Fortress Of Freedom Board

[Maurice Ali]

So, my personal taxes are done, the UN Quadrennial Report is submitted, and I’m kind of a free man for a few days.







The Buick Enclave is waiting on some parts, so I’m stuck with the Jetta for a few more days. Normally I wouldn’t mind but we are paying daily insurance on the car. Something I learned about is not covering rental cars on your own policy. Half the time you’re not covered under the policy anyway and literally driving without insurance. So I always insure with the rental company’s insurance and for travel of a couple of days it’s the best - not so good when it stretches into weeks - but infinitely preferable to getting into an accident and having them take your house and cash for medical bills just as you reach retirement age. That should scare you - so take out the extra insurance - trust me on this!




No regrets getting into the guitar hobby!



Making music - or trying to make music - has opened up a whole new universe in my head. This can only be a good thing to stave off mental deterioration as I get older. I can coast to retirement from everything till I’m 70. So another five years if I need it, but it would be nice to keep your mental acuity after that and the music is one way. Viagra - strangely - may be another way. At first they said Viagra gives you like an 18% less chance of Dementia/Alzheimer's, but now that is getting upped to 50%! Like Aspirin for heart disease, this is big stuff, and you may not need the full expression of the drug for it to be effective, but dealing with in in your family makes you think about these things, and the miracle treatments in the news never pan out. But this seems real and immediately available…..


Back to the music and I have a pile of guitar stuff on my bed in the second bedroom. I really should just go to Home Depot and pick a plastic tool case with drawers to hold it all. That would go in the closet with the rest of the tools and get it out of sight.






Strangely I have no compulsion to get more guitars, so this works out good as the money goes to the final push in advocacy to get somewhere with my ideas and philosophy. It was weird just spending the FOFSTOCK cash I had saved up to buy all those classic guitars - but it worked and I’m set now.



Winter is definitely done so the brush/ice scrapper is stored away. I have to change the oil in the Mustang to a summer weight in the next while.



The eclipse that happened on Monday was a bust. For me the best I can get is darkness and the street lights coming on. Dishonourable mention to the iPhone, it always just brightens up the shot like it was daylight when - for this one time - you wanted the shot to be deliberately dark. Anyway…..




I was watching Total Recall and every manager just loves the part when the villain that runs Mars disciplines one of his gang for trying to think on the job - Hahaha…..: “Who told you to think! I don’t give you enough information to think! You do what you’re told! That’s what you do!” - great stuff…..




Goodnight…..





(NSFW)
https://youtu.be/RBYwCoCLj7g?si=Lj2h55bclHNGHdek

[Maurice Ali]

I still doubt that I’m going to Geneva but I did book a hotel for four nights.




The cost is obscenely expensive but I was lucky to even get a hotel for the days I need. Basically four days and this hotel has a minimum four day reservation - probably the reason I could get it. Anyway I’m paying the cost of my most expensive guitar - just for the hotel. Was it worth it? Well I haven’t committed yet as I can get out with a small surcharge, but this event is getting hard to get to at any price.



At this point I’d say 50/50 chance at going. Since that trip to UNESCO, this one will be the most expensive and the event is mostly a one day affair with only one event I could get into on Friday. Seriously, I have to be bonkers to go just considering the cost, but it is still early days for me and I have to see if I could wiggle my way into actually doing something there and get to express my ideas.







So I continue to make expensive plans for a trip that makes no sense. If I was doing something there - personally - at the UN in Geneva, a speech or as just as some panelist - all this would be worth it - no hesitation at all! But AI conferences are all over the place now, especially in the States. There was one here in Toronto like a day or so ago. They say this will be the biggest AI summit at the UN (the ITU is part of the United Nations) and presenters include a Princess and Baroness and known composers playing music - all high class…..



Anyway, I’m registered for the event on the day that matters and have enough time to go to the UN and get my yearly pass and roam around the area in addition to the main event. But you have to act now as things are closing up on availability. I’ll monitor the plane schedules but usually this comes later, but if they start filling up I will have to make a decision and go or not go. Having the hotel booked does take the stress out of it all and increases the likelihood of going.




But early days yet and I have to see exactly how things operate at the ITU…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Well that was quick - and just like that I’m going to the AI Summit in Geneva…..




