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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Nov 15, 2017 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maurice Ali wrote:
Shane Murphy Becomes Media Distribution Coordinator at More Vision!




By Maurice Ali, President: More Vision Inc.





Shane Murphy




In addition of his other positions and duties at Fortress of Freedom Inc. and FOF Records Inc., Shane Murphy has been offered and has accepted the position of “Media Distribution Coordinator” as executed on this day November 15, 2017.


Mr. Murphy will coordinate the distribution of various video, music and print media at Fortress of Freedom Inc. and FOF Records Inc. and FOF Entertainment Inc. particularly with regard to TV broadcast. His many years of experience and hands-on positions in FOF companies and productions make him the ideal candidate for this position. Shane now joins me (as President of More Vision) and Samantha Blackwell (as Account Executive at More Vision) which is an advertising and media distribution company located in Markham, Ontario. More Vision was the distributor for “The Life and Times of Donald “Boots” Brasseur” which aired on the CTV television network in 2009.


So from all of us at this organization, we all wish Shane the best of wishes in his new position!




http://morevision.ca




MORE VISION: FOR ALL YOUR ADVERTISING NEEDS!





Filling positions as we get ready for some real action in the media world. I still need more boots on the ground. So this is what happened this morning and I am so busy I don't even have time to take a piss..... Could be worse with us all having nothing to do; so there is always that!




Later.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A couple of things as I have work to do.....



First off is that I have a bug. I feel great now but that does not mean I’m over it. What it did do is put me in a foul mood on Wednesday and I was miserable. Everything in my life was bad and wrong – but get this, while the TV thing was looked upon as an exercise in masochism, and UN advocacy looked at as an exercise in futility – the idea of presenting new ideas on the world stage and disseminating them was looked at as a great idea. That is just awesome! So in my darkest, down moments; that idea still rocked! That means that is probably the best course for me personally. We still go at it with the other stuff, but I have to say I was surprised the disseminating of ideas passed the depression test!



Another thing on the back burner that I never got to address was the American Indian situation in WW2 and Vietnam wars. In Platoon, the Elias character (based on real characters BTW) was actually an American Indian called Juan Angel Elias and was as confirmed by his daughter as a full-blooded green eyed “White Mountain Apache”. I’ll give Stone a pass on this one as I believe he honestly tried to get an American Indian to play Elias but just could not do it. Normally I would not be swayed but Elias’s daughter changed that. But the fact is he could not get an American Indian to play Elias, so Stone gets a pass but many movies are still committee affairs and the others controlling the movie don’t pass my smell test.....




The real Elias!



Our own Donald Brasseur made it clear to me he had to pay tribute to “Killing Top” a Texas North American Indian he fought with and who saved his life many a time. Don, worried that he might forget during taping, broke off this train of thought and paid tribute to his friend and you can see it in the final cut of our program. Again and again North American Indians are seen as fantastic warriors and Elias was called a “rock star” by members of his platoon. Anyway Killing Top died in fighting and Don made sure he got his props. Way to go Killing Top!


Another guy I worked with was in the Vietnam War as a Canadian and without prompting told me about how great North American Indians were in combat. And so folks, that is enough for me. The contributions and heroics of North American Indians were mostly covered over or replaced by White folk on the big screen (didn’t see any Black men filling in.....). This lends the impression that only the White men were heroes during Vietnam but especially WW2. All sorts of races and nationalities participated in both conflicts. How about Sikh soldiers in WW2? But the lack of American Indian coverage – and deliberately so in my opinion – is a shame and if Don’s one hour show goes on there will be hell to pay if they cut the Killing Top tribute.....


I am still catching up on things but the Vision TV package should go out maybe today but definitely tomorrow and I take the weekend off!




Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4LfIGUD9oc&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This day.....


This was one of those days you should have called in sick. Just one thing after another and it just kept coming on like rain. I am used to one or two issues to be dealt with but it was like every half an hour. Anyway, you just have to deal with them and resolve them as they come up. So that was the type of day it was for me The only thing of note to you guys here is that the TV series presentation package was sent off to Vision TV this afternoon.




Series bible, DVDs, cover letters, rotating display and Don’s Christmas CD!





Everything in the folder and ready to go!



Those two photographs above tell the tale with the series bible and DVDs and supporting letters and promotional material all wrapped in that blue folder. They say it can take up to almost four months to review, so we are continuing to send this same sales kit to other broadcasters and work the numbers like how I did in sales. But the big question is how I was able to just do it and send it in whilst before it was like trying to break through a brick wall. Well remember that yesterday I was sick and my head ached and all the rest, basically I was depressed. But today it was different but not in a manic-depressant way. I was not happy or cheerful, but I no longer had that block that prevented me from submitting. I somehow had worked it out it my mind. And this seems a permanent thing for this run at broadcast; so I am back and good to go!

I am a bit mellower though – this time around. I am picking my fights and now the UN level stuff has my attention, so the TV stuff gets a mellower me. Not so self-righteous, not so condescending to others. More than anything I want to put on the series and entertain and inform the audience. For this I am willing to be a much nicer guy and help the broadcasters - if any – that decided to work with me; and help them to cover the time slot with advertising and put on a good and informative show for the audience. I have a goal for broadcast, I owe it to our stable of performers and journalists – so I’m willing to be more amenable to the broadcasters as a whole.

