Fortress Of Freedom Board

[Maurice Ali]

An early one today…..



I’m a bit more upbeat on things now that we are actively recruiting. Realize that like the original Sam started with us really in 2005 at 15 years old. Now she is in her thirties with a three year old and a job so there is only so much she can do. She still does the royalties and the payroll is that is her gig at FOF. Remember Emily, I think she has three kids now so again there is no way she has time to help. You get the picture, our organization and especially the record label need young people before they get into family and career to make their mark in an admittedly interesting and cool area of the media. The pandemic just made things more abrupt in transition.



In other news is the plight of Linux mobile.





My Pinephone



So you all noticed that I bought the iPhone 14 Pro Max and and took the sim out of the Pinephone and into the 12 Pro Max. The reason is that Linux mobile is dying. I can’t rely on development of my original Pinephone and the new Pinephone Pro may never get fully fleshed out. My Pinephone in Ubuntu Touch actually works and I could have taken it to New York and with a few hacks got it to work on T-Mobile. That is so cool for geeks but network support could end at any time now.



Also, right now there is only Pine64 making the phones and some guy - one guy - doing work on the kernel, and some folk working on the Manjaro distribution. Ubuntu Touch believe it or not is still getting updates from some amateur hacks because it is the only livable distribution for Linux mobile. So I may take my laptop to my dad’s place and download all the distributions for the original Pinephone as this venture is almost done.



The only other Linux phone is the Librem 5 and it looks like they have stopped shipping from China and will just sell out the remaining phones in the States for 1,300.00 USD, and I’m not even sure if they have the back camera working yet. I have the feeling they have made the decision to abandon the venture but want to sell all the stock before saying anything.



The same went with the Blackberry 5G from Onward Mobility which died after they could not get a government contract to keep going which is what I believe happened with the Librem 5.






My iPhone 14 Pro Max!




So with Linus mobile unsupported realistically, and the iPhone 6S Plus now unsupported by Apple; I needed a secondary iPhone for the organization and so the 12 Pro Max got the Pinephone sim and the new iPhone 14 Pro Max became my daily driver. So now you know why I feverishly went out of town to get the new phone and all the rest.




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/vfQMqBj9UJk

[Maurice Ali]

I’m actually thinking about FOFSTOCK 2.



We will do this one on the cheap relatively speaking. One way is to snipe a concert already part way there but ran out of money. Rebrand as FOFSTOCK 2 and go half and half or just let them walk away and we take over.








This could happen in Toronto or in New York as I can operate in both areas. New York is attractive though. Anyway we are looking at probably late 2023 but more likely 2024. So I may get FOFSTOCK 2 under my belt within the two year time limit and scratch that itch again…..



Saturday I was in a good mood and did what I used to do pre-pandemic and bought some Swiss Chalet chicken and pigged out on that while watching the end of an old Bluray and then a new DVD. The Bluray was Moonfall I started watching last weekend but finished the director’s commentary Saturday night. This was made during the pandemic and mostly in Canada where stars like Haley Berry and others had to deal with our quarantine rules. I was also unfortunately released during the pandemic which obviously hurt sales. The second one was a Canadian film which means I expected it to suck - but this was different…..



The movie is called Code 8 and was some Canadians making a 20 minute short in LA and having the LAPD shut them down but they got enough video to get the short out there. It was about mutants - so was popular. But what they did was start a crowd funding campaign to get 200 grand or make a proper movie and instead had that ballooned to 2.5 million! So the film got made and actually looked good so there may be a second movie (Netflix) or TV series in the future. I’ll post a link to the short below. That is something I am looking at here at FOF. New and innovative ways of doing things.



Anyway that is it for now.




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/DqO90q0WZ0M

[Maurice Ali]

The weekend is over - but stuff got done.



Talking with one of the directors who agreed bringing in new young people along with the current staff. Not much “push back” on the idea of FOFSTOCK 2. So the idea isn’t pure lunacy after all.





An original paper newspaper with our photo of Slash on the cover as we interviewed him at Canadian Music Week!




