Fortress Of Freedom Board

[Maurice Ali]

Alright, it’s time to get moving with the New York trip.



I’ll tidy up any social loose ends today and just concentrate on the trip. First is the security clearance from the UN that I need prior to getting my grounds pass.



I already have the hotel booked and the flight but I’m nervous about luggage. I may do the carry on thing with a suit again to be sure but they did hassle me at the airline but relented in the end. Losing my suit and shoes and so on would be a disaster so I may go this way like I did in September. We shall see…..




I added the usual greeting to the speech which draws it out a bit but I’m well within the three minute limit so that’s a go. Back to the luggage business - laptop case and regular luggage is ideal but I can’t trust the airlines. Maybe do the luggage and laptop thing but wear a “B” suit on the plane. I can buy some jeans there and wear a T-Shirt under the dress shirt and buy the sneakers and do it that way - if they lose the luggage. Maybe…..



I know New York enough that I can get shaving stuff and all those essentials there without a search. So maybe we do it this way. But a laptop bag with a carry on also works in a pinch with my regular clothing in the carry on if they deny it…..








So that is the crap I am mulling about in my head. There is other stuff going on but I have to take this trip seriously. It is bizarre to see the whimsy of my life while the other stuff is truly important. This can be extrapolated to humanity in general. We think we are invincible and will always be around - meanwhile there are all sorts of whimsical stuff going on that could nobble that security. From my perspective it is just reality and you get used to it after a while. That is the position to be in if you want to make the important plays. The others are in this human cocoon feeling safe, while you are with this smaller group on the outside seeing things as unsure and volatile and unstable or precarious as it truly is, because you like the others see all. And that is why you do stuff like what I am doing now.



The long and short of it is that after today I have to get serious about this trip.




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/gLYNL5juSh0


https://youtu.be/A92n5ejSfy8

[Maurice Ali]

I slept in till like 11:00am this morning!



I had to rush to get some US money for cabs and then Canadian money for cabs. Then some new luggage tags for the carry on. Travel insurance is done. I have a 2 in one jacket from Eddie Bauer for skiing. This is great as the shell barely covers my suit jacket at the front with inches more tapered down at the back! The liner is removable and a trendy down jacket with zippered pockets and you would never know it was a 2 in 1. Put it all together for the trip back home in the Canadian winter - perfect!


My new laptop case fits the one personal item and the carryon for the suit and shoes meets carry on specs too. Basically I am done for this trip. All I do now is make sure the assets are locked down and make several copies of the speech. You need six for the translators and if people like the Secretariat will come over for more - from my last speech experience.



Believe it or not, our musicians are still contacting me and bitching about things. This is a welcome distraction and the weather is also great for a vacation of sorts.



Later…..





https://youtu.be/gLNQ6Mq5kbg

[Maurice Ali]

Thursday and time is running out!



I’m packing the usual stuff to carry on as this is just an overnight trip. I’ll even preen myself up a bit today. I’ll lock down all paper works tonight and print it all Friday morning.



I have forgotten how much of a chore this is now that I’m back into it. Travel light but be prepared for the weather and now we have a 50% of
rain! So rubber slip-ons and an umbrella. You all know the drill. Man, I’m actually travelling with a laptop that isn’t embarrassing.


It’s not all about the UN though. On Sunday I’ll make the final decision on the New York office and when needed I’ll just open an account and pay by credit card instead of a bank account. I’m pretty sure it will be on Park Avenue near Grand Central Terminal. That happens Sunday.



I won’t be feverishly going over the speech as I basically have it down pat now. I just want it done and over with and just relax for the valence of the vacation. Anyway, that is your update - boring as it is…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/xxYmMRxnEic

[Maurice Ali]

Forgot about this:

[Maurice Ali]

This will be a quick one as I’m rushing around.




We are ready here at IAIJ. I received final email confirmation of time and final instructions from the UN and we are good to go!








