Bilderberg.org

[marektysis]

Watford - This year's annual Bilderberg conference, scheduled to take place at the Grove Hotel in Watford June 6 - 9, will cost British taxpayers millions of pounds in security.
As the world's elite prepare to gather in clandestine luxury, a high proportion of their security costs will be picked up by the British taxpayer. The Telegraph reported Hertfordshire Police have said "the Bilderberg Group has agreed to contribute some of the cost of security, but taxpayers will have to cover the rest of the bill."
According to Prison Planet the elite attendees will enjoy a security lock down which has been designated as an "anti-terror exercise."
Press and protest groups are expected to descend on Watford. For the first time the Bilderberg Welcoming Committee will host a press office on the hotel grounds. The Watford Observer notes thousands of activists, including Alex Jones are anticipated to arrive.
Private security firm G4S will be involved in security for the press and protest areas. PP reported local residents have been told they will need to present proof of identification to get to their own homes.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/351231#ixzz2UtpRYuML

[marektysis]

The Bilderberg Group: Fiendish plots are a-hatching in Watford
To the unalloyed delight of every conspiracy theorist, the Bilderberg Group is meeting again

Watford is the unlikely setting for a highly secretive meeting of influential people Photo: ALAMY
By Matthew Norman8:14PM BST 31 May 2013332 Comments
Henry Kissinger: “And now, Number Nine, your report, pliz, on ze operation to extort $2.5 trillion from ze government of Qatar.”
Kenneth Clarke (giggling nervously): “Erm, yes, well, I’m sorry to tell you, Number One, that we’ve had some technical trouble with the laser-firing satellite in geostationary orbit.”
Kissinger: “And what vould zat be?”
Clarke: “Well, Number One, it isn’t in geostationary orbit any more. It fell from the skies, and crashed in the wastes of Siberia.”
Kissinger (stroking white cat): “In vich case, Number Nine, you vill forgive me if I invite you to follow its flight path.” He pushes a button on the dashboard of his Davros-style wheelchair, and the stout Cabinet minister descends through a hole in the floor to the barracuda-infested pool beneath. Moments later, all that remains, amid the eddying pools of blood, is a cigar stub.


I begin with this scene, featuring two of the stalwarts expected at the imminent annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group, in honour of those who believe that this infamously secretive outfit is Ian Fleming’s S.P.E.C.T.R.E. brought to life. Since its inception in the Netherlands in 1954, so many have come to regard it as a deeply sinister organisation bent on worldwide domination that it seems almost cruel to reprise one of the very few facts we do know: that the venue for Thursday’s gathering is not a subterranean cavern staffed by boiler-suited drones tending stolen nuclear warheads, but a hotel, more commonly patronised by England footballers, in Watford.
Is it credible that a truly evil network would meet in an unglamorous suburb famous as Elton John’s birthplace (wrongly, he was actually born in Pinner)? Those convinced that Watford is no bar to the hatching of fiendish plots will pitch up at The Grove on Thursday to shout abuse at the predominantly Anglo-European Goliaths of statesmanship, commerce, academia, media, intelligence and the military. In accord with solemn Bilderberg tradition, the hotel and its grounds (in which Bilderbergians are thought to bond primally by communally peeing against trees) will be off-limits to all but the members. The perimeter will be heavily guarded lest protesters distress the poor loves with their chants. To this end, fellow taxpayers, you and I will be stumping up a couple of million quid for the policing.
While that equates to a few pence each, it does seem a bit rich to be subsidising a jolly for the extremely powerful about which we will learn precisely nothing. No outsider is ever permitted to attend the talks, formal and informal, and no Bilderbergian to divulge a word of what is said. Why such an organisation provokes such suspicion is beyond me. Yet for no sounder reasons than the omerta and the rarefied nature of the yearly-changing gang, it excites a vast range of conspiracy theories from both the bananas Left and the crackpot Right.
Some posit that, despite guest lists having featured Margaret Thatcher and a smattering of European royalty (the Princes Philip and Charles included), Bilderberg exists to impose Marxist totalitarianism across the globe. Disregarding the occasional attendance of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Shirley Williams, others see it as a fascist powerhouse pulling the strings of its puppets in citadels of democratic power in pursuance of – yes, I think you guessed it – a New World Order.
Among its fiercest critics is Lyndon Larouche, a serial US presidential wannabe turned shock jock, who is convinced that the worldwide drugs trade is controlled by our Queen. Sane people have their concerns too, and there is something weird and unsettling about a network of massively influential people so dedicated to guarding its privacy.
In 2001, in a rare breach of the code of silence, founder member Denis Healey admitted this: “To say we were striving for a one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. We couldn’t go on forever fighting one another for nothing and killing people… So we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing.”
Lord Healey is a mischievous man (he used to answer his telephone claiming to be a Chinese laundry), so perhaps we should take the world government schtick with a tub of Saxa. But if true, is the peacenik pipedream of a utopian crypto-oligarchy formed in the early days of the Cold War so terrible? Or was that a clumsy cover story for the real-life S.P.E.C.T.R.E.?
So many questions, so few answers. Although the Group has yielded to criticism this year by appending a press office, the mysteries will endure. If they are to be penetrated, we need not 007, but a George Smiley figure to turn the Bilderberg Karla. But who is the giant spider at the centre of the web? Is it Dr Kissinger, cast to type, or Ken Clarke, hiding in plain sight as a cuddly centrist? Could it be Bill Clinton, the liberal philanthropist George Soros, or a former director of the CIA? Might the mastermind, as Mr Larouche must suspect, be the woman who tomorrow celebrates the 60th anniversary of her Coronation?
For all the peculiarity, the Bilderberg Group provides a useful public service. It is all things to all manner of paranoiacs, and an equal opportunities offender of every brand of conspiracy theorist. What they discuss in the woods, we will probably never learn. But I have a feeling it would be a grave disappointment if we did, and that a microphone hidden in Urination Ash Tree 17 would relay nothing more blood-chilling than Mr Clarke asking Dr Kissinger if he knew how Notts were getting on in the county cricket, or Peter Mandelson sharing a Mary Berry cake recipe with ex-Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10091659/The-Bilderberg-Group-Fiendish-plots-are-a-hatching-in-Watford.html