What of all the angst about this stuff the past few weeks? Well it’s not exactly George Orwell’s “Room 101” material; from his novel “1984” but getting back into this brought back bad memories of past TV campaigns and also bringing back painful memories of subjective judgements growing up Black in a completely White world. And by that I mean completely White. As in I would walk down a street and people would look at you as if you were an alien as they had never seen a Black man before in their lives. And those that did treated you accordingly as they did back then. That was during the civil rights period and Black people as well as American Indians, Jewish people, Italians (all of them were in the Mafia, etc.), Gays, you name it ; it was just this big bigot fest if you were not part of the majority. Anyway, I’m not going to go on another trip down memory road, just letting you know that getting back into this needed some preparation. And it’s done! Some of the worst and frustrating moments of my life were trying to get our stuff on the air, so I needed some time to prepare myself emotionally – and this from a rather unemotional guy! But I’m back! And I am sure those in the media world who I dealt with in the past are just putting an extra skip in their step and whistling a happy tune to that news.....



Anyway – the big news is that: I AM BACK!



Goodnight.....




(NSFW)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEzYRROcVX0&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 7:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am off for the next week and this time I will probably take it easy. Just use the week off to catch up on stuff put on the back burner – like the corporate taxes.....


The TV package has been received by Vision TV and now we just wait, while we wait on them we still keep pitching and I left it with Shane to pick out our next target and submit again. Getting the others involved is a good idea at this period of time. How many chances like this will they ever have? So they get involved.....




Too much shoulder, too much material at my sides and fat arms – so it gets replaced!



I did get lucky on Friday as I found a navy Calvin Klein suit in 40 regular in slim fit and not x-fit. I tried an x-fit combo at the Calvin Klein store and it was made for a string bean 19 year old on his first job interview. But these fit me like a charm. The legs are very narrow but clear without losing the crease and this along with a slightly pinched in waist makes me look taller and more athletic! They also have the dual vent which means Black guys with asses can wear them properly, single vents spread out into this sort of duck tail thing and the only way to have it drop properly is to have a jacket that wears like a smock. So I finally have my last suit and that covers me for all occasions. This one replaces the single vent “smock” from Ralph Lauren that was nice but does not fit me like a glove as these suits do! So I had my day made when I came across this thing and at literally half-price too.....


It will rain most of Saturday, so I will hop out in the morning for a walk and such and then putter around the house and get bored and then start doing things at my own pace. I have actually trimmed down a bit, and I always put on a pot while on vacation. It just never works out for me. Technically that means I should have the suit fit now, and maybe I will, but I don’t really need the super suit until next year when I pop back to the UN. Navy is my preferred suit as there is no chance of moiré if you are videotaped. Yes it has come to that, me worrying about how I look on the video at the UN when I make a speech or host some event.....




Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Super late one today.....


Late because even though it is Sunday and I’m on vacation, this FOF-IAIJ stuff is a 24/7 kind of thing. So I have just given one of my gang their reference letters and I am a free man for the rest of the day! It is strange; if anyone had told me 15 years ago that I would be writing reference letters and getting people into jobs and graduate programs at universities – I simply would not have believed it. How times can change.....


So, being a free man means I will eat some lunch, walk around some mall and back home and start cleaning up this house of mine. Then TV for the rest of the evening.


That is the plan as boring as it seems. But I am one guy who needs boredom in his life.




Later.....



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSTXrRXjdR8&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 10:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am taking care of a whole raft of things while on – not exactly a vacation – this “break from the main action” if I can call it that.


I will start stretching a bit, see the dentist later in the week and so on. Take care of the things I put on hold. I start the taxes again today, or more accurately the forms as the statements are basically done. Just take it easy and relax. I drove the car downtown because it was so long ago since I was there. This time I went down at 3:30am and drove up Yonge Street. A squeegee man wanted to do my windshield but I told him I had no change. He did it anyway and did a great job – then he stood there for the change – but I told him I was not kidding and had none. He looked pissed off and walked away. But now I had a clean windshield! I used to drive downtown every week by habit and visit the Vistek photography store and Henry’s Photography because I used to do so much in imagery – basically gone now. I also loved to browse the DVD racks at HMV for that special movie I would watch later that day. Maybe a hotdog across the street from the square. Little by little they took my meagre pleasures away from me.....



The only good thing is that I have too much work to do so I can’t wallow in self-pity. There is a general nervousness in my closer gang members. I keep telling them to expect little from TV land, but you can tell they think something will happen. Anyway I am personally past that in my mind. I have my game plan and I work it. I work it like how I worked it as a salesman in the mid 1980s. In other words you work the numbers. You work the numbers. The numbers always work out. Work the numbers and you win. Maybe you win a cheap plastic and particle board plaque, but those you beat placed a lot of emphasis on that token of achievement. In this campaign we have the broadcast of our TV series. So the stakes are higher, but the order of battle, the plan of attack is the same. This is not the time to reinvent the wheel!







