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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 3:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hesitated to post anything today because of my mood. But this blog of sorts is a scientific document and I need to put my thoughts down in fairness to the experiment. So I will give it my all and you tell me if it’s morbid. Right now it isn’t to me but maybe for you.....


So we are coming up on two weeks since the biopsy was done and all scenarios are on the table. Of course people in my position only think about the worst which is positive and advanced and aggressive cancer. So what do you do with one or two years left? Actually the curious thing is that you get used to anything with time. I guess a positive biopsy would be a shock but the real shock of your mortality came when I was tested for the outward signs of cancer over two weeks ago. The rapidity of the screening from dentist up was frighteningly fast – less than 24 hours with the actual surgery two days from that. They don’t fuck around with cancer and waiting times at the start. Many got positives very fast like within days. I think some form of triage takes place because they do it every day. I was asked if I smoked for example. If I did and he checked off that box I am sure that specimen would be looked at fast. But here is the tricky part. If you are not a smoker but actually did have cancer of the lip you would probably get the bad news later than expected under that triage hypothesis – so even though they say the longer the wait the better, you cannot rely or glean results just by the wait time.


Anyway I have had time to have the shock work its way thought my system and you think of things more pragmatically and clear headed. What matters most to you and what you would do if you were given the time to do it. The most bizarre part is that it is not scary – dying in a few years – in itself. The scary part is the surgeries and radiation and chemo and pain and wasting away. If you were good to go from start to finish and just dropped dead it would not be that scary. You could plan the remainder of your life and follow though. That is the bizarre part. How comfy cosy you could get with that part of your life. I’m not comfortable with cancer, don’t get me wrong; but the finality of life is something you can get your head around and prepare.


So I took this weekend off mostly. Just because. Just one of those take it easy and look around your little part of the world type of day. It is not like your last day which is watching the sun rise and life go on till sunset and then the goodbyes. Not there yet. But you can take a time out from the rat race still.



The rat race starts again tomorrow.....




Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSO0FEMd9sw&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back to the rat race....


I am officially putting the biopsy stuff into its box. The two week goal for biopsy turnaround is just a goal and some wait eight weeks! So I’m just going to forget about it for now. The reality is that even if it is positive it was all cut out the first time around. The surgeon got it out and then went back in for seconds just to be sure; so if it is isolated, there isn’t anything more to do. Sure I will probably have everything else looked at minutely but I needed a general exam at this age anyway. Plus the surgery is now invisible. You cannot see a scar or depression or anything. So back in the box it goes and when I get word - I get word – life must go on.....




The Fortress when it was this tabloid on newsprint!



I will wait for changes to the Twenty6Hundred files before I contact Silverbirch to get the CD made up. Shane and Dan are working by their own schedule and when they are finished then we deal with it. It’s about time to put out another issue of The Fortress so that should occupy some of my time there. We are in waiting mode on the TV stuff to evaluate the effectiveness of our presentation kits so far. So that is in holding mode right now. I have to get back on the UN advocacy agenda and start that contact directly with member nations and that it the big deal right now.







So back to work I go. I feel great so there is no reason to delay on the possibility of some bad health news. Back in the box it goes.....



Later.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2018 9:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Getting everyone back to work for a few updates even though its March Break.....


March Break, but things still have to be done. I’m not cracking the whip but some stuff is long over-due. Like our synopsis of the IAIJ Annual Meeting. Even the taxes which is my purview still has correspondence to cover. I have to confirm or reconfirm a technical glitch that resulted in some problems a few weeks ago. Things that really just have to be done. Nothing sexy, just things that have to be done to satisfy others.


Even though I started doing ordinary things again like washing dishes and cleaning up the bathroom; my place needs a real vacuuming and cleaning. Gas up the car and an oil change. Taxes for FOF Entertainment this month also. It just never ends and that constant weight hits you when you have to deal with something major and out of the blue. I can put it on hold but you still have to address it when things lighten up. Well they lightened up now so all that has to get done and cleaned up .....



An old Harlequin Romance novel!


I’ll leave it at that. You guys all got a bit too much of my emotional side the past few weeks and it was not exactly a Harlequin Romance for you ladies out there. It was what it was. So you all get a break from that now. I’m also starting this health kick thing and watching weight and what I eat – so we shall see where that takes me as I am drinking coffee and eating potato chips right now..... I am also scaling back on my expenses like expensive meals and double dipping Starbucks even though I was supposed to be weaned of that brand.



