Posted on 06/06/2004 4:04:17 AM PDT by George Frm Br00klyn Park
WorldNetDaily
Guess who's at super-secret Bilderberg meeting today
Italy hosts 50th-anniversary confab of mysterious society of world leaders
Posted: June 4, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
The 50th anniversary conference of the elite Bilderberg group – which many believe conspires semi-annually to foster global government – is under way in Stresa, Italy.
The conference, which began yesterday and will run through Sunday, is being hosted at the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees.
Since 1953, the Bilderberg group has convened government, business, academic and journalistic representatives from the U.S., Canada and Europe with the express purpose of exploring the future of the North Atlantic community.
According to sources that have penetrated the high-security meetings in the past, the Bilderberg meetings emphasize a globalist agenda and promote the idea that the notion of national sovereignty is antiquated and regressive.
'Shadowy aura'
"It's officially described as a private gathering," noted a BBC report last year, "but with a guest list including the heads of European and American corporations, political leaders and a few intellectuals, it's one of the most influential organizations on the planet."
And according to a current BBC report on the conference in Stresa: "Not a word of what is said at Bilderberg meetings can be breathed outside. No reporters are invited in and while confidential minutes of meetings are taken, names are not noted. The shadowy aura extends further – the anonymous answerphone message, for example; the fact that conference venues are kept secret. The group, which includes luminaries such as Henry Kissinger and former UK chancellor Kenneth Clarke, does not even have a website."
But, counter participants, the secrecy is not evidence of a grand conspiracy, but only an opportunity to speak frankly with other world leaders out of the limelight of press coverage and its inevitable repercussions.
"There's absolutely nothing in it," argues the UK's Lord Denis Healey, one of the four founders of Bilderberg. "We never sought to reach a consensus on the big issues at Bilderberg," he told the BBC. "It's simply a place for discussion."
I - Galateri, Gabriele - Chairman, Mediobanca;
*USA* - Gates, Melinda F. - Co-Founder, Gates Foundation, wife of Bill Gates;
*USA* - Geithner, Timothy F. - President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York;
I - Giavazzi, Francesco - Professor of Economics, Bocconi University; adviser, world bank and European Central bank;
IRL - Gleeson, Dermot - Chairman Allied Irish Bank Group (currently being investigated for personal and corporate tax evasion);
*USA* - Graham, Donald E. - Chairman and CEO, Washington Post Company;
*USA* - Haas, Richard N. - President, Council on Foreign Relations, former Director of Policy and Planning staff, State Department;
NL - Halberstadt, Victor - Professor of Economics, Leiden University;
B - Hansen, Jean-Pierre - Chairman, Suez Tractabel SA;
S - Heikensten, Lars - Governor, Swedish Central Bank;
*USA* - Holbrooke, Richard C - Vice Chairman, Perseus, former Director, Council on Foreign Relations, former Assistant Secretary of State;
*USA* - Hubbard, Allen B - President E&A Industries;
*USA* - Issacson, Walter - President and CEO, Aspen Institute;
*USA* - Janow, Merit L. - Professor, International Economic Law and International Affairs, Columbia University;
*USA* - Jordan, Vernon E. Senior Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co LLC;
*USA* - Kagan, Robert - Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace;
GB - Kerr, John - Director, Shell, Rio Tinto, Scottish American Investment Trust;
*USA* - Kissinger Henry A. - Chairman, Kissinger Associates Inc.;
TR - Koc, Mustafa V. - Chairman, Koc Holdings AS;
NL - Koenders, Bert (AG) - Member of Parliament, president, Parliamentary Network of the World Bank;
*USA* - Kovner, Bruce - Chairman Caxton Associates LLC, Chairman, American Enterprise Institute;
