Questions Prepared By My Lawyer For Immigration Court Date Tomorrow

Image via WikipediaImmigration Court Date: June 6, 2011: Prepared Statement
June 3 Immigration Court Date

1. What is your name?

My name is Paramendra Bhagat.

2. Where were you born?

I was born in a hospital in the city of Darbhanga in the state of Bihar in India. I don't have a birth certificate. They don't do that where I grew up.

3. Why are you seeking asylum in the US?

I show up in Nepal and I am dead meat. My instincts tell me so. It is the same instincts that told me in February 2007 that Barack Obama was the next President of the United States.

4. By whom you fear for your life in Nepal?

There are a few different actors and groups that might want to harm me. The people who lost power in 2006, the Maoists who still dream of a one party dictatorship brought about by an armed revolution, rivals in the Madhesi groups, violent and nonviolent, who might be dead set in their own views and methods, separatist armed Madhesis.

5. Why do you think you will be subjected to political assassination?

I am high profile. I spent six months in jail in America for being the top Obama volunteer in the city of his primary rival. That was political. I was the only Nepali in America who did full time work for Nepal's democracy movement of 2006 and the Madhesi movement of 2007. That kind of visibility puts you in harm's way. If my political enemies in New York City can do what they did to me, what do you think my political enemies in Nepal will do?

Who Is In The Room?

Image via WikipediaIf in a city that is 60% nonwhite, when you enter a room and almost everyone is white, and you are nonwhite, of course you notice. But then the term nonwhite does not define me. I am not non anything. The very term nonwhite is Eurocentric.

Topology: Wikipedia a major area of mathematics concerned with properties that are preserved under continuous deformations of objects, such as deformations that involve stretching, but no tearing or gluing. It emerged through the development of concepts from geometry and set theory, such as space, dimension, and transformation.

Ever since I was 10 I have mostly found myself in rooms where seeking cultural overlap was not exactly an option. Part of that is liberating. You enter into topology territory fast. The essence of what makes you human is not defined by if you have a limb or not. Cultural differences are a small matter compared to someone who might have missing legs.

Fractals: Mandelbrot

"I had no shoes and complained, until I met a man who had no feet."
- Indian Proverb

Immigration Court Date: June 6, 2011: Prepared Statement

Image by Barack Obama via FlickrNepali Song: Lyrics By My Immigration Lawyer
June 3 Immigration Court Date
April 22 Immigration Court Date
Lingering Detail: December 18
Hello Barack, I Was In Chicago
Request For Change Of Venue
In South Africa They Had Apartheid, In America They Got Immigration
The Dong Rule
Fred, How About Some Money?
My Non Personhood Of 2009, 2010

Look, you are not trying to figure out if Nepal is a high risk country. You have already established that on your own. Tens of thousands of Nepalis have been granted political asylum over the past few years, and hundreds continue to be granted every month. The country is going through a transition period. The civil war ended a few years back. But the country still does not have a new constitution. The law and order situation continues to be weak. Only a few weeks back a cabinet minister got stabbed multiple times right in front of his house, and the perpetrators are still at large. That is just one high profile example. Those who intend to do harm can do harm and get away with it. That is Nepal today. And you know it. You don't need me to tell you. I don't believe you have questions about the country.

Obama 08: NYC Video: 10 Hours

And I don't think you should have questions about me. For that you don't have to look at Nepal. You don't have to look at the fact that I was the only Nepali in America to have done full time work for Nepal's democracy movement in 2006. When you do something like that, you end up making enemies, and they are not always in the opposition camps.

You can look at New York City, a ground more familiar to you than Nepal. I was not a Barack Obama volunteer in New York City, I was not Barack Obama's one of the top volunteers in New York City. I was The Top Volunteer. That is a qualitative statement to make. If that makes you uncomfortable, how about a quantitative statement? I was Barack Obama's first full time volunteer in New York City, perhaps the country.

August 2007: DL21C Annual Summer Bash: Barack Won The Straw Poll
The First Time I Heard The Obama Name
Brooklyn And Santogold/Santigold
Southern Hospitality

The founder of Manhattan For Obama at an Upper East Side party in 2007 organized by a Harvard Law School classmate, later Chicago law firm colleague, and family friend of Barack Obama, said the US constitution should be changed so some day I could run for President of the United States. My personal ambitions are not to do with the UN, or the US, they are to do with the Internet, so I am not too into the details of such talk, but I appreciated the sentiment. The founder of Brooklyn For Barack at one point insinuated in a private one on one talk that I did not seem to have elected office ambitions because I don't have the option to run for president.