[marektysis]

Bilderberg Meeting Next Week Will Be Held in United Kingdom

By Ali Mohsin | June 1, 2013

British taxpayers will pay “millions of pounds” for organizing the meeting of the exclusivist group Bilderberg, which will take place next week in Hertfordshire, South East England, according to The Telegraph. The event is scheduled for Jun 6 to June 9 at the Grove Hotel in Watford.

Specifically, British citizens will cover from their own pockets the costs for security and public safety during the event which will probably attract many protesters. Activists have accused repeatedly group consisting of the world’s political elites of holding talks at the meetings with the purpose of conspiring for a global domination and world unification.



The last time Bilderberg meeting was held in the UK was in 1998. Organizers, including British Minister Ken Clarke did not disclose the guest list, but the presence of big names will put together a strong local police mission.

Hertfordshire authorities refused to publish the cost of the security measures during the meeting. In the past, Bilderberg meetings attracted many anti-capitalism demonstrators. Bilderberg Group agreed to contribute a part of the security costs.

However, the police would have been in talks with the government asking British authorities to provide funds for “unexpected or exceptional costs” that can be given only if the organization of the event threatens the stability of the budget, says the source. Costs would have to be over 1.8 million British pounds, or 1% of the total expenditures of the police in order for the grant to be disbursed by the executive.

The Bilderberg Group meeting will be attended by around 140 people. The event is similar to the economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, which annually brings together leading decision makers in the global economy and business sector, with the difference that Bilderberg members are primarily concerned with global political issues.

The international elite list of participants at Bilderberg meetings would have included in the past big names such as Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller, Prince Charles, Peter Mandelson and David Cameron.

http://www.dailypressdot.com/bilderberg-meeting-next-week-will-be-held-in-united-kingdom/759248/

[marektysis]

Senior Watford politician, Mark Watkin, attacks Bilderberg security operation as ‘disgraceful’

9:30am Monday 3rd June 2013 in News By Mike Wright, Chief Reporter


The Grove hotel.
A senior Watford politician has attacked the security operation around the forthcoming Bilderberg Group meeting as "disgraceful".

Mark Watkin, a Watford Borough Council cabinet member, said the secrecy surrounding the meeting at The Grove hotel had left residents in the dark and led to important decisions being "made on the fly".

The Liberal Democrat added that he had received numerous complaints from people living near the five-star hotel, who are concerned about impact the conference and the large number of protesters it attracts will have on them.


Councillor Watkin, who represents Park and Nascot, said: "The authorities and The Grove had refused to accept any responsibility for the consequences of this contentious event on the local community.

"Whatever the rights and wrongs of this globally important meeting and the consequential protests, it is disgraceful that an event of global significance is landing on a community in Hertfordshire with no engagement with the council or community consultation being carried out.

"The result has been last minute decisions such as where they should park, where they should camp, are being taken on the fly."

The Bilderberg Group is due to begin its annual three-day meeting at The Grove hotel on Thursday.
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/10458185.Senior_Watford_politician_attacks_Bilderberg_security_operation_as____disgraceful___/

[marektysis]

Bilderberg releases details about its 2013 meeting


Bilderberg, described on its official website as "an annual conference designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America," released the details of its June 6-9 meeting today.

"The 61st Bilderberg meeting is set to take place from 6 until 9 June 2013 in Hertfordshire, UK. A total of around 140 participants from 21 European and North American countries have confirmed their attendance. As ever, a diverse group of political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media have been invited," the website stated.

Some of the topics at this year's meeting will include:

Foreign policy
Middle East
Current affairs
Africa
Nationalism and populism
Big data
Cyber warfare
Online education
Some of those that will participate in the meeting include Goldman Sachs, Shell, Microsoft, Alcoa, Barclays, Amazon, Heineken, HSBC, Swiss National Bank, The Economist, Council on Foreign Relations, Google, Prudential and The Washington Post. There are several well known names of those who will be in attendance, including former CIA Director David Petraeus.

No current U.S. government officials appear to be listed as attendees. Doing so could be interpreted as a violation of the Logan Act. The act states:

Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

Bilderberg included the following information on its website:

Founded in 1954, Bilderberg is an annual conference designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America.