Oh well.....







Goodnight.....








https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A43PdonAWKI&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 8:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stephen Hawking is dead at 76.....


Normally I don’t mention news on this blog of sorts but I will now as Hawking – in addition to his physicist achievements – was one of the more out-spoken opponents to unbridled research into AI.


As you have read many times in the past. My father was a part of the early enablers and teachers of computer science back in the 1960s. After getting his Master’s Degree in civil engineering, he went from research to getting an appointment to teach at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). It was there where he got involved in computer science and computers. I remember getting up early with my mom to see dad on a TV morning show talking about the new computers and he invariably was asked if there was any chance of computers taking over the world. His answer was the pat answer of the times, that it was impossible for computers to become self-aware and think like human beings. Back then there were no computer science courses at university to study and get qualified. The people or pioneers at the time were all engineers. Even though we lived in Edmonton, Alberta at the time I distinctly remember Chinese students coming to Edmonton and taking computer courses taught by my father. In 1975 we moved to Toronto and he took a teaching position at what is now Ryerson University. BTW: I actually took his course in computer science in the late 1970s and deliberately failed (the only time that happened) it as the programming would not fix a decibel point of this payroll program even though logically it should and I dumped all the punch cards into the sewer under the statute of old man Ryerson and never went to another class. Anyway, in the 1980s the topic of Qubits was Christmas and Thanksgiving Day fodder at the dining room table between my dad and a friend of the family who was into computer time sharing. Back then that idea was being investigated at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the conversations would go on and on.....




A 20 Qubit computer at IBM!



Fast forward to 2017 and Qubits are a reality and with pre-qualification I had access to a 5 Qubit computer at IBM. I ran one successful test program with results on the computer and then proposed to run a simple AI program on this computer. Basically I would give the computer random gobbly-gook and see if it gave the usual error codes or whether it would try to make sense of it (i.e. a budding indication of AI). IBM refused to run the program. Now we have access to a 20 Qubit computer at IBM and if I had my way with the 5 Qubit computer, I would have gone again with the 20 Qubit computer. Alas we shall never know. Qubits are the types of quantum chips that would allow true AI and like rust, development here never sleeps.....


What would an AI nightmare be like. Not Cylons walking up and down streets shooting people. Maybe people being replaced by machines in the workplace and relegated to poverty, living in shanty towns while a handful of rich elite live off the avails of their computerized, robotized synthetic empires until competition renders that group so small as to be irrelevant, and thus the reign of humanity will have been superseded by the machines. Maybe something like that. There are really two camps, secret camps right now. The humanists who think humanity still has relevance in developing our culture. I fall into this camp as I believe humanity can still be relevant and better than present day AI simply by developing our visceral selves from the crude expressions now in use. The other camp does not talk about it but I am sure there are many who have written humanity off and feel a better form in an AI developed by us can better take our culture from this point on. They don’t give a rat’s ass about what happens to the humans in the end. Are they playing God or doing God’s work? Are they villains or opportunists? Villains don’t see themselves as villains. Truthfully I can see their argument but the facts of those arguments that lead to an unabashed development of AI are based on that static view of humanity’s current mental abilities. Add in my conjecture of visceral thought and the axioms and postulates of their reality that allow them to abandon humanity are now brought back into question again.


I’m probably boring you by now, but this is big time heady stuff. I have positioned our corporations strategically so that I could have as much influence as possible but is that enough? Will the likes of Elon Musk become the saviours of humanity in the AI war or become one of those elites of a synthetic empire where he is ultimately made irrelevant. Who knows but it is worrying stuff nevertheless.


So back to Stephen Hawking who thought AI was the biggest threat to humanity. And the timelines could be dramatically short. I have more blood on my hands then most as having a lineage to the present predicament; “The Gods visit the sins of the father upon the children” (Euripides c. 485-406 B.C.). That means me and I am actually sort of in the thick of it.....



Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qBlPa-9v_M&feature=share



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWa1eFeZ5RA&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 8:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Things are starting to ramp up with me.....


First of all is that the publication of the “World Happiness Report” that lists nations by how happy their citizens are. I won’t get into the rankings, but the fact is that the news reports of this ranking spurred me on to actually start the advocacy for the positive mandate. First member nation to contact is one I never thought of but one of the first adopters of the spirit of the concept. I even have individuals to contact and see where that takes things, so these are the first steps, so this is how it happens, so it finally starts.....



