Fortress Of Freedom Board

[Maurice Ali]

Super late one.....


I had to reformat some posts on the IAIJ website to work with the new colors.



I am seriously working on the VIP letters.



Then just general packing and preparing for the trip




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

We have received our final instructions on the ITU event next Monday.



Do not expect anything big to happen. However, the planning up to that event has given me a true direction and "end game" that makes my life work having a real purpose or impact.



Anyway, we are on the verge of redefining what a social contract is. It is exciting stuff for me, boring stuff for you and maybe frightening stuff for some at the United Nations.



Just don't be surprised if things are quiet on this trip - stuff is happening regardless.....




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

The print material is all done now!



I also decided against bringing my 80 dollar cross pen (and losing it again) and instead bought a 20 dollar stainless steel Parker Jotter instead to take down there.



I'm basically ready to go. Just select the street clothing for this time of the year and go!



It looks like in addition to the Secretary General of the ITU, H.M. the Queen of the Belgians (United Nations SDG Advocate) will be there along with the Director General of UNESCO. Remember that IAIJ started with membership with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, then UNESCO in Paris (France) and then to the United Nations. I could be wrong but if anything happens to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Director General of UNESCO takes over.



Anyway the big thing now is to just get down there and go to the event.




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

Do I have a social contact with humanity?



I actually did ask the world at large if they wanted the Worldwide Vote at places like the United Nations. The vote results were just under 3/4 in favor back in like 2012 with physical and online voting and almost the same results with the apps on Android and iOS recently.



So, if I ask humanity if they want something and they say yes - and I have already embraced a moral imperative to do what I can to improve humanity - do I have an actual social contract with humanity that gives me the right to act on their behalf? I would say yes!



So when I'm at UNESCO or the United Nations advocating and making speeches - I can be bold and be "pushy" getting the word out about concepts like the Worldwide Vote and happiness being the ultimate payoff for entering into a Global Social Contract. I am humanity's emissary to places where they cannot go. I have been there for 10 years and keep to myself. I do not want to get comfortable there, and I certainly don't want to become aloof or feel entitled as I am the common person, there to allow all common persons a voice where presently they have none. I intend to change that and give humanity a voice and vote.....



That speech I made this past July about that Worldwide Vote - was I the first to make this speech at a high level event? Was I the first to ask for this ability back in 2017 at my side event? I made the quip that this was probably the first time that ever happened and I was probably right. So I may have been the first to pick up online participation and voting of the general public at the United Nations. The push for that third house back in the 90s focused on NGOs as the technology didn't really exist back then - it exists now!



For me personally, I gave decades of my life, tons of money and all kinds of aggravation to push what was a "pipe dream" everyone thought had no chance. Things are different now and I actually have a chance of changing things. From probabilities of one out of several billions - to one out of three as of today. Those odds truly make it all worth it! If things get traction those concepts will be taken over by others and my contributions will start to fade away. But it was all worth it in the end.....



Some would say - given my horrible past - why I would do these humanitarian things. I do it because doing it made me happy - just as the Positive Mandate for Humanity said it would. Before all this I was an angry Black Man - you know "White Man this and Black Man that" was non-stop, and I was miserable. Then as I got back to my background in philosophy, I embraced a moral imperative with the promise to never leave that moral imperative and to do good for all. As for how I could emotionally reconcile doing good for people that treated me so badly? I'll be honest and tell you that I'm doing this, not for my contemporaries but for the young people - why - because they never did anything to me! Apart from some friends my age who are mostly directors at our organizations, the rest of the folk are mostly or were mostly kids in their teens and twenties. So the moral imperative worked out and going international finally made everything start happening.....



Anyway, I have been in the same room with the Secretary General of the United Nations - like maybe 15-20 feet away. In the same way I met the Secretary General of the ITU a few times. And hopefully tomorrow I get to be in the presence of the new Director General of UNESCO. Seeing him in person makes that person a real person and not some icon that is unattainable to meet. This empowers you to act and advocate and be brave about it. But enough of this.....



