The Bank of England are taking the....

Imagine if thousands of people did this.

I went into the Bank of England the day before the G20 meeting in 2009 and went to the till and asked them to fulfill their promise. The majority of people don’t even bother to look at whats on the notes that control them (If you want to know whether you are controlled by money, ask yourself a simple question – would you spend the majority of your day doing what you do if you didn’t need the money and weren’t paid for it ?) So do you know what is written ? It says ‘I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of twenty pounds’ This is a complete joke. It is a totally empty promise which is basically taking the rip out of all of us by telling us in no uncertain terms that this is simply a coloured piece of worthless paper. So I went into the bank and said ‘I am the bearer and I demand that you keep your promise to pay me the sum of twenty pounds ! They looked at me as if I was mad and said ‘but that IS twenty pounds.’ I said ‘No it isn’t – it’s a piece of purple paper with a promise on it ! Now pay up ! They said ‘Well how do you want us to pay it ? In what ?’ I said ‘Well you made the promise – tell me what you are offering ?’ They suggested four 5 pound notes ! I said that would just mean my returning 4 times with the same demand ! I said ‘I know – it is after all 20 pounds STERLING ! I’ll take it in silver ! They said ‘Sure – we can give you it in 50p coins ! I replied ‘No no no ! Unless these coins are made of sterling silver.’ At this stage there was a little gathering behind the tills after which they then demanded that I fill in a form with my name and address on ! But I am only changing a £20 note – what’s all this about ?’Money laundering ‘ they said. You don’t need MY name and address – just get the banksters at the top – they are laundering money big time ! At this stage I had to go home and look after the kids. Next time, I will demand to see the manager and perhaps take a policeman with me and report this as a blatant fraud ? Lawyers in the house ? Over to you !

Peace, Love and Hugs until.....

Last week I went to see a woman called 'Amma' who many have been talking about. She goes around the world hugging people from dawn till dusk without toilet breaks and food/drink. I had to see what the fuss was about and to make a bit of loving mischief too.
You have to get a token if you want to be hugged. its free but there are thousands who go for hugs. She has a team of dozens of helpers who i think have hung out at her Ashram and they volunteer and sell stuff to support her work.
I got a sign made saying 'Free Massage' and stood in the hall and around 15 people came up to me and got a short massage before one of the organisers asked me if i had 'permission!' They asked if I had accreditation for giving massage and I said no. Eventually they said I was not allowed because the council required the names of anyone who was doing anything official 15 days prior.
I told them that I was into peaceful non compliance (they couldnt really hear what I was saying) and that I would meditate on the matter. I couldnt get clear so I phoned a friend (as you do) He said he had been to Amma and was disturbed by the control of her devotees. He suggested I get another sign reading 'Dont queue here' and stand somewhere in the hall. I decided instead to have some fun first. There were devotees (dressed in white mainly) running around the hall with white boards with messages like 'Volunteers needed for dish washing' or ' men needed to help in cloakroom' I 'borrowed' one of these boards and wrote 'Spiritual Woman needed for long term relationship' and went around the room holding it up and got lots of smiles and even a hug until one of the organisers approached me saying that I couldnt do it - I was wearing a hi vis jacket and it would 'confuse' people (Most of the people there looked pretty confused already!) I agreed to stop but then was approached by the local in house security woman who said that i had to take off the hi vis jacket or leave. My mother in law (not only a successful divorce lawyer but a self appointed psychologist) has diagnosed me with oppositional defiance disorder and it kicked in then. i told this woman that I was going to think about what to do. She said I couldnt do that and I angrily responded and said 'I am feeling angry' i will think about it' and went and sat down to decide what to do. The head f security then basically told me that I had to leave even though I had taken the jacket off. He said he had spoken to a swami and that they had told him to remove me. At this stage my disorder was kicking in even more so I ran towards where Amma was sitting knowing that the security would be rather reluctant to drag me out on front of everyone. So they sent one of the devotees who gently persuaded me to talk to the organisers which I did. They agreed that I could stay if i 'played by the rules' I managed to find one organiser by the name of Tony who 'got' what I was doing and admitted that the team here in the UK were just not ready for my sort of intervention. I felt this was an honest point.
Tony texted me later having seen the EOK vids saying that he loved them and reported that he had received 2 reports that 'someone had been going around with a sign asking for sex!!' He thought it was so amusing how people project their stuff onto life. Tony added 'If you were really getting offers of sex as a result of that sign I would have borrowed it myself and gone round with it !'
So I guess I need to accept that even the 'spiritual types,' myself included are where they are.

delightful police officer

I just met a delightful police officer (happened to be of Asian descent although clearly born here) . He recognised me and said he really liked the videos. He said he saw himself as a public servant and recognises that some of his colleagues had forgotten that, but that there are also many police officers like himself. I could tell he really 'got' what the films were saying. He asked to be kept up to date on any new films. I think its important to put out these experiences - even more important than the films which alert us to some of those not so enlightened yet !

Interviewing MPs

I have an idea. I would like to interview any MPs from any party and ask them unusual questions without them having a chance to plan their answers.

The best way to attempt this is for me to write to every MP and request an interview.

I have been playing with how to word an email. Perhaps along the lines of ...

'Dear ...

I am an independent film maker/commentator. The unusual aspect of what I do is that it is not for money at all. The intention is that it is for the good of humanity or dare I say all life forms on this planet.

I was hanging around Parliament during and after the elections and I noticed what a circus the media has become. We have all these highly intelligent journalists who are unfortunately restrained heavily in what they can ask. They desperately try and get interviews with MPs, especially cabinet members and because they dont want to 'burn their bridges' they try not to ask anything that might be really challenging for that MP to answer. So the reporting turns into a game which is either meaningless or worse, deeply manipulative.

I am seeking out brave and honest MPs who would be up for a challenge and would be prepared to do an interview , perhaps 30-45 mins long with someone like myself. I will be asking very different questions from the ones normally asked but I hope it will be a very satisfying and useful exercise for you and for the viewers rather than just watching MPs put on an act.

Please let me know if you would be prepared to participate.

yours sincerely
Danny Shine

I intend to send this to my local MP but dont have the time or will to send it to all MPS but perhaps some of you readers could adjust the letter and send it to your local MP ?

Let me know your thoughts.

What is terrorism ?

A few weeks ago I met an interesting guy in Parliament Square. On him he had a copy of the UK legal definition of terrorism as can be found here http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/ukpga_20000011_en_1

His claim was that the War in Afghanistan is terrorism under this definition on many counts and that paying your taxes is funding terrorism.

I am aware that the law is worded carefully as to remain rather ambiguous but I dont understand how anyone can refute his claims based on what I have read.

I challenge anybody to do so especially the lawyers amongst you (Edward Levey et al)