United Nations Headquarters in Geneva



I had to quickly secure a hotel room first as nobody had rooms for the dates of the Summit anymore. However, I did get lucky and found a hotel that only reserved a minimum of four days and thus got Tuesday to Saturday which was perfect! So the hard part was over getting a hotel room!



Next was how to fly there. It changes with the month you are in. You can actually fly direct from Montreal but not Toronto. So I settled on flying to Montreal and then to Geneva. But that couldn’t work getting there in late May. So I ended up flying to London and then to Geneva and flying back to Montreal and then to Toronto. Fooling around with options and other airlines made me stay with Air Canada in the end. It’s fully refundable so if anything bizarre happens I can get out of the Hotel and the flight - but why would I?



The Positive Mandate and Worldwide Vote wrapped into a new Global Social Contract are the big projects for me to advocate on. The AI issue was a “side hustle” that was always in the back of my mind as a kid. I already told you my dad got into computing at the start of it and even was one of those that said we had nothing to worry about computers literally taking over the world (said it on television when I was a kid also). Qubits were table talk at dinner when I graduated from university in the early 1980s. This thing has followed me around in the shadows and now it has come into the light. I even wrote a book on the subject - I have to go!







So I note that this is the largest AI summit at the UN. The only fix for the AI problem will have to come from the United Nations and international consensus. The Secretary General will open it via remote video link as the UN and its satellite agency the ITU and the Government of Switzerland (and forty other agencies most UN) are putting it on. Even the “Father of AI” Geoffrey Hinton will be there via remote video - but Hinton I don’t get. He used to work in Toronto (twenty minutes down the road from my house) up until last year when he quit Google and moved back to England to supposedly advocate against the AI threat - whatever that technically means - after being instrumental in creating it? Geneva is just like an hour and change away from where he lives now? The Secretary General video link is totally understandable as he is in New York - but why wouldn’t Hinton just go to Geneva from London? They would pay for everything and give him a limo to the event. Maybe they fear for his safety as some say he is a polarizing figure. Maybe he fears heckling and questions directed to him from the floor and press. I could see that as reasons for him personally to do it like this - anyway he will be there virtually to give a speech and I’m all ears on that one!




Geoffrey Hinton



So it looks like I’m going - just like that…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/9o0rAvZtM7w?si=3UxemP2-KoURpGUH

[Maurice Ali]

I’m really getting on top of things this week. I won’t go and list them all, but it was a very productive week.



It’s funny how there is the angst about doing things like your taxes and the UN paperwork and even the trip to Geneva and when they are done a huge weight is lifted off you and you can relax and then catch up on other things as well.



Anyway, things are moving ahead and as well as they should as you aren’t getting any younger. I’m constantly reminded that I’m getting older and closer to retirement just as you reach the real levels of advocacy that matter. My life is complicated due to all that irregular stuff that made me what I am now. If I had not lived that life, I would not be doing what I am doing now and I would be miserable. Everything you have ever done in your life has lead to this moment - that is the reality and you have your retirement to “get your house in order” - when the plays have been played out. It’s not perfect, but I’m in surprisingly good shape compared to my contemporaries even with all this stuff I did in the last 20 years or so.


The people I knew that played it very safe and saved all their pennie’s - had good financial statements - but their lives played out poorly. I don’t mean for that sentence to come out that way but it did. And it’s surprising how many of them died young and never did enjoy the comfort of their conservative financially planned lifestyle. There is no financial freedom for many of them as they are already dead.



You have to understand that playing it safe financially as the experts say you should do does not only mean giving the same people all your money for them to make more money loaning your hard earned money at high interest rates to others - but - it means you are not living your life to the fullest as you gave them all your money. Since you played it safe and did not spend your money, you are aware of the sacrifices you made in your youth, and it gets harder to spend that money in retirement because you know what you gave up to have it there for you later on. So you live a spartan life even in retirement and die with a large bank balance that was never used and your relatives spend this money like “drunken sailers” when they get the inheritance.



Whatever, I was into philosophy as a youth and came up with my own philosophy that is what I’m pushing on the world stage now. My angst is that the world hasn’t adopted it yet - that’s my angst, could be worse - that’s all I’m saying, it could be worse. And you have the rest of your life to get your house in order. I do miss my pennie’s pinching friends though - they are all in the end good people!