Just finish packing and get your ass to New York.....




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

I'm at the airport waiting to board.....


I booked an appointment with Beck taxi - yes I'm old school that way - and got the oldest taxi driver on the planet. He drives past my house with me waving at him and keeps driving up the street. Then he stops at the end of the street honking his horn! I catch up to him and we drive back to my place and I tossed in the backpack and away we went! I never thought about it - but how can I still run flat out at my age? Anyway we get to the airport and the security and boarder guards checks points had no lineups! I fact the border patrol agent had me out of there in less than 10 seconds! This was as fast or faster than any trip in the past.



So now I wait.



And remember not to expect much from today. Whatever happens will happen. You go through the motions because you never know. You have a reason to get up in the morning - be thankful for that.....




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

I guess I left you with me running up the block trying to catch the oldest cab driver in the world.....


It did not end there:



Got to the airport and flew through customs. Get in the airplane and we are all boarded and then there is a "maintenance issue" so the flight is cancelled. I am still in terminal - I get rebooked to a 6:45 flight and ran down to the gate with two others only to find the plane left the gate. Options were now 1:30 which is cutting it close to the event and a six hour wait!


I started checking Delta flights. Then at a customer desk Air Canada had a spot at 12:00. Then at 10:30 and then at 7:55 and they printed the boarding pass! We went to the gate and it was too late to check in. So this Japanese representative took pity on my situation and spent some time forcing my check in and I was on the plane! What a nightmare!



I'll tell you more that the hotel would not give me early access to a room after kicking me out three days before my trip in July where I had to get an expensive hotel at 30 Rock! They gave me early access at 30 Rock - but they always give that to first time customers - the tell is when you go there often. The hotel did let me in an hour earlier so I went to my usual spots near Central Park and Tuesday it's the other side where you find Guitar Center and B&H Photo and my office on Broadway.



The ITU event went as expected. I handed out my envelopes to three VIPs there hoping one gets read as those are the probabilities from my salesman days. The big deal was - finally - real advocacy for the Positive Mandate for Humanity through a new Global Social Contract at the SDGs. This is closer to me than you think and I will talk about it more when I get back. And: I will let you in on a tiny secret - I did a proof of concept test in 2024-2025 that essentially created that third house at the United Nations for the first time allowing the general public a say at the United Nations actually delivering the vote whether they wanted it or not - a moment that flew under the radar. It was "a moment" to how it actually works now with a NGO in consultative status to deliver the vote as IAIJ did! However we want that "Third House" to be permanent and that is the task now.



So all that stuff about the Human Assembly website and the FOF Advocacy had a reason based on that third house moment of creation at the 63rd Session of the Commission for Social Development. To those retired folk of the commission - see - I did it!



Then there was all the talk at the event about AI and the destruction of the human race. I am older than almost everyone here and there is blood on my hands not found in almost everyone there. I inherited it from my father who is still alive but with Dementia but it was he and his pioneering contemporaries that sold the question to the public that AI or computers would never be a threat or take over humanity in the late 60s and 70s. Me in my pjs around 9 years old and my mom sat around the TV and watched my dad get interviewed about the new computers back in the day and the interviewer seriously and frankly asked my dear old dad about the chance of computers taking over and he just laughed it off and said we had nothing to worry about.


Fast forward 58 years and we have something to worry about. All those pioneers are dead or too senile to care so the sins of the father are visited upon his son as has happened here. So I'm at this event after the more formal one held by Bob Ray with nations formally speaking one after another. This thing has followed me most of my life and now it's in the forefront. We used to talk about quantum computers and Qubits at the Thanksgiving dinner table back in the 1980s for goodness’ sake! I even rejected computers
literally for the longest while and then used them for the experiment and so I am more guilty than most. Basically I'm a repentant Judas hiding among the collective sitting on the floor filming some K-Pop band from South Korea (I am a musician and run a record label and all that) sitting on the floor in front of the stage in a suit! Little do they know.....