Have fun
Danny

The courts, the system & concioussness = part 3

I invited a few select people to come and her the case. I arrived 10 minutes early and in the waiting area were seated 3 PCSOs waiting to give evidence int he case. I said hello and asked if they remembered me jokingly. It was all in very good humour. A few friends turned up and then Charlie turned up and said 'Is this the trial for Danny Shine and the 20 Kilos of Cocaine ?' Again all good humour.
Then the prosecutor - a woman in her thirties - called me. Just as we were going into court she said 'We are going to lay a new charge on you - Section 5 of the public order. I was totally shocked. I had prepared so diligently for this byelaw - and now she was changing the charge ? How could this be permissible ? BUt it was. I went into the court room - which was just like a normal room - not even a dock. She handed me the wording of the charge. I was so shocked that I didn't even read it. I told the magistrates that I could not possibly defend myself because I hadn't prepared for this.
The problem for them was that there were FIVE police people there and a whole day in court set aside for this. To adjourn would be crazy cost wise. They made it clear to her that they were not impressed with what she had done. When a person represents themselves, I must say that the magistrates and clerk do go out of their way to help.
I told them i needed more time and they went out of the room and when they returned , they said they couldn't give me the time. I could have 10 minutes but thats all. I was still in a state of fluster but one thing I didn't do was to go into victim mode. This was what was happening and this was meant to be.
For some reason, this CPS prosecutor was determined to get me. On the way up in the lift, Charlie had discovered that she was actually an ex police woman ! So it could be that she had seen the films and was not impressed and that is why. or alternatively she had seen the case only that morning and realised that she had no chance of winning. You see the reason she changed it to a section 5 is that for almost all laws, the CPS need evidence. in my case there were no witnesses. But for section 5, all the police need to say is that 'someone' complained. They dont need to say who. Then , if they ask you to leave and you refuse, they can charge you with section 5. (more about that later)
i went outside and tried to stay calm. My wife and sister - both very wise, suggested that it would not be wise to get the case adjourned because these magistrates were already sympathetic and that might not be the case in another court.
In the previous weeks, both a lawyer and a clerk friend had mentioned that there was something called being 'bound over to keep the peace.' This is a deal whereby the prosecution agree to drop the charges and I would agree that for a certain sum of money for a fixed period, if I breached the peace, I would be fined that sum. The strange thing about this legal fiction (its all fiction of course) is that it can only be applied if there is a real chance that i WOULD breach the peace again !! I decided to ask for the bind over. At first we couldn't believe that the prosecutor would agree but with hindsight, she obviously realised that the magistrates were already against her so it may be her best bet.
The prosecutor askled the Mags if they would agree to the bind over. They said that they wanted to hear a bit about the case. The prosecutor then read out a statement which was so skewed, it made me sound like a monster. She added a critical lie at the end which I am sure the police would have backed up even though it wasnt in any of their 5 statements. She said that people had complained and that they had asked me to leave and I refused. This was a blatant lie. The prosecutor then recommended that I be given the longest bind over.
I then gave my said of the case, explaining about the dont panic sign being inspired by teh hitchhikers guide and that I am a performance artist etc.
After retiring for a few minutes , the Mags returned and gave the prosecutor a good old telling off. They said that this country prides itself on freedom of expression and that I hadn't even been on the railway and that they were clearly not impressed. They gave me the shortest bind over possible - 3 months- at the smallest amount of £50.
I have had mixed feelings about the whole thing since but it certainly feels like a weight off my shoulders. the whole process is so intimidating and confusing and it feels rather out of balance to me to put it mildly.
When I saw the officer who arrested me, I apologised to him for getting into a dispute and he seemed to appreciate that apology.
The main learning point from the court day was that i went there with a mindset of compassion towards all who were there even including the prosecutor. She has her life and is stuck in the system. She came in with fear energy for whatever reason and I came with love energy. And it seemed to work out for me in the end.
I was disappointed that I didn't get to make my speech and ask all the carefully thought out questions but part of me thinks that this was a good thing because it meant that I didn't have to fight the system. My feeling is that fighting the system will ultimately fail because it has been in place for a very long time. But love , it is said, is the answer to all questions.
For those who are really keen, let me have your email and I will email you a copy lof the the police statements and my questions and speech.
Question for Edward the lawyer - I presume it is not possible to appeal or challenge what happened given her unethical behaviour changing the charge at the last minute ?

The courts, the system & concioussness = part 2

I spent the next months talking with many people from within the law and a few people who are not within but instead see the law very differently. They see it as full of deception and inequity.

I have bumped into so many fascinating people since doing these videos, its almost impossible to remember them all. Included amongst them was a man who spent all his waking hours gazing into the sun, another man who is a gardener. The gardener surprised and challenged me deeply. His manner was most unusual and direct challenging me to the hilt whilst gently helping me see things from a different perspective. (which lead to removing the youtube videos. I even travelled to France for an opportunity to spend more time with him and his wife talking about many issues in my life that were on my mind at the time.

So I was bombarded with opinions and ideas and I slowly started my crash course ion the law learning from within and without the system.

One of the pivotal points in this journey was when I attended the court hearing of an Irish guy I met at Inspiral lounge in Camden - If you havent been there and you can get there, please go. It is a fab place. there are very few places in London where the food is made with good ingredients and more importantly with love.

I met him there and he informed me of this bizarre case against him. I wont go into the details but he represented himself and that in itself was an education. I was watching the case with astonishment. it was one of the first few times I had witnessed a court in action adn I couldnt believe that the judge was so condescending. At one stage she shouted 'This is not a theatre' to my friend !! Well if that wasnt theatre, I dont know what is.

Anyway, I was standing outside the court and my friends witness came out, I said 'What a farce.' He said 'No. Its whatever you make it.; And that was a great reminder. To those who work in the system, its actually a way of preventing havoc. To those on the wrong end of the system its a farce. Who is right ? Neither and both I would say ?

So I learned about the system. I quizzed judges, barristers, lawyers as well as the 'freemen' people (if you havent already seen this, google 'john harris its an illusion') Two days before my case, I went to the court in which my case was being held. It was an important day for my education. The court was rather plush, with ushers being dressed up in strange clothes etc. I spent the day watching cases and speaking to as many clerks and lawyers that I could. I had been 'advised' to change my plea to 'guilty conditional on the CPS proving the facts.'

Two significant things happened that day. Firstly as I left the court, I met a lawyer. I had watched this guy in a case where a foreign mini cab driver was up for touting for business and was trying to appeal to get his licence back. He was sitting in court with his wife and 5 year old kid. Of course that made very little difference to the magistrates and prosecutor. It seems to me that these guys are necessarily programmed to lose their compassion otherwise they might be too lenient. So the prosecutor was explaining eloquently why the defendant should not regain his license and it was just a big show. It was obvious that he didn't actually believe what he was saying. He was just ACTING on behalf of his clients - the licensing agency. So this lawyer I caught was actually the defence lawyer in the case. I asked him about magistrates courts and he replied 'terrible places - 97% conviction rate!' - I was devastated. He told me he was the defence lawyer and I asked him why he didnt even say anything in court. He replied that there was no point - his client was bound to lose.
I returned to the court and asked which room my case was to be held in and made my way to court 4. There was a clerk and usher in there and I told them what the lawyer had said about the 97% conviction. They replied 'Funny. i have no idea where he got that figure from. We were just saying how high the acquittal rate was here ! you'll get a very fair trial here!'
So I walked away realising that so much depends on how I see things. The lawyer had completely given up because of his belief. (Even if his rate idea was accurate, different courts have different rates.) But these women had given me a reminder about how important it was to check my thoughts and choose helpful ones. So I spent some time the next couple of days visualising a good result and positivity towards those who worked there.

Part 3 to follow

The courts, the system & concioussness = part 1

So as you can read, the story of my arrest is detailed below in the article 'evidence'

Let me preface this article with an important point. Anton Robert Wilson attempted to avoid using the word 'is' for some time. I am going to do that here to the best of my ability. This could be because nothing 'is' any particular way. it all depends on how you see it. I must apologise because it makes things a bit more long winded but it also makes my brain hurt a bit. I will allow myself to use the word occasionally but not in the sense of X is Y as you will see...

Here goes.

The arrest was in February and the court case was on 18th June. That period could be seen as one of great challenge, growth and learning for me as well as change.

I met some more amazing people who were offering all sorts of support and all kind of advice (advice = ADD VICE)

I went to court to plead and I had been speaking at length to Vince in ireland. He builds houses for a living and has real expertise in the law and has had many successes playing them at their own game. But it did not work out to be that easy for me. If you are planning to take on the law , you had better be very well prepared and really have a deep and full understanding of what you are doing AND OF WHAT THEIR REACTION IS LIKELY TO BE ! Some say that the whole system could be designed to intimidate you and you will encounter lots of surprises if my experience is anything to go by.

At the last minute, I took on a barrister for my pleading. He insisted that he do the talking of course rendering me non compos mentis. I had a trick up my sleeve. When I was asked what I pleaded, I was planning to say 'I am not able to make a legal determination on this.' BUt the barrister refused to represent me and allow me to say this.

I had been charged with breaking a railway byelaw - the wording of which was 'molesting or wllfully interfering with the comfort of persons on the railway.' I didn't even know what a charge was until I was charged. I came to realise that many things going on in courts can be seen as intimidating tactics and trickery - some would even call it black magic.

The First trick may be the insistence that a person swears or attest to tell 'the truth , the whole truth and nothing but the truth.' Imagine if SOCRATES was in the witness box having been arrested for standing with a balaclava and a dont panic sign, and he was asked to promise to tell the truth , the whole truth and nothing but the truth.' Do you think he would ? For me this seems like perjury. It could be suggested that this could be deliberate cognitive dissonance - everyone knows deep down that its simply impossible to tell the whole truth about anything. Try it. Test it. Best way to test it may be to ask a young person - say 10-15 years old. They may be likely to find fault in your attempt.