I’ll hit the sack early as the plane should depart just before 10:00am. I am keenly aware of all kinds of stuff that can go wrong and screw you up, so I took the earliest flight. Sunday afternoon I just walk around visiting old haunts in New York. But I especially want to visit BH Photo again and maybe Central Park before the sun goes down and then the Museum of Modern Art.



Evening is just practicing the speech though I am over practiced and the best scenario is to hit that sweet spot where you just become competent with the speech. I never had a flawless speech so this one will be like the others.




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/w3rQ3328Tok

[Maurice Ali]

The crazy thing about traveling is that I’m used to having horrendous problems getting my boarding pass and then this mad race to the boarding gate.



This time was different.



Ok, so left the house and said goodbye to the family as it’s only me going and this time I took the cab. The cab is always more expensive but I don’t have anxiety about the SUV getting bashed up or the Mustang getting stolen. So the guy shows up on time and we breeze right into Pearson and I noticed the stupendous line for my boarding pass. Now every time I travel I book online but it never works out when I scan my passport at the machine. This time it takes it and spits out a boarding pass! I no longer have to wait in line! Finally, 23 years after 911, I finally get a boarding pass without having to do it in person!



Then it got even weirder. No real lineup at Gate F to the States. It was so fast I hardly had enough time to stash my stuff into carry on as even kleenex gets spotted. Not that I had to worry, they just sent me through to metal detector and out went - man, brown people are finally off the radar…..







So I now have two hours to kill waiting to board - I now know how the other half lives. And so much time on hand I figured I’d post an update now. At Pearson International Airport you pass through US customs in Toronto - believe it or not - so I’m good to go to New York. We just land and walk out when you touch down at LaGuardia. The customs guy gave me a very bored look and passed me on without hardly any conversation - wow!



Anyway I’m good to go and will update later on.





Later…..




https://youtu.be/aGzu5QTbz1U

[Maurice Ali]

Well, I’m in New York at last.



The last time I was here was in September for the 77th General Assembly and now its the 61st Session of the Commission for Social Development.



I’m prepared for the planned issues that I will come across. First up is getting the grounds pass first thing in the morning. Then a quick trip to the UN to make sure the pass works and pickup any secondary passes for the CSocD61 that you may need to get. I’ll even pock my head in there to see what is going on. If the timeline holds true I get a break till 3:00pm. Don’t know what I’ll do but maybe a quick bite at the cafeteria and back to the hotel to chill. This hotel is just seven minutes away walking to the UN, so maybe three hours to do whatever I want - but I’ll probably play it safe.



Well that solves the issue of people sitting on the hydrant!



There will always be things that crop up that you never planned for and this defines just how good you really are. I planned this as best I could and now all I can do is run the play - just like the Super Bowl game I’m watching now and this one is entertaining. And - I get to see the American Super Bowl ads without any editing by Canadian networks - because I’m in the States this time!




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Home…..







I’ll have a more detailed debrief later…..








Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/xvpeIKI4ZiQ

[Maurice Ali]

I’ve decided to take a couple of days off from the UN stuff…..







All you need to know is that I scored big time - with The Fates! I was like on a rail, everything went my way all the way until I left the UN - then like the Positive Mandate in 2019, the bad luck came rolling in. But the kinds of bad luck I like and mostly hits to my wallet.




The Fates



Anyway, The Fates set the stage and all we can do is react and be judged on it later. I played my part and now technically I am free! But it is never like that with me…..



Twenty years of my life - was is worth it? - HELL YA!!!!!




