Fortress Of Freedom Board

[Maurice Ali]

A quickie…..


Slept all day and got really pissed off about that. Now I’m going to be up all night and my internal clock is all screwed up! I’m finalizing the Human Rights Tribunal application and just send it in a forget about it. I’m not doing this again anytime soon…..



My Mustang is coming up on 4 months without leaking any radiator fluid! What up with that? Right now, me and the car are happy together - as a die hard V8 guy that is sacrilege - but that is reality. This car is so well balanced it is a joy to take out and just drive! Even the new seat cover I bought has worked out. Four and a half years and I still run the original tires. I will probably replace the battery before the winter but the car has been fine for me compared to all the other Mustang owners out there. Even the problems I thought were problems never materialized, it will start breaking down and wearing out soon enough, like everything in the world. Nobody beats the devil.



I’m running out of time and now you realize what you will never have. I probably would never have had it anyways given how anthropology works. I would have been better off in some country with brown people like me as a hen pecked husband with kids that don’t respect me. That part of life will never happen now. Socially my life was a disaster, and even today I’m like some teenager looking for a date - and at my age that’s just sad. Using the anthropological model, my work life was a failure as expected, in advocacy I went international and had some success - but that was international - back home it was nothing but frustration. There is nothing to do anymore, your life - or lack of life - is played out! Even the advocacy may be finishing up with the best days behind you. Just this atmosphere of resigned melancholy. I will try to get the global social contract to the Secretary General one way or another - he asked for it and he will get it! I will try to establish my ideas and philosophy into main stream media. That is all I will ever be remember for if I am to be remembered at all.



My best friend, for all his abilities, died early and only lives on in a small couple of family and friends. Beyond that it is like he never existed at all. This does impact on you and your destiny. Neither of us had a family, and the freedoms from that did not materialize. Life still shackles you with a ball and chain. So you didn’t even get the freedom you expected. You and your life is now disposable. At the cemetery you never went to as a youth, you now understand why the old folk go there now - it’s is all that is left to validate your life and life experiences. And when the last dies and nobody comes to visit the dead - it will then be as if the dead never lived, at least the ones that didn’t have kids.



So this is another Saturday night for me. I have one glass left of wine and will down that with a meat pie and call it a night. Maybe Sunday is better - and maybe it is not. But you can’t go back, and who is to say you could have ever changed your life anyway. Humans are animals in the end and anthropology rules all. What happened to me could have been foreseen at birth given my age, race and where and when I was born. I mocked that fatalism as a youth, but now it has all come true.



Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/SP2pYgqvYKo

[Maurice Ali]

Well the application to the Human Rights Tribunal goes off tomorrow morning and then I can forget about it. Of course I’m trying to sue the government that funds the tribunal - there’s always that! So even though it was a pain to do, I’m now rather interested in what happens.….



As for the global advocacy, I hope my adventures show you that the world is run by people just like you. How can this be you ask? Simple, most humans have the same basic abilities at the limits and someone has to run the world so someone takes the seat. If they are not a genius then it is always someone safe. But the seat is there for the taking, even if you are the one-eyed person in the land of the blind. They have set it up so anyone who wants it can usually get within reach and then they vet. The safe pic usually rises through the conventional ranks so among that universe you get the best that way. But if you really want vision you get it wherever you find it. It could be anyone and it’s ridiculous easy to get their ear. Have ideas and they will listen. You saw that with my experience. But it your vision is a threat to the status quo, then you have a fight on your hands. I’m sort of there now.



But we shall see…..



Humans are curious and life is mostly boring. So maybe they will keep me on a leash and let me play my game out all the while able to tug hard on the leash if I go too far. I don’t know if that has or hasn’t happened yet. We will soon find out as things open up again. But I’m no fool anymore. The world needs people of true vision. I have one and I truly hope there are others, but mine can work if it has too…..



Goodnight…..



And some more - Yes that’s me pumping myself up as everything ground to a halt with Covid 19. The UN General Assembly looks like it will actually take place in-person this year but scaled down. Side events look to be virtual. So 2021 may be mostly a bust. As much as we all would like to keep our spirits up this pandemic really has messed up the world. Anyway, I just had to add that bit of reality after that over the top post. But when it comes to ideas, they can go anywhere and are immortal. It’s not about me but the ideas - that is what they are reacting to. I’m just the messenger who cobbled some of it up, but this is not about me as much as it is the ideas. When you think of it like this you see that it is all valid what I am trying to do. If you just think about this as all about me - then you see this is just some guy full of himself. Try to see it as ideas and dissemination and this adventure has life, as without ideas that matter this adventure just becomes a fading vanity project…..





https://youtu.be/lk2-bgwA0Ro

[Maurice Ali]

IT’S DONE!