The next trick could be the 'plea!' (Why is it called a 'plea?') How on earth can I say whether I am guilty or not guilty ? FOr a start what on earth does 'guilty' mean ? Secondly, would i not have to fully understand each word to make such a plea ? So then they would say 'Ask a lawyer!' BUt I asked several lawyers, barristers and even a couple of judges and they all had different ideas. Because the words seem to me to be ambiguous !!

But the barrister ended up claiming that he could definitely get me off because there was no evidence and because i have freedom of expression etc. (He didnt bother telling me that whatever arguments he had, the prosecution would argue the opposite !)

So i pleaded not guilty and the court date was fixed.

A few days after the arrest , I closed my facebook account and pulled the videos off my youtube channel. That was a major relief but it also came with sadness. I missed all the amazing messages people had been sending me/us.

To be continued....

Evidence

I will post either a film on youtube or a blog here about my day in court on friday. I prepared a whole speech and my 'evidence' as well as pages of questions for the police officers involved. In the end, I didnt get an opportunity to express myself for reasons I will explain later but for starters, here is the evidence I was presenting.

Evidence

February 7th was a very cold day – a maximum of 3 degrees, and I was cycling from a meeting at Liverpool street and wearing a balaclava to keep warm. I had on me two of my signs which I hold up in public places as part of a performance art. It is my way of expressing myself in a world which seems to have gone mad. In a world where we are destroying the amazon at an alarming rate. Where we are allowing 25,000 children to die of hunger every day whilst we throw away billions of pounds worth of food; a world where we allow advertisers to mess with the minds of children to sell them unhealthy food and that turn so many women into anorexics; a world where we are so quick to judge people on first appearances. I don’t have the answers to these and many other questions but I do encourage myself and others to at least ask the questions rather than taking The Suns take on things (or even the guardian dare I say) !

Its difficult to explain what I do in response to things I notice could do with questioning but a good example for the court room would be the affirmation. Imagine Socrates in a witness box having to affirm that he was going to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth ! As a philosopher I had to bite my tongue as I said those words because it felt to me like I was being forced to lie. So instead of kicking up a fuss in court which would only get everyones backs up, I asked the security guards here…..

I was on my way home to Hendon to prepare for a Barmitzvah my band was playing at and as I had my bike , I had to take the train from St Pancras. I had an hour to spare so I got out my ‘Don’t Panic’ sign and chose to stand outside the station rather than inside. I was already wearing the balaclava to keep me warm so I kept it on. I was of course aware of the irony of wearing a balaclava and the don’t panic sign but that was the point. To get peoples attention, to awaken them almost from this hypnotic state we seem to have been put in and encourage them to think outside the box and also get them to smile and enjoy the irony. This was not the first time I had worn the balaclava. In fact, 2 days previous I attended the protest against Tony Blair as he was giving evidence at the war tribunal. I didn’t go to protest but instead to perform my art. I had my balaclava on and used my megaphone and had people in hysterics including dozens of police officers, I know its hard to picture this but on that day I actually gave a number of them a hug, including a sergeant who said to me ‘What about me’ after seeing me hug his colleagues. I managed to break the ice in a very tense atmosphere. And of course not one police officer challenged me in any way on that day. I did briefly think of bringing the megaphone here today but my wife suggested that you may not take it the right way !
So at Kings Cross from my point of view people seemed to be enjoying it. I did not notice even one person who looked alarmed and besides, I am not sure how anyone could tell such a thing for certain. Occasionally, someone would come and ask me what I was doing and I would try and explain and they would smile.

After a few minutes, a PCSO came up to me to enquire what I was doing. This is something I am used to, since even when I hold up my ‘everything is ok’ sign in public places, the police sometimes come and question me. The first 2 officers were very courteous as you can see form the CCTV and asked me what I was doing. They were very calm and didn’t seem alarmed at all. I was very courteous in return and tried to explain what it was I was doing. As is the case with all art, sometimes an explanation ruins it because an essential part of the process is having the viewer make his/her own interpretation. Part of my whole purpose is to encourage people (including the police) to think for themselves – hence the counter side to my banner – don’t believe anyone including me – a paradox which really makes people think in my experience. I replied to their question by saying that I was trying to make the world a better place etc which is a big part of the underlying purpose. Just before they went, they asked how long I would be there for. To me this is a clear signal that they did not think I was breaking the law, because otherwise they would have asked me to stop. I replied a few minutes.
A few minutes later, 3 officers approached me – I think it was one PCSO and 2 BTP officers. The BTP officer again asked what I was doing. I didn’t want to explicitly call it performance art because I thought they would then say ‘ you cant perform without a license’ even though I wasn’t actually doing it for money at all. So I said it was a kind of performance art and that I was doing it to make the world a better place which is true. He then asked me if I had thought about what effect it might have on 7/7 victims ? To be honest, I hadn’t thought that through at all. I purposefully don’t watch the news at all and don’t associate kings cross with 7/7. But none of the officers mentioned that there was any specific and serious complaints about me until Officer Yazdani tried to get my details. Had I have known that I had caused upset I would have immediately stopped. They wouldn’t even have had to ask me.

Because of the nature of my art, I actually carry on my person the wording from the case of

Redmond-Bate v Director of Public Prosecutions, [2000] HRLR 249:

Where Lord Justice Sedley stated
"Free speech includes not only the inoffensive but the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome and the provocative provided that it does not tend to provoke violence. Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth having."

I would indeed describe what I do as contentious, eccentric and heretical to some, but as Lord Sedley states, I felt what I was doing was well within the law. Based on this ruling, I discussed this with the officer.

After a brief conversation with this officer, he first signalled to a network rail employee who had appeared by now at the door and said that they wanted me off the site and then he pointed to a fictitious line (as is again clear in the CCTV coverage) which he said was the end of the boundary of the BTPs jurisdiction and said I could do it over there and it wouldn’t be his problem any more. This is another example of agreement that what I was doing was not breaking the law in their opinion. Just as I was about to move my bike and go over this line, Officer Yazdani said ‘Oh no. You cant go there. I took out my phone and started filming to protect myself at this stage. He then said ‘Please can I have your name and address.’ I took that to be a request rather than an order (which is how it was worded) and replied that I wouldn’t give my name and address because I hadn’t committed a crime and it was my understanding that I did not have to give my details. I have been asked for my details several times by the police just for holding my everything is ok sign, and have rarely given them because I started educating myself a year ago about what my rights are and unless I have committed a crime or am suspected of doing so, I know I don’t have to give them. Officer Yazdani said that he thought I had breached section 5 of The Public Order Act. At this stage I was feeling very intimidated and asked with incredulity ‘Is it a crime to wear a balaclava ? Is it a crime to hold up a sign saying don’t panic ? Officer Yazdani then stumbled saying its not a crime to wear a balaclava but if it is causing alarm harassment and distress it could be. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I asked what would happen if I didn’t give him my details and he said he would arrest me. As you may see today, I have trained myself to think about things especially if I AM FEELING ANXIOUS, so I closed my eyes and thought about it for 30 seconds or so. When I opened my eyes, Officer Yazdani was obviously very irritated and said he would get me for wasting police time. I then asked him ‘if I give you my name, will you let me go if all is ok?’ He responded ‘I cant promise that’ I then said I needed to think further at which stage he lost patience and arrested me. So in reality I got arrested for hesitating to give my name after being requested and not ordered to do so based on what turned out to be a mistake on his part because he was clearly unfamiliar with the wording of section 5. As is reported partially by the police officers I then repeated – please de-arrest me. I will give you my details. I was anxious to get home and to work. But he completely ignored this and didn’t take the details at all until I was in the police station. If he was in the slightest bit concerned about wasting police time he would have done this but that was not what was going on. He was obviously angry that I hadn’t complied with his request (once again, to my knowledge, I can refuse a request if I choose to)

He handcuffed me and left me in the handcuffs very tightly around my wrist and took me into an office and searched me and found nothing offensive of course. They kept my cuffs on all the time including the back of the van which was totally unnecessary because he could have taken my name and discovered that I had no previous convictions. I had marks on my wrists from that incident and it was very painful and humiliating. Once at the station, more things happened that were questionable. I was asked whether I wanted a solicitor and I replied ‘yes please’ so they arranged one on the phone. Instead of arranging for me to speak to her in private, I had to speak to her in front of the officers. When the sergeant explained what had happened, the duty solicitor said ‘well that is not an offence under the public order act which it clearly wasn’t. I verified that with her whilst they were all listening. This useful and helpful piece of advice which was meant to help me was then turned around and used by the police against me.
After the phone call, the sergeant said I could either accept a caution, which I knew would require my admitting guilt, or I could accept a charge. He then locked me up for 15 minutes so I could ‘think about it’ In that time , the officers must have got on the internet or called the CPS to find a byelaw to charge me with. This practise seems at odds with the police’s powers to change the charge which I presume is there so that they can convict serious criminals. It was a spiteful act and they were tipped off by the solicitor who was innocently intending to help me. The reason I believe this was spiteful is that I wasn’t their normal apologetic guy because I felt I had been wrongfully arrested and felt abused and bullied.