We may also put out a paper newspaper version of The Fortress - just like the early days! This does not cost all that much compared to the other projects but is labor intensive as we physically have to collate and fold the papers and then physically distribute them to universities all over the province. I may even send some to the UK and the States just to get it all out there.



So the next few years are getting to look like my own little farewell tour so to speak. Hopefully it isn’t, but we are a unique thing at the UN in advocacy and one of the last standing in the indie record labels and movie/video production houses with any corporate resume to its name. So why close shop?




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/8SbUC-UaAxE

[Maurice Ali]

Facebook/Meta are having a slow go at rebranding themselves. They are now definitely on our watch to pitch the idea of the Global Social Contract and the Worldwide Vote. The only question is how to play Twitter and the Facebook pitches while still advocating at the United Nations.








Well I wanted to live with that open future - which is rare at my age - but there you go.








There is way- way - more going on but that will wait till tonight - I was actually going to talk about something else, but I have to prioritize…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/GhiOAFE64M4

[Maurice Ali]

I’ll go off the beaten trail and talk about two things in my life.


First is the Ridge wallet. I’ve been rocking a clone in actual carbon fibre for years and I love it! But before I head off to old age and senility I was looking at getting the original and expensive Ridge wallet. My knock-off is carbon fibre and at only 16 bucks. With Ridge this thing all told in Canada is close to 200 bucks and you can’t tell the difference. Anyway in a few years wallets of all kinds will be gone, so if I splurge I splurge now!




My “knock-off” Ridge wallet!



I’m thinking stone washed titanium as you can scratch it up and it looks like new - that is a genuine selling point. The other is gunmetal which is real steel and will last forever. It’s a toss up and I’ll have to check each out in person.




The next is AirTags. My dad has one just in case and I believe anyone over eighty should have one on. The AirTags work and you can track the old folks just to make sure they are at home or when they go to the corner store (and don’t tell anyone) and such but you can see if they go off the beaten path and have family members check things out if that ever happens. For this use AirTags have been the number one tool for the aged and families that support them. You can do the same with iPhones and Apple Watches but the AirTags are always on and fool proof! In North America, iPhones are everywhere and people train with these devices in the bush so if someone ventures into parks and ravines the AirTags will catch them with a time stamp too. I don’t know if Tiles can match this level of peace of mind.







The battery will wear out and I just replace the old AirTag with a new one but you can also replace the battery (I’ll try this today or tomorrow). I got the first in March of 2021 and it was still working as of yesterday, however when I replaced and renamed my dad’s new one and tried to rename the old one for my sister, it refused to pair as it said I had to replace the battery first. So the battery lasts a year and a half. Apple no longer shows battery life on your phones as it probably was inaccurate - so replace them once a year, just to be sure and you are golden. I also paid the Apple premium to get their leather key ring and it still looks good and he never tries to take it off. Old folks will wander off without telling family, this has happened a few times and was no real issue, but sometimes they just go and this happened when my sister was with him and she freaked out when she saw he was gone and phoned me up. I just opened my find my app on my iPhone and he was at a shopping plaza a few blocks away, so she went off to get him and I could track his movements coming back home, so she always knew where he was - insanely accurate!







I can keep track of things anywhere in the world like when I was in New York. There is nothing else that can beat it. So for aging parents I fully endorse AirTags - 5/5!




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/ShIyfoCmz7c

[Maurice Ali]

Surprise!








I’m going to try to make first contact with Mark Zuckerberg and Meta/Facebook about the Global Social Contract!







As the Meta rebranding continues this is the time to push the Global Social Contract idea and see what happens at Meta/Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg says that waking up every day as the head of Meta/Facebook is like getting sucker punched in the gut. Well Mark, the worm has turned for you if you embrace this idea and give people a real reason to be there and to stay and even grow the base!







I’ll do this the same way we did first contact with Elon Musk. And look at me talk! Look at me talk - and this is no delusion, no fantasy; I actually have some ideas they may be interested in! I will work on this this weekend and send it off next week and continue with the plays.




The Fates



You can’t sit back on this stuff, life is short and things can happen to prevent the plays from being made - so you have to force yourself to act. Losers wait - and I try not to be a loser…..




