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| Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: (Wikipedia) |
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.