Every year, between 120-150 political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media are invited to take part in the conference. About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; one third from politics and government and the rest from other fields.

The conference has always been a forum for informal, off-the-record discussions about megatrends and the major issues facing the world. Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights.

There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued.

Previous meetings have covered "the new world order," "the new economy and its effects on society," food quality, the meaning of freedom, erosion of civil liberties, and in May 2001: "What Can the World Do About the Middle East?"

http://www.examiner.com/article/bilderberg-releases-info-about-its-2013-meeting

[marektysis]

The Bilderberg Group, an annual gathering of royalty, statesmen and business leaders, will this week take place at the Grove Hotel, a golf resort in Watford, Hertfordshire.
Guests will include George Osborne, the Chancellor; Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor; and Ken Clarke, the Cabinet Minister who also sits on the group's steering committee, according to a list of participants published on www.bilderbergmeetings.org.
Other attendees include Lord Mandelson, the former Labour First Secretary; Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State; Timothy Geithner, the former Secretary of the US Treasury, and Gen David Petraeus, the former Allied commander in Afghanistan and head of the CIA.
Delegates from business include Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google; Peter Sutherland, the chairman of Goldman Sachs; Robert Dudley, the chief executive of BP; Douglas Flint, the chairman of HSBC and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com.
The group will discuss how the US and Europe can promote growth, the way 'big data' is changing 'almost everything', the challenges facing the continent of Africa and the threat of cyber warfare, according to an agenda published today.
Related Articles
Labour’s 'iron discipline’ should be put to the test 03 Jun 2013
The politics of the European Union, debt, advancements in medical research, the Middle East and 'current affairs' will also be debated.
The concentration of politicians and business leaders has meant the organisation, founded at the Bilderberg Hotel near Arnhem in 1954, has faced accusations of secrecy. It has been at the centre of a number of conspiracy theories.
More conventionally, the group is likened to the World Economic Forum in Davos and provides an opportunity for leaders to discuss the challenges facing Europe and the United States free from the constraints of public office.
Meetings take place behind closed doors, with a ban on journalists. There is no agenda and no votes are taken or public statements issued.
Delegates are able to speak on an informal, off-the-record basis and are not bound by their public, "pre-agreed" positions. This, the organisers say, allows delegates to "take time to listen, reflect and gather insights."
Bilderberg delegates in full
Chairman: Henri de Castries, Chairman and CEO, AXA Group
Paul M. Achleitner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG
Josef Ackermann, Chairman of the Board, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd
Marcus Agius, Former Chairman, Barclays plc
Helen Alexander, Chairman, UBM plc
Roger C. Altman, Executive Chairman, Evercore Partners
Matti Apunen, Director, Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA
Susan Athey, Professor of Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, Columnist, Milliyet Newspaper
Ali Babacan, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Financial Affairs
Ed Balls, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Francisco Pinto Balsemão, Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA
Nicolas Barré, Managing Editor, Les Echos
José Manuel Barroso, President, European Commission
Nicolas Baverez, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Olivier de Bavinchove, Commander, Eurocorps
John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine, University of Oxford
Franco Bernabè, Chairman and CEO, Telecom Italia S.p.A.
Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon.com
Carl Bildt, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs
Anders Borg, Swedish Minister for Finance
Jean François van Boxmeer, CEO, Heineken
Svein Richard Brandtzæg, President and CEO, Norsk Hydro ASA
Oscar Bronner, Publisher, Der Standard Medienwelt
Peter Carrington, Former Honorary Chairman, Bilderberg Meetings
Juan Luis Cebrián, Executive Chairman, Grupo PRISA
Edmund Clark, President and CEO, TD Bank Group
Kenneth Clarke, Cabinet Minister
Bjarne Corydon, Danish Minister of Finance
Sherard Cowper-Coles, Business Development Director, International, BAE Systems plc
Enrico Cucchiani, CEO, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA
Etienne Davignon, Belgian Minister of State; Former Chairman, Bilderberg Meetings
Ian Davis, Senior Partner Emeritus, McKinsey & Company
Robbert H. Dijkgraaf, Director and Leon Levy Professor, Institute for Advanced Study
Haluk Dinçer, President, Retail and Insurance Group, Sabancı Holding A.S.
Robert Dudley, Group Chief Executive, BP plc
Nicholas N. Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, American Enterprise Institute
Espen Barth Eide, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Investor AB
Thomas Enders, CEO, EADS
J. Michael Evans, Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs & Co.
Ulrik Federspiel, Executive Vice President, Haldor Topsøe A/S
Martin S.Feldstein, Professor of Economics, Harvard University; President Emeritus, NBER
