie Rangel. He should meet me in the halls and galleries of history if he can. I really don't have any desire to meet him in court. At some level I feel plain sorry for the guy.

Voluntary Pledge

• Not mentioning the ERC name at this blog going into the future.
  
• Not showing up for DL21C events.
  

Quiet Pledge

• Not mentioning the name of any NYC young progressive at my blog going into the future.
  
• Not going to political events in general.
  

Startup

I need to focus on the startup like a laser beam. That is the only way to take it to the heights I wish to take it to. Showing up for political events made sense when I was doing Nepal and Obama work. Both are behind me. I am a crisis man. When Nepal was in crisis, I was needed. When it was not at all obvious Barack is that man, I was needed. No more. Nepal is on track. Barack is in office.

I already stole six months from the startup. Three hours at a political event is three hours stolen away from the startup.

An Hour Or Two For Barack On Saturdays

Instead of first thing in the morning every morning, I do want to continue following Barack through Google News, but now I want to limit myself to an hour or two on Saturdays.

Five to six days a week it has to be, get up, workout, and devote the day to the startup.

Get A Life

Work and life. Taking better care of me. Making conscious chunks of time for family and friends. Working hard, living well, having fun. More me time.

No Career Switch

The startup work is going to be intense fun. It does not feel like a career switch. Internet access is the voting right for this 21st century. I never imagined myself a legislator. An executive office like the presidency fascinates me. The startup might be closer to my personality. Action.

Life: Part 2

This feels like life, part 2.

Autobiography

I think I am going to end up writing 1000 pages. So it might be quite a few months before it is out online. It is going to be experimental, nontraditional. The online format is going to have a major impact on its form and content, on its style. It might be blunt and detailed.

Plenty Of Fish

First time I heard of this site. I am surprised considering it has become so big.

Working Out

I relish the freedom of the freehand routines. And I am proud of my achievements so far. My body has sharper contours. It has been fleshing out nice. 600 pushups on Mondays and Thursdays, 600 crunches on Tuesdays and Fridays, 600 situps on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I don't know how the ancients kept track of the week.

Creative Guy

I am primarily a creative, not a combative guy. Combat is for once in a while. Creativity is for every single day. My hero Larry Ellison says he thinks of competitors as people who are trying to steal grains of rice from his children's teeth. Time for combat will come. Capitalism has its creative destructions.

Near Death

I once got into a real bad road accident in upstate New York. That was a near death experience. There was another incident in northern Texas that was a near death experience. The six months fall in that category, very literally, in a few different ways. On to life, part two. Appreciate the air, appreciate the water, appreciate.

Katie Halper's Night

I hope I did not give the impression that Katie made fun of the Holocaust for two hours and I laughed for two hours. That is not what happened. She dealt with all sorts of themes she has been cultivating over her stand up career. It is just that once in a while she would touch upon the Holocaust as a topic as in, it is okay to talk about it, it is okay to even find a few comic twists, and, people, maintain perspective, what about Hiroshima, Nagashaki, Darfur, Rwanda, the Armenians? Most of the two hours were comics making fun of the Jewish identity like Jon Stewart makes fun of his Jewish identity on national television.

January 5 Court Date: Bogus Court Order Violation Charge

9:30 AM, Part C
100 Centre Street
New York, NY 10013

2008 NY 040082

Hello Mr. Harris. Rudra mentioned your name back in July when I was in immigration detention. Ms. Elizabeth Caputo charged me with harassment. That triggered a May 13 deportation order because I was out of status. I was arrested for overnight on May 21. On May 22 I was ordered by a city judge to not contact her and was given a court date of June 4. A week later I showed up at the police station to pick up my wallet from night one of arrest. They arrested me again for a court order violation charge - bogus. On May 28 the judge refused the court order violation charge, refused "the people's" request for a $500 bail and let me go, and bundled the two cases. I showed up in court on June 4. Immigration got me. I spent six months in detention. Rudra got me out.

The city long ago dropped the original harassment charge "for lack of prosecutorial evidence." The court order violation charge is based on her claim that I ccd an email to her that I sent to two friends. That simply is not true. Please go to this page to see an image of the email yourself.

Lingering Detail: December 18

Ms. Caputo made a knowingly false charge.

Charlie Rangel's office got involved early on. That office pressured the NYPD to register a charge that should never have been registered for long enough that I would get deported. Could Rangel be sued for that?

Since her court order violation charge is completely false, can I countersue and make her pay for my legal expenses? Your fees? How does this work?

Can someone seek an order of protection against me for no reason? How does that work? Or if the case does get thrown out, does the order of protection vanish? Would I then be able to go to political events put together by her organization? I might not want to on my own, and it might not be wise, but would it be legal for me to go to those events?

I don't really want to get into a fight. But I want to know of all my options, upto and including suing Rangel?

She is a very talented woman. At one time we respected each other much. We have also liked each other a few times, although nothing happened. That complicates things. What I want is I want the legal mess to come to an end. I don't want to hurt her. I don't want to go after her. I just want things to get normalized.