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/vAwVzyMmJss

[Maurice Ali]

Ok, I said I would not talk about the UN until Thursday but people are pestering me and one of my gang at FOF (not me or anyone at IAIJ) has cut a video of the speech. I forgot that I never posted the contents of the speech, so to be fair I’ll post the link to the video a day before we were going to report on it. Remember FOF is a news organization unlike IAIJ that really is an association with the occasional article by one of its members. So yes, there is fair use here and blah, blah, and blah. Nobody cares about this unless they are out to get you, but I have tried to buy clips from the UN and they refuse to do it so you just use it. Anyway here it is:



https://fortressoffreedom.com/Maurice_Ali_Speech_CSocD61.mp4





What I really wanted to talk about was the bad luck that always comes at big moments. The obvious was my mom dying 13 hours after I gave my General Assembly speech in 2015. I figured that goal to be impossible when I muttered it on the TV show and 11 years later…..



http://fortressoffreedom.com/WSIS+10_Maurice_Ali_July_2015.mp4



Then four years later was the Positive Mandate speech and side event. Everything went my way until about 5 minutes after I left the UN and the snow started, stranding me in New York overnight and snow in Toronto having me physically walk with my luggage down the middle of the streets to my house and I believe I had to drag the luggage over a snow drift across my driveway, and there was more…..



http://iaij.com/Maurice_ALi_UN_Speech_Feb_19_2019.mov



On Monday when I scored, I knew “the drill” and got out of there as soon as I could and got to the airport - but - the problems started. The ACU air feed was broken according to the pilot and the jets needed it. I was fearing a night sleeping at the airport. I don’t use them but then the bathrooms broke and one has to be locked up. It took forever to get the jets to run but we took off with all sorts of people coughing Lord knows what and the guy beside me sneezing regularity - I wore my mask and turned away. My Cross pen disappeared during the flight but only steel so “who cares” but that was it for Monday and Tuesday had people messaging me about more bad luck.



I just roll with the punches and as long as they arn’t physical problems - I just accept this as payback for good luck you got when you needed it. I like my bad luck to come plentiful but weak and good luck to be rare but strong! The only strategy is to rush home and hide out for a few days - trust me if you roam around, a car might just manage to hit you, or something like that - this is luck as you know. That’s how I roll and so far it has worked for me…..



But yes, if you score big time, the bad luck arrives almost immediately to balance that “good luck / bad luck” equation (just like conservation of energy).




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/iEfyKBrKd0g

[Maurice Ali]

Ok, so what really happened at the UN trip on Monday?







First of all – it was all about the play for the Secretary General. In the end, that speech in essence was only a ruse to the main event. Long story short - the Secretary General play was successful! And I’m not going to say much about it except that I kept going over it in my mind and I could not have done it better from my part – that part I really nailed big time! It happened before the session I was supposed to speak at, so while I waited to speak, I already basked in the glow of success having played the Secretary General play and the speech was now only so much “gravy”.




United Nations Secretary General António Guterres





United Nations Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed




So that is all I will say about the actual play, this was a big step for me as I am still developing in my advocacy and now I’m here! A speech at the UN as a ploy to do something else – now that’s what I call developing new tactics!



I will say that the Secretary General play’s original design would have failed. Without the speech, me just being in the gallery would have failed. But being there to give a speech gave me the access to change things up “on the go” and make the successful play…..







So the day started with me getting to the UN pass office to finally get my grounds pass. After September’s General Assembly meeting, I didn’t even have an expired pass, so I got mine and took a photo for you guys. Then I went into the Secretariat Building to test it out, all was well and good. Then I made sure I would be able to get into Conference Room 4 and went back to the hotel because the session was not starting for several hours. I get back to the UN and start the play which went wrong from the start and had to regroup and try some stuff “on the fly” and it worked!







Now the actual speech was a little bit different this time. With the Positive Mandate speech we just stayed in our seats and the camera operator just zoomed in on your seat. This time we had six allotted seats and played musical chairs getting into each of these assigned seats. Anyway I got in position, waited my turn and rambled off the speech. It was ok with just two slight stumbles that actually worked for the speech making the listener focus on those two important points I was talking about. It was closing in on five o’clock and so I had to leave and rush to the airport!