I chose the charge.

Then I got to really experience the total incompetence of the BTP and everyone I spoke to in court said I shouldn’t be surprised. I wonder how things would be different if the accused were compensated for all their incompetence. But there is no such incentive so they can mess people like me around if they fancy.

When I got there the following week on 17th February, my name want even listed. When I eventually found myself on a list, there were no papers. It took until around 3 pm before I could simply put in my plea. If I was to turn up at 3 pm, could I simply apologise for being incompetent.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Case Management hearing was set for 17th march. I turned up at 10 am but again no papers. By 3 pm I was told that there was nothing that they could do . The district judge apologised and said he would ensure that the papers were there the following week. Imagine if I would have not bothered turning up. Could I have just apologised ? Is this equality before the law ?
So I returned the following week and guess what ? Once again, no papers. I waited and waited but nothing came so by mid afternoon it was decided that the case management hearing would be scrapped and it would go straight to trial. There was a request by the barrister to have the case dismissed but for some unfortunate reason the Crown prosecutor thought it should continue.
So here we are.

MP interview

I was standing outside Parliament Last Night and I saw a woman (I would say in her mid thirties) being interviewed by the press.
Sadly I didnt have my camera ready - it would have been awesome.

I approached her and said 'are you an actress or is this your real life ?' She said 'pardon Me?' I repeated 'Are you an actress ?' She said emphatically 'No !' 'Then what are you ' I responded - 'An MP.' she said.
I asked which party and she replied the CONservatives.

'Oh' I said. 'Do you think its possible to be an MP AND be genuine ?'

She really didnt seem to get me but said 'Yes ??'

'But dont you have to put on an act ?' I asked

'No' She replied.

'But dont you have to toe the party line ?' I asked

'But I agree with the party Line !!

I then said 'Do you think that we can continue with Capitalism for the next few hundred years ?'

She said 'I haven't really.....' and then backtracking, she said 'Yes , sure'

Another new party

I had great fun in the last couple of days and got some intersting footage. One of things I did was declare that I had started a new party.

I stood near Parliament Square with my megaphone whilst the BBC etc were filming the election coverage and declared that I was starting a new party called the Liars Party. I declared that this was finally a completely new approach to Politics whereby unlike others, we admit that we are lying as much as possible.

This is best done on video and is great fun - I actually think this could be done and could even get enough votes to get someone into aParliament in a country which has Proportional Representaion. Endless fun can be had but also profound stuff can come out of it.

Politics and forgiveness

One cute comment I saw on TPUC - he points out that the General Election is an election of the General. And so called Democracy gives you the chance to choose your favourite Dictator. He will of course be dictated to but he will also dictate to his underlings and to us.

There are of course many ways to look at everything. I have asked myself 'How do I perceive this election ? What is the most beneficial way for me ?

One of the themes that come up is that they are yet another distraction from the often painful process of self forgiveness.

Let me explain. I have been struggling for many years to accept my own hypocricy. At this time, the struggle is as acute as ever. Part of me thinks I should leave london , leave my house, go to a commune of some sort, live in a mud house, get off the grid, grow as much of my own food as possible, take my kids out of school etc etc. But here I am ,not having done that.

And when I see the politicians, my ego sees a perfect opportunity to project that guilt outwards onto these people who are in a sense the personification of hypocricy. They are doing the exact things that I hate within myself.

So I can shout and scream about them and strengthen the illusion that they make a difference to my life. That idea is such a load of nonsense because (a) my perspective is what creates my life - what and how I choose to focus on. (b) because my current thoughts inform me that the system was deliberately set up so that the type of people who crave power are the easiest to manipulate. This means that its not them that have caused society to be like it is. Its all the inluences upon them - which are almost entirely hidden. (So when the CONservatives put out an advert that 'Gordon Brown doubled the National debt' they are very cleverly tricking people into believing that he was responsible for it and that Cameron can do anything different)

Or I can choose the far more difficult and painful path of USING them as a trigger. Every time I think about David Cameron, for example, and all the judgements come up (and they can be very viscious in my mind) I stop and ask myself - what am I hating within myself. And I can meditate for a moment and forgive myself for my own hypocricy. Forgive myself for not caring enough about the less fortunate. Forgive myself for allowing myself to be manipulated by others. Forgive myself for putting on an act in public which is so different to how I act in private. So then I can thank David for this opportunity for me to heal myself.

I can say that for me, its a VERY challenging choice and my habit is to blame him and the system and do everything BUT look inside. And of course even that needs to be forgiven.

Happy self forgiving !

leaflets - unformatted- putting this up for 2 days by rquest

This leaflet is NOT religious, NOT political and NOT designed to SELL anything. Its far more important than that !
IMPORTANT : The purpose of this message is NOT to get you to believe anything or to buy anything including buying into any sort of belief system.
SO WHAT’S THE POINT ?
The point is to gently inform people of a different perspective on life – a perspective the mainstream media and those in power have kept secret form the masses until the internet made it more and more difficult to keep the secret !
IN A NUTSHELL
People always say that we are living in interesting times. Well it feels that way to millions.
Some would say that what is really going on is a war. Its World War 3. But it’s a completely different war. It’s a war for our minds. And it started well before World War One. It has been going on for years. And more and more people are waking up to it.
The problem with calling it a war is that this invokes the very same energy that is used to keep you under control. The energy of FEAR.
I prefer to call it a GAME !
And it really is an astonishing game. The most intriguing game ever devised. And YOU are part of the game whether you know it or not. Whether you like it or not.
Part of the game is that there have been a small group of people who know how the game really works. They keep the rules of the real game secret. One of the ways they try and win the game is to hide from you is that such a game exists and that YOU are part of it. And then to top it all, they use us as unsuspecting pawns in the game. We actually do their dirty work for them without knowing it !!!
But thanks to various factors including the internet, more and more people are discovering these secrets.
The wonderful thing about this game is that the way to play it well, involves the healing, growth and evolution of each of us as individuals. Furthermore, the more people that wake up to their own magnificence and power, the more people that see through the fear mongering, the more powerful the ‘group consciousness’ gets. And group consciousness is the most powerful force – this has been known for Millennia.
So the purpose of this leaflet is to invite you to start playing the game more consciously and join the millions of people world wide who are waking up to this.
It makes no difference whether you are black or white, male or female, young or old, upper class or working class, religious or secular or atheist, highly educated or not, rich or poor, healthy or sick. All these distinctions were deliberately created to keep you away from these secrets. (Divide and conquer) None of these distinctions are real anyway.
The Films, books etc below will NOT take you down a particular path of thinking or believing. And it is not always an easy path to ride. It may not be right for you at this time, in which case, please consider simply handing this leaflet to someone who you think may be interested.
Otherwise, hold on tight and enjoy the ride….
THE RIDE
COMEDY: Search youtube for Bill Hicks and George Carlin. POSITIVE FILMS: youtube – The Green Beautiful; youtube – The freedom Movie 2
DOCUMENTARIES – Search google videos for ‘CENTRUY OF THE SELF’’ ‘POWER OF NIGHTMARES’ , and ‘THE TRAP’ (3 separate films by Adam Curtis)
-‘EARTHLINGS’ (disturbing) , ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM’
Websites
For a most unusual and mind blowing look at the law/political/economic system , which may have you falling off your chair, visit www.tpuc.org this and take a look at John Harris talk in Stoke. It is quite stunning.
Books that have inspired these ideas
If you are open to challenging your preconceptions, try Anastasia by Vladimir Megre. (part of the Ringing Cedars Series)
The New Earth – Eckhart Tolle
email: danny@neshama-music.co.uk
BLOG : www.dannyshine.blogspot.com
A SMALL START FOR THOSE ALREADY ON THE RIDE
Some of you reading this leaflet will be familiar with the concepts and perhaps some of the films etc. You may have been wondering what you can do about this. My guess is that it would take a truly great mind to think up a remedy for the mess we are in which has been created over thousands of years. The only one I have come across which seems remotely possible is in the Ringing Cedars series of books. This talks about a return to nature in a very unusual and detailed way. But it also talks about the importance of ‘image’ as in our imagination. The invitation is, instead of reading newspapers or watching TV news (which use image to control and manipulate) , close your eyes and Imagine your life with complete health, with complete abundance, with lots of joy. Then spend some time imagining life on the planet with complete health, complete abundance and lots of joy. This can be done on the tube or whenever we have a few minutes to spare and be made into a daily practice. We can start to reclaim the power of our imagination. The power to create our personal reality and our collective reality. The power which some believe has been hidden from you deliberately. Yes – admittedly, you may then become ignorant of who murdered who, and who raped who and which minister was corrupt. Does it really benefit you to keep on being subjected to this? What is the ENERGY behind all these stories ? What is the energy behind these words.
FEEDBACK
If you think you would like to produce similar leaflets, please feel free to copy anything and personalize it. There is absolutely no copyright on these ideas. (Who on earth created the whole idea of copyright ?!) Just visit the blog and copy what you wish and then create your own leaflet and website for feedback.. There are some suggestions for guidelines on the blog.