I did take a break on Sunday and saw my first 2018 Mustang GT for the first time. That should have been my car. But I had to consider the orgs and buy as little to get by as possible and I even stretched on that to get the V6 Mustang. This is all dollars and cents being taken away from the orgs. That Mustang in the photos is 56,500.00 dollars as opposed to 30,000.00 I paid for mine 5 months ago. Everything is the same except the engine which is the same design but with two extra cylinders (there are changes for 2018 but that statement is literally true for the 2017 V8 ). Anyway, the car I was itching to get was over 26,000.00 more than the car I have now. I took these photos for guys buying the car I originally wanted. So I winced as I posted the photos for them and all of that. That 26 grand goes a long way to buying plane tickets and hotels and equipment and services we need at our organization. It was hard to compromise in all sorts of ways to keep doing what we do here but for me we do it because it matters. Yes it matters in the end.....







Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 3:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A nothing day – but that is cool.....


There is no love, there is no right or wrong. There is no justice, there is no equality. These are all mental constructs put in our minds by culture. All of it is easily changeable and human beings are mostly animated hard drives that you can reprogram and fill with whatever you want to fill it with.


Just how far down that existential; or better yet, how far down that epistemological rabbit hole do you want to go? Some like me took it to the limit because nothing in our lives was working for us and we wanted to know why. I was probably one sick little puppy in my teenage years obsessed with brain function and anthropology of all forms. But at the end of that strange apprenticeship you realize that you are in a unique position to make some suggestions to the world at large, but not quite what you would think.


What is the purpose of going to the limit of knowledge? What do you get when you go as far as you can go? What is the point of seeking the answer only to find that we constructed that question to make sense of the nonsensical? So as you stand at the edge of the epistemological abyss, what you make about all of it. Like Mosses, what do you take back to humanity from this sick exploration to make sense out of nonsense? While I was taking philosophy, one Easter European philosopher told me not to dabble too much in that realm or I could lose my mind. Well after a lifetime there I am perfectly fine and sane. Tuesday morning I go to the dentist for a teeth cleaning. If you want something purely Medieval, a dentist drilling holes in your head should bring you back to our crude and pathetic little reality.


But what of that limit of knowledge – what was the point? The point was to make sense of it all, or to understand. But that is a circular argument. About the only thing that came of all that was that signpost for humanity. That our goals should be what makes us happiest and the freest expression of our physical and mental abilities makes us happiest in a purely visceral and ultimately indefinable feeling alien to the rational mind. What irks me most is that I have already presented or disseminated that idea on the world’s stage at that side event of mine at the United Nations. It sort of removes a goal you had to achieve. Now it is just advocacy. Our TV series was the basis for that mandate for humanity. You have to sell that mandate and have it be understandable for all. That is why my little positive mandate for humanity works so well as anyone can understand it and buy into it.


A good and proper mandate for humanity gives direction and gives the best foundation for a common basis for sanity. And we need more sanity in our lives. We need to be sure of what direction we want to take ourselves and freest expression of our mental and physical selves because it makes us happy works. I wish I didn’t have to be so sly in the way I disseminated it, but the opportunity to do it at that side event was there and I took it! You don’t wait for second chances, you just take it! Everything afterward seems a bit of a letdown. This is a guy who went to the limit, who lived at the limit of what we are, and at the end of the day I actually think I have something of merit for all that experience. It is what it is. And turning pure thought into practical and pragmatic change for that mass of humanity is something else entirely. The strangest part is just how mundane it all has become.....



I need some rest.....




Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 5:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another day and another reference letter.


Since when did I become the guy to use his position to write reference letters? This one is for a young woman. They are all different but they are all younger than me. Even if I have no children you find that you take on the daddy role whether you want it or not. Like I said in the past, children just look at you with unquestioning assumptions that you will take care of them; and look at you that innocent way and defer their fates into your hands without even questioning it. And because of that, you get suckered into doing just that, because you have integrity and that moral imperative. So whenever they need your help or when they stub their toe they come running to you and that is when you realize - you are Dad.....

Your contemporaries and elders treated you like crap and those mental strengths you developed because of that are now used for those – well not quite “those” – but, well; expected to be used for their salvation. And again, because of my love for humanity, I get suckered into helping deliver humanity into a better place; or at least stopping them from destroying themselves. One of an army of likeminded people scattered around the world, and why do we owe anyone anything. But we all act and become dads and moms whether we have kids or not. Someone has to run this place. Someone has to watch over the others like teachers in a kindergarten. That’s not quite the analogy I suppose but the first one that naturally got punched out on this keyboard.


It is what it is and I have another letter to write. She has a beautiful innocent face and comes looking for help, So she gets it, but I hope the harder, tougher and stronger aspects of me rub off on her as later someone has to take over from the current regime.



It is what it is.....


Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 8:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The world is yours – Or is it the world is your oyster.....