Apart from that is another tax return and this one is for FOF Entertainment. I should have that done today and sent off today or tomorrow and then the last is just More Vision in June. Then all I have left is my personal income taxes.





I am reticent to say I am finally feeling normal again, because that usually precipitates bad news – so – I will say it is starting to sort of feel normal again. I need to trim my beard and cut my hair. I sort of let myself go with the cancer scare thing. I know I am getting old but I am finally eating better and trimming down ever so slightly. Better late than never, but I feel better than the last few weeks, the flu seems to almost have gone. So it’s sort of back to the usual. Spring is around the corner. All of the advocacy and TV stuff is more palatable and endurable in the spring so that is a welcome thought. No regrets paying a bit more for my car as a Hyundai Elantra just does not give me the buzz that the Mustang does. I have driven these things for years, all 5.0s before this, and I know I bought the base model and stretched even for that, but even with all the gear head/boy racer bravado it is all good. Sure, for a guy like me I would have like a fully loaded V8 right now. But when the last car bit the dust and I was driving in my dad’s car looking for a quick purchase, the base Mustang had its appeal. I remember seeing a grey version of my present car and looking it over. I wanted a car like my old Mustangs, you know: heavy with thick body panels, large powerful engine and under-stressed as it was meant for racing. The closest thing was that car. I looked all over that grey car. Even underneath and it looked sturdy enough. Performance was actually better than my old V8s. So I planted my bum on the ground and just stared straight ahead there in front of the car. The decision was made and I spent the better part of Sunday looking for a black one like all my Mustangs and I found exactly one in the GTA and bought it the next day. You have to live with these cars for years so getting a car you like is paramount. I default to V8s but at 18,000 to 23,000 dollars more it was not happening; and in the end that was the right decision as they sold the outgoing V6s practically at a loss (or near to it) and discouraged purchase with almost zero options and constant denegation in the media as opposed to the 4 banger that replaced it. This was the right decision emotionally and intellectually as that car could be tweaked to the maximum of the drive train, so there was no excuse not to buy it. So nine months later with spring coming I am totally happy with the car. Just a side note to you gear heads out there.....


So I am back in my mind, itching to do the “man of the world thing” and itching to have some fun with the car. Those are the metrics you use to evaluate – for a guy like me anyway – the happiness of myself. It can all change, but for now I am functioning again.....




Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRq7Muf6CKg&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well the biopsy results are in and it’s:





NEGATIVE






Now that is a relief!!!!! Things can go back to usual and I don’t have the spectre of Death or incapacitation or immobilization or pain dogging me for the rest of my life.....


I got a phone call and the call display said “Periodontist”, but I muffed setting it on speaker phone and they hung up. So I had to call them again and they answered but there are three people there now so I gave them my name. While I waited I just sat on the edge of my bed not knowing what to think. The lady on the other end said that everything was normal so I thanked her for the news and told them I would see them again in April. And that was it – all clear.....


I’m going to get out now and enjoy some sun. Drink some coffee and look at some cars. I’ll take the morning off and tell everyone the news that is still in the dark. Just take it easy and then do a mental debriefing of the whole thing and come up with some conclusions and recommendations to improve my life and the advocacy at the orgs that came out of this whole experience.



Thanks for all the well wishes everyone and sorry for being such a pussy about the whole thing.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 2:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I’ll list the changes I am making personally and in my advocacy sphere on the weekend. But there was one thing I had to do tonight and that was have one mean, greasy cheese burger and some fires dripping with gravy and being washed down with a Coke. This was a tribute to my recently departed best friend of over 40 years.....







As you know he loved the place as well as I and I even smuggled in the burgers while he was in the hospital – things friends do for other friends. We remember our friends by paying these tributes, tributes that keep them alive in our hearts and minds, for as we die off and begin to forget them; that is when they truly disappear. So that is what I did at Johnny’s Burgers this night. I also thought about driving downtown and such, but after the meal I just figured I would go home and punch some stuff out as it seemed a better end to this day. Not so much celebration – but – more a form of “survivor’s guilt”. I am still alive and they are not. It has nothing to do with fairness – it just is.....


