Posted on 09/19/2007 6:18:23 AM PDT by kellynla
EuroMoney PLC, the UK-based company that arranges dozens of financial conferences around the world each year, has refused to allow WND staff reporter Jerome Corsi to attend next week's "North American PPP (Public-Private Partnership) & Infrastructure Finance Conference" in New York, even though WND offered to pay the $1,999 conference fee required to attend.
"When government officials want to go behind closed doors with investment bankers and lawyers to discuss selling our public infrastructure to foreign investment leaders, investigative reporters need to be there to tell the public what is really going on,” Corsi said.
"Why is it that all these PPP and SPP (Security and Prosperity Partnership) meetings are behind closed doors," Corsi asked, "and government officials and their supporters think that's normal? But when investigative reporters want to attend and report on what is being said, we are the ones who get accused of being the conspiracy theorists?"
"By refusing to allow WND to attend as a paying customer," Corsi argued, "EuroMoney is telling the American public that they intend to conduct a secret meeting designed to teach government officials how to sell out U.S. public infrastructure to foreign investment concerns."
"I'm sure we will all be told that EuroMoney seminars and PPP structures are really for our 'security and prosperity,' just as President Bush asserts for the SPP itself," Corsi continued. "Evidently we are just supposed to close our eyes and trust government officials, investment bankers and international lawyers, putting aside national security concerns and other economic issues which we believe may be of concern to our readers."
According to the conference brochure, the purpose of the EuroMoney seminar is to teach state and local government officials in the U.S. how to lease a wide range of public assets to international and foreign private investment groups.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
“By refusing to allow WND to attend as a paying customer,” Corsi argued, “EuroMoney is telling the American public that they intend to conduct a secret meeting designed to teach government officials how to sell out U.S. public infrastructure to foreign investment concerns.”
LOL! Yeah, sure. WND, the media outlet of record for the American public. LOL.
Who’s “Grom” and why was he or she banned from a secret meeting?
oops! LOL
who knows what happened there
Admin Moderator, please correct the title.
Thanks
“WND, the media outlet of record for the American public?”
It’s certainly more credible than LAT,NYT,WP,NBC,ABC and SeeBS.
You’re DU skirt is showing. LMAO
“Why exactly does Jerome Corsi believe he is entitled to attend an invitation-only conference?”
It is NOT “invitation-only.”
You can go, I can go;
anyone who pays the $1999 except apparently Corsi is welcome.
Your dislike for Corsi & WND has blinded you to the question.
“What is the conference hiding and what are they afraid of?”
Now, take your flame-baiting elsewhere.
You are not welcome here.
Now you know how Corsi feels. LMAO
I think Mr. Corsi has a point, actually. These are indeed public officials discussing public infrastructure and its possible lease or sale to third parties. Mr. Corsi is willing to pay the normal fee to attend this conference.
To the extent that any of these officials are from states that require "Government in the Sunshine", I believe that those participants may not be in compliance with their own state laws if they do attend this event.
Come on now. The meeting wouldn’t be secrect if they let reporters in. Think about it. No secret, no conspiracy. No fun, no book sales.
Wrong. There are only so many seats at a conference and conference managers restrict attendees to those approved by conference managers.
Anyone can apply for a ticket to the conference, but they are not entitled to a seat - they make the request and the conference management decides to invite or disinvite them.
“What is the conference hiding and what are they afraid of?”
What are you hiding and what are you afraid of when you close the front door of your house and do not allow any random stranger off the street to wander into your living room - even if they offer you cash to hang out in your house? What are you up to?
I'm not sure why you believe a private business - EuroMoney plc - has some legal or moral obligation to invite Corsi to one of its conferences.
To the extent that any of these officials are from states that require "Government in the Sunshine", I believe that those participants may not be in compliance with their own state laws if they do attend this event.
I highly doubt that. There is little chance that actual contracts are being inked and consummated at an informational conference.
The public officials in attendance do not have legal authority to lease public property without oversight - any plans that they emerge from the conference with will have to be submitted to the representative body of the jurisdiction they represent.
In fact, I would guess that much of this conference involves instruction on how to effectively write proposals for such leasing deals.
“We are grateful to the Washington Post, the NY Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost 40 years”
- David Rockefeller speaking at the Bilderberger meeting in June 1991 in Baden Baden, Germany
The conference is NOT INVITATION ONLY.
Now quit bothering me!
I didn't write this . . . but I could've. LOL
WND has never struck me as a business publication, either. Perhaps its reporters would have the same luck getting accredited (or attending) a conference on sports memorabilia?
Indeed it is. No conference manager in their right mind gives admission to individuals who are not approved by the client for whom they are hosting the conference.
A pretty standard form of advertising by conference organizers usually contains the boilerplate: "If you would like an invitation to this event, contact ____________."
No conference manager guarantees admission to all comers, whether they are willing to pay or not. They work for their client.
Now quit bothering me!
I will post on whatever FR thread I like whenever I like, unless the moderators take issue.
I believe that at least Florida's sunshine laws do indeed cover such cases.
From Florida's FAQ on the sunshine laws:
Q. What is the Sunshine Law?A. Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine law provides a right of access to governmental proceedings at both the state and local levels. It applies to any gathering of two or more members of the same board to discuss some matter which will foreseeably come before that board for action. There is also a constitutionally guaranteed right of access. Virtually all state and local collegial public bodies are covered by the open meetings requirements with the exception of the judiciary and the state Legislature which has its own constitutional provision relating to access
...
Q. What qualifies as a meeting?
A. The Sunshine law applies to all discussions or deliberations as well as the formal action taken by a board or commission. The law, in essence, is applicable to any gathering, whether formal or casual, of two or more members of the same board or commission to discuss some matter on which foreseeable action will be taken by the public board or commission. There is no requirement that a quorum be present for a meeting to be covered under the law.
...
Q. Can two members of a public board attend social functions together?
A. Members of a public board are not prohibited under the Sunshine law from meeting together socially, provided that matters which may come before the board are not discussed at such gatherings.
(My emphasis added.)
These laws are pretty comprehensive. For instance, there is a controversy now in Naples about simple email exchanges between officials:
... In this case, the board is discussing approaching the Florida Attorney General’s Office to allow e-mail exchanges among elected officials and members of advisory boards.Under the Sunshine Law, elected officials are allowed to send e-mails to each other as long as no one responds to the initial correspondence, a tactic sometimes used by McCourt and Mayor Jay Arend in Bonita Springs.
The communications board wants the rules changed so responses can be made to those e-mails. To put the conversations into a public forum, the board would create a Web site that collects all the e-mails and makes them available to the public. The city could even send out notices when the e-mail Web site is updated, board members say.
This potential exemption to the Sunshine Law has been attempted in the past. The Florida Attorney General concluded it was too burdensome for the public to check the Web site all the time; and therefore it was a violation of the Sunshine Law.
...
From Naples Daily News Bonita advisory board breaking Sunshine Law
I assume you meant "isn't precluded" - and of course it isn't. It is up to the private institution to disclose or retain any of its private proceedings as it sees fit.
I do not wish to replace it with foreign business conglomerates
Well, your personal wishes don't really matter that much. The reality is that the best way to get the best price for a lease is to open the bidding to all secured bidders. Confining the field to US-domiciled bidders only is a guaranteed way to screw the public out of the rents to which they are entitled.
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