My attention has turned to Member States of the United Nations and petitioning them for our Major Positive Mandate For Humanity as introduced at a side event at the 55th Commission for Social Development held at the UN in New York last February. I was supposed to go there this past September during this big meet-up where Heads of States gather – NGOs want this badly and get only a half day pass at best. So the idea was to go there and get used to actual member nation participation at the highest level and prime yourself to actual one-on-one petitioning with Member States of the UN. That didn’t happen because of the TV stuff, but we are moving ahead as if we did regardless.....


The definition of “The world is your oyster” is: “You are in a position to take the opportunities that life has to offer.” That is not so much applicable to me as many things people take for granted are not available to me. Let’s try “The World is Yours”: “That whole world out there is yours. Nobody can take it away from you but your own self, your state of mind, and your fear. It is yours to own, live in and make the most of. Life is what you make it.” That was the definition in the internet’s Urban Dictionary. Of course the scale of that is everything. A better phrase would be “Will to Power” but the real life application goes to a very precious few.


Whenever I talk about my organization I use the word “we” because the common criticism was that it was a one man show. That can’t be said now but when it comes to the ambitious advocacy I have in mind when I say “we”, my gang usually quip that “actually it’s just you” and not meaning they are not with me because they are, but that the ability to do that is within me and me alone. I tried to get some members of my gang to get in on this with me but they chicken out and are honest about it. I go this brand of advocacy on my own. But the membership is behind me 100 percent. And I even have emails of encouragement to back this up. I even have an email from northern Ontario (I believe) after the Fortress TV Show aired stating the same thing. Ending with: “Whatever it takes!”


So to do this stuff is a mind game. But I am already there. The actual phrase is not “The world is your oyster”, or The World is Yours”, or “Will to Power”. I am past that – it is –“make the play.” The idea has already been disseminated at the UN and all you have to do is petition member states and see what happens. You don’t have to get up you gumption to start the thing – you already did it! You are already a “Man of the World”, you just have to keep being a “Man of the World” – So be it!


I have no choice now. I wanted this, and I fantasized about it as a kid and now fantasy has turned into flesh and you can’t turn back now. People have helped you get this far and you owe them and in fact you owe everyone to follow it through – or – make the play. I’ll make the play. Like I said, I am already there in my mind. This all sounds so corny and cheesy but who else do you know that can do what I am trying to do? Nobody right? So onward I go.....


In other news:


On Tuesday I sent the suit to the tailor, she looked it over on me and just decided to hem the pants because the waist fit perfectly (it had to be taken in previously so I have some exercise to do still). One arm had to be shortened half an inch and a slight take in at the back. And that was it! Half the price of the usual alterations, So this suit actually does fit me like a glove from the get go. That is actually as good as you can get off the rack. Just having the suit fit the off the rack like a glove is a God send. Otherwise you need a custom made suit to do better. I also bought a 516 black pair of Levis jeans to compliment my traditional blue jeans. These had to be hemmed because Levis no longer makes a 30 inseam in my size; 32 used to be my size as a kid but 30 works for me now as the rumpled leg look is so 1980s/1990s. I did try the extreme fit and they actually fit me but that is a young man’s game. Actually that is a young woman’s game as the leg hugging nature of these jeans works best for a thin fit girl.


What else? The corporate taxes are done – finally! I will just go over them a few times and submit enmass. Slowly but surely I am catching up. I may actually do some home renovations if I have the time. Also my car insurance dropped 25% from when I got the Mustang so that is a plus. I will also pay off the remaining balance on the iPhone and get out of the business plan and get into the data rich plans with no phone subsidy. Those two things alone really cut into the car payment and with the gas savings it was not the financial pinch I thought it would be. For Thursday I will cut my hair and try to look semi-human again. I can still get the crazy hair going even at my advanced age so I like to play up the fact as I still can do it. But it will get cut.


That is about it for now. The world is already mine – Just make the play. But that does not sound as good as: The World is Yours!



Goodnight.....




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk2-bgwA0Ro&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



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Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Taking Friday off.....


Most everything I wanted done got done on Thursday. I sent in all those corporate tax returns so that nightmare is over. I gave some more TV material to Sam and ended up having a beer with her and reminiscing a bit. Wow, seen her grow up since 15! Just rummaging through some photos and stuff. That one below is me “lending” her a cheap green screen. I took the photos to make sure I had proof she got it so I could get it back. Did I get it back? Nope; and now it’s so late I won’t even try.....Hehehehehehe.....





So Friday is my day off. I may still get the flu shot and get that over with. My hair needs to be cut. But other than that I am a free man. I will spare you any monastic diatribes about me living dutifully for the cause and all that. That comes tomorrow.....



Later.....
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Maurice Ali



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PostPosted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 9:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

All the crucial stuff I wanted to get done got done and now I am in the rare position of wondering what to do next.