Goodnight…..







https://youtu.be/_iRmOc10SMw


https://youtu.be/gBELRP6OS_k

[Maurice Ali]

It looks like we will soon have thee plays for the Global Social Contract going at the same time as it looks like Elon Musk is going ahead with the Twitter purchase and maybe laying off 75% of its employees.




Elon Musk



This is a good situation for me to be in as if you just aim for one you give that one entity too much control over you. I’ll do my usual thing at the Commission for Social Development but if member nations block, I will simply take it directly to the Secretary General himself.



Am I at the peak moment of my abilities and influence?






With me I always set goals and then reach them and try to go further. On the original Fortress TV show The realistic goal was to be at the UN in some official capacity (like news reporting) and the ultimate unattainable goal just to keep me always going was the General Assembly Speech - which happened eleven years later and over seven years in the past. If you told me in 2002 what I would have been up to starting a year later till today - I simply would not believe it!




UN Secretary General



So we just keep going…..





Goodnight…..





https://iaij.com/IAIJ_Goals.wmv

[Maurice Ali]

Saturday was me finally getting The Ridge wallet.







This took all day (sort of) and I started looking for the stonewashed titanium. Remember I had used a cheap knock-off for two years but was amazed at how well the carbon fibre lasted without looking old. If you looked carefully you would see the scratches on the plastic outer coating but this was always hidden by that beautiful carbon fibre! Regardless, I figured the deliberately scratched up titanium wallet they had would also look good forever.



There were two stores in Toronto that had them so off to Nordstrom and Fossil to check them out. To my dismay Nordstrom only had the black aluminum and the burnt titanium and the carbon fibre. I told them I needed to check out Fossil for availability and it was in the same mall. Turns out they don’t carry any in-store but only if you shop online. So back to Nordstrom; I was not going to get the aluminum as that scratched up over time. Titanium scratches up easily but the stone wash would hide all that - but they didn’t carry it.



So it was the most expensive wallet to get and that was carbon fibre at 170 bucks! I did check the exchange and 170 was correct. I decided to just go with the flow and get it. Turns out it wasn’t in the store but at the one in Yorkdale on the other side of town. I phoned them up and they had one left so I told them hold it for me, and it wasn’t even the one with the desirable money clip but the cash strap. Only one carbon fibre wallet in all of Toronto and only one titanium in Ottawa!



Yorkdale was even more high-end. I should tell you these stores have like a bar in the middle of the floor and a restaurant off to the side upstairs. I only went there as I needed the wallet but it dawned in me that maybe I was becoming one of the people I despised - getting all this high-end stuff. Anyway I bought the thing at 190 bucks with taxes! I’ll also buy the money clip and the clip strap as they are all different. So I’ll have the cash strap and switch it out for the money clip or just go with the carbon fibre sandwich. If I go with the carbon fibre sandwich I’ll just use that everyday as it seems the carbon fibre in this wallet does not scratch at all.










So, I’ll order the other stuff and keep using the old knock-off and keep this for travel and meeting the rich and powerful people as I make my plays. What will probably happen is that I’ll just rock everyday with no money strap or money clip but that will only happen when I get the extra parts from The Ridge.










I constantly play with these types of wallets - in my hands - as I talk to people, so with meeting VIPs they will notice that and ask about it. The Ridge was the first of this design and so I am “golden” showing it off and letting them handle it and such. It’s would be embarrassing to hand them a worn-out knock-off, and so now you know the real reason “why” right there…..





The screwdriver that comes with the wallet!





I am one of the very few that will actually get my money’s worth out of this wallet and for the reason stated above. For everyone else you could just use a knock-off and be totally happy. It’s way more expensive for what you have and my knock-off was just 16 bucks and I still use it 2 years later. So I need it when making my plays - but I can’t recommend spending the cash if you are an “average Joe”. The construction is a bit better in The Ridge as the carbon fibre is chamfered and not on the knock-off which is just a straight cut and can catch on things. The inside sleeve on The Ridge is contoured to make it easier to slide the cards in when the knock-off is more crude about it. But that does not make it worth 10X the price. Only I can justify this expense. As the saying goes: Do as I say and not as I do!