That is the kind of political acumen I have brought to the table when I have done democracy work for Nepal. When I first approached you about political asylum, I was thinking about Nepal and my personal safety. But what is going on in the world today as you see unfold across the Arab world, in Africa, hopefully also later in Russia and China, by now my request for political asylum is also to do with this big political tsunami that unfolds before our very eyes. I needed to be in the safety of New York City to exhibit the fearlessness I exhibited for democracy in Nepal in 2006. I need that safety to contribute to that which is 100 times, maybe a thousand times bigger than the magic that happened in Nepal in 2006. I am absolutely the top authority on the planet when it comes to political revolutions in Third World countries. I have contributions to make, and I will make them even as I work full time towards my chosen career as a tech entrepreneur.

The Long March Of Democracy
Putin Is No Different
To Zimbabwe Through Ivory Coast
A Rwanda Was Prevented
Ultimately It Is About Iran, Because That Is Where It All Started
Syria's Turn
Barack Obama Proved Me Wrong On Race And Libya
Don't Let Benghazi Fall
North Korea In Sight
Saudi Arabi Next
The Anatomy Of Revolutions For Democracy
Friday Prayer: Let A Million Libyans March In Tripoli
Nicaragua, Ortega On The Radar
Et Tu, China?

Even my work as a tech entrepreneur is to do with the Global South. After you bring democracy to a country, which you can do in a few weeks, a few months, a few years, one of the very first things you note is you face this immense poverty that will take decades to bring to an end. And my career as a tech entrepreneur is dedicated to that cause.

Look I am not someone trying to stay back for the good life. I have not had much of a good life in America, at least not yet. I mean, you had me in jail for six months with petty criminals, drug lords, half a dozen murderers. For the past 10 months or so, I have not even had my own place. I have been bouncing around like Sean Parker was bouncing around at one point in time.

Charlie Rangel was personally involved in my case. I am high profile. Some people in this town decided to press a bogus charge against me, a charge that normally might have got you 20 hours of community service if you were found guilty, but even that small charge they promptly dropped after it got me into the immigration mess, because that was the whole idea. The idea was to get me into the immigration mess. There are people in this town who never expected to see me ever again, one way or the other. This is serious business. I was in jail for six months because I was Barack Obama's top volunteer in New York City, and the dude won the Democratic nomination and that frustrated the federal ambitions of all sorts of characters in this town. They had me disappear the same day the national primary ended, they wanted to make sure I did not miss the message. That is who I am. You have to believe me when I say I am going to be very unsafe in Nepal, a country that I think about every day, a country I hope to contribute to for decades, a country I hope to visit at the first available opportunity, which might be a few years from now. But it is my predicament that for the rest of my days now I am going to have to take all sorts of safety precautions if and when I do visit Nepal. I might have to simply stay away. I might have to hire personal security, if and when I can afford that.

Third World Guy

I am someone who thinks about his physical safety every single day. It is not like I say, okay, it is 4 PM, time for me to think about my physical safety. No, it is not like that. It comes to me on its own, for a few split seconds. And it goes. And I know what it is about. It is called having sound political instincts. I have been through a lot in my life to end up with the political instincts I have today. It is with those instincts that I declared in February 2007 that Barack Obama was the next President of the United States. It is those instincts that tell me I would not be safe in Nepal today. And that is a tragedy, because I have done so much for that country. It is a country that hates Indians like me. The Tamils in Sri Lanka also have it tough. They are also Indian origin.

I Take This Threat Very Seriously
The Scary Version
The Bin Laden Operation
Barack Said In 2007 He Would Do This

There are very few people in America, politicians and non politicians alike, who understand democracy like I do. I was not born in America, but I have more than earned my right to be in this oldest of all democracies. Safety is the number one reason. But while I am here, I am also going to do work. I have already started. I am a tech entrepreneur.

New York City
My BusiCopy Cofounder Anuj Bikram Thapa
My Web Diagram
The Google/Facebook Of Microfinance
PayCheckr: Not Dead Yet

Politics is to me what sailing is to Larry Ellison, I take it very, very seriously - I mean, I am so looking forward to Obama 2012 - but it is not my career. I am a citizen of the Internet, I am a Netizen. At some level I am never going to be an American, emotionally speaking. My country is the online world. I am global. I am a New Yorker. But I will take the paperwork. I want to be safe. And I want to do some good work. I see my career as a calling.

It Will Be Barack Vs Palin
Two Terms Please
Donald Ratass Trump, And So, I Was Born In India
I Am Going To Act Like This Is 2007
Obama 2012 Is On

I ask for political asylum. What I really deserve is an honorary citizenship.

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Microfinance: Post Obama Race Talk

Image via WikipediaRace has to be talked about. Gender has to be talked about. That was the angle I came from. And I was Barack Obama's first full time volunteer in New York City, perhaps the country. And the guy absolutely refused to talk about race. Then one day he said "Race matters powerfully" and I thought, okay, now he is going to start. But no. The guy just did not believe in singing Kumbaya. The you-love-me-you-love-me-not race talk just was not for him.

