Fortress Of Freedom Board

[Maurice Ali]

A late one.....



The FOFSTOCK taxes are done! I will check to make sure we can still mail them in and then off it goes. I have started the home reno's and divided them onto what I can do and what I have to call in for. Nothing big either way but I'm not going to the UN probably this spring and just stay home and take care of things. The movie update has to be done along with everything else. I should clearly have my slow exit planning by the end of next year, and from then on it's just executing the plan.



That means the big events are done with. No more big ass concerts for example - but there may be a smaller FOFSTOCK 2 get-together. If the Royal Cinema rental rates are still normal, then maybe that when Beyond the Fortress Experiment is done. Same with printing one last paper newspaper of The Fortress. All these things have a grim effect on your mind. But you have to face reality and prepare for it.



The extra long weekend kind of sucks being socked in on Boxing Day with snow - but things are getting done.







Oh, and other payment for book sales. I would never have believed the biggest cash income for all orgs would be my book sales. It's 40X all our royalties for music for example. Just let that sink in - 40 times as much! Reality is stranger than fiction.....




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

I took a day off.....



I was on a roll with some home stuff and just kept at it and it's done!



Apart from that I'm deciding on what to do and what not to do in 2026. I keep reminding myself that time is running out on my former lifestyle. The world is changing and stuff we have been doing is changing. I'll start on the record label first in the New Year. No, it's not going anywhere. 99% of traditional record labels are gone as there is no business plan to keep them viable.


Ours continues because my business philosophy was to run all my corporations on vapors if need be. If you don't and have a lease, that alone will kill a company. Fixed costs when revenue drops kills companies! What, enter into the lease outside a corporation as in in your own? Then as an individual you have unlimited liability which is worse than folding up a corporation!







FOF Records is 17 years as a company and 14 years as a corporation and it continues even in these dark days of the music industry. As it stands even now, it is part of a musical conglomerate with FOFSTOCK and FOF (at length) and if all went to hell, donations at FOFSTOCK and resource sharing could keep it alive if need be.


But changes have to be made and you have to steer clear of things that can get you in trouble with the tax man - but we are still alive. As things change, music may comeback to life again and FOF Records will have a following and history to seize that opportunity.



But it all comes down to keeping fixes cost down and under control.



Oh, we have another concert news article at IAIJ - enjoy:

https://www.iaij.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1152



Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

Back to work.



In the end the Christmas Break was a success, getting FOFSTOCK tax's done and some work intensive stuff done at home.



New Years is less of that just being one day off.



Like I said before, the start of 2026 brings a rationalization that I looked away from up till now. No more big ass concert plays going forward. That is why FOFSTOCK became a not for profit organization instead of this yearly music festival. The music industry has de-evolved to the point I can't make it work up here. Basically I'm just getting my house in order for the future.




The bright spot is that the advocacy continues as usual. I can even drop the cost of trips if need be. Maybe we could have some fun with the newspaper and the next movie but things start to scale back. It's funny that after 21 years I still have this urge to keep reaching to more exciting and larger things. I still want to do it! However, that urge will have to fit in the financial and logistical plan I now have.




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

Work on the 2025 issue of The Fortress has Begun.


This will be available probably New Year's day. We also have planned a small run of the original newspaper when it was paper back in the day. Something new to put in the newspaper box - remember those.




The first issue of The Fortress Newspaper!



Then the arduous task of collating and distributing the newspapers around the universities and libraries. We may even send a few to England like we did back in the day.




Twenty one years ago and look how young I was back then!



Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

Another check has been deposited by Amazon into my account. And it's not nothing - plus Amazon wants to give you nothing by default, so to get real checks means you are selling! How much? Like eleven thousand times more than my streaming payout from Spotify for my AI song over the last year - and we are not talking about yearly totals here as Amazon seems to pay out by regions. I'd say this year you could have bought yourself a decent cellphone with my royalties for the last twelve months - but definitely a "don't give up your day job" thing.







