BradLohaus
06-06-2008, 07:53 PM
I've never heard of them releasing a statement like this before, not to mention the list of paticipants. It's a far cry from when its very existence was denied - by the same media that was represented at the meeting, of course.
Bilderberg Announces 2008 Conference
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080605/20080605006246.html?.v=1
CHANTILLY, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 56th Bilderberg Meeting will be held in Chantilly, Virginia, USA 5 – 8 June 2008. The Conference will deal mainly with a nuclear free world, cyber terrorism, Africa, Russia, finance, protectionism, US-EU relations, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Islam and Iran. Approximately 140 participants will attend, of whom about two-thirds come from Europe and the balance from North America. About one-third is from government and politics, and two-thirds are from finance, industry, labor, education and communications. The meeting is private in order to encourage frank and open discussion.
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Bilderberg takes its name from the hotel in Holland, where the first meeting took place in May 1954. That pioneering meeting grew out of the concern expressed by leading citizens on both sides of the Atlantic that Western Europe and North America were not working together as closely as they should on common problems of critical importance. It was felt that regular, off-the-record discussions would help create a better understanding of the complex forces and major trends affecting Western nations in the difficult post-war period. The Cold War has now ended. But in practically all respects, there are more, not fewer, common problems - from trade to jobs, from monetary policy to investment, from ecological challenges to the task of promoting international security. It is hard to think of any major issue in either Europe or North America whose unilateral solution would not have repercussions for the other. Thus the concept of a European-American forum has not been overtaken by time. The dialogue between these two regions is still - even increasingly - critical.
What is unique about Bilderberg as a forum, is the broad cross-section of leading citizens that are assembled for nearly three days of informal and off-the-record discussion about topics of current concern especially in the fields of foreign affairs and the international economy; the strong feeling among participants that in view of the differing attitudes and experiences of the Western nations, there remains a clear need to further develop an understanding in which these concerns can be accommodated; the privacy of the meetings, which has no purpose other than to allow participants to speak their minds openly and freely. In short, Bilderberg is a small, flexible, informal and off-the-record international forum in which different viewpoints can be expressed and mutual understanding enhanced.
Bilderberg's only activity is its annual Conference. At the meetings, no resolutions are proposed, no votes taken, and no policy statements issued. Since 1954, fifty-five conferences have been held. The names of the participants are made available to the press. Participants are chosen for their experience, their knowledge, and their standing; all participants attend Bilderberg in a private and not an official capacity.
There will be no press conference. A list of participants is available by phone request at 703-818-3647 between 9am-5pm EDT June 6-7, 2008.
Contact:
American Friends of Bilderberg
Steven Lee, 703-818-3647
BradLohaus
06-06-2008, 07:55 PM
Official 2008 Bilderberg Participant List
BILDERBERG MEETING
Chantilly, Virginia, USA
5-8 June 2008
CURRENT LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
Honorary Chairman
BEL "Davignon, Etienne" "Vice Chairman, Suez-Tractebel"
DEU "Ackermann, Josef" "Chairman of the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee, Deutsche Bank AG"
CAN "Adams, John" Associate Deputy Minister of National Defence and Chief of the Communications Security Establishment Canada
USA "Ajami, Fouad" "Director, Middle East Studies Program, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University"
USA "Alexander, Keith B." "Director, National Security Agency"
INT "Almunia, Joaquín " "Commissioner, European Commission"
GRC "Alogoskoufis, George" Minister of Economy and Finance
USA "Altman, Roger C." "Chairman, Evercore Partners Inc."
TUR "Babacan, Ali " Minister of Foreign Affairs
NLD "Balkenende, Jan Peter" Prime Minister
PRT "Balsemão, Francisco Pinto" "Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.; Former Prime Minister"
FRA "Baverez, Nicolas" "Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP"
ITA "Bernabè, Franco" "CEO, Telecom Italia Spa"
USA "Bernanke, Ben S." "Chairman, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System"
SWE "Bildt, Carl" Minister of Foreign Affairs
FIN "Blåfield, Antti " "Senior Editorial Writer, Helsingin Sanomat"
DNK "Bosse, Stine" "CEO, TrygVesta"
CAN "Brodie, Ian " "Chief of Staff, Prime Minister's Office"
AUT "Bronner, Oscar" "Publisher and Editor, Der Standard"
FRA "Castries, Henri de " "Chairman of the Management Board and CEO, AXA"
ESP "Cebrián, Juan Luis" "CEO, PRISA"
CAN "Clark, Edmund" "President and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group"
GBR "Clarke, Kenneth" Member of Parliament
NOR "Clemet, Kristin" "Managing Director, Civita"
USA "Collins, Timothy C." "Senior Managing Director and CEO, Ripplewood Holdings, LLC"
FRA "Collomb, Bertrand" "Honorary Chairman, Lafarge"
PRT "Costa, António" Mayor of Lisbon
USA "Crocker, Chester A." James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies
USA "Daschle, Thomas A." Former US Senator and Senate Majority Leader
CAN "Desmarais, Jr., Paul " "Chairman and co-CEO, Power Corporation of Canada"
GRC "Diamantopoulou, Anna" Member of Parliament
USA "Donilon, Thomas E." "Partner, O'Melveny & Myers"
ITA "Draghi, Mario" "Governor, Banca d'Italia"
AUT "Ederer, Brigitte" "CEO, Siemens AG Österreich"
CAN "Edwards, N. Murray " "Vice Chairman, Candian Natural Resources Limited"
DNK "Eldrup, Anders " "President, DONG A/S"
ITA "Elkann, John" "Vice Chairman, Fiat S.p.A."