The Life Party

Following the revelations from God (see article below) further thoughts about some fun with politics.

I think that FUN is the operative word. If this is taken too seriously, it can lead to depression. So letslaugh at whats going on and have some fun with it.

I didnt actually watch the so called national 'debate' - which someone aptly called the X-Factor of politics. I saw a snippet or two and it seems to me to be a complete charade. It can be very amusing watching it from that perspective. Its a bit like what Soviet Russia was like years ago where the Governemnt controlled the media so its laughable watching the news or reading 'pravda'

The focus, for me needs o be on responses to life rather than reactions (which usually end up as complaints)

So the idea is to create an idea which could in turn connect a worldwide collective of people who could give and take from the pool of ideas.

So the main idea is create a new political idea. (As far as I know it is new but perhaps not - I am sure someone will put me right) It could be called something like 'The Life Party' and the guiding principle would be 'supporting all of life in its many forms.' At first, I thought perhaps it could be called the humanity party. But that excludes non human life forms.
One of the biggest problems with 'democracy' is that only a tiny percentage of affected life forms vote for their leaders. And the decisions these leaders make (which of course are far from independent or impartial) effect billions of life forms. So only 40 million people vote here in the UK, but the Government they vote in makes decisions that profoundly affect billions of animals and othe living creatures, as well as billions of trees, plants and the soil from all over the world as well as billions of people all over the earth.

So I wonder what policies would be in place if the animals could vote ? If the trees and plants could vote ? If the soil could vote ? Or even if the children could vote ?

Back to the idea.

There would be a pool of ideas for policies that this 'life party' could offer and these parties could be set up in any country in the world. This could be particularly interesting in countries that have proportional representation (like Israel) because it would be possible to actually get people into 'power' by using things like youtube and facebook to spread the word.
The policies offered do not need to be what people would call 'realistic' because the purpose of these ventures would be much more about educating the masses that there are other ways of thinking. And anyway, it doesnt exactly look very likely at this time that a party like this could get into power, given the level of concioussness of the masses. (whatever that is)

Ideas for policies and principles

Principles

1. Supporting all life forms

2. Taking a long term view

3. Power of love over the love of power

4. Money and power create corruption - divorce the two.

Possible Guidelines

I think this could work without much or even any money. The ideas could be pooled online and youtube films could be made to explain things to people. If any money was involved it would need to b completely anonymously donated.

The Economy

From the point of view of the earth, trees, air, animals and majority of humans, it seems that they eceonomic system is destructive, especially in the long run.
Therefore , the life party would work explain this to people and then slowly dismantle the system making way for other ways of sharing the earth and its resources more fairly and compassionately.

Crime

It is estimated that there are currently around 50 million criminals at large in the UK. This is almost every adult. As there are hundreds of thousands of laws, statutes and bylaws, we have all broken one or two at least. We just haven’t been caught yet. This is a great way to keep the population under tight control using fear.
So the obvious way to cut crime, is to reduce the number of laws. A return to common law which everyone can understand would mean you will only commit a crime if you hurt someone else physically, steal/damage their property or are dishonourable in trade (whilst trade is still part of the ‘system’) This would mean that all prisoners who had committed victimless crimes would be released immediately.
This would of course mean that drugs would all become legal.
A human would be fully responsible for his/her body and therefore could choose to intake any type of herb or chemical they wished.Education programmes would be introduced so that people could make informed choices.

This will mean that we will be able to free people from Jail whilst lawyers will be able to spend more time with their families. There would need to be far less policing.

Judges would mainly have to come from the working class sector and many would have had criminal records so that they would understand what it is like for people who end up in court. These people would be trained and their training would be pretty simple given the return of common law which is straight forward.

The whole idea of Police would slowly be removed. In the interim, police 'officers' would return to their old Jobs of keepers of the peace as opposed to upholders of the law. Arrest would be renamed kidnapping and only be encouraged in extreme circumstances. Police people would be encouraged to manage conflict without kidnapping. The less kidnapping an officer did, the more likely he/she would be promoted. Police uniform would be changed to bright and cheerful colours and the only people who would be afraid of the Police would be those intent on hurting other people deliberately or stealing their property.


Politics/Constitution

Once in ‘power’ ,The Life party candidate(s) would expose the mockery that is so called Democracy and propose to have the system dismantled as soon as possible. In the interim, ‘leaders’ would need to have certain qualifications. They would certainly have to be hounded and persuaded to be leaders as they would have a natural deep distrust of the idea of anybody leading another. They would be acquainted with the power of love over the love of power. There would be no hierarchy as all leaders would be answerable to God and the people only. Eventualy, A benevolent dictator would be proposed, more than likely a woman, and this woman would not dream of taking any money for the job and would employ a whole team of people whose job it would be to ensure to the best of their abilities that no group of people is able to influence the leader. Also this woman will still be fully in touch with her femininity unlike most female politicians today.

Any leader and his/her colleaugues would be required to have some sort of therapy several times a week to ensure the best chance of maximum self awareness.Without self awareness, human beings open themselves up for manipulation. If I am not aware why I do something, i am open to manipulation by others. it would also be necessary for leaders to spend a minimum of a few hours a week alone or with immediate family in a natural setting.

It would probably be recommended that in order to best create wonderfully creative healthy humans , as well as serve all life forms, central governments would need to be disbanded making way for local communities to make decisions. Anybody deciding on something like education would obviously need to have lots of experience in schools, unlike today where a government minister for education can have absolutely no experience in education.

Laws regarding Advertising

Advertising would be severely limited if not banned outright. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that advertising leads to mental health problems. If advetising were permitted, there would be a comittee of psychologists who would vet the adverts on the basis of whether or not they support or destroy human life (minds) So, for example, any advertisements which would attempt to use a womans body to sell a product would of course be disallowed.

Immigration

Defence

The Ministry of Defence would be renamed the Ministry of Attack so as to reflect reality a bit more accurately. After all, since World War 2, how many times has the British army actually defended Britain and how many times has it been involved in ‘pre-emptive’ attacks ?! If you share the goodies out more fairly, there will be no need to defend anything.

Slowly, it would be dismantled. ijn its place there would be a ministry of peace and a ministry of Love. These ministries would be populated by people who had experience crating peace and love both in their own homes and in the world. They would consist perhaps of people with experience of conflict resolution.


Health

The NHS would be renamed the NSS – The National Sickness Service. This would eventually be dismantled and disentangled from the Pharmaceutical Industry as people learned that they can take care of their health by changing their lifestyles and eating habits and by using natural herbs which God claims he placed all over nature. Alternatives to Allopathic medicine would be available to the public in the same way as allopathic medicine is today.

Environment

Whilst ownership was still around, these people would of course be free to build environmentally friendly structures (Yurts, mud/clay houses/domes) on their own property (unlike the current situation where they need a permit ! People would be offered a sizeable patch of land which they would have to use to grow their own fruits and vegetables. They could sell the excess tax free. The dismantling of the economy will of course benefit the environment immensely.