But looking back you do see how things lead to where you are now. If I stayed married and had kids, none of this would have happened. It is telling that even in the movies - after a candidate has been seriously vetted for a dangerous assignment - they literally hold their breath as they ask if that candidate is married or has kids - if neither - that adventure begins - that is how life is…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/xSE0aaySSlk?si=m55_kFeaQTaRUKDT

[Maurice Ali]

Another good day!



I started cleaning up the master bedroom. I never slept there for decades but started it when I had that ecoli incident last fall. It was a disaster of clothing and blankets and anything else there. I had to make room on the bed to even sleep there. So, now comes the big clean up and hopefully it looks like a bedroom again.



I needed a video editor for informal videos and used the Windows Video Editor. Then they sneakily ditched it during an update and I do not trust the new alternative. So I checked the workstations that never connect to the internet and the only one that still had the video editor was that Davinci Resolve computer. I’ll try out the editor tonight - otherwise I will just force myself to do it all on a machine made for movie aspect ratios and movie resolutions. That takes time and the files are huge with no increase in resolution, and that is why I like the onboard video editor.







I’ve finalized my personal objectives for the Geneva trip and the advocacy objectives. I’ll wait a while before In disclose all of those but this trip makes more sense as I look into it.



One of my Grover locking tuners for the SG guitar came with a ferrel for one tuner that was too small. I emailed Grover and they said they would send me six by mail. The envelope arrived with an order for six at no charge, but there were no ferrels in the envelope. I just wanted the issue gone and so I drove to the music store and showed them the letter. Surprisingly behind the counter they had all kinds of parts including Grovers. But the Grovers were missing their ferrels, so I looked around and found a ferrel that looked the part and it fit! So now I don’t have to think about that small but aggravating issue anymore.












The truth is I need that alternative universe in the Guitar hobby that has absolutely no connection to the advocacy. I can go there and escape it all! So this week all I did was find a carrying case for all the guitar stuff that also doubles as a carrying case for the electronic pedal board I have. That was another happy surprise this week.



All I have left is the Buick Enclave car collision and I’m free of mind for the first time in a long time…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

I’ll punch this one out early as I now have time on my hands. First I’ll offer up the easiest known objective for me at this upcoming AI Summit.







There may seem to be no way to get the AI “genie back into the bottle” - but we can try to slow it down. I would propose a rigorous push to international consensus and enforceable agreements to curtailing AI development to levels humans can use to better our lives. We won’t get a stoppage in AI development, but slowing it down would give us some of the benefits without putting humanity in peril.



A slow down would not hinder strides in medicine as using AI still has to go through regulatory process and trials - you get the idea - AI development does not have to be at full steam for humanity to see and continue to see some benefit. This also applies to the other areas where AI is of benefit - it does not have to develop unfettered - we can slow it down without impacting the benefits to humanity! What is the hurry? Seriously, what is the hurry - apart from the pride of a few researchers. Sure, if such an agreement was reached - probably after a AI “scare” of some sort - transparency would be of utmost importance and a new age of an AI cold war would take place between nations. But this is way better than unfettered development.



Data centres are impossible to hide. They glow from satellite surveillance I’m sure. They cost billions of dollars to make and run, and the power requirement infrastructure needed relegates them to developed countries. In other words if we had international consensus a slowdown on AI development is a possibility. AI development is also a business and nobody is taking AI data centers to some hidden war lord run area of the world.



Anyway, that’s one objective among the others. Realize that the crowd at this event - the largest at the UN - would be much smaller than you think, but I will be there. I will be your proxy and we shall just see how things go…..



In other news:



I’m glad I got all my guitars purchased and out of the way prior to the advocacy ramping up. I visited a few music stores on the e weekend and really, there is nothing more to buy. This is good as those advocacy trips tend to suck up the cash.







As a side-note, putting on a Canada Day FOFSTOCK would have screwed everything up! I’m so relieved that I got out of all that while I could…..