Still it is refreshing and old school satisfying to actually get checks for writing books! Most of this is from the AI book I wrote telling everyone how to create sentient AI and that the appearance of a sentient AI will be the first empirical evidence of God and that in the end people will be praying to the AI. My version of events does not necessarily have humanity being extinguished as much as it - the AI - being adored and loved; but if extinction happens I guess it will be more of a Jim Jones type of thing - but I digress. Amateurishly written and no rewrites yet! I was going to add some stuff about things we could do to prevent and AI taking over - but nobody in the world is interested in any of that from me - so f**k them - that's what I say. One teaser is to prevent an AI from using incorporation laws and incorporating itself thus gaining legal status as a legal entity (currently an AI has no legal designation or ability to do anything on its own) and the ability to engage in commercial transactions of all kinds around the world - no interest, crickets in Eastern Europe - so f**k them. You try to help the situation and you get nothing.



But I digress. If you buy a book from me, the proceeds go back into the orgs and contribute to the royalties payed to all that embraced my ideals and advocacy. That is why we pay artists more than any other record label out there right now. See, I run the corporations as cheaply as possible and pay the humans in it better than the others. I'm not such a bad man after all.....




Goodnight.....




https://youtu.be/0qBlPa-9v_M?si=ORlTYXOisPByA-5U

[Maurice Ali]

New Year's eve came and went and now the start of 2026.



2025 is when I started advocating directly to people and it was a complete success. For years I was wondering how to do this and then - boom - it happened.


2025 is also when I made good on my commitment to helping avoid AI extinction as dear o'l dad back in the pioneering days said this (on TV no less) would never be a problem. Now he is too senile to walk things back and I have to do things on his behalf. In advocacy this turned out better than expected and I have started making good on my responsibilities. High points was Bob Rae telling us all at the UN that AI was here to stay and no walking it back, and member nations only interested in monetizing AI through taxes.



As for sentient AI? I always figured it would come from quantum because of its error prone like humans but quantum in nature. It looks like economics could've saved the day as what makes good for sentience does not work for a tool to make money. Under my model that doesn't mean sentience could not come by other means - but incredible resources are needed to achieve anything like this in conventional AI models. Hmm - maybe ten to twenty percent chance of extinction. So the odds are in favour of survival. Job losses will occur though and we shall just have to see how all this plays out.



For 2026 - it is more of the new method of advocacy. We also have to legitimize the concepts I have, so if things get some traction the ideas have a legitimacy the main stream can trust. You would think the simple ideas I espouse would do the trick - but it is way easier this way.



The Fortress 2025 continues to be worked on.




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

January 2 rings in with reality.



2025 was me getting any last kicks at the can as I was younger. Last chance to spend money frivolously. Big ass FOFSTOCK 2 was one I desperately wanted and the Fates denied me.




Fender Jaguar



I also went and took the opportunity to finish any guitar purchases I wanted which is why I got the Jaguar, the American Fender Strat and the Les Paul Standard with P90 pickups. Then I got the Helix Floor heavily discounted when Cosmo Music closed its doors for good. I also upgraded the iPhone and stuff like that. The UN trips are not frivolous.




Fender American Pro II Stratocaster




Les Paul Standard P90


Now I put on my financial advisor's hat on and play my cards. Firstly, it's mostly planned that i would end up at my dad's place whenever he passes, living with one of my sisters. That is the plan but you can not assume anything! So I stay at my place until everything is settled and then sell it. Do not assume anything especially at my age. That's also why I'm getting back into the home reno on my place. It has to be ready for a quick sale or ready for me to live out my days there. I should also plan for one last people mover car. The Buick is like new but it's getting old and stuff will disintegrate in it shortly. The Corvette purchase I always had on my bucket list will not happen - the Mustang and any mods is where automotive dreams will happen (Godzilla motor swap - finally). I won't bore you with every detail but the New Year arrives with a cold dose of reality. No more expensive dreams.....



The Fortress 2025 is nearing completion. The front page is all about AI which became real for many people this year. Lots of people will be losing their jobs shortly. Another reason I'm not retiring just yet - stuff will happen and the idea is just to make sure you still have your retirement parachute paced and ready to deploy. The younger folk will just change jobs - at my age it is over! This could get ugly in a couple of years.



The paper should be done by this weekend and I send off the FOFSTOCK taxes next week.




Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/h1mwMTSNudg?si=D9kF4nGM2Dw5hFuO

[Maurice Ali]

A nothing day.....


Just running errands with the family.


Playing around with the guitars.


Just thinking about things and the future. The weather sucks and this also has an impact on your demeanour.



Sunday should be more productive.




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

We should have The Fortress publication done by the end of today. Here is what the front page looks like (should be uploaded in a few hours):







Ai is at the forefront as it will soon affect many people. Hopefully the AI bubble will burst and slow things down a bit - but who knows.




Yung Spot!



Just got a call From Yung Spot who is in Thailand checking out the music scene. He should have called up Shane as Shane would totally eat that stuff up! Anyway in another half hour we have the Sunday conference call as usual. It just never ends.....





Me and Tyrone (his real name) at some event at York University!



A surprise to see him over there. Veronica is the one that roams around Asia and our go to for anything Japan as she speak it!




Veronica!




Veronica in Japan!



Transitioning from 2025 to 2026 is like walking from one room and closing the door and not going back, just in this. ew room and looking around. Oddly the advocacy was the biggest development for me going from a speech here and there and written statements to pitching the Worldwide Vote to the Secretary General of the ITU - three times! I'm in another universe now but actually it's just the next room I passed into. Not as cool as the last room but it brings me closer to our goals than ever before. With every score brings something bad - but I can handle that! From what was just dreaming about 21 years ago, we are literally have a problematic chance for actually getting somewhere.....



That was the big news last year.....





And the weather sucks as usual. I may take the bus to my dad's place and just start using the Buick all week long as it's snows every day this week or so they say.




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

The Fortress is out there:

[Maurice Ali]

FOFSTOCK corporate taxes should be sent out today.


Crap! Just remembered ITS corporate taxes are due for FOF Records, FOFSTOCK and IAIJ in a few weeks - it never ends!







It does not end there, as FOF Records corporate taxes are due January 20th - it just never ends! Plus we have to make up the royalty statements and have Sam sign off on those. If the weather permits I may drive down to her place and have her sign a few boxes of Christmas Cards as she may relocate to BC in the future.



Because of the amount of people involved, the record label has the most hassles, the most websites, the most paperwork and so on. You would be crazy to start a label now as there is no business model. As a side corporation of the music advocacy FOFSTOCK, we have a reason for its continued existence as it provides real life experiences and examples to the advocacy we espouse.



So I start on the royalty checks and all the rest, but going forward we will be cutting costs as usual.....




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

Work continues.....


The IRS tax return for FOFSTOCK is done.



I also finished the royalty statements for the record label.



I'm also doing home reno's in addition to the organizations.




The application is finally sent in!



I'm keen to see when the NGO committee gets around to our application.



Boring stuff but stuff that needs to be done.




Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/ywPUM7p0tso?si=HYa3j5hvr4zMsL_D

[Maurice Ali]

Registered for the Commission for Social Development in February.


Back to signing reference letters for my gang. .



I'm starting to do maintenance on the cars. First is new batteries for all those key fobs. Starting work on more taxes.



Youtube is getting bad. More later.....



Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

I don't talk about current issues here. Occasionally I talk about UN issues. But I really don't talk about any of it or criticize anything.







All I will say is that as of today, our advocacy has never been in a better position to attain its goals! Like I said - I don't comment on things. Just that now we are in a better position to do something that people thought could not be done at the UN. Just like that and in the space of one day!







That's as far as I will go - but things have really looked up for us as of now! Never say something is unattainable.....







And the one I figured was a lost cause:









Goodnight.....




https://youtu.be/3GwjfUFyY6M?si=Wj_wajrSU1AdVXCx

[Maurice Ali]

A funny thing about not giving up.....



Today I'm not sure that not giving up is payoff for your unrelenting devotion and work toward a certain goal - or - just increasing the length of time for some fortuitous event to happen that makes what you desire happen.







A lot of the things that become our definitive moments in our lives could be considered as happenstance and circumstance being involved. For example, IAIJ getting consultative status when it did was probably more to do with another matter at hand than anything I did.







On the other hand - 66 years old and nothing has changed for me being a minority in Canada. I basically had to leave the country for the international community to make my dreams come true - there is always that.....




Goodnight.....