Education

Once people begin to realise that this economic system has to go, most of the education dealt out to young people will become irrelevant. Most schools will therefore be closed and replaced with learning clubs. There would be no need for teachers any more. There would be a limited number of adults present at these learning clubs just to facilitate the young people. The young people would not sit at desks in the main and would not be segregated by age. Instead they would learn the subjects of their choice in groups. It would also be recognised that the younger the person, the purer the soul and thus the youngest toddlers would be observed in order to learn wisdom from them. The purpose of these learning clubs would be to bring out the best of each young person. The subjects learned will ultimately be up to the young people but they would include life skills. They might include, how to grow your own food, how to manage conflict, how to create your own reality, how to time travel. A young person could choose to focus on art or sport or martial arts or drama. Thinking for yourself would come back into fashion. It would also be recognised that the younger the person, the purer the soul and more open the mind and thus the youngest toddlers would be observed in order to learn wisdom from them. The finest adult minds would be invited to spend time at these clubs simply observing and learning.

Politics and God

The God Party

WARNING : Please do not believe a word of this. It is politics after all.

What with the upcoming elections in the Uk, I have been wondering lately what God would have to say about it all.

As if by magic, God came to me in a dream last night. (to be honest, I am not entirely sure it wasn’t my wife. The voice was female and anyway, my wife is almost always right about things)

God told me that She has decided to enter politics after many years of standing by and watching. It’s a very dirty game, hence the great reluctance to get involved but things are now getting a little out of hand, and She has been struggling with forgiving the politicians and bankers. So instead of complaining, she has decided to enter the game but on her terms.She refuses to pay a deposit. Firstly, She owns everything anyway. Secondly, She sees that money corrupts the mind and therefore must be separate from decisions leaders make. She also refuses to have a marketing budget, because marketing is dressing up the truth. The truth doesn’t need to be marketed just like air doesn’t need to be. Only obnoxious drinks like Coke need to be marketed. If Coke was so good, why all that money on marketing ?
She decided to call it The God Party because her intention would be that it would indeed be a party and anyone involved would be encouraged to have fun. After all , that was her intention when She created this place.

She is also aware that there are other Gods in this game. The most powerful one is Money.

Manifesto

Below is the manifesto She has asked me to pass on to you. Please remember that She is looking at things from a rather long term perspective (infinity to be precise) unlike your current politicians!

The Economy

This will have to be dismantled. When the God Party gets into ‘power’ (interesting phrase don’t you think!) there will be a propaganda program set up to explain to the people why this current system is destroying most of life, from the plant and animal life to the life (and souls) of the majority of humans on the planet. Once this is understood, you will find new ways of sharing resources on your planet more equitably with each other and other life forms.

Crime

It is estimated that there are currently around 50 million criminals at large in the UK. This is almost every adult. As there are hundreds of thousands of laws, statutes and bylaws, we have all broken one or two at least. We just haven’t been caught yet. So the obvious way to cut crime, is to reduce the number of laws. This will mean that we will be able to free people from Jail whilst lawyers will be able to spend more time with their families. God intends to go back to basics. We will return to common law which everyone can understand. You will only commit a crime if you hurt someone else physically, steal/damage their property or are dishonourable in trade (whilst trade is still part of the ‘system’) This would mean that all prisoners who had committed victimless crimes would be released immediately.

Politics/Constitution

Once in ‘power’ ,The God party propaganda machine would expose the mockery that is so called Democracy and propose to have the system dismantled as soon as possible. In the interim, ‘leaders’ would need to have certain qualifications. They would certainly have to be hounded and persuaded to be leaders as they would have a natural deep distrust of the idea of anybody leading another. They would be acquainted with the power of love over the love of power. There would be no hierarchy as all leaders would be answerable to God and the people only. A benevolent dictator would be proposed, more than likely a woman, and this woman would not dream of taking any money for the job and would employ a whole team of people whose job it would be to ensure to the best of their abilities that no group of people is able to influence the leader. Also this woman will still be fully in touch with her femininity unlike most female politicians today.

Immigration

God has said that the whole idea of countries was made up a long time ago and isn’t real. She has also noted that you British people seem happy enough to buy their fruit and veg from Supermarkets . She sees the ‘foreigners’ who have to pick them all and they are like slaves. The same applies for most of the products they buy made by Chinese slaves. Or for those that clean your houses or work in your badly paid jobs. It’s a bit difficult to justify allowing all this slavery yet disallowing these same people to benefit from this country ! God suspects that once you let them into your country , after a while they’ll realize its not quite as good as they were led to believe it was ! Also, it would be a good incentive to treat other countries fairly so that their people could remain there rather than sell their souls to serve the rich who often steal their resources.

Defence

God has suggested renaming The Ministry of Defence - the Ministry of Attack so as to reflect reality a bit more accurately. After all, since World War 2, how many times has the British army actually defended Britain and how many times has it been involved in ‘pre-emptive’ attacks ?! If you share the goodies out more fairly, there will be no need to defend anything.

Health

Again, God suggests renaming the NHS – to the NSS – The National Sickness Service. This would eventually be dismantled and disentangled from the Pharmaceutical Industry as people learned that they can take care of their health by changing their lifestyles and eating habits and by using natural herbs which God claims he placed all over nature.

Environment

God suggests that humans who care most about the environment should be given as much help as possible. Whilst ownership was still around, these people would of course be free to build environmentally friendly structures (Yurts, mud/clay houses/domes) on their own property (unlike the current situation where they need a permit ! The dismantling of the economy will of course benefit the environment immensely.

Civil Liberties

Part of Gods propaganda machine will attempt to explain why civil liberties are so important and how they are being eroded by the current system.

Religion

God apologises to the fervent religious folk, but these religions are going to have to be disbanded. She says that some of her favourite and most refined humans are religious, however religions have given her such a bad name, that She is now embarrassed to appear in public and has to stick to appearing in peoples dreams ! She would consider making an exception – after all Buddhism seems quite cute and peaceful and some say its not really a religion.

Education

Once people begin to realise that this economic system has to go, most of the education dealt out to young people will become irrelevant. Most schools will therefore be closed and replaced with learning clubs. There would be no need for teachers any more. There would be a limited number of adults present at these learning clubs just to facilitate the young people. The young people would not sit at desks in the main and would not be segregated by age. Instead they would learn the subjects of their choice in groups. It would also be recognised that the younger the person, the purer the soul and thus the youngest toddlers would be observed in order to learn wisdom from them. The purpose of these learning clubs would be to bring out the best of each young person. The subjects learned will ultimately be up to the young people but they would include life skills. They might include, how to grow your own food, how to manage conflict, how to create your own reality, how to time travel. A young person could choose to focus on art or sport or martial arts or drama. Thinking for yourself would come back into fashion. It would also be recognised that the younger the person, the purer the soul and more open the mind and thus the youngest toddlers would be observed in order to learn wisdom from them. The finest adult minds would be invited to spend time at these clubs simply observing and learning.

Forgiveness

As a footnote, God has been working hard over the years, forgiving everyone. She even forgives bankers and politicians although She admits that even for her, this has been a stretch.

Further Information

God tries to avoid any recommendations other than going on an inner journey to find your own truth. However, if you would like a little help on the way, try the following…..

Books

The New Earth – Eckhart Tolle
Anastasia by Vladimir Megre

Films and clips worth a watch – (be warned though – they may shock you)
Gods favourite comedians - Search youtube for Bill Hicks and George Carlin
Search youtube for the film ‘The Green Beautiful’
Youtube ‘everything is ok’
Search google videos for ‘CENTRUY OF THE SELF’’ ‘EARTHLINGS’ , ‘POWER OF NIGHTMARES’ , ‘THE TRAP’ (4 separate films)

How To vote for the God party

As mentioned, God felt that money and leadership cannot mix so She has refused to pay a deposit, so you won’t find this party on the ballot box. If you want to vote for the God party, simply write it in at the bottom of the form and tick it. Believe me (says God) you will be making more of a difference this way (in ways that may not be known to you) than you would if you vote for any party on the form.

divide and conquer

Following Kish Tailers comment on my last blog. In it, he points out how this issue with Charlie is a classic case of divide and conquer with people taking sides. So I would like to state here, that although at times i feel negatively towards Charlie and superior to him, (which when transalated psychologically means I am feeling negatively towards myself and inferior to him) at other times I am ok with him and am grateful for all that we did together and even for his actions now - not because I agree with or sanction them, but because this whole episode is bringing me ever more learning and understanding about myself and the world.

Someone recently pointed out to me that I am not THAT upset about the videos being back up because he overheard me telling someone to look them up ! So there is that as well.