Anyway, the event was a success for me - not as dramatic as the speech two months ago - but successful nevertheless.....



I'll say more but I'm almost at Guitar Centre!



A voice of reason just texted me: "Get your ass home now!". I'll shop a bit more and do the evasive stuff I now do - Ha! I'm in Greenwich Village now - come get me.....




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

Home.....







Back home and finally a few needed hours of sleep. I did get some sleep in New York but the police sirens went off all the time at night! And I'm paying through the nose for this. Even checking out the diplomat beside me was agast at the 2,700 dollar bill for a couple of days during General Assembly - welcome to my world!



Some more.....



For once I decided to make Tuesday a proper vacation day before I went back.



First off was taking some time to properly go through the guitars at Guitar Centre. They had stuff I could not find in Canada - well one guitar. A Gibson Firebird selling used for like several thousands dollars but in like new condition. Then another that they called a Platapus but it's not made like a real Gibson Firebird. So the guitar shows up but expensive in USD - so no birthday present for Me!



I did get my birthday present at B&H Photo. It's just a phone case where you can attach different lenses but I just wanted the ND filter and I found one that just looks like a plateau protector which is great as it's pocketable and does not set off any "alarm bells". This is used to keep a 48 shutter speed as well as cutting down bright light outside. So that was expensive but at least it was a birthday present for a dude that basically has everything. The first time in five years the family can actually give me a real present that I actually want.....




Then I spent much of the afternoon at the Intrepid Museum that I passed by before but never went in. This time I went in and was amazed. Not only roaming around the aircraft carrier but also a real submarine and a real Space Shuttle and even a Concorde. I have all sorts of pictures including inside a Soyuz capsule!



Then it was mad dash to the airport which was complicated by the UN convoys but I got to the gate with 25 minutes to spare!



With a UN meeting on aging in October and my birthday today I am seriously thinking about being an "attack dog" for agism at the UN. Seniors are too nice and meek and polite there. It would help their agenda to have a rude and bombastic jerk like me to help out the cause! We shall see how this goes but I have the energy and attitude to turn my fellow old folks into a fighting force to be reckoned with!



Funny thing is the super old guys that sit in the displays at the Intrepid museum - I believe one old guy was an officer on the Intrepid. He kind of sits still like the displays (they even have a sign beside him telling you who he is) on the ship but when the kids showed up becomes animated and tells them stories and all that. Not a bad gig for a veteran. On the sub it was the same thing - I told the old man that this sub was built a year before I was born, so this ageing submarine is sort of like me inside and out. We both laughed and I asked him if he served on the sub as he was just old enough to sneak in. He said no, but we both realized that when we are gone all of this disappears from history. And a final telling glance between two old guys from before computers and TikTok.....



The real recap later today - I just need to relax for a few hours.




Later.....





(NSFW)
https://youtu.be/ePTpg_qJ5Gs?si=yRGVbGzjzrvYP66Y

[Maurice Ali]

Finally - a recap of the Digital UNGA event at the United Nations:

[Maurice Ali]

This week was productive.




The Intrepid Aircraft Carrier!




The Growler Submarine!



It was productive even though the airlines worked to try to scuttle everything. Like that nightmare of trying to have a 6:00am flight cancell out and still try to get to New York is just crazy. Then the mad rush to get the last plane to Toronto coming home was also frightening.



A Concorde at the Intrepid Museum!



Now I had the time coming back but instead of taking an earlier flight I went to the Intrepid Museum instead but left with plenty of time - but - the UN caravans of VIP closing down streets was another thing! This was all in me but Indid make it on the flight with 25 minutes’ worth to spare. And that museum was awesome!




A Space Shuttle - you can't even make that up!