Did the dentist thing and thankfully had no cavities. Did all the corporate taxes and got that monkey off my back. Took care of my gang though one journalist is still in custody. So, for those that think the journalist thing is not doing its thing - it is doing its traditional thing as an association. I just don’t prattle about it as much. Bought a new pair of jeans and a new suit that I should pick up next Wednesday. Like I said before, that navy suit replaced the Ralph Lauren suit my dear departed mother gave me to go to the UNESCO WSIS+10 event in Paris. She didn’t make or have a lot of money; so to take me to Sears (her store of choice along with The Bay back then) and have me pick out the best suit they had and pay for it was humbling and an act of love. She was my biggest fan – So I wore that suit when I presented my ideas of Humanities’ Positive Mandate and the UN voting cellphone application at the side event. That side event was the biggest score for us so far as I endorsed the organization’s reason for being (disseminating ideas on the world’s stage) with two huge ideas of a new form of global governance and the marching orders for all of humanity, and I did it in that navy suit mom bought me back in the day. I took that suit all the way to the top; now I can finally get it replaced.



The FOF and IAIJ cell phone apps on a Samsung S7! Yes, real working cellphone apps coded by yours truly (I am a Renaissance Man)!


I got a 40 dollar per month reduction on my insurance for the Mustang. I still love the car even though we are now encroaching on six months since I bought; it seems like yesterday and so far no issues whatsoever. So far and so good. No regrets stretching for the sports car, and sure it isn’t the GT but at almost double the cost, buying that would have been the most irresponsible and the biggest mistake of the past few years. And truth be told the difference between the cars is not that big a deal, if fact the only difference is the engine and while a nice burble at start-up is good, the six still makes the classic noises even on start-up up unlike the four banger that is the only alternative now. And you can forget about using the V8s extra power anywhere but the drag strip..... The top speeds are even more irrelevant (with speed governors on both cars turned off) - my car's top speed of 157 (251kph) vs. the GTs at 163 (260kph). Where will that ever matter.....Hehehehehehe..... So no regrets going that route at the last minute. I would have been miserable driving that Elantra now – so the lesson to learn is to get what you really want, or as close to what you really want. You never go wrong that way.....



GT/V6 or Turbo 4 - These are all guy things. Laura our newest employee doesn't seem to care in this photo


I thought about just going till January and getting on the cheaper no phone subsidy cell phone plans but if the buyout from Rogers is cheap enough or non-existent at this stage, then I may pull the trigger on a new plan this weekend. I basically get the same of everything plus almost 4 times the data of my base amount and pay half the price. I would have saved 125 bucks off September and 75 bucks off October. Paying 200 bucks a month for a single phone line is insane! That with the reductions in car insurance drops the car payment by a third and we didn’t even look at the gas savings from that misfiring 5.7 litre V8 in that 4,700 pound (yes: four thousand seven hundred pounds) car I drove before! Couple that with the insane amount of car repairs and I can’t truly complain about buying a new sports car. It looks like I actually got away with that one! I also filed away tons of paper work and such. I am cleaning up the house finally and I got the flu shot yesterday so that bit of misery was taken care of. So all in all the week worked out for me.....



Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwtJb61hpvo&feature=share.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve-a7ML9MRA&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 1:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I spent most of Saturday in the mall.....


Yes, as much as I deride people for walking around mall like zombies I did something like that myself. But I had a plan. First was that I wanted to change my cell phone provider and get a cheap plan as my current plan only needed me to pay off the 41 bucks still owing on the iPhone 6s Plus. I really was tired of paying up to 200 bucks a month for this, so I called around. But the best advice came from Jessica who put me on to Freedom Mobile which was previously Wind Mobile. This company was formerly owned by this Egyptian guy and was bought out by the Canadian Shaw family recently (they own Shaw Communications and Chorus Entertainment, etc.). So while Wind sucked big time in range and speed before, Shaw was making big money changes to its infrastructure and bringing LTE to the service. That work was to be completed about now, so no more widely publicized service disruptions – I hope. Anyway they had the 50 buck plan that is sort of unlimited with 5 gb high speed. I saw this before in New York, as in: slow speed if you get reception and incredible slow speed when you run out of high speed. So they had a promotion that ends on Sunday and give you the 60 buck plan with 10gb of high speed and unlimited everything else for the same price as the 50 buck plan for almost 2 years. So I decided to give this a try. They also had the iPhone X for like an extra 50 bucks more which is still a bargain, but I will wait for them to flesh out this design before I buy new again.


It was an absolute pain to set the phone up for this network. You had to do it manually but it all started to work. I even kept the hotspot feature which is always turned off on the American unlimited plans. Getting the cell phone app for the carrier was pure torture but also got done and works just like big boy Rogers – which is it works like shit. Actually better than Rogers who wanted me to use two crappy cell phone apps to get the functionality of one. What a joke. Anyway all is done and set up and surprisingly everything worked just like before. Their new LTE is band 66 which the older iPhones don’t have so I am stuck on good old 3G, but I would never notice. Actually I expected third world performance, but so far this is a surprise. If you live in Toronto and don’t drive up to the cottage on the weekends this plan can work for you. I save at least 100 bucks a month on this. Even if I go over the 10 gb and buy 3 gb extra for 10 buck (instead of the throttled back speed) it is still cheaper than Rogers 10 bucks for 2 gb setup. You save 105 bucks then! So it is a done deal. This 100 buck saving (150 bucks less than my September bill by-the-way) coupled with he 40 buck amount insurance decrease means my new car just got a whole lot cheaper to afford.