I still stand by my statement about my not giving him permission and still choose to distance myself from him but it doesnt have to be about taking sides. There are no sides really.

A comment on the comments

I would like to address one idea that has come up from commentators below.

I stated that I was concerned that people would idealise me and end up worshipping some sort of false image.

I realise that although this may be true of some people, it is unfair and disingenuous to tar everyone with the same brush.

I am pasting a paragraph from a comment by 'playonwords55' because others have made similar comments and I suspect there are more who would resonate with this...

"Your sincerity is evident as is your good nature and genuine passion for humanity and freedom- anyone with the slightest of discernment can see this from your vids. You are loved and i felt a love for you that i would feel for a family member- i say this in all sincerity and was surprised when i actually realized that i cared for your well-being. We don't have to meet you or know all your flaws to love you. Your love for the collective, your refusal to submit to the conditioned reality and your conviction towards nudging others to wake from their slumber involved sacrifice and i hope you haven't succumbed to the feelings that this sacrifice was not worth the potential inconveniences and family disputes that you may be facing. I am no follower, i am a very independent thinker and afford you no celebrity status- this is not what you were after and your popularity was a by -product of a great appreciation."

I truly appreciate you comments here and I think that there are many people like this who do not afford me celebrity status but nevertheless appreciate what I/we have created and for this I am grateful.

Further Statement re Charlie

Firstly, I thank you all for your comments. So many thoughtful ideas which on the one hand warm my heart and on the other leave me even more confused at times.

The only thing I found most unhelpful, is when people tell me not to fear. Fear is a part of my visceral experience and telling me not to have fear is like telling me not to feel cold in the winter.

I do feel fear about various things on and off. I feel concerned about where Charlie is heading and my past association with him. And it could be that its all unnecessary, and its all paranoia.

But thats what is coming up , at least at times.

I therefore feel the desire to state in clear terms the following.

On 8th March I sent Charlie a registered letter which he received on 9th March, requesting he takes down the videos containing my image and voice. I stated that he had no permission to use my image.

He subesequently took them all down after lengthy discussion and a few days later he put them all back, encouraging people to download them. He did this without my agreement and therefore anything he puts up which contains my image is out of my control. He does it without my permission.

I do not like many of his latest videos, including the ones where he talks to the camera, gets a young girl to read out something or seemingly winds up the police for the sake of it (my interpretation) and I reiterate that I have absolutely nothing to do with anything he does. My personal hunch is that he is a liability to himself and frankly I dont want him to be a liability to my family and myself.

Although this statement may well come under fire from people, I do not feel like elaborating more. Apologies if I let anyone down. I am learning on the fly and it doesnt feel easy at this time. This statement is made for legal reasons and as I learn about how the powers that be operate via that system, its anyone guess what could happen and I feel the need to protect my family and myself as best I can.

update of my 'position' regarding the videos

Thank you for the comments you have all made.

One of my favourite comments on the previous blog was from mr popplemouse who writes about his own comment 'nothing like writing a long response or idea then deleting it all with a smile on your face and that warmness of knowing that none of this really matters!'

And of course that applies to my blog entries etc. And at the same time, things matter TO ME still.

There are many aspects to the EOK series and the issue of taking them down or not. I realise that even before Charlie put them back up, many people had downloaded them. So I have learnt a lesson the hard way - be very careful what you put on youtube - it may come back to haunt you.

I still feel disrespected and violated by Charlies move to put the videos back without discussion and turn the screw by asking people to download them. Whatever his reasoning or motives behind his choice, it doesn't FEEL right to me. Its the sort of thing I personally couldnt imagine doing to my brother for example, but just because I wouldnt do a thing doesnt mean i need expect it from others.

i also appreciate the comments below and many of the points made and accept that the videos are out there for life and that they have helped many people in many ways. And that feels really great to me because that is one of the main motivators for me.

There is lots more to say but I think brevity may be in order this time.

Have fun.

Removal of videos - shorter version !

Why I chose to request the removal of the Everything is OK and Love police videos – Shorter Version. (see next post for longer version)

The reasons I requested this are numerous. Its difficult to know where to begin. I wont be revealing all the reasons. In fact , the primary reason was for the sake of my wife and children. This aspect is mainly private.

Background

I met Charlie ‘by chance’ in May 2009. WE hit it off and made some videos and I was not expecting the popularity they gained. At the beginning of most relationships, we are unable to see the others ‘dark side’ but that side comes up eventually. Since I made the videos, I became aware that Charlie is in a space where he is simply unable to hear criticism about himself or his ideas. I only recognise this in him because I k now it in myself. As far as I am concerned, he is a real liability towards himself and this youtube fame thing is taking him down the same route that the celebrities he criticizes are on. A route of self delusion, self importance, infallibility (even if he occasionally puts up videos saying ‘I make mistakes’) . And I choose not to work with or spend time with anyone who is unwilling and unable to take a really good look inside to see what is really going on. I feel what he did was impulsive and particularly aggressive (asking people to download the videos) and I feel sad and violated.

At the end of piece , I said that I would consider re editing the videos in light of my new thoughts. But instead he has resorted to this.

Here are some of the reasons (which I sent to him)

Getting fame and credo from another’s embarrassment

I revisited the videos and started to try and watch them from the points of view of the people who don’t come off so well in them. For example, in the canary Wharf video, the first security guard panics and says ‘you cant protest’ etc. Here is a guy paid a pittance by these crazy rich corporations to dress like a policeman and order people about. Its clearly not his fault that he doesn’t know how to deal with 2 slick talkers who have done some research. And I imagined how it would feel for him if he watches himself or worse how it would feel for his kids. The same applies to the PCSO in Camden who called me an idiot.

Creating a false Image

When you watch me on a youtube video, you don’t actually see me. There is only one of me and that is the one sitting here in my office typing away. What you see is an image. A 2D representation. And you see ideas that appeared in my consciousness in the past. And based on that, most people build up an idea of what I am like. If you think you know who I am or what I am, I suspect you are mistaken. And what usually happens is people create an idealised picture of who/what I am. And then if I am not careful, I have to spend more and more energy propping up this false image. For example, people say ‘I love you Danny’ but who they are loving is an image of me in their mind. If you were to live in my home for a while, she would see another side of me – a less peaceful side. Its tiring and unhelpful for everyone to have this false image thing going on.

Creating a movement

I had no intention of creating any ‘movement’ when I started out. How could I start a movement ? I wouldn’t know what this movement would do ? I have so little knowledge of politics, economics, law – not even at GCSE level so What on earth do I know ? Besides, movements can create separation – I am a member of that movement and you are not ! Yet there is plenty of speak of a ‘movement’ from commentators of our videos.

Encouraging people to think for themselves

One of the purposes of what I do is to encourage people to think for themselves. Having others to think for us can be a hard habit to break. The ironic thing for me is that I struggle immensely with this. I find it so hard to trust myself and run to all sorts of teachers, gurus, therapists etc to seek advice. (Someone recently pointed out that advice = ADD VICE. What I notice happening with these videos is people not questioning what Charlie or I say. Since I have stopped making the videos, this is particularly pronounced with Charlie.
In a recent video from the Iranian channel press TV, Charlie and ‘Olly the Octopus’ were being interviewed and at 2 points in the interview, Olly had the Chutzpah to challenge Charlie….

Charlie: Let's not raise the public into this clever group that can choose politicians . . .

Olly: I think the public are more intelligent than you give them credit for . . .

And then later . .

Charlie: there is no terror threat, except in our minds . . .

Olly: That's not strictly true though is it . . .

The comments on that video shocked me – slagging off Olly for daring to challenge their guru Charlie ! It felt like the complete opposite of what I wanted. I have learned the most from those who give intelligent critical feedback but this is not happening with these videos.

Focusing on lack

One of things I criticise the press for doing is putting so much negativity into our minds. Training us to focus on lack of rather than on what we want. If you look at the underlying messages of the videos, even though they are done with humour, some of the messages encourage people to focus on lack. And I am not sure that this is helpful. Just because people think that our videos are helpful, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are. And of course it could be that some parts and aspects are helpful and some are not.

People doing it on their own

Another benefit of taking down the videos is that it can encourage people to get in touch with their own creative juices and create something themselves. Every person reading this blog can be in touch with infinite creativity even though you may not know this.
Here is wording from a comment by jticchi on Charlies video ‘A new beginning’ ……’Danny's videos were very good at waking people up, its a shame they're gone but it signals that now its time for the people that he woke up to go out and wake up others!!
Sending your friends a clip of what Danny did is good for waking them up, but doing some action of your own accord will be even more effective and give them more courage to do the same by showing them that people they know can do this too, not just a guy on youtube.’