No reply from Daniel Ek or Spotify to that letter we sent them! We tried and now you know how that bit of advocacy went…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtube.com/shorts/dWMzUuMXhMg?si=LV9xxY6_6Jul5tem

[Maurice Ali]

The car may be ready anytime from Wednesday on till the end of the week. I’m using this downtime to catch up on things at home. The master bedroom actually looks like a bedroom now. I have to check on my dad’s internet and TV accounts, stuff like that. I’m adding a new html editor to my working laptops - again, low importance stuff that you keep putting off but always sticks around in some corner of your mind. As you get rid of them your head surprising clears up inside - I’m actually getting hooked on non-procrastination being beneficial to your mental state of mind. The effort and energy keeping a large number of things to do in your head just isn’t worth it when you clean that house!




I’m still doing research on that Geneva trip. The event is for all purposes a one day affair now, and you ask yourself if the expense and hassle is worth it? I can’t even factor in the quick stop at my director in England the way this trip must happen. Then there is the fact that I’m leaving with family visiting and coming back after they are gone putting extra hassle on my family and all that.



I secured a spot at the event and the hotel and plane fare. I only lose like 50 bucks if I pull out of it all. If I was actually doing something there like giving a speech or even a short intervention it would all be worth it! But if I’m just going to sit there in the rafters, I could be doing that via the video feed that I’m sure they would have. So nothing is for sure there.



Right now that trip is probably going to cost about 6 thousand dollars to pull off. That is money the organization could use for years - or I could use it for other things. The other things always pop up. Like I said, I’m still investigating the event and what else I could do there. Maybe, maybe it’s worth while if I could pop by the UN for another event going on there but nothing. I checked out the WHO and nothing going on there either. Also, there is nothing going on at the WTO either.



Going there as is does tick that AI UN event box though - and that is huge. It does mean I finally visited Geneva and checked out all the UN stuff there. And this is petty - but the event is sexy and impresses people. But if and when I go there for a real important trip there - I tick that box anyway. Is it worth it - I’m still not sure? Five or six weeks to go and I drop the possibility to 50/50 for going or pulling out. I really wanted to go there and do it all and visit my director in England and upgrade some equipment at our London office and all that. I don't even get to do that! So don’t be surprised if I bail on this one.



But it is a real event. Trust me, when you pock around you see a whole bunch of fake events with monstrous admission fees that are fake events masquerading as real events with some brown guy like me scamming the unsuspected in the shadows from India. So at least it’s real and the largest at the UN. But it is it worth just sitting there and then going home? I’ll also get my grounds pass for the UN grounds that I won’t use again before it expires. Decisions, decisions…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

We have a chance to push at least one of our ideas at the UN at one of its big meetings:







So for us in consultative status we only get 400 words. That’s not enough to push the new Global Social Contract like we did for the Summit for the Future, but enough to get one idea out there. That idea is probably the Worldwide Vote.





As usual I will couch the idea as a way to finally get the ultimate and largest stakeholder of almost all UN resolutions, a say at the United Nations! This will also usher in a new idea of everyone having a global identity and all that - but we will leave that alone for now.









The argument to get the largest stakeholder involved at the UN is a philosophical and idealistic argument I will win - and the Charter of the United Nations specifically allows for it even though pragmatically the mechanism did not exist at the time it was written.







So I will put some of our advocacy into my word program and cut it down to 400 words and then into their templates and upload it well before the deadline and see what happens. There may be speaking positions available, but they may nix all of those shortly. But we will try if possible…..



This will not make me the most popular guy at the UN, that’s one reason I do not socialize there. I do the right thing for everyone and do it “lone wolf” style - which is the best way to disseminate ideas and start getting new ideas to be common place and ultimately adopted.




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/97wvwuHUMCw?si=0Ib-5-zMfqOC7M2m

[Maurice Ali]

A very busy day today.


Wake up at my place and shower/shave and all that.


Get the groceries at a store that opens at 7:00am.


Get to my dad’s place and unload the groceries and eat breakfast.


Off to there collision place to pick up the car and then return the rental at the same time. Back to dad’s place to take the family out for some air and shopping.


Back to my dad’s place for lunch and start the work day. And that’s how today will start.