My “knock-off” Ridge wallet



I have the most expensive lenses you can get as my glasses. I have the top iPhone you can get and because of the sim tray issue I can keep this for two years and still rock with the rich and famous. Now I have The Ridge wallet. Billionaires don’t expect you to look as good as they can, but they expect you to try to look your best when you go to them “hat in hand”, so I show them respect by dressing as best as I can and this means if I handle the tip or buy them a drink, I don't pull out some worn out 16 buck knock-off wallet to do this, but at least have something stylish and interesting when I do.


Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/wRndRX2MSiY

https://youtu.be/TaLe6PdH4qM

[Maurice Ali]

We have new music coming from Lucifari and I’ll give you a little teaser with the artwork:








Well if that doesn’t get you interested - I don’t know what will! The guy behind the art work is Steven Nagy and this artist simply rocks! We will have more when the song is released!




In other news…..




I should have the Meta (Meta Platforms Inc.) pitch sent off tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest. Many may question why I’m going to the commercial side so quickly when I’m still at it with the United Nations? The answer is that time is of the essence and having several plays at once can also work for you and speed up the process of implementation of the concept and philosophy as intended. Trust me when I say: There is more than in way to skin a cat!



Ok, let’s say a social media platform steals the idea without a contract or credit to us - this works as I can point to its endorsement on that platform but that the UN version will be the only legitimate one as that kind of action is problematic in the integrity needed to draw in the general public.



If the UN doesn’t want the Global Social Contract? Then we go to the large social platforms and tell them they have the chance to make it into the history books with a new form of global governance and a new form of global identity for all of humanity - if they do it through me and it fails, they pin it all on me and move onward without my ideas sticking to them.





The Fates



There are many ways to do this. The Fates don’t care about whether I get credit. All they care about is that humanity gets offered the Global Social Contract - and - whether they accept it and develop or not…..



In the end that is the play and individuals do not matter. Only the end result.





Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/MlWBJkfYJd4

[Maurice Ali]

I’m ready to send the letter to Meta Platforms Inc.!








The only question was whether to send it to the old 1 Hacker Way address (yes that was the old Facebook address) or to the newer 1601 Willow Road address. I’ll send it to Willow Road as that is the official address, but realize that on a map the two locations are basically beside each other. The Willow address used to be Sun Microsystems almost a decade ago but was taken over and gutted and rebuilt by Facebook and now Meta.


So the very expensive letter gets sent out which puts a different take on the cost of The Ridge wallet if you know the overnight Can-USA costs to courier. Many will say that I should just post the thing in the mail. I’m actually tempted but the stakes are so high I would regret the move if nothing happened. I'm not just sending a letter, but like the Tesla letter it will go in an expensive folder and get sent express with a signature - all so very official. You make it look as official as possible so no regrets later on – you did all you could do! I won’t even tell you the cost but you could probably buy one of the cheaper Ridge wallets with what I am shelling out for this. No matter, the stakes are high for me so you just make the play.


Funny, the phone cost 2150.00 and I thought that was high, but the Ridge wallet only cost less than a tenth of that and I was upset, and maybe a little over a half of that wallet to courier a letter and I consider that obscene; but in relative terms especially for the phone – we are talking small bills here…..


Speaking of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, I’m trying something different with the battery this time. Since I got it I never went over like 80%, but in the past the first thing I did was to go to 100% for calibration and hardly ever to over 80% afterward. The problem with the new move – charging to 100% a month after getting it - is that it may not calibrate correctly after a month and get stuck on 98%. However, the first major update is also today So, I’ll charge it full for the first time and see how the update goes. If I forget or leave it charging as I sleep then those will be the occasional full charges Apple says you should do on the phone…..




Back to the music…..









Lucifari has even more music coming out. I am really keen to see how this change from albums to singles rollout will go. Traditionally albums were based on a theme and journey through the list of songs, but in today’s music environment I can see the lure of singles. Instead of one major release news cycle for an album, we now have a news cycle for each song, so the band and their music gets more attention and regular attention that way. It’s something new happening at the label and we keep trying different things. Expect a major announcement on Lucifari’s latest single shortly but we have to have all the gang listen to it and all the rest – protocol – as the label itself is growing in numbers.