Then he became president and pumped billions of dollars into inner city schools. And that act was more meaningful to me than any race talk he might have initiated.

Barack Obama Proved Me Wrong On Race And Libya

The UN, The US, The Internet

Image via WikipediaThe UN is not it, the US is not it, the Internet is it.

I have made that statement a few times at this blog.What do I mean?

I do not imagine a future where the UN as an organization has been dissolved, and the US federal government no longer exists. But I do imagine a future where the Internet has fundamentally altered the very fabric of what the UN is, how it functions, how far it reaches, how well it functions. I imagine a US federal government transformed by the forces unleashed by the Internet.

The Internet is transformative technology. But it does not operate in a vacuum. You take away people and you end up with computers. It is adding people to the equation that gave us the Internet. And so human institutions are very relevant to what the Internet is all about.

Social Media And StartUps: Striking The Right Balance

Image by jamesomalley via FlickrI don't apologize for my active social media presence. But I have to be careful not to take my eyes off my two startups. The startups are where the action is. It is not like I am worried. It is not like I feel like I am losing the balance. For much of 2009 and 2010 I really did not have the option to do the tech startup thing. And then it made a ton of sense to focus primarily on things like tech blogging and networking. But those things don't go away. You don't switch. You learn to juggle a few balls.

Gonna Write For Technorati

I am particularly fond of blogging. My blogs feed into my Twitter and Facebook streams. I set the same for my Tumblr stream, but Tumblr has been messing up the past few days. Many things I read online I have a tendency to tweet out. So if you follow me on Twitter, you get a pretty good idea about what I am blogging and what are some of the things I am reading that day. I read a lot of tech news. And I follow the democracy movements as closely as I can. I was Barack Obama's first full time volunteer in New York City, maybe even the country. (Switching To Obama, Jupiter And Obama, 30 Points Down In The Polls) All that work I would like to cash out on behalf of democracy. I feel very, very strongly about democracy.

Ignite NYC: Here I Come

Ignite, Set It On Fire
Internet Week: Going To Three Events So Far
Digital Dumbo: Here I Come
July 1 Digital Dumbo: Do Not Miss

I tried and failed to get on any Internet Week panel. But something better might happen. I just saw this in my Facebook stream, and jumped at the opportunity. I am applying for my five minutes at Ignite NYC during Internet Week. Tikva, make it happen, please.

My Non Personhood Of 2009, 2010

2009 and 2010 have been my years of roaming the tech circles of this city and avid tech blogging. I have done so as a non person. Tech felt safer than politics.

I have roamed. I have done so as a window shopper. I have not had the option to participate. It's called being in an immigration mess. For the rest it might have been the Great Recession, for me it was the Great Immigration Humiliation.

I was done raising 100K for my IC startup - that was the stated goal - months before the 2008 primaries were over, but I decided to be with Barack just a few more months. The primary was the only real contest. November was a no contest, it was so obvious to me. I had been his first full time volunteer in the city. I was in before he announced he was in.

But my political enemies came after me. The day the primaries ended, I disappeared. They had me disappear. The establishment picked that precise day lest I missed the message.

One day early in 2009, in March perhaps, maybe April, I went to see someone at Columbus Circle. We had met online, we had met, and we were going to meet again. I had two dollars in my pocket. That is all the money I had. I did not have any money back home. I did not have a bank account, let alone money in a bank account. I did not have a credit card. And I could not have walked back home. I would not have known the way. I did not have a phone. I did not have a metro card.

I remember thinking, if I lost those two dollars, I could not get back home.

Just Became A Cofounder
Sean Parker, Billionaire, Was Really Poor Once
Permanent War

Obama Has A Computer

Barack's Positivity

Image via WikipediaAt first I thought he was being naive. That was in 2007. I loved the guy. I was his first full time volunteer in the city.

He will get knocked around a few times, and then he will come around to it, I thought. He will learn.

And then he started winning. Big. And I am like, wait a minute, whatever he is doing is working. I declared myself a student of his new kind of politics, his positivity.

First I thought it was naive. Then I thought it was maybe weakness. Then I saw it was pragmatism. I mean, it was working wildly.

Identity And Collective Identities

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeOne of the highlights of Obama 08 for me was this conversation I had with Barack's sister Maya at the downtown Manhattan headquarters late in 2007. I talked to her about a very personal connection I felt with the guy. I asked her about her name. It is an Indian name, Maya, I said.

It was Maya who articulated it for me. She said, "He walks between worlds." That captured it for me. It was then I realized why I connect with the guy so very personally.

Barack Obama walks between worlds.

In Foley Square A Libya Feeling

Image by Rob Blatt via FlickrI have been obsessed with news about Libya. So when I showed up for the Foley Square rally to express solidarity with Planned Parenthood earlier today, I kept thinking about Libya.