What I mean is that I cut down on fixed costs dramatically. I t is the fixed costs that drown an organization. The projects are a once in the blue moon affair and you just concentrate on paying off the bill and back to the usual. But when the usual is bleeding you dry – as in high fixed costs – you just get worn down and bankrupted. Biggest offender is that lease for office space, then the company car. I judiciously avoid all that in very creative ways while still looking the part. I saw one entertainment company doing it all wrong. They subleased office space from another company being bled dry by their lease. Amway they had the office they didn’t need, and they got the expensive sports car they didn’t need, and a super hot receptionist they absolutely did not need. Not much happened there and they disappeared. Maybe one of the guys eventually got it on with the receptionist, and maybe they kept the car. Anyway I just checked and they are still around but have moved. So I would like to say they went out of business and were seen pan-handling on Yonge Street. But maybe they made it work and are still living the charade of a prosperous businessman with all the corny trappings of the supposed good life. But yes, I have to acknowledge that they are still alive and kicking. But still, fixed costs will kill you, I just hate that I could not show you that the slimy, secretary diddling dude living life too large, got his come unpins. Instead the guy has Scotia Bank and Honda for clients and that is just two. There is no God!


Back to the mall.....


So while I was thinking about making the switch at the mall I passed by the store where I got the navy suit and they had the suits even cheaper, like 2/3s off until 1:00pm which gave me an hour or so to find something. Now these suits were almost all off-sizes but I found one light grey “banker suit” in my size and with nothing but dark suits in the closet, I decided to pull the trigger and at least have a suit that was more upbeat. So a navy and light grey suits are heading off the United Nations in the new year. Aside from those two purchases, I lived it at the mall like the usual clientele. Drank a mocha at Starbucks and ate a Nachos’ Supreme at Taco Bell. Spent most of the day there in and out setting things up. I even hung out at Sunrise Music and looked at some DVDs like the loser I am, but it was fun to do that again!



Sunrise Records!


And that was Saturday. The big score was the cell phone provider though. Cell phones are that critical a thing now – and I just started hanging out with the great unwashed on the low-end cheap plans. I can still easily go back to the super reliable business accounts, but I have to try!.....




Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 3:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Reality finally hit on Sunday.....


After gushing about the Freedom Mobile experience that didn’t seem as bad as I thought – Sunday morning was a nightmare! I think I had disruption from like 8:00 till at least 10:30 where upon I fell asleep and got up around two or so to some spotty reception. I didn’t check call reception as that usually is good. Anyway, I think this was deliberate and probably part of the LTE network upgrade frequencies they bought from Videotron in Quebec. If you were to cut services it would have to be Sunday morning. Conversely Sunday morning (late though), is the time the great unwashed call the homeland across seas, so you never know.


But that total disruption was almost a deal breaker right there. But I got the slow and crappy data through the rest of the day. I expected that kind of service; so as long as those disruptions are inconsistent we will still be on-board. I have a soft spot for these upstarts as they keep prices in line. Without Saskatel and their cheap rates in the mid-west, consumers would be raped the way we are in Ontario. I checked some more rates in Toronto and those owned by the big three were almost the same at 110 bucks for the data I need. Freedom was the only one to offer data this cheap.


So what to do as I need constant data? Well I have three plans on three phones here in my bedroom. I fired up the Note 3 which has global lines and global data. So the plan is if Freedom craps out, I go to that plan and use the data there. I have a war chest of money in the hundreds collected over the years and always top it up or they take it all back from me. This gives me a reason to get my money back. The third phone has me buying data at onerous rates but at 10 bucks a pop so that one is the emergency of emergency use only. Freedom also has an “away” or roaming allowance of 500mb per month but I don’t know how to use that yet. I have to give them a chance and learn all the ins and outs of data use among the poor and down and out. This is not over yet but could be if I need reliable connections and such in the New Year. I can get out of this anytime I want as there is not contract and no phone purchase. We shall see.....


Next thing to get me a further reduction on the car expenses is Starbucks. Starbucks is a totally unnecessary and unhealthy expense that has to go! I estimate that simply cutting out Starbucks is 150 bucks a month, so added on to the present phone and car insurance reductions; most of the car payment is gone. Of course I tried the Starbuck cold-turkey challenge when I got the car and failed. That mocha with the whipped cream is like 550 calories. Cutting that out not only saves me money but totally trims me down without having to walk it off. That is easy trimming right off the sides. If you are relatively thin like me this really helps out as you look young and trim again. All that matters if you are still on the market like I am. But it is healthier anyways so that has to go. As usual I set Sunday as the last day. This time though, it may work, as I really got into Starbucks looking at cars and now that it is cold as hell and performance cars have gone into hibernation – well now is the time. That should also cut back on gas consumption as well.


Yadda, yadda yadda.....