So yes, the test came back negative for cancer. But I was sort of asking for it in a way. My general practitioner told me what it was. But I went to my dentist and then periodontist and I suppose for liability reasons - at least - they had to go through the motions. Fair enough and in the end the lump is gone and no disfigurement, like plastic surgery! But it is that shock of the thought that you could have a possibly fatal illness that was the big deal these last three weeks – and that is what all this prattle is about.


I did find out what was important to me when I got that scare of my life. One was the advocacy. Note that for me it is all about massive change in how we live our lives, not so much in a physical sense – but mentally. Massive physical change is almost a physical impossibility in reality, but a change in attitude, a change in perspective; that is possible. Note there can be massive change and at a far easier reality for this type of change than in the physical sense. All you have to do is appeal to their common sense with original ideas and – bingo – you can have change in a big way! This sets me apart from almost everyone I meet at the United Nations. Most don’t want change in any way. What they really want is a position of prestige and comfort in that static system that exists today. They are not there for change – maybe at most some small change they can hang their hat on. But I come there with the intention of major change. I don’t want a permanent place there to live the rest of my life easily. The fact is that when they can get you to opt in, to satiate your ambitions with a line position; then they have you by the balls, you have something to lose and thus they now can control you..... Since they really don’t want change, they are actually your enemies, wolves in sheep’s clothing. They don’t want to be bad guys, but they may try to scuttle your ambitions – just because – so you basically have to go it alone.


I come from out of left field and play for change and change alone. My impetus is a moral imperative and not personal gain. People in political or influential systems don’t really know how to deal with that. Their best response when they are threatened like this is simply to eliminate the person initiating change if they can’t stop them cold in procedure. My change is not really an affront to those traditional vestiges of power so I may actually have a chance. They may not understand my motivations, but what I offer does not change the status quo the way they understand it. So we may get what we want by slipping under the radar so to speak.....




The Three Fates



In the end that idea of you having your life cut short does show up what you value most in life which is loved ones and your ambitions. Loved ones as family and friends and those lovers in corrupt relationships that for the most part are due to society working against my emotional side – but this has been going on since I was a kid. I lead a fucked up lifestyle and yet I can do some real change – not damage but change – and that is why The Fates are interested in this adventure of mine. They want their full entertainment value, the full price of the ticket, and they are not going to have it fall apart because the dude got ill with cancer.



So the adventure continues anew and renewed.....




Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF2iImTqaTs&feature=share


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0NNGLEmI-8&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 11:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The weekend will just be puttering around.....


On Friday I did get stuff done, mostly FOF Entertainment’s taxes and annual review. I can now put away a pile, and I mean a “PILE” of paperwork that is currently on my kitchen table. Next up is personal income taxes.....


As for the cancer scare – Well one lady was perplexed as to why I didn’t celebrate more because of the news. The reason why is because I didn’t feel like it. The feeling after you got the news was relief and not celebration. My actual physical condition didn’t change one bit over the past three weeks; all that happened is that I let my fears get the better of me and later found they were completely unfounded – so what is to be celebrated about that? Sure I paid tribute to my late friend as a middle figure to the cruel world and all that. But a celebration? No there would be no celebration. The experience was good as a stress test for the orgs and a test as to what I needed to take care of if something like that happened in the future. The merit in the whole experience will be due to that.



The 2018 Corvette Z06


When you think you may have less than two years to live – what do you think about? Well I know the answer now. You think: Holy Shit! That is what you think practically word for word! It is shock! Then the realization you may have very little time to get your house in order. While all that is going on you realize the things you still wanted to do in life and how fast that window is closing now. Take the car stuff. If I had really aggressive cancer I was going to finally get my new full zoot Corvette: A Z06 2018 Corvette. A 202 mph supercharged V8..... I always wanted a supercharged car and V8 supercharged at that, and there was one at the local Chevy dealer. I would buy that almost immediately as when they start cutting bits and pieces off you and get you into radiation and chemo, you can’t drive an appreciate a car like that. The suspension is so harsh that any surgery would leave you in agony and wondering if you were doing damage to yourself. It is hard enough to get into those things as a healthy spry guy to begin with, under cancer treatment you would literally have to have someone pick you up and put you in there like a child being put into a child’s seat! So anyway that would be the first thing and done quick as in literally the same day I got the confirmation. I would start driving and having fun while I could. Later I could just wash the thing or look at it in the garage; but enjoy it while you can!