The application to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has been sent! I didn’t do this for me as the possible cash settlement is frankly not worth the effort. I did it for all 1 million Ontarians like me - this is for you!



More later but I had better not be the first - or I will really be pissed off!



Anyway, more later…..

[Maurice Ali]

Things are happening…..




About 1.5 hours after I sent the application I got an email from our Solicitor General Sylvia Jones with a longer version of the Premier Doug Ford letter. The Solicitor General was named in the application so I have no doubt this was done to show they contacted me before the application was officially accepted. That application was officially accepted four hours after the Solicitor General email. Anyway they have confirmed that they have it now.



Also…..



As I type this they are all discussing vaccinations and specifically mandatory vaccinations for public workers. So maybe we will see some movement for the AZ folk - or - maybe not…..



Now you know as much as I do - things got really exciting quick!



Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/2GhPUAVgHZc

[Maurice Ali]

I’m just chilling for a few days.


But here are some screenshots to compliment what happened yesterday. First is the email from Ontario Solicitor Sylvia Jones:






It’s just a form letter that does not even address my issues with the first dose and lack of choice for a second dose, and then they play all
possibilities by saying things could change.


The second screenshot is how the emails followed each other earliest below and latest on top:






So I submitted early in the morning and then the Sylvia Jones email and then the confirmation just after 4:30pm after everyone was going home. And that is where we stand right now…..



But I am taking it easy now and puttering around the house. I’ll finally change the mailbox which came with the house thirty years ago! Yes I kept putting it off but that happens today. I will vacuum a bit and check in with the family and the other usual things. I just want some down time now…..



Later…..





https://youtu.be/ySRFjVQ1MDU

[Maurice Ali]

Today I want to draw you iPhone users to the upcoming child pornography program at Apple that will have them scanning your photos on your phone for child porn.







Sounds well intentioned but many of us believe they chose child porn to get the software in there first without much backlash and then it becomes scanning for you with “faces of interest” or you at “places of interest”, or whatever this software could be used for. Right now if they “sense” you have kiddy porn they will make a decision and then call the police on you.


Other OS systems only scan when you upload to their actual servers that is their own property and usually for free so they make their case there. In this case they are scanning inside your phone and claim only if you have iCloud enabled, but why would they need this if they can scan on your phone? They can also scan all your iMessages for content and nudity all in the name of child safety - for now…..



My advice is to not update your iOS until this thing gets settled before the launch of iOS15. With Apple, once you upgrade iOS versions you can’t go back so I would hesitate and turn automatic updates off. It makes me warm up to my much beloved BlackBerry Passport. But BlackBerry had privacy issues with BBM back in the day - but in-device scanning is something new.


All this is from a company that claims they value your privacy. The child porn thing is a political ploy to stifle opposition to this. What if they started instead with scanning everyone’s iPhone for a terror attack? Some would still be ok, but what about domestic terrorism as in January 6? What if you had taken photos of the Capital Building just prior to that? What if you had photos of guns and other paraphernalia? What if you had photos of big but illegal parties during the Covid 19 lockdown? What if your partner sends you nude photos through iMessage - are you so “thumbs up” for the phone scanning now?



How about business? Are you comfortable with a tech company that can scan photos of your business, like snapshots of contracts and prototypes? Going to give up iMessage and go back to BlackBerry Enterprise? Apple has really upset the Apple cart of their end to end encryption!



You look this up if you use an iPhone - but for everyone there is the issue of technology imprisoning you with nothing in return. There are things tech can give you in return like the worldwide vote - but the nations don’t want that! They want technology to completely invade all your privacy but won’t give you the benefits of that technology. I’m old enough to come from a time where you really had privacy and the world was not perfect but not the hell hole they make that kind of privacy to be today. Back then one camera used by the government in town was a big thing. Now there’s a camera on every street corner!


Technology companies and governments and the rest want all your information - but - see how my ideas of global voting through your smartphone get stifled on the other hand - they want it all and only their way! This “secret war” is happening right now and I’m a part of it. When people like me are too old to advocate, I fear the kids will be too used to having no privacy as they were never exposed to it before. And that will be the end of true privacy…..



Think about it…..




Goodnight…..









https://youtu.be/yev3JqH6TpY

[Maurice Ali]

Movement on two fronts…..