Washed that huge pile of dishes I just looked at for three weeks and cleaned the counter tops. So now my kitchen looks normal again! That was one of the minor things I had to do on the week off. So all-in-all the week off was successful. I got enough sleep and de-stressed myself. I really can’t complain. Now it is back to the TV and UN stuff. There was a big terrorist attack in Egypt so no petitioning for TV stuff this week. I might apply to the UN for a February visit though. I am still grooming my gang for entry into world level advocacy as it can’t be this one man show anymore. The homeless kids who befriended me at the start are highest on my list as world leaders need that reality check from those on the ground and homeless youth are best for that. Also, being young I have the time to groom them for that quantum shift in influence. Going from totally left without any influence to influence on the world stage is probably the most stellar jump you can make. That’s my plan for them.....Hehehehehe..... Those homeless youth are the ones that believed in me and my cause when it was just words coming out of my mouth. The older and more established and educated folk didn't want to touch me with a ten foot pole, so those kids get the opportunities now that we have made it into the international community. I hope I am successful here as the world really needs this kind of voice and this kind of problem solving. Well off professors and titans of industry prattling on at UN events only goes so far. You need that rough, that desperate, and that crazy version of reality that is real life on the ground and not from some ivory tower. That is the kind of legacy I can offer up to the world when I am gone. These kids have issues, but all of them there at the UN right now have issues to be honest. Anyway, this will take years to do and we shall see.....




There is Emily (IAIJ member number: 3) with our first press card and all of 17 years old at the time!



Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukf7LjIDZPg&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It’s a beautiful and warm day here in Toronto today so this will be short and sweet.....



Me at the first WSIS+10 event in Paris looking bored!


The big news is that IAIJ will be going to the 56th Session of the Commission for Social Development held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. This will our second trip to this event, the first being last year where we held our side event and did considerable networking as we plan to further our advocacy disseminated at that side event. I also will do a bit more work on that possible office in New York, and, maybe petition one other broadcaster located in Manhattan while there. This will be another Hail Mary attempt and we may end up doing it by mail but I want that option open just to keep things interesting. We will not be looking to read a statement or putting forth another side event this year. Truth is we have lived a rather charmed life at UNESCO and the UN. We got that all important spot at the first WSIS+10 meeting at UNESCO headquarters in Paris in 2013 which started the formal push to have citizen journalists and bloggers recognized internationally. Then we applied for Consultative Status and at the first session we were considered, I got in the interactive session which included my first speech at the UN introducing our NGO and “war cry” to the delegates which I am sure maybe made us not the most popular NGO there. But maybe the most interesting one as the questions from member states just kept coming in to the extent the Chairman had to forcibly cut short the “roast” (as one of my fellow NGOs said it looked like). BTW: In retrospect I loved the way I introduced us with all guns firing defiantly embracing all those free expression ideals we embraced. I second guessed that at the time; but now that we are in – well – that just makes everything sweeter as I didn’t backtrack on our ideals for pragmatic reasons. This lead to my speech at a General Assembly event (one of the goals stated in the original Fortress TV Show) held at UN Headquarters on July 2, 2015. Anyway, in December of 2015, I got to spend a few days actually on the floor of the General Assembly Hall (usually behind The State of Palestine), attended a formal evening event there at the UN, and I was there when the WSIS+10 Review was voted upon and adopted by the General Assembly!



Me at the General Assembly Hall!


In 2016 I handed the Chairman of The NGO Committee our request from all peoples of the earth the right to participate at the UN in an ongoing way with the cell phone app idea. That was a strange and kind of funny/awkward moment as I got up the gumption and handed that package to the Chair and to the staff. I might have made a little history with that move and I got the feeling some in the room knew what I was up to. This will be lost in time but that was just one absolutely BAD ASS moment! And I did it for all of you – Everywhere! I had to do this before we officially got consultative status or else they could just ignore it. But I got it in while we still had business there so it should be legal. That was the formal delivery. The side event was the informal dissemination of the idea. And that happened at last year’s 55th Session of the Commission for Social Developmentt. So we have really hogged up much of the opportunities, and I am sitting this one out for time with regard to speaking opportunities and side events (If they do tell us places are still open then anything goes).



My cell phone voting app at the UN side event!


I like the term "Bad Ass"; and everything we have done there has been absolutely, positively, 100% Bad Ass to the highest degree! I love it personally. I gives me a reason to use all those skills I developed from all that pain. You get hooked on that lifestyle, like a drug – or as Shane would say: it’s like being on crack man!” It’s a real life roller coaster with highs and lows. Like that General Assembly speech on July 2, and then that drag-race home that night to my dying mother making funeral arrangements on July3! Sometimes life can be this truly fearful and wicked roller coaster ride!


Too much time here, more tomorrow along with my critique of the UN’s new Indico system ported over from their European offices.....




Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwF5WiMkBXo&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



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Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 7:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I am back into the swing of things again in my normal everyday life.