François Fillon, Former French Prime Minister
Mark C. Fishman, President, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research
Douglas J. Flint, Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings plc
Paul Gallagher, Senior Counsel
Timothy F Geithner, Former Secretary of the Treasury
Michael Gfoeller, US Political Consultant
Donald E. Graham, Chairman and CEO, The Washington Post Company
Ulrich Grillo, CEO, Grillo-Werke AG
Lilli Gruber, Journalist - Anchorwoman, La 7 TV
Luis de Guindos, Spanish Minister of Economy and Competitiveness
Stuart Gulliver, Group Chief Executive, HSBC Holdings plc
Felix Gutzwiller, Member of the Swiss Council of States
Victor Halberstadt, Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings
Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Simon Henry, CFO, Royal Dutch Shell plc
Paul Hermelin, Chairman and CEO, Capgemini Group
Pablo Isla, Chairman and CEO, Inditex Group
Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman and CEO, Lazard
James A. Johnson, Chairman, Johnson Capital Partners
Thomas J. Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board, Swiss National Bank
Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co. LLC
Robert D. Kaplan, Chief Geopolitical Analyst, Stratfor
Alex Karp, Founder and CEO, Palantir Technologies
John Kerr, Independent Member, House of Lords
Henry A. Kissinger, Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.
Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and CEO, Alcoa
Klaas H.W. Knot, President, De Nederlandsche Bank
Mustafa V Koç,. Chairman, Koç Holding A.S.
Roland Koch, CEO, Bilfinger SE
Henry R. Kravis, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Marie-Josée Kravis, Senior Fellow and Vice Chair, Hudson Institute
André Kudelski, Chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group
Ulysses Kyriacopoulos, Chairman, S&B Industrial Minerals S.A.
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
J. Kurt Lauk, Chairman of the Economic Council to the CDU, Berlin
Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership, Harvard Law School
Thomas Leysen, Chairman of the Board of Directors, KBC Group
Christian Lindner, Party Leader, Free Democratic Party (FDP NRW)
Stefan Löfven, Party Leader, Social Democratic Party (SAP)
Peter Löscher, President and CEO, Siemens AG
Peter Mandelson, Chairman, Global Counsel; Chairman, Lazard International
Jessica T. Mathews, President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Frank McKenna, Chair, Brookfield Asset Management
John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
Thierry de Montbrial, President, French Institute for International Relations
Mario Monti, Former Italian Prime Minister
Craig J. Mundie, Senior Advisor to the CEO, Microsoft Corporation
Alberto Nagel, CEO, Mediobanca
H.R.H. Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands
Andrew Y.Ng, Co-Founder, Coursera
Jorma Ollila, Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell, plc
David Omand, Visiting Professor, King's College London
George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Emanuele Ottolenghi, Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Soli Özel, Senior Lecturer, Kadir Has University; Columnist, Habertürk Newspaper
Alexis Papahelas, Executive Editor, Kathimerini Newspaper
Şafak Pavey, Turkish MP
Valérie Pécresse, French MP
Richard N. Perle, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
David H. Petraeus, General, U.S. Army (Retired)
Paulo Portas, Portugal Minister of State and Foreign Affairs
J. Robert S Prichard, Chair, Torys LLP
Viviane Reding, Vice President and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, European Commission
Heather M. Reisman, CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc.
Hélène Rey, Professor of Economics, London Business School
Simon Robertson, Partner, Robertson Robey Associates LLP; Deputy Chairman, HSBC Holdings
Gianfelice Rocca, Chairman,Techint Group
Jacek Rostowski, Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister
Robert E. Rubin, Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the Treasury
Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister
Andreas Schieder, Austrian State Secretary of Finance
Eric E. Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google Inc.
Rudolf Scholten, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG
António José Seguro, Secretary General, Portuguese Socialist Party
Jean-Dominique Senard, CEO, Michelin Group
Kristin Skogen Lund, Director General, Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise
Anne-Marie Slaughter, Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University
Peter D. Sutherland, Chairman, Goldman Sachs International
Martin Taylor, Former Chairman, Syngenta AG
Tidjane Thiam, Group CEO, Prudential plc
Peter A. Thiel, President, Thiel Capital
Craig B. Thompson, President and CEO, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Jakob Haldor Topsøe, Partner, AMBROX Capital A/S
Jutta Urpilainen, Finnish Minister of Finance
Daniel L. Vasella, Honorary Chairman, Novartis AG
Peter R. Voser, CEO, Royal Dutch Shell plc
Brad Wall, Premier of Saskatchewan Province, Canada
Jacob Wallenberg, Chairman, Investor AB
Kevin Warsh, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Galen G.Weston, Executive Chairman, Loblaw Companies Limited
Baroness Williams of Crosby, Member, House of Lords
Martin H. Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, The Financial Times
James D. Wolfensohn, Chairman and CEO, Wolfensohn and Company
David Wright, Vice Chairman, Barclays plc
Robert B. Zoellick, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10095943/Osborne-Clarke-and-Balls-to-attend-Bilderberg-Group-meeting.html