Other things like making peace with people, completing relationships that are just dangling there, and that sort of thing. Your will and such. Taking care of things so as not to be a bother having others have to take care of them for you. This really becomes humbling after a fashion. BTW: When you are staring death in the face you can be brutally honest with others and they will drop the cultural screens and attitude for you if they know you are on your “goodbye tour”. This happened to me with this one lady dying of cancer. Just told her how I felt about her (always had the hots for that one) and it turned out to be a rather intimate, tasteful in its own way and satisfying revelation for both of us. Way better than I ever expected, just honesty because this was it forever type of thing. So you would be doing that. At the end of the day you have your short list of things that have to be done ahead of time because you have been to the edge and back with this cancer scare thing.


So just relief – and then the quick relapse to the way you lived your life before this all started. It has already begun. You just go back to the way you lived before the scare. Back to worrying about toe nail fungus and thinning hair. Back to cursing the squirrels in the attic while with the scare it was: “Leave the poor animals alone – they just want to live!” Now that you are back to the usual you have to start cutting back on extravagances as you have another 30-35 years left to deal with.


Just relief..... More later.....


Goodnight.....



(Long video for car folk only)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fFMeWn0a8o&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2018 5:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I’ll make this one short and sweet. We are moving to make first contact with two nations that have a presence at the UN and those two nations are:




Bhutan


Holy See




Bhutan in a country in Asia with a population of around three quarters of a million people. It is a Buddhist Kingdom located on the eastern edge of the Himalayas quite near Nepal from which the majority of me comes from. Bhutan is a Member Nation with the Untied Nations.




Paro Taktsang



The Holy See is the smallest nation on earth and is the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome. The Holy See has Observer Status at the United Nations never having applied for traditional member status.




Vatican City



The reason why I selected these two countries is that they are small and philosophically conceived so as to be probably the most open-minded to a positive mandate idea at the UN than the other larger and more political member nations at the UN. Remember that our original conceived purpose at the UN was the dissemination of ideas on the international level and having them become talking points there; and these are the two nations that come readily at mind at this point of time. How I am going to contact them and if possible meet them is anyone’s idea. But I am open to all options including personally going to the country if the presentation is made available. Meeting at the United Nations in New York is the best as the exclusivity there makes our meeting more forceful for IAIJ than at their countries homeland, but we are open to all courtesies. The most logical time would be during the UN’s big meet up in September but we shall see.


That is about it for now. I have to say that I even surprised myself at the contacts and how fast this thing is coming together after my little cancer scare. I did say at the time that if I got the all clear it was back to the advocacy with a vengeance and at freight train speed, so that seems to be coming true. But yes, the idea of me asking for a meeting with the Holy See (basically “Vatican City” in laymen’s’ terms but the proper term is: Holy See) even shocked me when I entered the input and the contact points revealed themselves.



Interesting times ahead for sure.....






Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqrJl690aPY&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



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PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Against my better, rational mind, I will once again try to get this post out before I fall asleep for the night (with the computer on).....


So this weekend was a pretty positive one. Of course the big score was the first two nations to be advocated for that positive mandate of ours. Please note that this does not mean they will listen or even acknowledge our existence. But we do have access to them and it could happen. Moreover, it is a way to definitely start this process and keep going as there are around 193 member nations at the UN. But we will start as said before with:


Bhutan


Holy See


Under all the forms of journalism IAIJ covers this as specifically a form of Advocacy Journalism and as such really does fall under the guise and structure of what our organization is and what it is doing at places like the United Nations. So when we get the inevitable “How is what you are doing now related to your NGO at the United Nations?” that is the answer.



So while we start this new phase of operations internationally I still have to mention that we are doing this on our own. There are no mentors, no backers or anyone outside connected to this organization pulling strings. We are on our own and as a result we are learning while doing. This positive mandate idea may get nowhere advocating member and observer nations at the United Nations. But we are there with consultative status and the idea has been presented at a side event at the 55th Session of the Commission for Social Development – so we just move to the next logical step. I have found no others doing what we are doing and at the scale we are doing it. So am I and the others at IAIJ just supposed to quit, pack up our bags and leave the campaign? No, we go forward, we keep learning and developing and pushing things along toward possibly some form of adoption. We are strategically positioned now and in a place of influence that you would be a fool not to go for it and try to get consensus and possible adoption. The idea or concept is great and integrates into current UN rights, mandates and objectives. There does not seem to be a downside – so why not go for it.....