Red Jetta



I will miss the red Jetta but the Enclave is a better family car. The Jetta is one of those peppy cars that receives “Editor Choice Awards” at the car websites. BUT: The Mustang is the better sports car because it is a sports car. The V8 fans will hate that the but my car is actually the better track car with balanced handling and weight distribution, my two previous 5.0s were front heavy under-steering cars was were only fun in a dig. The extra power is simply not enough to make up for the handling disadvantage they have, especially in smaller tracks. I would say forget it in the parking lot races - those are the domain of the small 4s. Then again the fastest track cars for amateurs are usually small and light naturally aspirated four cylinder cars that just run around the track flat out - true. This car is a pleasure to steer and place! Also, the 6 doesn’t want to spin around the engine block like my V8s (previously I had five of them) when you lose traction. Sorry but turbo4s are more finicky around the track and in traffic due to turbo lag. You only find out about these things when you have the time to really live with a car. Still banned from the Mustang forums, I must have said some truisms that hit a raw nerve - and there is nothing worse than a V8 “turncoat” in their eyes - whatever…..



I also want to make sure I can watch the AI summit online and so that will factor into what I eventually do with this event. Nothing for sure yet though…..



As of yesterday that last guitar I bought - the SG - has now passed its one month return window. It is mine along with all the other guitars. After one year I’m still into it all. Surprisingly, I don’t have the urge to buy anymore guitars. Just as well as the money goes to the advocacy. We shall now see how good a musician I become…..







Work continues on the Worldwide Vote statement to ECOSOC/HLS. I’m still surprised at the “horror” many feel about having this at the United Nations. First is that the votes will have no “teeth” as humanity has no place or seat at the United nations - it’s just a popular vote. Don’t get me started on this. If you get your “panties in a knot” about this vote realize, l’ll be dead from old age before it really matters. Yes, I will die of old age - no sniper shots from the grassy knoll for me. It’s time has come but it’s not worthy of liquidation - if you know what I mean…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/4lzqUe1Qfec?si=FikNVzzyd2jzYBmH

[Maurice Ali]

I’m actively working on the HLS statement. It should be done by the end of the weekend.



Is all this I’ve been through worth it? My past and my difficulties in life seem to be addressed by our advocacy - that’s for sure. My life is living with the worst of humanity on display and then doing things to solve that problem and bring out the best in humanity So naturally a group of people - as usual - would be trying to stop you! Of course you know that going in, but everyone one was against you all your life so this is just normal everyday life for me.



Like education. They said I was mentally retarded as a child and had to be held back. My dad took me to a clinical psychologist that gave me tests and said I had above average intelligence. Then in high school I applied to university and the faculty wanted to send me to trade school - but a small group of young teachers felt this was wrong and got me streamed to university. One of them met with me privately to tell me what was going on, and below is a photo of him. And in university they said or strongly hinted I had a spot in graduate school and then tossed me out fully knowing what that meant to me. It would seem I’m in until someone with better connections than me wants in and out I go! Merit means nothing here.




So it was Mr. Walker who told me! I love idealists!
Also, I wrote that comment decades ago before FOF!



So I had to go it alone and here I am doing what I do and strangely among the professors I would have been one of if I wasn’t brown. I am right about my advocacy, it is the best course but you have all the usual stuff you have to contend with. I am sure many people would be pleased to see me and my organization tossed out of the United Nations, but that cannot stop the advocacy and the ideas that can make the world a better place.



I keep to myself at the UN as our advocacy is what it is and I don’t want others to suffer by association. So if we get thrown out it will just be “par for the course” for me in my life, but acquiescing out of social pressure or keeping status due to pride would be worse. What is the point of having status if you don’t try to make the world a better place - and that is what we are trying to do at the United Nations.




The Buick Enclave!



Anyway, Friday morning I change the oil in the Buick Enclave that we finally got back. I see they gave us a new bumper which is nice. Actually they replaced all banged up parts and then painted it. The Buick logo is off by a few degrees but other than that the work was great. The collision reporting centre said the damage was 600.00 And the adjuster said 1900.00 and in the end 4300.00 or 5000.00 with the cost of the rental. And this just for a minor tap on the corner that you could push all back in by yourself!



So a lot of aggravation is off my mind and the weekend should be boring as I like it.