[marektysis]

George Osborne and his Labour shadow, Ed Balls, are on a list of those attending this week's UK summit of the secretive Bilderberg group alongside the heads of Amazon and Google, both of which are under unprecedented political pressure over their companies' aggressive tax avoidance policies.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and chief executive, and Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, will rub shoulders with dozens of other figures from the global political and financial elite at the annual four-day meeting of the organisation, this year held near Watford. The group's lack of transparency has long caused critics to characterise it as a secretive cabal.

A list of about 140 participants, made up almost overwhelmingly of white males but described as "a diverse group of political leaders and experts from industry", was published on Monday by the organisation. It included only 14 women. The organisation said that those attending the summit at the Grove hotel would discuss topics including "jobs, entitlement and debt", "how big data is changing almost everything" and "can the US and Europe grow faster and create jobs?"

The list of 12 topics provided in a short press release also included, simply, "current affairs". It added: "The conference has always been a forum for informal, off-the-record discussions about megatrends and the major issues facing the world."

"Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights. There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued."

Attenders from financial backgrounds include Marcus Agius, the former chairman of Barclays who quit the post in the wake of the Libor interbank lending rate scandal, as well as Douglas J Flint, group chairman of HSBC Holdings plc, which was hit with a $1.9bn (£1.25bn) fine last December over allegations it had acted as banker for rogue states, terrorists and drug lords.

Peter Sutherland, the chairman of Goldman Sachs International, and Michael J Evans, vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs & Co, are the participants from the investment banking giant whose involvement in the sale of high-risk mortgage related investments has borne much of the blame for causing the 2008 global financial crisis.

As well as Balls and Osborne, other Britons attending include the Tory MP and minister Ken Clarke, and the former Labour MP and minister Peter Mandelson, who is listed as attending in his capacity as chairman of his strategic advice consultancy, Global Counsel, and as chairman of Lazard International, an investment bank.

This year's meeting of the group, which first met 1954 with the aim of shoring up US-European relations in the cold war years, will attract scrutiny from the media along with, as usual, a small army of individuals harbouring a range of theories about what is really discussed behind the event's closed doors. This year's summit coincides in the UK with the outbreak of a fresh scandal over lobbying and calls for a statutory register of lobbyists.

A small number of journalists have received precious invitations to go behind the curtain. This year they include Martin Wolff of the Financial Times, the newspaper's chief economics commentator, John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of the Economist, as well as a number of others including Lilli Gruber, an anchorwoman at the privately owned Italian television channel, La 7 TV, Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, a columnist at Turkey's Milliyet newspaper

Veteran participants include Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state, and Lord Carrington, the former Conservative politician and foreign secretary.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/03/bilderberg-guest-list-osborne-balls

[marektysis]

http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/10460651.Police_to_use_anti_terror_laws_and_no_fly_zone_to_secure_Bilderberg_conference/

OS
Police to use anti-terror laws and no-fly zone to secure Bilderberg Group conference at The Grove hotel, Watford

12:06am Tuesday 4th June 2013 in News By Mike Wright, Chief Reporter

Anti-terrorism legislation and a no-fly zone will be used to secure the Bilderberg Group's meeting at The Grove hotel.

Senior Hertfordshire police officers told Watford residents the measures were being used as a precaution as there was no intelligence about a specific threat.

However at a public meeting this evening officers also said the public had been kept in the dark about the event until recently due to fears it could become a terror target.

Watford Chief Inspector, Nick Caveney, said: "There is no information regarding a terrorism threat.



"However it must be recognised that there will be a number of high-profile people involved in going to this event and with previous terrorist events we have had not intel that something would happen.

"That was the reason it was not appropriate for us to be speaking and recognising publicly that the event was going on."

Officers also told residents at the meeting at Watford Town Hall they were confident Hertfordshire taxpayers would not have to shoulder the cost of the Bilderberg security operation.

Inspector Dave Rhodes confirmed the Bilderberg Group had made a donation to the policing cost of its forthcoming three-day conference at The Grove Hotel.


Yet officers declined to divulge the exact amount, saying it would be available through the Freedom of Information Act after the event.

Chief Inspector Rhodes said: "I am confident the operation will be cost neutral for the taxpayers of Hertfordshire. A donation has been made by the organisers of the conference.

"That is a private amount not to be disclosed at this stage. We don't know how much the operation will cost at this stage."

His comments came as Hertfordshire Constabulary moved to allay fears of residents in about the impact of the Bilderberg Group's meeting, which starts on Thursday, and the protests it is likely to attract.

The Bilderberg Group has been meeting secretly every year since 1954 and draws leading politicians, businessmen as well as journalists and academics to discuss pressing geo-political issues of the day.

In recent years its meetings have attracted a growing number of demonstrators who see its activities as a threat to open democracy.

At this year's meeting UK figures such as chancellor George Osborne, shadow chancellor Ed Balls and cabinet minister Ken Clarke are set to spend three days with representatives from mulit-national corporations such as Goldman Sachs, Amazon and Google.

At today's meeting police played down reports that the number of protesters converging on Watford could be in the hundreds or thousands.

Chief Inspector Rhodes said reports from the constabulary's US counterparts at Fairfax County Police, who had overseen last year's Bilderberg protest in Chantilly, Virginia, indicated fewer than 100 protesters had come from outside the area.

He said most demonstrators appeared to have come locally and been motivated by an anti-cut and anti-austerity agenda.

At the meeting, local politicians and residents of old Hempstead Road voiced displeasure that they had only recently learned that their road was set to be used for parking for Bilderberg demonstrators.

They were assured by police that the main protest would take place in the designated area in the grounds of The Grove.

The attendees also heard from Bilderberg protest organisers. Hannah Borno, a journalist involved with organising the Bilderberg Fringe Festival, told the meeting she had attended previous protests and they had been safe, peaceful affairs.

She added: "It is about transparency. They have released the list today and Ken Clarke, George Osborne and Ed Balls will be with Peter Sutherland of Goldman Sachs and the vice chairman of Barclays and HSBC in a luxury hotel for three days.