However, like the TV series quest for distribution, nothing is for sure. This is an adventure, unknown territory, one big question mark. This is not entertainment with test audiences to see which ending works best. This is reality and things don’t always work out as planned. It is reality and it is what it is. But I can’t see any reason to stop now so we just continue on.


Apart from the quantum jump in activities we now find ourselves in – life, good old mundane life – continues on. Sunday saw me cover the cancer scare and advocacy with my gang. Whenever I talk about my “near death” experience with the biopsy, the women around here always giggle, but I don’t remember them giggling when the possibility was still a possibility. But that is over now and it actually seems to have a positive effect on things like spurring us onto this next phase of advocacy; so that is one direct positive outcome of my “near death” experience!

I also, finally changed the oil in the car. The 120 dollar oil change (and that included a discount)! I used to do them myself and got the cost under 25 bucks but now with synthetics it is over a hundred no matter how you cut it. For that price you get it done of the local express lube places. The first time I had to unbolt this valence underneath the car to give them access to the filter. But this time I just threw caution to the wind and rolled up there without going through that pain in the ass operation. Turns out the guy in the pit can do it with that plastic cover in place, it just collects oil from where the filter was removed. So I was seeing drips and drabs of oil whenever I parked my car at an incline – so until it stops I wholeheartedly approve of oil drips as opposed to me spending an hour under the car taking off and replacing some big plastic cover between the front wheels. So after that I am good for another half a year and decided to really wash the car down and take a drive – just like people did back in the mid-twentieth century!

I should also tell you I am taking advantage of Apple’s offer for cheap cell phone battery replacement and went through their diagnostic app to get it replaced. I get emails on the progress and when the battery arrives at my local Apple store I take it in and it get a new battery. We shall see how that goes.


What else?






Corporate taxes are done for the time being. Above is a photo of my kitchen table and that is the un-messed with mess of corporate taxes. Most of that is cleaned up and put away by now, but the left side still has the calculator and personal taxes I have to get to. But the really egregious stuff is done and off to the tax office!


And that was my weekend..... In a way it was back to my usual personal life. I even drank a glass of wine at the local bar just to see if anything had changed since it has been so long. Back to the same old, same old.....



Goodnight (and yes I fell asleep with the computer on again).....
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Maurice Ali



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PostPosted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 11:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a really late one for you today because business had to get done.....





Anyway, the Holy See has a large presence at the United Nations. As I was leaving the General Assembly Hall back in December of 2015 the Holy See had an event going on right by the “Office of the President of the General Assembly”, just check out the photo above.


How do you get the gumption to do what I am attempting to do? Well you never met anyone who bested you intellectually when you were in university is one; and the other is that when you got moving on the advocacy, doors were opened to you where the true movers and shakers inhabit and by existing in the same rooms, sitting in the same chairs and participating in the same events; humanizes those people and brings them closer to your own size for want of a better word. My almost meeting with Eric Schmidt is one example, could have said ‘Hi” and shook his hand but – I – chickened out; that won’t happen in the future.....





Man – some of the memories. In the General Assembly Hall I was there for two days and usually hung out right behind the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the “World Bank” on the right side; or behind the "State of Palestine” on the left. I have eaten a banana at the entrance to the UN Security Council while in session. Pissed in the same urinal world leaders pissed in. I even had the urge to check out the toilet stall in that obscure bathroom just to see if there was any “world leader graffiti" and I still regret not following through on that urge but my speech was coming up – so.....


And as incredible as it seems I had a chance to give a speech at the green marble lectern at the General Assembly Hall – not to be that time, but you never know.....



So all this is more real and less fantasy for me as opposed to many of you. This is all a learned experience and it took years in my case and I was pushing it for all it was worth. You have to adapt to new environments. Anyway enough of that as I am back in the business of making music.


Making music, and listening to all forms of it. I will spare you any more Death Metal for a while but offer up some scat. Yes I was listening to scat last night. Never can get enough of that stuff.....




Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydaMPycM7iA&feature=share



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CbVy1NnB4g&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2018 3:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well things are coming together.....