*USA* - Kravis, Henry R. - Founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., acquisitions financier;
*USA* - Kravis, Marie Josee - Senoir Fellow, Hudson Institute Inc.;
FIN - Lehtomaki, Paula - Minister of Foreigh Trade and Development;
FIN - Lipponen, Paavo - Speaker of Parliament;
CHN - Long, Yongtu - Secretary General, Boao forum for Asia;
P - Lopes, Pedro M. Santana - Mayor of Lisbon;
*USA* - Luti, William J. - Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs;
CDN - Lynch, Kevin G. - Deputy Minister, Department of Finance;
*USA* - Mathews, Jessica T. - President, Carnegie Endowment for International War Peace;
*USA* - McDonough, William J. - Chairman and CEO, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, former president, Federal Reserve Bank of New York;
CDN - McKenna, Frank - Counsel, McInnes Cooper, former premier of New Brunswick;
I - Merlini, Cesare - Executive Vice Chairman, Council for the United States and Italy, Council on Foreign Relations, former director, Italian Institute for International Affairs;
F - Montbrial, Thierry de - President, French Institute of International Relations;
INT - Monti, Mario - Competition Commissioner, European Commission; *USA* - Mundie, Craig J. - Chief Technical Officer, Advanced Strategies and Policies, Microsoft Corporation;
N - Myklebust, Egil - Chairman, Scandinavian Airline System (SAS);
D - Naas, Matthias - Deputy Editor, Die Zeit;
NL - Netherlands, HM Queen Beatrix;
GB - Neville-Jones, Pauline - Chairman, QuinetiQ (UK privatized military research/services company), governor of the BBC, Chairman Information Assurance Advisory Council, formar Chairman Joint Intelligence Committee, former Managing Director NatWest Markets;
*USA* - Nooyi, Indra K. - President and CEO, PepsiCo Inc.;
PL - Olechowski, Andrzej - Leader, Civic Platform;
FIN - Ollila, Jorma - Chairman, Nokia Corporation;
INT - Padoa-Schioppa, Tommaso - Director, European Central Bank;
CY - Pantelides, Leonidas - Ambassador to Greece;
I - Passera, Corrado - CEO, Banca Intesa SpA;
*USA*- Perle, Richard N. - Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, former Likud policy adviser, former chair Defence Policy Board, former co-chairman, Hollinger Digital;
B - Phillipe, HRH Prince;
*USA* - Reed, Ralph E. - President, Century Strategies;
CDN - Reisman, Heather - President and CEO, Indigo Books and Music Inc.;
I - Riotta, Gianni - Editorialist, Corriere della Serra;
*USA* - Rockefeller, David - Member JP Morgan International Council, Chairman, Council of the Americas;
E - Riodriguez Inearte, Matias - Vice Chairman, Grupo Santander;
*USA* - Ross, Dennis B - Director, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy;
D - Sandschneider, Eberhard - Director, Research Institute, German Society for Foreign Policy; I - Scaroni, Paolo - CEO, Enel SpA;
D - Schilly, Otto - Minister of the Interior;
*USA* - Schnabel, Rockwell A. - Ambassador to the EU;
A - Scholten, Rudolf - Director, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG;
D - Schrempp, Jurgen E. - Chairman, DaimlerChrysler AG;
E - Serra Rexach, Eduardo - Head, Real Institute Elcano;
RUS - Shevtsova, Lilia - Senior Associate. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace;
PL - Sikora, Slawomir - President and CEO, Citibank Handlowy;
I - Siniscalo, Domenico - Director General Ministry of the Economy;
P - Socrates, Jose - Member of Parliament;
*USA* - Strmecki, Marin J. - Smith Richardson Foundation;
B - Struye de Swielande, Dominique - Permanant repressentative of Belguim, NATO;
IRL - Sutherland, Peter D. - Chairman, Goldman Sachs International, Chairman, BP plc;
*USA* - Thornton, John L. - Chairman, Brookings Institution, Professor, Tsinghua University;
I - Tremonti, Giulio - Minister of Economy and Finance;
INT - Trichet, Jean-Claude - President, European Central Bank;
I - Tronchetti Provera, Marco - Chairman and CEO, Pirelli SpA;
N - Underdal, Arild - Rector, University of Oslo;
CH - Vasella, Daniel L. - Chairman and CEO, Novartis AG;
NL - Veer, Jeroen van der - Chairman, Committee of Managing Directors, Royal Dutch/Shell;
GB - Verwaayen, Ben J. M. - CEO, British Telecom; former director, Lucent Technologies;