Taking responsibility and ownership of my image and sound

As I said, I had no idea that the videos would become this popular and no idea what to expect if they did. I feel now that the decision to leave the editing to Charlie and allow him to put things up on his channel was unwise. In fact one of the main reasons for asking Charlie to remove my image was the videos he made about revolution. The straw that broke the camels back was the video ‘Unanimous Declaration of the Resistance’ in which he says he is forming a worldwide army ! I wanted to disassociate myself with anything like this. Whilst I think it’s a ridiculous thing to say, it lays himself wide open for all sorts of possible problems. If some police officers are sometimes stupid enough to search a man with a megaphone on suspicion of terrorism, God only knows how the minds of intelligence personnel work. But now that I look back on it, I feel it’s the most responsible thing to do to take back ‘ownership’ and therefore responsibility for my image. I am aware that the idea of ownership is fiction as is so much of our so called reality. But I live in the fiction and haven’t managed to free myself of it or even come close.

Family peace

It is always difficult to know whether to spend my time working on having a peaceful home or going out on the streets trying to make a difference. The man I mentioned at the beginning suggested that if I cant create a peaceful home, what good am I on the streets trying to create a peaceful world ? Whilst I don’t entirely agree with him, I think he has a point. It is my intention to work harder on creating a peaceful home first or at least as a strong priority.

Demonstrating separation

Another problem with the videos is that some of the interactions with police and security were actually a demonstration of separation. It is so easy to forget the maxim that we are all part of the one concioussness and of course one of the things so many people talk about is the oneness of everything. This is a lovely theory but it’s the practise that counts. If I forget that police officers are human beings too, then I am reinforcing the ‘us and them’ syndrome.

Who is following us ?

Another problem with youtube and the net is that we have no idea who is following our work. Leave aside the intelligence services for the moment. The stuff we have been putting out can be construed as anti establishment. This can attract fundamentalist right wingers or in fact any fundamentalists. (Whatever that means.) I just received an email from a friend who noticed that on a facebook discussion group (there are a few EOK/Love POlice groups) they were saying that the reason I wanted the videos removed is because I have BANKER friends and I didn’t want to upset the establishment. This is complete nonsense because although I do know people in the banking sector, I have no close friends in that sector. But I now see how easily people can build up a picture of someone based on some YT videos and then if that person doesn’t live up to these imagined standards, all of a sudden love can turn to hate ! And what if I did have banker friends ? Would that be a crime ?

Hypocrisy

It was suggested recently to me that we cannot avoid living with some hypocrisy. I certainly cannot. I am still deeply in the system. I run a business and pay taxes and use lots of energy and consume plenty. I do try and limit these things. (eg I get my electricity from renewable sources, drive an electric car, do not eat meat and try not to waste food etc) But these are tiny things. If you all lived in my home and followed me for a few weeks, some of you may be horrified by the hypocrisy you see. And this is why I don’t feel that I am even close to be in a position to start off any movement. Perhaps if I lived on a farm, in a yurt using only wind powered energy and eating only local home grown produce, perhaps then I may be a bit closer to starting off a movement.

Fear and Anger

To my knowledge, I have never told anybody not to be afraid. That is more Charlie’s style. I wouldn’t do that simply because I am aware of how afraid I am of all sorts of things. I am aware of the law of attraction mentioned above and about concepts of creating our own reality. At the same time my real life experience includes fear. People often comment on the videos ‘Danny, you are so brave.’ What they are doing is projecting their own fears on to me. For me it was completely natural to do that. In fact it was often an escape from dealing with stuff in the home. I also experience anger at different levels of intensity. And I am still exploring the most healthy ways to relate to it. So yes – at times I do feel frightened of the possible consequences of questioning authority.

Focussing on that which is external

One of the many problems with the media is that they keep our focus of attention on the external. This means that our minds are trained to blame others and become victims of others rather than looking within to change our perception and thus our experience of life. If you were to analyse the videos we made, at least some of them would be reinforcing this way of thinking. Whilst many people say that the videos gave them a lift, this does not mean that the videos were nourishing for their souls. I have been amazed at the responses to some of the videos Charlie made on his own, which I personally find destructive but thousands seem to find positive. I am not saying I am right and they are wrong. I just question the constructiveness of the videos even though people may think that the videos help them.

I have no idea what the future holds and I prefer not to make final decisions until after THE final decision (my death!) Therefore it is possible that I will be happy to have the videos put back. I have also thought that they could be edited again in light of the above. SO for example, we could blank out the faces of anyone who we think does not come out well on the videos. And of course there is also a real possibility that I will stick to the request and trust that there are many others just as able as I who will step into the gap. Could that person be you ?

Statement of my politics (or lack thereof)

In response to many of Charlies recent videos, in which he seems to have some rather clear political stands, I felt the need to clearly set out my thoughts and intentions for the record.

Firstly, Charlie and I agreed to go our separate ways in November 2009 and met up for a final day in January 2010. Since then I have gone my own way and I am in no way endorse or agree with anything he says or has said especially with regards to terrorism, war, and revolution.

In fact, I never did endorse, agree or disagree with his words and ideas. We just created a practical partnership where we would meet at some place at some time with no plan and with just a megaphone (or two) in our hands and a camera. We filmed these escapades and then Charlie went to work editing them. He didn’t even check with me before he put them up on youtube. This is not a criticism but just a statement of fact.

I met Charlie on the 1st May at The Bank of England gathering. I had come for some fun – I never go to ‘protest’ at these gatherings – only to hold my sign ‘everything is ok’ in order to provoke smiles and thought. We hit it off and started filming together and Charlie would put the films up on his channel. At the time it never occurred to me that this may not be a very sensible way of doing things.
In July, things started to change as a result of his video ‘A message to the resistance.’ In it he called for ‘armed resistance.’ Whilst he has absolutely no army and no way of gathering one together to my knowledge, this was a complete departure from what I was doing. I made this clear in a video at the tie called 'Danny responds to message for the resistance'

So to make it clear, for the record this is where I stand.

I have very very little knowledge of most things. I have very little knowledge of politics, economics or law. I have never studied any of these subjects even at GCSE level. Therefore I don’t even have a position on these things. In fact the very idea of having a ‘position’ doesn’t fit well because it creates division. What I work towards is unity. Not unity of thoughts or ideas, but spiritual unity in terms of human connection. Unity in terms of our ability to see the human and the human soul in everyone I encounter, no matter their gender, creed, colour, age, status etc.

I do not call for revolution. I don’t understand the law well enough to call for something else. Yes – I have been on the ‘wrong side’ of the law and often felt humiliated and bullied and I am sure I am not the first one. And yes – I have in my videos exposed some of this. But it was not done in order to create some sort of revolution. Because if the law was to be abolished, what would we have in its place ? Lawlessness ? That could be a great deal worse. And what if the economy was shut down ? what would we have in its place ? Search me ! And how could we better the political situation ? Maybe I have a few ideas but I am no professor and I am aware of my utter ignorance.

When I started speaking on the streets 4 years ago, long before I met Charlie, my purpose was to have a great time, to entertain people, to get them to think a little more deeply, to connect deeply with other peoples humanity (and my own), to develop my own thoughts and to make people smile. This is a far cry from what Charlie is doing in my understanding. That does not make him wrong. Just very different. And I want to make it crystal clear, for the sake of the safety of my wife, children , extended family and myself, that I am on a very different path. I do not call anyone to any type of violent revolution (or even non violent) for many reasons. Firstly, I think that Love is the only answer in the end. Secondly, because who on earth am I to do such a thing ? Thirdly because I am so ignorant about so much and fourthly because even if I did, I have no idea what would come in its place and would it be better or worse ?

I hope this clarifies my position (or lack thereof) I welcome comments, especially if they make things even clearer.

A bit of pride from Adina our 12 year old

At midnight she came up for a chat. Mentioned 2 great things from school. One of her teachers was saying 'We are so aware these days of so much more than they were aware of in the old days' Adina pointed out that she could imagine in years to come them looking back and thinking how unaware we were ! Then she said tha there is now an annual celebration of the end of slavery. Adina raised her hand and asked 'Do you think that in a hundred years time there will be an annual celebration of the end of schools ?!'