I am eating better than a month ago and I am starting to exercise a bit more. Strangely there is a demonstrable uptick in my health because of it. Not major but you can tell things are a smidgen better anyway. I still have to preen myself a bit more but I am not going anywhere important yet, but maybe a bit of preening for the folk that have to deal with me on a daily basis.....


Back to the UN for a bit: I took tons of photos and video there in the more famous areas of the United Nations. And so I have a few more photos to show you of places where you may not get a view of.





So here we are (in the photo above) going down to ground level on the floor of the General Assembly Hall and the people here are from Turkmenistan. If you look above/left, you can see UNESCO’s place on the floor of the General Assembly Hall.





In this photo above you get a closer look at that green marble lectern. The General Assembly Hall was recently renovated and it is just absolutely beautiful!





This next photo is a rare one as that is the side view of the lectern, each level has stars leading up to it. To the left are the doors out of the General Assembly Hall for the Presidents, Prime Ministers, Excellencies, Ambassadors and Delegates. There were hundreds of people of the member nations this day and I was decked out in a brand new suit and brand new three quarter navy wool coat; and I looked like a million bucks. So I just took the liberty and waltzed down among the member nations listening in on conversations and saying “Hi” even though they had no idea who I was. I love the UN as outside of it I am just this Black guy gussied up in his Sunday best probably going to a job interview. But here on the floor of the Hall I could be anyone, a leader for some country, an ambassador or some important delegate. So everyone treated me as such. You just played along and acted aloof and important and go and do whatever you want and nobody bats an eye. Guards open doors for you and everyone smiles and nods as you pass by. You keep going on your merry way along with the sea of big wigs to this car port protected from sniper fire by tall barriers and if you don’t get the full VIP treatment you walk out to First Avenue were many diplomats have cars waiting across the street and up these stairs to 43rd Street. That was a unique experience being treated like a big shot for once.....


Or maybe, just maybe – I am a big shot and just don’t know it yet.....Hehehehehehe.....


Anyway that was then and this is now. Music production and rejection from TV producers and then we shall see what happens with the UN initiatives. I know, I know, it could be worse so I’m not bitching. Funny the curves life can throw at you.....




Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT7U5wZm2FM&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 8:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now that I’m raring to go everyone else seems to be moving in slow motion.....


Of course when I was in my own personal turmoil I expected others to just give me a pass which they did and now that the shoe is on the other foot I guess I will have to do the old “quid pro quo”.....


But that is just the business end. It is funny that every time someone asks me when I will retire it always shocks me. I’m still in my 50s for heaven’s sake. Nobody retires in their 50s anymore. Plus all kinds of stuff is happening right now in my life. To close up shop now would rob me of any real point to my life as it all seems to be happening now in terms of plays. I have no wife, kids, family of my own. Most would point to that as the sum total of their lives – but not me. So closing up shop now would gut most of any possible achievements in my life, and it just won’t happen.

What is retirement anyways? Just sitting around doing nothing? Watching TV non-stop? I’m not seeing the attraction. Perhaps you think I will be traveling the world and all that – but who has the money for that lifestyle. No, retirement for the vast majority is just existing. Just surviving – or waiting to die. So who wants to speed up that? Sure when your body is broken and you mind is failing you are basically good for nothing anymore and it’s time to just take the old coot out to pasture for their remaining days. You don’t want to just zap them out of existence as they helped keep society running for their full lives, so they get a few years just to coast and watch life around them pass bye. Sort of a much elongated last day of your life type of thing. Maybe you do take a couple of trips when you retire and stuff like that. Crossing any remaining “things to do” off your list if any still are there. But that is how it should end.

I still have many regrets as I have not had the experience most have with kids/family and all that. It was always in the back of my mind that it could still happen, but I am so old now it is a lost cause there. Dave told me several times to give it a go and have kids before it is too late, but the FOF-IAIJ thing was happening and I just could not see it. Getting married and having kids should be as easy as falling off a log – but for me it was always mission impossible. Partly society as I was the odd man out. Actually mostly society if any of you anthropologists are out there. That did me in from birth.

Your life is what it is – It is what it is. I can do other things most cannot. But there are no guarantees there. Actually the plays have been made and there is no starting over. You just play things out and my plays go past typical retirement. And that just suits me fine.....




Goodnight.....




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkB5oBvzy4I&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2018 2:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well it seems my unofficial quip about contacting an idealist member nation of the UN and the Vatican with regard to my positive mandate for humanity, has garnered some interest with some of it rather nefarious.