Maybe you can call up her lawyer and try for an out of court settlement. Is that even an option?

Bringing The Criminal Charge Drama To An End: A Potential Lawsuit

Is it possible she never knew about my deportation order of May 13? As in the NYPD would not tell her about it? How does that work?

One way this could end is I would pledge to (a) not mention her at my blog going into the future, and (b) not show up for her DL21C events. But this would be a voluntary pledge, and she would not push for an order of protection. And of course she would drop the court order violation charge and pay your fee. And I would not sue Rangel.

Please talk to her lawyer and see what our options are. And what is your fee? Can it be paid in installments?

December 22, 2008

---

December 26, 2008

Hello James. It was good to talk to you even though you are in Wyoming. This is the latest.

I want this whole thing to come to an end on January 5. I don't want to have to spend a single minute on this after January 5. I just want to be able to focus on my work and my life.

Will a voluntary pledge to (a) no longer mention ERC at my Barackface blog going forward, and (b) not show up for DL21C events do it? On my own I am also going to make a quiet pledge to myself: (a) to not mention young progressives in NYC in general at my blog, and (b) to avoid political events in the city in general. The quiet pledge is meant to help me focus on my tech startup like a laser beam.

Advice For Caroline

Just Be Yourself

You can't be anything else. You can't be one person in private, and another in public. Just be yourself. That is all you can be. You are great as you are. People love you for just the way you are. You got a great last name. Your father was the Barack Obama of his time. All that is good. But it is also about you. It is about your intelligence, your compassion, your work ethic, your caring about the underprivileged, work you have already done. And you did tip the balance in Obama's favor. If Barack had not done as well in North Carolina, if he had done less good on February 5, I mean.

Adopt The Obama Program

You got a pretty face. Can't say the same about Cuomo. But it is more than about a pretty face. Primarily it is about substance. What are your policy positions? That is easy. You say you are in broad alignment with the Obama program. You have already said you are a Kennedy Democrat, a Clinton Democrat, an Obama Democrat. How about FDR? Say you are also a FDR Democrat. Go Social Security.

Say you are for the Obama stimulus package. Say you are for universal health care like Barack Obama and Ted Kennedy. Say you are for a responsible end to the war in Iraq. All the broad Obama positions are at his websites. Get your staffers working.

Give A Few Speeches

This is a mini campaign. This is dress rehearsal for 2010 and 2012. You have got to get out there and give a few policy speeches. You don't have to get too specific. You can speak in broad generalities.

But A Listening Tour Comes First

That is the number one thing to learn from Hillary who both you and I love. When she first ran for the Senate, she did this remarkable thing. She went on a statewide listening tour. Politicians go for speaking tours. She went on a listening tour. It is very important to go on a listening tour into many upstate pockets. I am glad you got an apartment on the Upper East Side. But you got to claim the upstate people. The difference between you and every other top contender for the same job is you are one person who is not going to feel like a downstate person to the upstate people. Highlight that. That just might be the number one reason for Paterson to go for you. That dude is going to be seeking his office all over again in 2010. He will hurt himself if he has too much of a downstate image.

Can't Let The Handlers Handle You

You got to be yourself. You should shoot for a DirectConnect with the people. Al Gore got "handled" in 2000 and look what happened. The staffers are there to take care of the logistics, the technical details, write speeches, give political advice, help with the media. But they are not there to script you. You could fire all your staff and get a new batch and you will still be you. It is about you.

Can't Avoid The Media

There are going to be interviews. There are going to be press conferences. Heck, there might even be an appearance on Letterman. That guy is corny. Have fun while on air with him.

Ted Kennedy: Evergreen

You are the daughter, but that guy is the brother. More New York politicians are in awe of Ted Kennedy than they are in awe of David Paterson. Make use of him, but judiciously. It can't become about him, but don't make the Gore 2000 mistake of not using Bill Clinton. Ted is your Bill. Ted is one for the ages. He could advise you on everything including how best to use him. He could make phone calls. Heck, he could have dinner with Paterson if he wanted.

Leave It To The Ultimate Guy

Ultimately it is David Paterson's call to make. I love the guy. He is just great. Do your best, do meet him a few times to make your case, campaign, go see the state, make your appearances. But don't be seen pressuring. Make your case, but don't pressure. And in case he goes for someone else, compliment him on his choice.

Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, Mike Bloomberg, Me

That is four smart guys behind you. Don't let us down. Go get it.

Also Barack. Make that five. Also Hillary. Make that six. Six smart people.