Back home the trip was successful! The Positive Mandate for Humanity was now officially on the table as part of the New Global Social Contract. Until recently both concepts were there but with no real plan as to what to do with them. Now we have a plan. It involves the next ten years of the SDGs with the Worldwide Vote. Then it's bringing in humanity as stakeholders and as 8 billion stakeholders, that current set up and the weight applied to humanity - will have the SDG model have to adjust to that reality and a new social contract will have to be struck. The buy in for all those people will have to be something non-contentious, free of cultures and religion and geo-politics - and for us the Positive Mandate (of happiness) works here will all the SDGs working together to reach that goal! It could work.....



I have a target - I have a location - and I have a time frame! I have all the necessary ingredients for a play to create a new Global Social Contract and finally have a permanent home for humanity as a collective of individuals - something thought of as impossible years ago!



It also does not all happen at the UN. One organization is at the UofT and a university in the UK planning for the next set of goals and deadlines. All sorts of options have opened up now that I have the plan for the new Global
Social Contract.....



Interesting times ahead. And to my gang - the road closures made my trip to La Guardia unknowable - keeping up protocol in New York - there is always - that.....



Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

I got a Moment case and Moment variable ND filter from B&H Photo before I went to the Intrepid Museum.




This was to be my birthday present and a first in many years because the family would pay for this. I usually just get some cash and that is it for the birthday, but this price was good enough that I told them no cards and no cake just pay for this and I'll actually get a birthday gift I really wanted - it's been like decades since this happened.



So I went to Guitar Centre first and saw my last guitar I wanted - a Gibson Firebird made the original way - but it was like thousands and thousands of dollars to buy, so no birthday present there! Anyway, after that it was off to B&H Photo and they had the case and detachable ND filter - I paid for it and off to the Intrepid Museum I went. I did try on the case and ND filter outside the store just to make sure it all worked and it did. So, I tossed the packaging in the garbage and carried it all in my pockets from then on.




Moment Case



Now this case and filter is unique looking like a case with an ugly plateau protector which is what I wanted. The other cases were mostly metal and screamed serious guy taking video - which was not what I wanted. I already have a Small Rig cage for that. I just wanted a case with the ND filter for sunny days that the phone could not handle or for shutter speed in video and possibly photos - but really it's for video. Apple can add an aperature - one by one to each of its lenses - but this covers all three lenses with more range and no lighting artifacts.




Moment Case and ND Filter!



It works! and even slipping on that aluminum plateau protector I have. They actually have a replacement for the plastic mount for the iPhone 18 because the plateau and lenses stick out a bit more - so the replacement mount could work even better. I'll order it later today. Also, it's pre-order, but they also have a metal plate option I'm considering - but whatever.




Small Rig Cage and Accessories!



I think I got lucky as most units display some optical variants on small ND filters but mine seems ok and they limited the stops from 9 to 7. Another weakness was the weak holding ability of the snap on ND filter, but one YouTuber noted that if you snap it in backwards, it stayed on solid. I tried this and it works! The only other thing was to find a carry case for this thing. I ended up using a Rode Boom microphone zippered purse that perfectly fit the filter and its plastic case and the case for the phone! Best part is it fits my carry-on bag like a glove!



So a happy camper with this birthday present, and the reason I went proprietary for this case and filters was because I'm probably keeping the phone for a while. Storage prices are through the roof and the iPhone 18 Pro Max shipped with slower inferior storage compared to my model - a slower cheaper chip due to skyrocketing prices. So you would upgrade and pay over 800 dollars more for a crappier storage chip? And 2027 looks to be the same. I change phones regularly and will probably still do so, but instead of handing down this 2tb video phone - I'll probably keep it as my video incognito camera where you can't take a camcorder or big ass DSLR and the like. For once all the cages / equipment and stuff make sense with this phone.



The perfect birthday present.....




Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/Bbmbsn6TISc?si=g6SW_-u-a2W4ltOE

[Maurice Ali]

Back to the usual - the "vacation" is over.