First is that Saskatchewan (a province in Canada for you non-Canadians) is now allowing AZ vaccinated people to re-vaccinate to a matched MRNA vaccine to make travel easier. Those with mixed doses will match the last MRNA and those with two vaccines of AZ can now take two shots of the same MRNA. Most will be Moderna me thinks as Pfizer will be saved for the kids, plus Moderna works better than Pfizer on the Delta variant. So now two of the ten provinces now endorse what we want in the human rights application sent on Monday.


That application and any change in policy may take longer than you think. Ontario is the largest province and this policy means millions of doses so this type of change will not happen on its own. But precedences are being set and maybe it’s just a matter of time and harassment by folk like me that will eventually make the policy change.



The second front…..







All sorts of civil liberty organizations and even governments are urging Apple to drop its photo scanning plans. Don’t be tricked by its use of hashes. Within the last day or so tech wizards have been able to create hash collisions with this tech (on your phone since iOS 14.3 - go figure…..). A hash collision is a false positive which usually means the system is worthless and real scanning and viewing by Apple employees is needed. So guess what - someone is looking at those nude photos you sent your boyfriend (on the so-called encrypted system) and it ain’t your boyfriend!



Check this out (TechCrunch.com August 18, 2021 via a Reddit post):




“Last night, Asuhariet Ygvar reverse-engineered Apple’s NeuralHash into a Python script and published code to GitHub, allowing anyone to test the technology regardless of whether they have an Apple device to test. In a Reddit post, Ygvar said NeuralHash “already exists” in iOS 14.3 as obfuscated code, but was able to reconstruct the technology to help other security researchers understand the algorithm better before it’s rolled out to iOS and macOS devices later this year.


It didn’t take long before others tinkered with the published code and soon came the first reported case of a “hash collision,” which in NeuralHash’s case is where two entirely different images produce the same hash. Cory Cornelius, a well-known research scientist at Intel Labs, discovered the hash collision. Ygvar confirmed the collision a short time later.


Hash collisions can be a death knell to systems that rely on cryptography to keep them secure, such as encryption. Over the years several well-known password hashing algorithms, like MD5 and SHA-1, were retired after collision attacks rendered them ineffective. Kenneth White, a cryptography expert and founder of the Open Crypto Audit Project, said in a tweet: “I think some people aren’t grasping that the time between the iOS NeuralHash code being found and [the] first collision was not months or days, but a couple of hours.”
When reached, an Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the record. But in a background call where reporters were not allowed to quote executives directly or by name, Apple downplayed the hash collision and argued that the protections it puts in place — such as a manual review of photos before they are reported to law enforcement — are designed to prevent abuses. Apple also said that the version of NeuralHash that was reverse-engineered is a generic version, and not the complete version that will roll out later this year.
It’s not just civil liberties groups and security experts that are expressing concern about the technology. A senior lawmaker in the German parliament sent a letter to Apple chief executive Tim Cook this week saying that the company is walking down a “dangerous path” and urged Apple not to implement the system.”



That’s enough for now.




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

I may as well update things now.



First is that Amazon Media Direct is no more. No more CDs and DVDs at FOF. I do have a pallet of the stuff in our stockroom to hand out and give back to the artists. And they look good as display items. But the market has moved on though DVDs are still lingering on for some reason.



No response from the World Bank but I’m not optimistic. But we are over due and I don’t know if that’s god or bad or neither…..


Checked Facebook for old friends and they are getting old. Everyone is now retired which is depressing though I was always younger in school so - but it still has an effect on you. Where did the years go? actually I don’t think that now as the last twenty years went in slow motion with all the new stuff I did. It is what it is and there is no going back - there is no starting over. It’s depressing that nobody in my group did anything of note. And it certainly should - not - be me! All those people with all those opportunities and it’s the guy who was spat on, the guy with all his opportunities taken away from him, ostracized and belittled. Left for dead with no prospects…..


If I get anywhere this says much about humanity. And the kicker is that downtrodden guy is the one to give selflessly of himself to help
those that crapped all over him! Whoever thought up this reality? And why don’t I see this reality on TV?



Reality is just plain fucked up! What can I say about it all to make sense. Maybe - maybe, trying to put reality in the fantasy box never works. Just do what you do because it’s the right thing to do. Get success and watch them rewrite history with the usual suspects taking credit and the lie will continue that everyone thinks is true. History is a lie and history gets the lies rewritten as you go along. Our own Don Brasseur had his army picture with him holding a cigarette creating some controversy. For CTV the talk was that we should photoshop the cigarette out. We didn’t - cause that’s who he was…..