Caroline Kennedy Is No Sarah Palin, She Is No Airhead
I Like The Caroline Kennedy Name




On The Web

Caroline Kennedy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia She earned a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1988, graduating in the top ten percent of her class, several weeks before giving birth to her first child. ....... serves on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations. ..... From 2002 through 2004, Kennedy worked as director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the the New York City Department of Education. The three-day-a week job paid her a salary of $1 and had the goal of raising private money for the New York City public schools....... records show that Kennedy contributed $2300 to the Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign committee on June 29, 2007. She previously contributed a total of $5000 to Clinton's 2006 senatorial campaign. On September 18, 2007, she contributed $2300 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign committee.
Caroline Kennedy

• Radcliffe B.A. 1980
• Columbia Law School J.D. 1988

Caroline Kennedy: The $100M Woman
Op-Ed Contributor - A President Like My Father - NYTimes.com
The Case Against Caroline Kennedy - The Fix the rough and tumble world of New York politics..... the incredibly harsh glare of the New York and national media .... a state known for its cutthroat politics .... her last name is synonymous with public service .... The idea of replacing one high-profile woman with a national (and international) reputation with another high-profile woman with national (and international) reputation makes good sense .... For many Catholics -- particularly in the Northeast -- the Kennedys are held somewhere just short of the Pope in terms of esteem. ..... Obama's message -- politics is broken, we need new faces to fix it -- clearly appealed to Kennedy. She went from a political wall flower to an endorser and a vetter during the campaign and now a candidate in her own right.
Obama's Secretary Of Education: Caroline Kennedy?
N.Y. Republicans Slam Caroline Kennedy, Face The Nation: Potential ... a "celebrity" without the qualifications ..... decried the Senate as becoming "a House of Lords." ..... Those characterizations of Kennedy as an elitist were not accepted by New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, who defended her experience, particularly in public service. ..... "I think people are missing the essence of this woman," Klein ..... she came to work for the kids in New York. Most of those kids grow up in poor families ..... You know, Rembrandt was a great artist. His brother Murray, on the other hand, Murray Rembrandt wouldn't paint a house ........ Dominic Carter of the New York City cable news channel NY1 said that, from what he has heard, "It is basically a done deal - that if Caroline Kennedy wants this seat (and she has expressed interest in it), then it is hers." ...... "When she walked into this restaurant in Harlem, the crowd gave her basically a standing ovation. And then she sat down for a private event. I saw confidence. I saw that she wasn't looking to run away from the media. ..... And what about Hillary? Would she support Kennedy, after Kennedy backed Obama? "She has told her people to back off," Carter said. "She is moving ahead in terms of becoming Secretary of State. And you know, for all the criticism we've heard of Caroline Kennedy, we've been there before in terms of hearing the exact same thing about Hillary Clinton."

In The News

Kennedy Endures Rough Start in Bid for Senate Seat Washington Post, United States "I happen to have worked with her," Bloomberg said ...... She is intelligent, competent, knows as much about the issues, I think, as most people that run for senator or have been our senators in the past ........ "The Bloomberg operation is behind this big ..... "He's the capo di tutti capi" -- boss of bosses. "He's using his influence to perhaps have someone in the U.S. Senate who he supports." ....... Bloomberg and Kennedy are both wealthy residents of Manhattan's Upper East Side ...... Liu was named John after her father, the assassinated president, and Liu's two brothers are named Robert and Edward after two of her uncles. ...... But this is an appointment, so no formal disclosure rules apply. ..... the tough arena of New York politics. ...... "It is so silly what they are doing to her," Koch said. "We all know she's a multimillionaire -- nobody resents that." ...... Kennedy's endorsement was seen by many as a turning point in Obama's tough primary fight against Clinton, and some of Obama's earliest backers in the state now are pushing for Kennedy's appointment. ....... She can energize the base that Obama got motivated in central New York." ....... "The governor is certainly going to listen to what the president-elect wants, or may want . . . because New York is going to be competing for valuable infrastructure funds"
Kennedy, in Senate bid, hasn't shared finances The Associated Press
Backlash builds over Kennedy's Senate quest Seattle Times
Caroline Kennedy is no front-runner, peeved Gov. Paterson pledges New York Daily News In 1998, Caroline Kennedy received an estimated $38 million from her share of the family's sale of Chicago's Merchandise Mart and other related properties. .... Joseph Kennedy bought the Merchandise Mart, once the largest building in the world, in 1945.... her brother left an estimated $50 million estate following his death in 1999, with Caroline Kennedy and her three children the prime beneficiaries.
Kennedy is focused on helping Obama begin Albert Lea Tribune, MN
What's in a name? Plenty, for a Kennedy Scarlet Scuttlebutt
The Caroline Times File: Getting Tough on Kennedy's Stonewalling Gawker
Is Caroline Kennedy the Democratic Sarah Palin? Examiner.com
Caroline Kennedy: This isn't her father's Camelot Los Angeles Times, CAClinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, and Cuomo's dad, former New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, clashed as far back as five presidential campaigns ago -- and apparently some of that enmity still lingers........ David Paterson, another dynastic politician, whose father, Basil, was once a major power in New York politics. ....... "Illinois may be making headlines, but it's still the Second City." ..... Kennedy -- who lives in a Park Avenue ZIP Code where the mail is sorted and hand-delivered by doormen -- now has to prove she has the appetite to mix in with apple farmers and union chiefs, and to maneuver in the clubby male-dominated atmosphere of the U.S. Senate. On Wednesday, she made her first foray as a would-be senator, drawing a press mob as she met with the mayors of Syracuse and Rochester.