What was funny was last night was the first night I got a proper night’s sleep. Anyway, here is the recap:







The UN trip was a success and started the Positive Mandate and that new Global Social Contract and its use at the United Nations. This is huge and now validates all those years and hassle and money I spent proving the idea before dissemination. You need to see past the obvious to see how big a thing that has happened. I now have plans and an end game for myself as well as for all of humanity. My little attempt at social engineering for the good of all might actually have some impact. Odds are still one out of three but now just a bit better. Anyway, nobody is saying pull back or get out. Actually nobody is saying anything negative at all - just watching.....



I pulled out the camera plateau lens holder on the Moment case I bought in New York and replaced it with the ring (included) that makes the case double as an actual protective case and still snaps on the ND filter. This is even better for me as I have that protective aluminium plateau protector that rested on the lens holder making lens mounting problematic but the filter still snapped on. Now that I have that ring on, the ND filter is more secure and the case now fits the phone perfectly with a higher bumper around the edge for protection even with the filter on. So this is how it's supposed to be! Super happy at this outcome as I'm not buying lenses for this rig - that’s what the camcorder and cinema camera are for.




Moment Case and I popped out that black plastic lens holder for the usual look and it works!



Now you can get into events totally incognito even if they look carefully at your phone and just pop the filter in when the "coast is clear" and carry on with project settings not being compromised. Absolutely no regrets getting this birthday present.....



I even did some more work around the house as Sunday had me waterproofing the brickwork at the front of the house. Now all I need to do is touch up the rust proofing on the two cars and I'm ready for winter.



I am still buying DVDs and Blurays and the best score was "Two Lane Blacktop" starring James Taylor. It's a movie on Drag racing and cannonball runs back in the day. And yes, the same James Taylor who sang "Traffic Jam" - that's just too funny.....



So that was the week I had off. Now it's back to the usual hassles of life at home.




Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/EtnJhGupgnA?si=6bTj3-tisCF1DEfg

https://youtu.be/lczHgXZcFAo?si=uiYwmeO0d9txW0LZ

[Maurice Ali]

A late one....


The only thing of note is how few people are doing what I do. I always figured that I would meet others like me and all that. So far it's just me and myself. Out of billions - how can that be?


Anyway, things continue as I seem to be the only one in position and care-free or - free enough - to do what I "Do".....


Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/yljbcRu3tiU?si=p96xCmz-UYajQEBT

[Maurice Ali]

Ok, for those of you who think I only advocate at the United Nations or UNESCO, think again.....




Our human rights case initiated by - me.....



First of all remember that Covid case at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal? My case is for 3.8 billion paid out to all in a certain age group for diminished medical care which is protected in Ontario, so this group should be made right for this violation of their rights. The Funny thing is that this is not your normal anti-vax case. We wanted more vaccinations and better vaccine! Since this is not an attempt to opt out of medical care or the laws that were passed; the case was not quashed though they tried - this was even on the news at the time and asked affected Ontarians if they felt cheated in their healthcare. Even worse they could not travel to other countries while the rest of the population could because they did not have the approved shots needed for entry. Other provinces re-vaccinated and solved the issue that way. Not in Ontario even though I contacted the Premier, Solicitor General and Health Minister directly to make sure they knew about the issue. MrnA vaccines were a plenty at that time and some even were left to expire and be destroyed - but were not used to revaccinate the affected people with the other vaccine. No action was made on their part (I'm pretty sure one of them VIPs listened in by the ear piece - you know who you are) so I started the case on my own which I believe I am the only one to do this.....



So I'm back advocating for another issue in the same field and I will leave it at that. If anyone who knows about this directly - see, I'm a man of my word and will help out. Everyone says I'm good this so I will try and have those at the top know what is going "on the ground". No, the people in top positions are not heartless, but they are insulated from the reality at the ground level as complaints in the ministries can get watered down or dismissed before they reach the top. That’s why I go straight to the top every time. Anyway, I am a man of my word and I will advocate for this issue.