"We want our politics to be disentangled from business".

[marektysis]

Do you Bilderberg? Or rather, do you know Bilderberg? Nope? Well given the dark cloak of secrecy shrouding the shadowy annual conflab don't feel bad for not getting the memo. For the uninitiated, each year the world's elite bankers, royalty, parliamentarians and CEOs self-imprison themselves in some of the most luxurious hotels in the world for a weekend of, well, who knows...?

This year - this Thursday in fact - the Bilderberg Group is descending upon a small corner of Watford and will be holing themselves up at the plush Grove hotel. Not letting the fact my invitation was clearly lost in the post get me down, I will be blogging each day from the site to deliver gossip fresh from the Grove gates.

Now whilst they'd have us believe Bilderberg is just a jolly holiday constituting a few golf rounds, some hardcore breeze-shooting and most certainly hotel suite one-upmanship, the water-tight security, zero accountability and nebulous agenda could suggest it's a shade more serious than that. Indeed, local residents nearby the Grove will be forced into flashing their passports to police simply to access their homes. That's some pretty sticky red tape for an apparently, "small, flexible, informal and off-the-record international forum." A consortium so clandestine it makes Freemasonry look like Watford Lions Club.

So which technocrats can we expect at the mega-summit in 2013? Only one thing's assured: hardened Bilderberg veterans with a side order of young whipper-snappers. Each year the old guard (Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller, Queen Beatrix of Holland) woo increasingly more young blood into the warmth of the Bilderbosom. Recent years saw the appearance of Google chairman, Eric Schmidt, PayPal's Peter Thiel, LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman and Facebook co-founder, Chris Hughes at the Bilderparty.

Reading like a who's-who of international capitalism, the 150 strong delegate list is always revealed pre-conference for our delectation. Representing Team GB in 2013 is George Osbourne, Ed Balls, Peter Mandelson, Ken Clarke, Barclays chairman, Marcus Agius, BP CEO, Robert Dudley and John Micklethwait, editor of the Economist. Mandelson is a regular and and Clarke is on the steering committee.

It was revealed last week who will be footing the mammoth security bill for this off-the-record meeting. Why it's us of course! Oh the irony of the uber-elite scratching around in the Great Unwashed's public purse to secure their weekend sojourn. An uber-elite whose combined wealth hasn't been witnessed in Watford since Elton John threw the last Watford FC Christmas bash. Probably.

As people have awakened to the hush-hush conference's existence, thousands of concerned citizens and activists will be flying in from all corners of the world to peacefully express their concern at Bilderberg this Thursday. The meeting's unaccountability only serves to fuel speculation that (contrary to the 'innocent meeting' spin) Bilderberg is potentially used to steer geo-political policy. It is this fundamental gripe which underpins the pro-transparency protestors' ire.

For the first time ever, 2013 welcomes the Bilderberg Fringe, an event within the grounds of the Grove which will showcase international speakers, acoustic music and spoken word. The application for a license to hold a larger festival at Cassiobury Park was rejected by local authorities. The Fringe will also play host to the first ever press area at Bilderberg.

What implications does Bilderberg have for global governance? We will likely never know for sure. This weekend, however, promises to be a frenzy of activity with activists, media and photographers clamouring to play Spot The Delegate as they zip by in a cavalcade of armoured vehicles.

If you want live Twitter updates from the Bilderberg circus and beyond follow me @EllenGraceJones as well as @Bilderberg_2013. For more information about the Bilderberg Fringe visit www.bilderbergfringefestival.co.uk

Follow Ellen Grace Jones on Twitter: www.twitter.com/EllenGraceJones

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ellen-grace-jones/bilderberg-2013-countdown_b_3375541.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

[marektysis]

In a world where anyone who’s willing to pay can attend the World Economic Forum, where are the global elite supposed to gather and discuss matters too private for the 2,630 who gather in Davos, Switzerland? One answer is the Bilderberg Meeting, which starts Thursday at an undisclosed location in Hertfordshire, a county in southern England.

Originally established in 1954 and named for the hotel in which the first gathering occured, Bilderberg is held annually with little fanfare, intense secrecy, and high security. The stated mission is to “foster dialogue between Europe and North America.”

It was only recently that the Bilderberg Group, which organizes the meeting, released details about the event to the public. The organization recently posted a list of this year’s 138 attendees along with ”key topics for discussion,” which include “How big data is changing almost everything” and “Online education: promise and impacts.”

Attending this year’s meeting is a rarefied set of current and former executives, academics, and government officials: Klaus Kleinfeld, chairman and CEO of Alcoa; Mario Monti, former prime minister of Italy; Tim Geithner, former US Treasury secretary; to name a few.

Twenty-three financial institutions are represented, including Goldman Sachs (through its chairman Peter Sutherland), Thiel Capital (founder Peter Theil), and Lazard (CEO Kenneth Jacobs). Henry Kravis, co-founder of private equity firm KKR, is listed, as well.

From media, John Micklethwait the Economist’s editor-in-chief, is attending. So are Washington Post Co. CEO Donald Graham, Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf, and Grupo PRISA executive chairman Juan Luis Cebrián.