This event had enormous buzz. When you hear about an event on Facebook, and PlanCast, and over email and maybe one or two other ways, you know something's going on. And this rally was as big as I expected it to be. Looked to me like the entire New York congressional delegation was there. And many other speakers.

Barack Is Going To Need Me All Over Again

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeBarack is going to need me all over again during his re-election bid, and I am going to be there for him. Barack needed me in his run for the presidency. And he is going to need me all over again. I will be there for him in his hour of need.

I maintain the hunger of someone who was forced to skip the victory parties of June 2008 and November 2008, and felt Inauguration 2009 simply pass him by. I missed the celebrations. I stayed hungry.

I am going to bring that hunger to the table for Barack all over again.

Turning The Table Upside Down With Food

Cover of John LennonFood/Social = Physics, Coding = Mathematics
Project Noah: FoodSpotting's Sibling Company

Food has been a weapon for sexism for the longest time. You are a woman, you belong at home, you need to raise children, you need to be in the kitchen, you need to cook. Food.

Raising children is such a beautiful experience, John Lennon took five years out of his life to raise his son full time. But that same act can be used as a weapon of sexism. It has been.

You reject food, you reject children. You take a stand. That was one thread of feminist protests a few decades back. You don't marry.

Wearing Black

I wear black. I should not have to explain.

Black is a beautiful color. I wear black. A certain shade of black, with a little shine on it.

Used to be sky blue, now it is black. I like black. It is an amazing color. It has depth.

I showed up in Kentucky with a tailor made suit from back home: brown.

But right now it is black. I like the color.

It also is about simplicity.

I have a few different black Brazil shirts that I wear at home on a few different days. Pele was God when I was growing up. He still is. Brazil is Mecca.

I wear black to express solidarity with my president Barack Obama. I wear black for him too. You have no idea. You have no idea what he means to me. All he ever needed to do was win in 2008, and win he did. He could have let the Great Depression happen, he might not have passed health care reform or Wall Street reform, and I would still have liked him just fine. The fact that he is destined for greatness makes it easier to like him, but that is not why I like him. (The Tea Party Is Getting America Talibanized)

I wear black. It feels good. It feels right. It feels warm.

Data Explosion, Data Curation And Grassroots Governance

Barack Obama in power - in terms of grassroots involvement - feels to me like Howard Dean running for president. It's not there yet. And data is the reason why. Too much of the data is locked up. What data have been liberated have not been made visually appealing and presentable yet. Those are bottlenecks.

Running A Promotion On W

I am a democracy bigot.

Binary Investments, The Middle Kingdom, And Super Exits

Fred Wilson: The Fallacy Of Bimodal Returns: startup returns are not bimodal. They exhibit more of a power law curve. There will certainly be one or two venture deals every year that generate 100x or more. And there will certainly be quite a few total busts. But there are a lot of outcomes in the middle of those two.

Binary is the term used by Ron Conway, the guy in Silicon Valley who invests like he had perennial diarrhea. I read him using the term in a TechCrunch blog post a few weeks back. Binary works for him. It works because he has a track record over almost two decades, or at least a decade and a half, of not having missed out on any good deal in the Valley. He has been in all the top companies. He has also managed to get into FourSquare. And he keeps spreading the love far and wide. This past year I think he put 60% of his money into New York companies.

Net Neutrality Reworded

Image via Wikipedia

Fred Wilson: A Net Neutrality Case Study: Maybe we shouldn't call it Net Neutrality. Maybe we should call it a bill of rights for consumers on the Internet.

There are still landowners on the internet - like in the early days of America - who feel like they are the only ones who need to be able to vote. That is blasphemy. Fred Wilson is not new to the debate. But I really like his emphasis this time. Maybe net neutrality is a phrase that is not serving us too well. It makes it sound like there are two equally valid viewpoints. No, there are not. People for segregation and people against segregation were not both equally right. The internet is not a company, it is not a commercial venture. The internet is like the airwaves; it belongs to everybody.

Arugula And Location Patents

Arugula, the aromatic salad green. Also known as rocket, roquette, rugula and rucola, and is popular in Italian cuisine.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama said arugula on the campaign trail and people were left scratching their heads. Arugula who?

Facebook's Location Patent

And now we learn the Einsteins at the patent office have granted not one but two location patents. In this land of plenty. I would not be surprised if Gowalla has the third one. If not why has FourSquare bothered competing with that little nuisance in the first place? Why not simply go ahead and sue like every big company seems to be doing to every other big company back there in Silicon Valley? With the exception of Larry Ellison. Larry is into fist fights. (Putting My Money On Larry Ellison)

TechCrunch: Oops! That Facebook Location Patent Forgot To Mention Crowley’s Earlier Dodgeball Patent
PC Magazine: Skyhook Sues Google in Location Patent, Contract Dispute
The Tech Herald: Motorola targets Apple across 18 patent violations

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