You know what, if folk at the UN were not trying to subvert our ambitions I would be even more disappointed with our advocacy - truth be told. Nothing hurts your energy for advocacy more than lack of interest from the other side - but secretly to you here, that won’t stop me personally from doing what I do…..



Go ahead - bring it on!




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/_ZH8zcJUH1M?si=S032NN3OdQbvpLY4

[Maurice Ali]

So this should be a relaxing weekend…..



All I really have to do is finish the Worldwide Vote statement for the HLS at the United Nations and then stare at my guitars.



The UN is a strange place. It’s a game really, it’s a game of rules. I don’t worry about a double tap to the head” with my advocacy there as something brash like that would simple “not be cricket” for want of a better expression. As long as my advocacy stays in there and I follow the rules, I pretty much am physically safe.



It is a game and my first trip to the United Nations where I was interrogated by all manner of nations so rattled me it took three months to get over it to the point I could go back there again. But they were just doing what they always did and I just had to get used to it.



So now I’m a player there and this statement is just a part of it. I’m advocating real change there that would impact everyone on earth. But only in a global context that really doesn’t threaten established nations and their affairs. So many people criticize the UN for its resolutions having no teeth but for idealistic stuff like what I am advocating - it’s the perfect place! So even though I may be one of the most dangerous people at the UN provoking change for all in radical ways - I’m no threat to the rest of the member nations in a crazy way.



The UN gave me things I could not get here at home in Canada. In Canada I’m just some average bloke - but at the UN I have status as a CEO - literally for an NGO in my position the drop down menu only has CEO for me. So my dreams of being a CEO at Ryerson Business School have been realized. Coming up with the Worldwide Vote, the Positive Mandate for Humanity and the new Global Social Contract are a philosophy that I created and thus meets the dreams I had as a philosophy major at York University - even if they kept me out of graduate school. So this whole experiment I started in my early 40s has sort of worked out for me and my dreams - but not quite the way I thought it would be like…..




No matter, the game continues and the adventure is on-going. I’m actually in a different universe than if I was a professor at some university. In that position I would have a comfortable life with an attractive wife and kids and superficial status in my community. But my ultimate goals would have been neutered as I still am just an employee of the university and all that. In my actual position here and now - I answer to nobody - and I do as I please. That has its cost but I am free in a way the others are not. That freedom came at a terrible personal cost - but you can’t go back and change your past - all you can do is what you can do in your present situation and that is what is happening right now with the advocacy at the UN.



Every dog has its day…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

I’m waiting at the bus station to pick up my car and drive home.




When the Buick had the transmission replaced the mechanic told me the front pads were practically gone and needed to be replaced. I already was going to pay them a whack of money for the transmission - so I said no at the time. I also wondered why he didn’t include the rear brakes. So sooner or later I was going to check that out myself and then the guy up the street backs into the car!



All of that is all behind me now, I finally looked at the front brakes and yes they are starting to grind into the rotors. Now I hate taking the car into the garage during weekdays as I can’t get it out of there till the next morning so I gave Sunday a chance. I was the first in line for anything. other than tires and they would do the job if they had the parts. I agree to this and they looked at the brakes and only wanted to do the fronts - just like at the dealer. So I said go ahead and around two in the afternoon they said they were finished. New rotors which is fine as the original rotors are ancient. I also wanted them to grease up the parking brake and surprise - it works - and doesn’t stick when released! So I’m good to go with the Buick as the only thing left is the radiator fluid change I will do later this year.



So the weekend was productive - but I didn’t do anything with that written statement yet. That is for tonight and tomorrow morning. I’ll get it in fast so if my worst fears come to fruition and we get tossed out of the UN for trying to make the world a better place - at least the written statement will be in there.



If I’m lucky, nobody there knows I exist so I just l keep doing what I do in the shadows which is disseminating new ideas that take hold and get spread just like a virus. New radical ideas that sound ridiculous at first, but with familiarity become legitimate taking points and then adoption. Anyway, that’s my goal…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

The neighbour is playing his guitar as I type this out - they know I play so it all so cool!



Anyway, This weekend was a good one! The Buick got its brakes done and I even rustproofed The corner where the guy on the street hit me. They say they rust proof the area they work on - but you can’t count on that so I did it myself. I capped this all off by filling the gas tank of the Buick and that is that! Time to turn the page on all of this…..