There are three attendees from Harvard University, two from Stanford, and one from both Oxford and Princeton.

Bilderberg Group says it only invites delegates from North America and Europe. That evidently includes Turkey, which has six attendees this year, according to our analysis.

The exclusion of other areas of the world means that the discussion of “Developments in the Middle East” will go forward next weekend with Turkish delegates as the only Middle Eastern voices. “Africa’s challenges” will be discussed without anyone from that continent. And “Cyber warfare and the proliferation of asymmetric threats” will be debated without a Chinese or Russian viewpoint.

http://qz.com/90335/everyone-whos-attending-bilderberg-the-worlds-most-elite-conference/

[marektysis]

REGINA — Premier Brad Wall will attend high-powered meetings of world government and business leaders known for their tight secrecy, his officials announced Monday.

“It’s an honour for me to be invited and I think it’s good for the province, too,” the premier said of attending the exclusive Bilderberg conference that begins Thursday in Hertfordshire, England.

The conference’s website says it was founded in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America, describing it as a forum for informal, off-the-record discussions about global issues.

However, some conspiracy theorists have questioned the group’s actions because of its secrecy. Wall acknowledges he won’t be able to discuss specific details from the meeting. But the premier said that’s why the Sask. Party is paying for the trip, not taxpayers.

“In terms of the controversy, I think they’re dealing with that to some extent. A lot of it’s been about there not being any awareness of what the nature of the discussion was or who was attending and I think today the Bilderberg group has released both — all of the attendees and then also the topics for discussion,” Wall said.

The conference’s website says key topics for discussion this year include job growth, cyber warfare and politics within the European Union.

Wall said the group of politicians attending “represents the entire political spectrum.” That takes the edge off the conspiracy theories, he suggested.

The premier speculated he was invited due to Saskatchewan’s strong economy and perhaps due to the failed takeover of PotashCorp by BHP Billiton putting the province on the world map. The list of people with whom he will rub shoulders is impressive.

“It’s very daunting. It absolutely is. It’s quite a list of people, but you know Saskatchewan, there’s growing interest in our province around the world based on the things that we have to offer and what’s been happening here lately. So, I’m going to take the chance to tell that story a little bit,” Wall said.

Other guests at the invitation-only conference include Nobel Peace Prize winner and former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger. Wall said he wants to chat with Kissinger about relationships with China because Saskatchewan has a growing interest in trade with that region.

“This is obviously a very important market for us and I’m looking forward to talking to him if I can about his views and what he thinks is going to happen with respect to that country in years ahead,” Wall said.

The premier said all of the attendees are interesting people and he looks forward to talking to them, particularly about some of the other markets around the world with which Saskatchewan is newly involved.

“I’m obviously interested in politics and the economy and this is a list of leaders in that respect from all over the world,” Wall said.

“There’s just such a long list of people. It will be a good learning experience and it’s a humbling thing to be invited. I’m looking forward to going and I’m going to try to remember that it’s a great chance also to promote the province.”

Only a handful of Canadian premiers have ever been invited to the conference, Wall said.

Alberta Premier Alison Redford attended the Bilderberg conference last year. Redford said at the time that she was going to meet with top policy leaders about the economy and the ecological challenges of developing natural resources in a responsible way.

Redford faced criticism from the Opposition for the $19,000 trip. Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith said it served only to beef up Redford’s resume.

jcouture@thestarphoenix.com

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Wall+attend+secretive+Bilderberg+meetings/8473473/story.html#ixzz2VHZ7IvEw
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR EDUCATION PURPOSES FOR LIMITED GROUPS

[marektysis]

The official list of delegates to the secretive Bilderberg Group meeting, being held outside London, has been published and, monstrous conspiracy theories aside, it has the musty whiff of the late 20th century about it.

It is dominated by middle-aged and elderly white men, with Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, leading the tiny coterie of women that can now pass muster among the financial and political elite. Tidjane Thiam, CEO of insurance giant Prudential, will probably be the only black face there.

Having just turned 90, the éminence grise of the hoedown in Hertfordshire is Henry Kissinger, the controversial former US secretary of state. President Nixon's former global enforcer who ordered the ravaging of Cambodia and propped up many a nasty Latin American junta has Dr Strangelove status among the conspiracy theorists.

Not surprisingly, the "banksters" are over-represented with Goldman Sachs, aka the Great Vampire Squid, providing two of its top viceroys - vice-chairman Michael Evans and Peter Sutherland, chairman of Goldman Sachs International.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/474529/20130604/bilderberg-2013-conspiracy-watford-lizard.htm

[marektysis]

The Premier of Saskatchewan and the heads of TD Bank, Indigo Books and Loblaws are among half a dozen Canadians who will attend this year’s exclusive Bilderberg conference.

The invitation-only gathering has released a list of expected participants.

Six are identified as Canadians:

TD Bank CEO Edmund Clark;
Brookfield Asset Management chairman Frank McKenna, a former New Brunswick premier and ambassador to the U.S., who is also deputy chairman at TD Bank Group;
Robert Prichard, the chairman of the Torys law firm;
Indigo Books CEO Heather Reisman;
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall;
Loblaws CEO Galen Weston.
Another person listed as an American, economist Marie-Josée Kravis, is from Montreal.