In other news:




Moment Case with open plateau!



I finally started playing around with the ND filter and case on my iPhone 17 Pro Max. The case is a legitimately good case! I'm typing this out having used it most of the day. Even the MagSafe is strong maybe even stronger than the Otterbox! The ND filter used outside gives you enough range to sneak in usable video while maintaining the needed shutter speed - so this is actually useful.....



Even the mount is rock solid with the open plateau (but with the locking ridge configuration). This birthday present really worked out well.....




The best glass slide I have ever seen!



Then, today I bought an expensive glass slide for guitar playing. It's this custom-moulded slide that has a knuckle cutout with a finger rest on one side and a tapered opening for your finger. It's like 43 dollars but so much more designed than the straight pieces of glass I already have!




Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/xvpeIKI4ZiQ?si=-Y6OZbPY0QT61HEe

[Maurice Ali]

Super late one!


Nothing really interesting happening just making up for that holiday I got but most don't get.



i did appreciate that Moment case though. What they did was get a chance to make their own smartphone case and they added one innovative feature. At the bottom of the screen is no lip! Swiping up has no drag over the nonexistent lip. This makes it feel like using no case at all. The downside is that if they kept it typical it (the same case dimensions there ) would be too easy to dent or crack the screen. So what they did was widen the chin so that a front angle hit would not hit the corner and smash the screen.



This works but means that you can't attach some USBC attachments without an extender. This is no issue for me since I have 2tb onboard and the wireless microphone system uses the usual cable to connect. However I must say that he opportunity to create their own distinctive
"improvement" to a design we all use has to be applauded. So "Moment" - you did good and really showed me some innovation.....




Goodnight.....




https://youtu.be/xnP7qKxwzjg?si=aN7D0q5RXNtiVZO9

https://youtu.be/pizRRft3_8Y?si=o0BBklFu5fY8BZxm

[Maurice Ali]

This is the make-up post.....



This blog of sorts shouldn't even happen anymore but here we are 21 years later.....




FOFSTOCK!



That application to make FOFSTOCK a charity continues with the CRA. This after the city of Toronto through Sankofa Square doubled the concert costs for a Canada Day music festival and killed it last year. Then we had the concert at Central Park in New York to promote Canadian talent with a Canada Day concert in New York just ahead of July 4. That would have cost me a quarter of a million dollars Canadian but was far easier to bring in business backers because that is how it is in the States. Remember that FORTRESS of Freedom Inc. and FOFSTOCK like IAIJ have EIN numbers in the States and can act as American companies down there. That was why I opened that office on Broadway just two blocks from the Ed Sullivan Theatre. We all know what happened with US / Canada relations. The City Works Department secretly held a second date - so sure they were that we would pull this off! One gigantic double whack to my "ball sack" on the music scene!


However the gains at the UN made up for that as you could see this year and the end of WSIS last year - so.....




Shane with the Barenaked Ladies last year!



The real part that kills me is that I have been here before with FOFSTOCK 1 that had me crawling on all fours at home the next day - plus a sun burn and pealing which was a life time first for me. I don't know if I want to tempt the Fates putting that on in again by myself or handing it to someone like Sam who always dreamed of that opportunity. Man, we had Kim Mitchell and Sass Jordan earmarked if we signed with Sankofa Square and then Shane hooked up with the Barenaked Ladies last December - all gone now.....




Sam at FOFSTOCK!


You have to pick your battles and 8 billion people are calling for the philosopher in me to set up that new global layer of interaction at the United Nations. But I can still "multi-task" - there is always that.....




The concert stage for FOFSTOCK 2 at Central Park!



Goodnight again!





https://youtu.be/VuddiKKzlV8?si=1C5GoXqoJk6nR3YV

https://youtu.be/Ob22PWOpjD0?si=YUKin0ZN-J6rXq3W