After going back to the garage and picking up the mustang, it was close enough to the music store that - against my better impulses - I decided to go there anyway. That was a bad move because in the store was a perfect white Jimi Hendricks tribute guitar with the reverse headstock that he used to use. Jeff Beck also use this type of stratocaster but with a rosewood or ebony fretboard. Anyway, this was the first time I had seen this. I actually started to think about possibly buying the thing! It was 1600 bucks - it was not totally crazy money. I really started to look at it. Long story short is that the store clerk would not budge on the price - and that killed any thought of buying it. Just as well as I would have to give away my first guitar that I had to make room for this one and keep to my pledge of not increasing the collection. So I had the fun of finding a nice guitar that was different and checking it out but in the end - not buying anything! I think about how women would find this to be a perfect outing for them - and now I understand….







For the weekend I never really got around to working on the statement. I got the templates and the statement is ready to go. But I will take a day or two to keep looking it over and then just send it to ECOSOC at the United Nations and see what happens…..



This was a fun relaxing weekend where lots of stuff got done. I celebrated with some cheap Australian wine and take out Chinese food on Sunday night…..








Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

I sent in that Worldwide Vote Statement to the ECOSOC / HLS…..







That is the confirmation message sent to me after I hit the send button. Do not expect anything for sure. They could say it has nothing to do with the themes. Maybe I screwed something up along the way. We won’t know until they post the statements I guess. But the big news is that it is sent.




Why am I doing this? Because I can - that’s the biggest reason. I can push this unlike so many other NGOs. I have the app, I have the study and I even have a book in the subject. I have a side event videotaped on the subject inside the UN that you can’t do anymore. And all those other written and oral statements. If successful this is destiny changing stuff for humanity - ultimately a new form of global governance in the future! That is worth a life - isn’t not? Plus, I have the Positive Mandate for Humanity and the new Global Social Contract to get out there. That is all big stuff if I can get any traction at all at the United Nations. Just remember that you have to always be prepared to give up that status at the UN to further your advocacy. Once you shy away from bold advocacy because you want to stay in the UN with status - that is when they own you - you get corrupted and become ineffectual.







With that out of the way I am running out of urgent things to do - which is rare. I will replace the sump pump hose which becomes cracked and brittle after the winter. I may look into replacing a small rubber cover on the engine of the Mustang that is disintegrating. It’s just a cover but I like my engines looking pristine.



You get the idea - I have finally caught up! It never lasts but it’s a good feeling to get all that stuff done - it really has uncluttered my mind!




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/DJC8pWEWhQA?si=ej_e-Ih46qXmvBUs

https://youtu.be/wfPOANlbyWw?si=PbFFjUUA3p8aayNx

[Maurice Ali]

So I’m all caught up, but I still have no time to myself. Even things like shaving and and stuff like that means you have to make time. Lots of stuff happening on the home front as we have family visiting in a week or so.



Anyway, I’m not “walking the red carpet” so I don’t have to look my best, but it is nice to have a few hours to yourself. All I have time for is to “look” at my guitars - that’s all - just look at them. Anyway, I seem to have all I need in terms of guitars so at least I got that out of the way before my money goes to the advocacy.



I should really just be saving my money for retirement. But this stuff is your life’s work and things are starting to get interesting.







The Fates have worked it that retirement for me should be ok even with all this stuff continuing to go on. I don’t have to give up on the advocacy for monetary reasons. But you still have to temper yourself and how you spend the money. For example, the AI for Good meeting in Geneva isn’t a cosy few hundred but 2,500! So forget about time for interventions and stuff like that. There is just too many people - so actually you just go there and sit in a seat watching from some big auditorium or even standing or sitting on the floor or whatever if you arrive late. Is that worth over six thousand dollars? You don’t even get to make trip out of it and visit some of your gang while there!




The Fates



So the AI for Good trip is on the chopping block. I measure the money spent vs. just watching the video feed of the event and don’t see much difference. Then the written statement that cost me nothing but is this huge thing for our advocacy, and again costs me nothing - what would you do? I’ll wait another week or two but if I don’t get to do anything more than just sit around - the money is better spent elsewhere…..




Goodnight…..