As for the un-normal everyday life I lead it is always a different matter. You have to live like a hermit, as in there is no time for extracurricular activities. Those activities would just serve to hamper or destroy the cause as we are still in the building phase. When the organization truly has succession, I will be so old that even a quick little romance will be a sad laughable thought in everyone’s mind. If you can completely disassociate yourself sexually from life you can be as effective as anyone out there and that means men and women as taking the sexual equation out there leaves you with true intellect. For women what scuttles long range dynamic ambition is usually kids and family life. Even if you work around the logistics of the pragmatic side on it all, family life and kids force you – out - of the realm of looking at humanity as a whole because you have children so near and dear to you. I don’t’ want to mess with that – though some will argue the state upbringing is ultimately better, and I would guess those are mostly men..... But for men what seems to be an advantage maybe is not either. You can start up with an idea like I did in my twenties, which is what I am doing now which started in my 40s. What would have killed this would have been family and the financial drain and the lack of time and ability to stay focused. Then even in the more established phases things work against you.



Ulysses lured by The Sirens


You are mostly on your own but the lure of a romance, of the meaningful relationship, or even starting over which temped me in the very early days; is always there. Take the bait and make out with some cutie just to get you rocks off and laying there on the bed (post colitis) you will see that you just don’t have it in you to do this stuff anymore. You are pacified, life is good as it is right now, why mess with a good thing. And in a matter of months or a year - the cause collapses and the romance ends as the guy that girl thought she was with, turned out to be just another guy and there are plenty more of those out there, and younger too..... For me at my age there are just a few years left to do it all and you just have to give up all those thoughts to the cause. But you are also a human being, and you get lonely and there are only a few years left – a cruel dichotomy......


Maybe the best is quick dalliances with those in like situation, F**ck buddy friends so to speak. That could keep things in check. For what I am doing, you always play to the younger crowd as all this is for them and their futures and the future world of humanity, so those sirens are always there and there you are, strapping yourself to the mast like Ulysses so you don’t’ get tempted by their beauty and your urges.


That is one way to scuttle things. Another is not to see the reality beyond your older antiquated perceptions of success. We are here to offer something new and better to disseminate ideas to all around the world. I always liked the TV thing as when I grew up that was “the” mode for mass media dissemination. Our current attempt at TV are for relatively small markets like Canada or North America. I doggedly pursue this because in part it is cool and rare to do this and strokes my ego. Maybe you could also get some coin out of it which quickly goes to fast cars or paying off what is left on the mortgage. So scuttle a worthy idea and concept for something trivial like that. We should be on the net, but an old fart like me still sticks to these older and dwindling attachments of my earlier life. Sometimes you have to force yourself to just look objectively at what you are trying to do and who you are trying to reach and just go with it. You aren’t in this for the money or cars or girls or any of that common crap. You have to just set the course and strap yourself to that mast and just watch the opportunities pass you by. And when you are out of it you are left with nothing. And that is how this will probably go down. And that is why so few do this and why humanity can never seem to get past their own frailties and move culture onto a better place. Maybe cutting off my cock and balls would be the best way, or would lack of testosterone just make me meek and weak – lacking any dynamic thoughts – with nothing getting done..... But whatever, so I just don’t fix what isn’t broken and carry on!


Indico.....


This is just for that small group of NGO or folk in the machinations of the UN that may pass their eyes over this. First of all the focal points idea is fairly straight forward and then you go where? That was something you had to figure out a bit. I know the emails do this but it could have been made more simple and straight forward. Like:


You designate the focal point people on the usual NGO profile set up we already are used to. Then you go to this new site called Indico and you have to sign up before you can access. That would be clear enough. But the idea you have to create another email address is a bitch. You get used to using one or two emails as in my case for the UN and now they want a third? I have mauriceali and maurice.ali and now just maurice for Indigo because the previous two were stated to be already taken. Anyway, the passwords for the two previous would not let me in either. So you create the new email and get in. The registration is sort of like as before but that photo requirement screws things up. For me selecting a photo from my computer and trying to complete the thing became a pain in the ass. When I just uploaded a photo my screen scrolling failed (that first time anyway) and I could sort of enter text (I believe, going through memory here) but not scroll down and complete. I ditched the idea and started again. This time I completed all the text and went to the photo last – I tried editing the photo and the screen sort of greyed out around the photo and everything froze. So I had to scuttle that and start again! This time I just selected a photo - I think at the end – but I’m not sure if it matters when you just upload a photo and leave it like that. The problem with just uploading and not editing is that your photo will get stretched to the square dimension unless you edit the photo to those dimensions before uploading. So maybe killing the editing feature until it works and just having them upload a square photo for the time being. My photos was not square and got stretched horizontally so I look like a fat Maurice but I was just glad to get the registration finally done – no repeats! Then after I hit the submit button the screen did not acknowledge but said this page could not be displayed which got me really pissed off! So I hit the back button one or two times and saw the summary page. And later the confirmation email. Maybe Freedom Mobile (my crappy cell phone network with crappy reliability) decided to crap out on me when I hit submit, but that was my experience. This is no defining review but just my experience – for what it was worth. And for what it was worth if anyone can make use of that experience as there are always teething troubles setting up a new system. I used the last version of IE and Firefox with similar issues running Win 7 Pro and no idea of the experience on Win 10.




Goodnight all.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmuEZYU-vxw&feature=share
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