The Fates



So, it was a successful mission at the end of the day! The Fates got what they wanted! I can only do my part and I did it as best I could! All I can do is offer, what the others in the play do is up to them and whatever free will they have in the chain of events there. Technically I guess I am free now having done my obligation to the mythical Fates, but I will still be around to go at it again if things get bogged down. I have too much invested in this advocacy to just stay home watching TV and movies. I am getting old and you are constantly reminded of it now days – but I’m still charging! But I was at my most powerful and influential in my actions on that day! Things were still moving forward that day and even though it was all a hassle from start to finish, it does remind you that you are alive!



In other news…..





I have finally settled back into my home life. I will continue to just take it easy and enjoy the coming long weekend. The bad luck keeps rolling in but it is now dissipating. I even found that Cross pen I thought I lost. The weather for a February was warm and good – no snow yet. I may even take in the Toronto International Auto Show and see what the new Mustang looks like in the flesh if it’s there! So that’s the play going forward – I’m taking the real vacation now…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/FtovFI8etOg

[Maurice Ali]

I spent Thursday doing routine things and finishing up the UN stuff…..



I have so much to unpack on that two day UN trip:



Anyway, personally I walked through a door on Monday, I am really a different man now, things have changed and returning to my usual routine is never going to be quite the same. Usually after a trip like this, I really fall into a depression of sorts – virtually every time – but not this time. This time was different. For this trip I spared no expenses and traveled like a CEO should travel. Of course for me it’s the lowest of the low CEO, but at least I didn’t take the bus to the hotel and stuff like that. No, it was a taxi to the airport and a taxi to the hotel and back with the final trip to my house in a real limo. Not a stretch limo, but the longer wheelbase luxury cars that have an option for that extended wheelbase.



The fact is that I am a CEO – at two not-for-profits, with a board of directors and all! On the drop down menus at the UN there is no choice for President – only President/CEO or just CEO. Look, not only did I give a speech there, but I wandered around the Secretariat Building unrestricted and made the play to the two highest positions at the UN! That is a CEO and I finally embraced that reality!



In terms of power and influence I have reached the peak – there is not higher place to go – you are there and stuck there. Only a position at the UN with more power and influence will move you further – and while that is not out of the realm of possibilities, it is highly unlikely. You made it with The Fates and you just plain made it! To go further really puts you on the level of a Maurice Strong type of fellow – not there yet…..



In other news:







I spent Thursday getting a second video from the UN Live feed and if interested this is what that looked like:



https://fortressoffreedom.com/Maurice_Ali_Speech_UN_CSocD61_CC.mp4



I also took my new grounds pass out of those iconic blue badge holders and put it into my SDG UN holder instead. In Manhattan, especially in the Turtle Bay area – you see all sorts of people sporting the UN badges hung from their necks, those blue badges they conveniently fail to hide – but I’m not like that. So I’m back in business in my own way and style!







Actually I seem to have a collection of holders now and this one with the blue vinyl holder and extender with the UN logos on the corrugated neck strap is also appealing – which one?







I also copied the files over to several of my video editor drives and finished all that up. Then I did a post trip summary in front of that camcorder I bought and I should be finished with all the United Nations stuff for a while…..



I’m doing some renovations at my dad’s place. This time it’s replacing a plastic dryer vent chewed up by squirrels with a metal one that they can’t chew on!



In the moment you saw me proclaim that the twenty years I spent on all this was worth it – interested to know what I think three days later? I’m not as enthusiastic, but in the end I’m not sure but tending to have done it. Since my default reaction to indecison is to do nothing – we stay the course here and carry one. So we carry on…..



And that was Thursday, Just get back to normal – just get back to normal…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/p1t0qnNk4Y0

[Maurice Ali]

Everything on the UN trip is archived and put away.



Now all I do is get back to my usual lifestyle. It seems I didn’t catch any bugs on that cough and sneeze infested flight back from New York. Mostly things are back to the way they are but there are always changes even if it’s my perspective.