They will mingle with the likes of International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde, British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, Google chairman Eric Schmidt, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, retired U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger or retired American general David Petraeus, a former CIA director.

This year’s gathering of 140 participants is scheduled to begin Thursday at a five-star hotel in Hertfordshire, England, The Grove in Watford.

The private annual conference of leaders and experts started in 1954.

Mr. Clark and Ms. Reisman are current members of the Bilderberg’s steering committee, which drafts the conference's program and selects participants.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/bilderberg-group-reveals-exclusive-guest-list-includes-sask-premier-brad-wall/article12358376/

[marektysis]

Noonan won’t be attending Bilderberg (but Sutherland will…)

Politicians and business leaders are gathering for the world’s most high-profile networking event. The minister has other plans.

FORMER IRISH ATTORNEYS General Peter Sutherland and Paul Gallagher will join the likes of Henry Kissinger and British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne at the annual summit of the highly-secretive Bilderberg Group tomorrow.
A list of around 140 participants has been released ahead of the four-day conference, which begins tomorrow at a hotel resort in Watford – some 30km outside London.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan – who attended the event last year – isn’t on this year’s list. A spokesperson for the Department told TheJournal.ie the minister had a full day of meetings scheduled in Dublin.
Other high profile attendees this year include Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, and José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission.
Meetings of the group – which has long been a favoured topic of conspiracy theorists – have been held every almost every year since 1954.
The original summit, at the Hotel Bilderderberg in the Netherlands, was organised with the stated aim of fostering closer economic and political ties between the US and Europe.

File picture of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger – a veteran attendee of Bilderberg (Image: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland)
A short press release on this year’s meeting says a wide range of issues will be discussed by a ‘diverse group of political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media’.
The agenda lists topics like ‘cyber warfare and the proliferation of asymmetric threats’ and ‘major trends in medical research’ – alongside less specific subjects like, simply ‘current affairs’.
The group says the annual conference “has always been a forum for informal, off-the-record discussions about megatrends and the major issues facing the world”.
Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights.
The secretive nature of the Bilderberg meetings – and the elite nature of the guestlist- means they’ve long been the subject of criticism.
Some groups have accused the organisation of being – at best – a mostly white, mostly male networking opportunity. Right-wing critics have accused it of attempting to promote a world government.
Perhaps the most bizarre claim in regard to the group, made by former BBC sports presenter David Icke, is that the majority of participants are, in fact, “inter-stellar reptilian humanoids”.
The conspiracy theorist, who now makes a living from his books and lectures, has claimed that the Bilderberg Group – along with the IMF and the UN – have a goal of achieving world domination by micro-chipping the world’s population.
Revealed: Real life behind the scenes at the secretive Bilderberg conference >

Read: What are the Bilderberg meetings – and what’s Michael Noonan doing there? >

http://www.thejournal.ie/bilderberg-group-michael-noonan-937791-Jun2013/

[marektysis]

Bilderberg's Glamour and Secrecy Comes to the UK
Text Size

Published: Wednesday, 5 Jun 2013 | 4:34 AM ET
By: Kiran Moodley, special to CNBC.com

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (R) and shadow chancellor Ed Balls
As Britain's Queen celebrates 60 years since her coronation, another formidable bastion of power and dominance passes its own Diamond Jubilee: the Bilderberg Group meets in Watford, U.K. this week for the 61st time.

The annual conference will see around 140 political leaders and experts from other fields - industry, finance, academia and the media - partake in secretive and informal discussions about the matters of the day. Two-thirds of the guests are from Europe; the rest from North America.

This year's areas of interest include nationalism and populism, Africa's challenges, cyber warfare, politics of the EU and, somewhat in keeping with everything above, "current affairs."

(Read More: Rich, Famous and Powerful Converge at Bilderberg 2011)

What is said or agreed upon regarding any of these areas will not be disseminated, so do not expect a coherent new agenda for the EU: the Bilderberg Group's allure comes from it being the ultimate networking opportunity without any strings attached.

Individuals can be candid without fear of reprisal. As the group's website states, "Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights. There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued."

This will come as a relief for many of this year's participants.

As the U.K. deals with a parliamentary lobbying scandal, the country's chancellor and shadow chancellor, George Osborne and Ed Balls respectively, might be glad of the secrecy surrounding their conversations with the heads of Barclays, McKinsey & Company, BP, Goldman Sachs & Co. and HSBC, to name a few.

Furthermore, with both Google's Eric Schmidt and Amazon's Jeff Bezos in attendance, Osborne and Balls may well attempt to use one of the soirees during the three-day event to persuade the tech giants to pay more corporation tax.

(Read More: Tax Evasion Dangerous for Europe: Schulz)

Other guests include recent birthday boy Henry Kissinger, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, General David Petraeus, former US Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti.

The secretive nature of Bilderberg has meant it has always had its critics, with those on the left accusing it of being a capitalist conspiracy, and others seeing it as an attempt to create a planned, world economy.

British MP Michael Meacher, for example, told The Guardian newspaper that Bilderberg was "an anti-democratic cabal of the leaders of western market capitalism meeting in private to maintain their own power and influence outside the reach of public scrutiny."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100790677