I - Visco, Ignazio - Foriegn Affairs Manager, Banca D'Italia;
INT - Vitorino, Antonio M. - Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner, European Union;
INT - Vries, Gijs M. de - EU Counter Terrorism Co-ordinator;
S - Wallenberg, Jacob - Chairman, SEB investments (including biotech); Chairman, W Capital Management AB;
D - Weber, Jurgen - Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutche Lufthansa AG;
GB/*USA* - Weinberg, Peter - CEO, Goldman Sachs International;
NL - Wijers, Hans - Chairman, AkzoNobel NV;
D - Wissmann, Matthias - Member of Parliament;
GB - Wolf, Martin H. - Associate Editor/Economic Commentator, The Financial Times;
INT/*USA* - Wolfenson, James D. - President, The World Bank;
RUS - Yavlinsky, Grigory A. - Member of Parliament;
*USA* - Yergin, Daniel - Chairman, Cambridge Energy Research Associates;
D - Zumwinkel, Llaus - Chairman, Deutche Post Worldnet AG.
In addition, according to the Bilderberg.org website, two reporters ("rapporteurs") from the British publication The Economist will also be attending: Gideon Rachman, Brussels correspondent, and Adrian D. Wooldridge, the magazine's foreign correspondent.
That may afford slightly more transparency than in the past. In 1998, British free-lance journalist Campbell Thomas attempted to cover the conference in Turnberry, Scotland, for the Daily Mail. Thomas began by seeking the opinions of neighbors to the secret meeting being held nearby. One of those was a young woman who told him he was in the hotel's staff quarters and should leave immediately, which he did. A short while later, two local police officers arrested Thomas, who reportedly remained in custody for eight hours.
British journalist Jon Ronson, who is the author of a book on Bilderberg, had this to say: "I'm a sort of semi-conspiracy theorist when it comes to Bilderberg because I think they wouldn't go to that much trouble of having this incredibly expensive international conference every year and they'd go to all this trouble to keep themselves out of the press and be really secret and invite the world's most powerful people if it was just a chat and a game of golf, which is basically what they say it is. So I do think they have some impact on world affairs."
Some observers are even speculating that President Bush will make an appearance at this year's event, just as Bill Clinton did at the group's 2000 meeting. By coincidence, it just happens that Bush will be in Italy over the weekend …
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Stop the presses! Rich and important people are talking to each other! There oughta be a law! ;-)
That's just what I was thinking! :-D
I can't. John Edwards is everything the Democrats and the media tried to paint Dan Quayle as. He will be far more of a liability than an asset. He has very little experience and even less depth and no gravitas. He's an empty suit with a pretty face and nothing more.
I do hope they choose him. He brings nothing to the table, and no electoral advantage whatsoever. Gephardt at least is taken seriously as a politician, and could possibly help Kerry win the crucial Missouri vote.
Re: Washington Post
"We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years." He went on to explain: "It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The super-national sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries."
"We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order." -- David Rockefeller
"Gephardt could possibly help Kerry win the crucial Missouri vote."
Yeah sure, when pigs fly
So they require a reason to get together? That seems fair. But who shall be the arbiter of whether they get to enjoy their 1st Amendment rights or not?
It's like the Cannes Film Festival, without Alexandra Kerry's bosom.
Do you see that host around the sun?
Man, break out the tin foil hats...
I wish they would save us all the stress and worry, and just tell us right now who they have chosen to win the election.
No, she's doing the abortion on demand referrals.
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