I have overseen this adventure from the start and then development of the ideas and the dissemination from UNESCO in Canada to UNESCO in Paris and then the UN in New York and finally to the Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General. That’s the full trip right there!



Of course it doesn’t end there, but having fulfilled those basic obligations, I can start to be a little bit selfish and also focus a bit more on myself while I have time. Certainly the money drain is less now - probably time too.




The Fates



I guess I have time to get my house in order post-experiment. I came through for The Fates. In return they gave me a second chance to do what I love which is philosophy and I came up with ideas and got to disseminate them, and you see what is happening now.




But is also a secret alter-ego existence. I only talked about the trip to family and friends you could count on one hand. Most people wouldn’t even believe me if I told them!




I got to do what I love and it made me happy as per the Positive Mandate for Humanity. All we do now is see what happens to these ideas, this philosophy in the hands of the power brokers and the general public. Yes - the general public - their time has come…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/MLlown9_G3w

[Maurice Ali]

Still mellowing out and sleeping through Saturday - as usual and back to normal…..



I went to a mall and bought like 11 DVDS to celebrate. Insanity for a dead or dying format but I love it! I talked to the girl at the cash and we got into it talking about movies and such. Then I dropped the bomb and told her I was 63 - the look on her face: Priceless! Hahahaha….. l did my job this week and I can have a little fun. But it is funny how many people like how I operate and if I was their age would probably not mind hooking up with a character like me.



But here’s the thing, if I just stopped developing they would consider this perfect. Write another book, put out FOFSTOCK 2, do some more advocacy at the UN and maybe an art house low budget movie. Girls love that stuff! Unfortunately, I’m going or trying to go further with the advocacy and turn my ideas into flesh. And here is where the fantasy cool guy becomes real. Turning idealism to practical reality is never nirvana. There are problems and teething pains.



In the end people will forget about the alluring idealist ideas and the visionary behind it, and they will only remember the old dislikable guy who messed with their lives and made things difficult. However, in this case the end result may be worth it. That is the real payoff. Being cool does get you laid, but scoring on changing the world gets you into the history books. So like a fool, I’m giving it a go and will probably end up like all that truly wanted to make things better. And I can’t go back, the Secretary General play was that door I walked through, so say goodbye to getting laid and say hello to getting eggs thrown at your window by every disgruntled person your ideas impact negatively. There is always that!




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/FSCcj_kQQa4

https://youtu.be/l0P8mUBI4A4

[Maurice Ali]

I’m not going to the auto show downtown after all!




There were no representation from Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Volvo or Honda. So for 26 bucks I don’t even get to see the 2024 Mustang! Apparently they got their largest gate draw in their history on Saturday as people wanted to celebrate getting back to normal post Covid 19 - and show up to find that out. Anyway there is nothing shiny to tempt me to go to the hassle of getting down there, so the money I saved went to the DVDs.



What else:



I replaced the dryer vent and hose at my dad’s place. It started as the vent but that old one crumbled in my hands just like the dryer plastic hose. This material is considered a fire hazard now, so I had to go with an aluminium elbow and semi-ridged aluminium ducts to an all metal vent - this one should last longer than plastic!



Meanwhile at the office, I replaced some books in the library with my DVDs and I love it! I’ll go and throw the cheap paperbacks in the recycling and keep the hardbacks. That is done and more cleaning up in the stock room.



All the video is now archived from last week and we just move on. I now have enough video to start thinking of one more episode of the Positive Mandate TV series. This is now only on YouTube and IMDB and the new show will just update things and complete it.



Overall, I have kept all parts of our organization on “life support” including the video and it seems my instincts were right.




The Fates



I made it to the end - technically - and I just wait to see what happens now - if anything happens at all. This week was liberating in that I made it all the way to the end. But I spent the whole weekend sleeping which only happens when I made a leap in my personal development. I did my part and now I leave the future to Fate/The Fates…..




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/s6qQcizb4TI