My group only has only me left - the forgotten one. [edited as no matter how I phrased it it sounds like bragging] Anyway, the knives are out for me in the intergovernmental sphere. The global cellphone voting idea got a chilling response, but the positive mandate has created curiosity more than anything else. Who knows what will happen with the global social contract but that is the next big score! The Secretary General asked for it - and he’s going to get it!



I’m still full of energy and 100%. It’s funny the package all this energy and performance is wrapped in - not popular in the western world - but there you go with reality again. The world needs a contemporary spectacled late 20th Century “fossil” to add to the other philosophers of my era, if I’m successful I deserve to have the truth behind this revealed and where it came from shown as is. No more photoshopping…..








Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/TKR4tBo_Ly8

[Maurice Ali]

Slept in but got the folks out in the morning and I’ll attempt to top up the Buick with refrigerant when the humidity drops as the less of that in the system when you top up - the better and I don’t have an evacuation pump anywhere handy.




Tesla Bot



What I want to draw your attention to is Elon Musk and his androids. This happened about a day ago. He discussed how these robots would work and that they were deliberately made slower and weaker than humans so you could run away from them or even over power them if attacked. That’s funny but effective to deal with objections. These robots will obviously replace humans on the assembly line or warehouse at places like Amazon and Tesla. The big question is what happens to those workers displaced by robots and robots that would work for two of the richest people on earth! He said the guaranteed wage for everyone is the answer.



That is a loaded statement right there! If people from low rung jobs are displaced by robots then who buys the products made by the robots? Well a guaranteed livable wage would help some but how does that sustain itself in the long run? It would seem that the richest minority in the world would have to give up their wealth and live at the same level as the rest of the world for starters. Did Elon think about that when he announced his android work force? And what happens when these things possibly become self-aware?



Believe it or not, my Positive Mandate for Humanity spells out what needs to be done. First of all, with changes like this, every human needs some self-determination in a fundamental way and they get this with the worldwide vote and the positive mandate philosophy encapsulated in the Global Social Contract.



If the robots become self-aware then the Positive Mandate can be touted as a base engram for them to live by. This has already been written about in the positive mandate brook I published and the Global Social Contact Book that came out this May. There is no more denying that what was once science fiction will very soon be reality. Humanity needs a new deal and a possible sentient AI needs a reason for being for itself. I have some ideas while others don’t, but I at least I do have a plan…..



See the shit the man of the world has on his plate? Who in their right mind would want to do what I am doing? But I do have ideas and a plan and philosophy to deal with it!




Goodnight…..






https://youtu.be/WDv__FHJThs


https://youtu.be/dKjCWfuvYxQ

[Maurice Ali]

I just enjoyed the weekend as it was almost the same as a weekend pre-pandemic.



It’s almost that I can’t remember pre-pandemic as normal since we have lived abnormal for so long. So this was a nice respite but with case counts going up it’s really back to the same again. You can shop again like the old days. New TV shows are back. Lots of people and families back at the mall late on Saturday.



You keep wondering how long this will last. There doesn’t seem to be herd immunity anymore even with vaccines. The plan just seems to be to vaccinate everyone and just let it rip! I know people who had it while before nobody seemed to have it. Anyway I just chilled out for the weekend.



I did talk about advocacy on Sunday but it was more of the usual. I did try to top off the ac refrigerate but the low side coupler would no connect so it’s back to a service centre for the fix. I cut my hair and I’m cleaning up the house. You can try to make time stand still at times like this - but it won’t. You have aged doing this last bit of your life. And realize that someone will be reading this knowing you are already dead!



This already happened to me reading other writers taking about life and aging. They are all dead now, so why am I doing this? This blog of sorts is just the day to day adventure of someone trying to do right thing. The adventure would have ended early if I met people better than me and realized that and that they are better people to make the world a better place and that I can finally live for myself know I did as much as I could. But I didn’t find people better than me and wanting to make the world a better place! So this thing continues! And morally I can’t pack up my toys and leave. It’s on me to make the plays and the pandemic just draws it all out further.



So that’s what’s going in my head right now…..



Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

I’m taking care a pesky problem with my phone.



For some reason most of my contacts have the international line as default. So that would explain why people I rarely call never pickup the phone! So Tuesday morning I’m taking care of that while I wait for the car to have it’s AC repaired.