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/SAL2JZxpoGY

[Maurice Ali]

So I actually did pull the trigger on the Meta/Facebook play and we shall see how that plays out:

[Maurice Ali]

The Meta package made it to Willow, they took one look at it and sent it to Freemont where they have corporate offices. My guess is that they will probably send it for “testing” because you never know. Then scan electronically and send that file to HQ and hold the physical copy.







No matter, I wanted their attention and now I have it. Tesla and Apple simply had the mailroom accept it - and then nothing. This one reminds me of the advocacy I sent to the Pope’s apartment. Anyway, you know as much as I do right now. I give the news sparingly to our newcomers to the organization, I don’t want to scare them - Heheheehe…..









Yah, ease them into this life of mine slowly. Oopps….. I don’t even know if they know we sent the Pope a package left in front of his apartment door. Fast company, and there is no other way to put it. That is in intellectual terms. You need to get used to it……




Goodnight…..





(NSFW)
https://youtu.be/762fEsZ5hSE

[Maurice Ali]

Well Meta has the package now, delivered to a huge land purchase 1.2 million square feet in Fremont they bought last year. Best I can tell it was delivered somewhere here:



Meta Platforms, Inc. 6552 Kaiser Drive, Fremont, CA 94555



I thought this was just some unit in a business park where they would x-ray and examine snail mail but they also have meetings there, specifically like the virtual reality headset stuff that went on last Thursday:









Hum…..




All we can do is what we have done - the rest is up to Meta. Realize that personally I would like some recognition, some vindication from academia that threw me to the wolves 38 years ago, some personal compensation for the years of my life and the hardship and cost to get these ideas/concepts and resulting philosophy out there.




The Fates



The Fates don’t care and I get that. The ideas are getting disseminated and traveling around in the minds of people and spread through all areas and uses of communication. Good ideas can never be stopped! So reaching out to the Pope and Musk and Cook and now Zuckerberg, it’s all good on a very dispassionate level. Personally it is always another story.



My story is that despite materialistic efforts, I still came up with my own philosophy, my own ideas, and disseminated them on the world stage. The idea was always only dissemination and we are now going beyond that. Human life is fragile and fleeting, but how selfish is it for me to want society to finally recognize my worth where as before they attributed basically no worth to me. My story, and it ends when I end and I disappear
with the only thing left being the ideas I disseminated - those ideas are immortal.




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Breaking News!





Elon Musk









Elon Musk is now in charge of Twitter. Two executives of Twitter have already left and Elon Musk is now in charge of Twitter.















What an interesting day! So we now have three viable platforms for our Global Social Contract.





UN Secretary General
















There could be real money at stake here so I had to consolidate our organization and who is willing to go all the way at FOF. We are now ready to go this last important chapter of our adventure. It is comforting to go this adventure to its end with those that I started with. Those whose children called me “Uncle Mowis”…..hehehe….. My gang literally from the streets - they deserve any fruits of our labor.



What a day on two social platform fronts.




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/3h0AkeaFvXk

[Maurice Ali]

A busy morning…..







The big question was whether to get an EIN number this morning for Fortress of Freedom Inc.? That would allow us to open a bank account and have money directly deposited and kept in the States if need be. I talked to a few
people in the financial industry last night about double taxation and pulled back for now. If needed, I could still have money transferred to FOF Records Inc. in the States. Or, I could go ahead with the IRS filing of Fortress of Freedom Inc. and keep FOF Entertainment Inc. as the foreign corporation option. Decisions, decisions.



The funny part now is what to do with the future office in the States. Twitter and Meta are in California but I have landline phone numbers in New York and Texas, had them for years. New York is obvious - the United Nations is a play well in progress with the most development. For the Twitter play, I’ll assume Musk may relocate to Texas and pair down the work force that way without doing it deliberately in California. That will leave just Meta in California - I could just open another phone line in San Jose and be done with it that way. Decisions, decisions.



In other news…..










It looks like Papa Midnight is live but we need it in the usual stores before we officially drop the tune. Shane will make the announcement as usual and possibly tomorrow.




Goodnight…..






https://youtu.be/a4bTM3ugE20