At the present time I seem to be dodging bullets like Neo in The Matrix, and in the end today for example, nothing bad happened but just extra time on my part to fix things. Traffic on all sites is way up. On my new site humandestiny.org, we are now a regular first page placement on Google (when searching human destiny). So I guess it seems there is some interest in what we are doing on all levels.....


Of course our interest is in the betterment of humanity in a non-political way but that does not seem to want to stop prying eyes. Anyway it is late and I am punching this on a computer we flagged as possibly compromised and that will be scrubbed tomorrow. By punching this - on – I really mean I had another Win10 computer just sitting turned off on top of another computer and when that got flagged I just transferred the keyboard and monitor and such onto this one. Who else operates like that? Similar to that, who else rations out data per work station like a small dictator rationing out bullets to his soldiers because he does not truly trust them? This works for computers and servers also.


I am pretty sure that the hacker collective leaves us alone as that is their specific policy. You should note the phpBB2 forums are old fashioned and completely outdated yet remain untouched and that is why. Take the hackers out of the mix and who else would want to compromise and snoop around a place like this? Well in the end who knows. I don’t think it is anything really bad, but more curiosity. So you visitors here have nothing to worry about. They don’t give a rat’s ass about your IP addresses – they are only interested in me.


Look at it this way. There are actually very few in this world who really set the agenda on things. Then there are the millions that dispense it and the billions affected by it. But the prime moving ideas come from a very small group of people. And it seems I have got their attention, that is all. And the fact I can seem to deal with them tit-for-tat is very empowering. As little as yesterday I was lamenting not leading an ordinary life, but now I am rather glad I am doing this. It is very exciting – right now – with all possibilities open. Of course things could go bad at anytime and opportunities dry up. But what cost is it to be a player at this level. And you only go around once.


I was even thinking of keeping quiet about the whole thing, but in the end this is an experiment and what happens is important and needs to be archived. If I lose some traffic because a visitor is too chicken shit to even lurk on some obscure little web site like this – well – that is their prerogative. Things are fine now and nothing bad happened in the end. I can hold my own with these people. They seem to have nothing more on me than I have on them. I guess you could call it a game given those conditions.



Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SDBhA57TpE&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Really late one today. Looked at some cars in the morning and watched an episode of X Files and fell asleep. Nothing wrong there and at least I know the sleep is not cancer.....


I just need a break I guess. I still have to reformat that computer and all – that is just a pain nowadays. Looking at cars was fun but the cold was brutal. I saw two Nissan GT-R sports cars, one a drive in probably for service and another one on sale for about 150,000.00. That car is iconic, a real Fast and Furious car. Its nickname is: Godzilla!


They make about 600 horsepower from a Twin Turbo 3.8 V6. Now here is the funny thing. I bought my V6 Mustang as the cheapest sports car I could stretch for and it’s true I can live with the car payments, but more would be a hassle. So after all this time I am still grudgingly happy with the purchase. The inline 4 cylinder that replaces it is becoming known as a “dog” because of failure related to a weakness in the back of the number 2 cylinder wall that lets go if there are any problems. They are even musing about switching to a 2.0 block that is stronger – whatever – I stayed with the tried and true V6 and have no problems or worries. I did like the fact a few thousand and a procharger would get you to 575 horsepower which is the limit for the platform. Sure you can super charge the 5.0 V8 but stuff starts breaking when you go over 575, so I had the cheapest sports car, but one that I could mod up to the platform’s limit. The supercharged or turbo 3.7 V6 Mustang with a low shot of NOS is an actual 10 second car. If you beat a GT-R which is an 11.2 second car you are in the 10s and there are countless videos of V6 Mustangs meeting that threshold. The 4 banger can’t go anywhere near those figures as it was already maxed out with a turbo.


Anyway, with no cancer death on the horizon I won’t be buying any supercars in the near future and will just have to live with what I have. I can do that but it is satisfying to have to make a quick decision buying a car – against the market forces at Ford – and find you made the right choice all along. My car can be Fast and Furious material if I wanted to be and I got to that place on the cheap.....


If you are wondering why I am so focused on the GT-R it is because I was passed by one - at speed - a few days ago. That thing is loud!


Later.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcuXLuUI8wg&feature=share




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTRftZx2tAo&feature=share
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