There is nothing going on with the advocacy as there is absolutely no news. The music looked like it was bouncing back but people are being hesitant until they see how the latest variant and this next wave play out.



With Jesse Jackson and his wife with Covid and off to the hospital, the long term efficacy of Pfizer is in question. Against the Delta variant, Pfizer and AZ efficacy merge after 4 months. Jackson had his first Pfizer shot in January and in the second supposedly three weeks later. So the efficacy could have really dropped of after seven months. So we probably need boosters and fast! But all this is just my observation…..



I’m cleaning up the house and getting on top of things on the home front. The pandemic is by no means over so things internationally are still shut down. There is nothing I can do about it so I just wait it out…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/wC3E2qTCIY8

[Maurice Ali]

A quick one today.








The Buick has air conditioning now so that got done.







Still no word on the World Bank business but you guys know what I think of my chances there…..





Also, still no word about our registration at the WTO either.







No word from the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal which should be looking over our application right now.







No word from Apple about our concerns about changing an artist’s name on a song they wholly made. This is their corporate attitude so I fear on-device scanning of your photos may be coming up soon…..




Night time crowd!



Basically no word back on anything. That is the drift now. But I can go back to trying to get the music out there. FOFSTOCK 2 is still too uncertain to chance things just yet. Everything is just on hold.



It sucks but I’m not alone and when things open up again the competition will be fierce. I can’t change any of that - it is what it is…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/DYZrO7qcLhU

[Maurice Ali]

Sometimes I’m just itching to say something relevant and newsworthy but I’m held back by the advocacy and not wanting to burn any international bridges with my loose lips.




This morning was one of those moments. I get important news maybe one to one and a half hours in advance before you do. The word comes out in the grape vine and there is this pause as news agencies scramble to confirm the leak or news. TMZ is braver on the pop news side like with the Death of Michael Jackson. Today is was Canada cancelling its airlift of Afghanistan and Canadian personnel.



I’m going to play it safe and not say anything but the political pundits made much about statements yesterday in Canada which made more sense today given the news of the pull out. Canada was not the only one BTW.



This blog would be so much more interesting if I could just let my personal opinions fly but there is more at stake here than views or likes. I could also write love songs and poetry to the readers who are overwhelmingly female but that would most likely end up with me being found dead in a dumpster somewhere in an industrial area or burning in my car.



So you get what you get which isn’t much these pandemic days. It’s all about the big picture which is remarkably still in play. The Global Social Contract is just a couple of months old! Things are still happening but not like an hour long TV episode…..



Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Ok - just for kicks and giggles I’ll try my hand on some “on the spot poetry” (in real time and no cheating) and see if I still have it:



How do I love thee?
Well, if I have to ask the question then can I love?
You either love or you don’t - right…..



Perhaps my view is too internal,
Maybe my viewpoint is incorrect,
Maybe I need another to test whether I can love?
But who?
Maybe no one as I am older now and still mostly on my own,
So maybe this is love of myself?
But if true would that love actually be narcissism or masturbation,
Could that be enough to keep going,
Or does flesh and blood need flesh and blood?



And what authority defines love and if your feelings are truly love…..



————————




Ok, I’ll leave it there because if I go any further I start thinking of making it into lyrics for a death metal song! See how my mind works! See why I don’t get back into poetry…..



Now you know…..



Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/BYmgLO16ul0


https://youtu.be/KOvAP_Hd7xg

[Maurice Ali]

Man, that poetry above is embarrassing but I only spent seven minutes on it - there is always that! I see I threw the rule book completely out the window. And the five dots and dash are in there as well! Anyway, now you know why I don’t do poetry publicly.



We are going back to the music and distribution. Sure there are lyrics there but I’m not writing anyone’s lyrics. Anyway things in the music industry is still in a rut. The last big pandemic lasted three years and that thought just sucks…..





It also is interesting that the WTO is still accepting applications for their AGM this fall! They are the only one accepting NGOs in person so far! I’m keeping an eye on this as I’m still in the pool for injecting myself into a seminar or workshop that needs help and I already applied. The situation is still fluid.


Anyway, it is what it is.



What else:


One of my alma maters - Ryerson University has decided to change their name due to his association with the residential schools system here. I’ve never seen this happen before and just what happens to the alumni and the names on their diplomas and degrees? What happens to the brand and legacy of the University? I know that the Ryersonian newspaper has changed their name already. I guess the Ryerson Rams football team just keeps the “Rams”. Oh well, now one part of my past fades to obscurity or has an asterisk beside it.



Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/5NFsA_L3VDY