USA "Farah, Martha J." "Director, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience; Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Natural Sciences, University of Pennsylvania"
USA "Feldstein, Martin S." "President and CEO, National Bureau of Economic Research"
DEU "Fischer, Joschka" Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
USA "Ford, Jr., Harold E." "Vice Chairman, Merill Lynch & Co., Inc."
CHE "Forstmoser, Peter" "Professor for Civil, Corporation and Capital Markets Law, University of Zürich"
IRL "Gallagher, Paul " Attorney General
USA "Geithner, Timothy F. " "President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of New York"
USA "Gigot, Paul " "Editorial Page Editor, The Wall Street Journal"
IRL "Gleeson, Dermot " "Chairman, AIB Group"
NLD "Goddijn, Harold" "CEO, TomTom"
TUR "Gögüs, Zeynep " "Journalist; Founder, EurActiv.com.tr"
USA "Graham, Donald E." "Chairman and CEO, The Washington Post Company"
NLD "Halberstadt, Victor" "Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings"
USA "Holbrooke, Richard C. " "Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC"
FIN "Honkapohja, Seppo" "Member of the Board, Bank of Finland"
INT "Hoop Scheffer, Jaap G. de" "Secretary General, NATO"
USA "Hubbard, Allan B." "Chairman, E & A Industries, Inc."
BEL "Huyghebaert, Jan" "Chairman of the Board of Directors, KBC Group"
DEU "Ischinger, Wolfgang" Former Ambassador to the UK and US
USA "Jacobs, Kenneth" "Deputy Chairman, Head of Lazard U.S., Lazard Frères & Co. LLC"
USA "Johnson, James A." "Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC" (Obama's man tasked with selecting his running mate)
SWE "Johnstone, Tom " "President and CEO, AB SKF"
USA "Jordan, Jr., Vernon E." "Senior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC"
FRA "Jouyet, Jean-Pierre " Minister of European Affairs
GBR "Kerr, John " "Member, House of Lords; Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc."
USA "Kissinger, Henry A." "Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc."
DEU "Klaeden, Eckart von" "Foreign Policy Spokesman, CDU/CSU"
USA "Kleinfeld, Klaus" "President and COO, Alcoa"
TUR "Koç, Mustafa " "Chairman, Koç Holding A.S."
FRA "Kodmani, Bassma" "Director, Arab Reform Initiative"
USA "Kravis, Henry R." "Founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co."
USA "Kravis, Marie-Josée" "Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Inc."
INT "Kroes, Neelie " "Commissioner, European Commission"
POL "Kwasniewski, Aleksander " Former President
AUT "Leitner, Wolfgang" "CEO, Andritz AG"
ESP "León Gross, Bernardino" "Secretary General, Office of the Prime Minister"
INT "Mandelson, Peter" "Commissioner, European Commission"
FRA "Margerie, Christophe de" "CEO, Total"
CAN "Martin, Roger" "Dean, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto"
HUN "Martonyi, János" "Professor of International Trade Law; Partner, Baker & McKenzie; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs"
USA "Mathews, Jessica T. " "President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
INT "McCreevy, Charlie " "Commissioner, European Commission"
USA "McDonough, William J." "Vice Chairman and Special Advisor to the Chairman, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc."
CAN "McKenna, Frank" "Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group"
GBR "McKillop, Tom " "Chairman, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group"
FRA "Montbrial, Thierry de" "President, French Institute for International Relations"
ITA "Monti, Mario" "President, Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi"
USA "Mundie, Craig J. " "Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation"
NOR "Myklebust, Egil" "Former Chairman of the Board of Directors SAS, Norsk Hydro ASA"
DEU "Nass, Matthias" "Deputy Editor, Die Zeit"
NLD "Netherlands, H.M. the Queen of the"
FRA "Ockrent, Christine" "CEO, French television and radio world service"
FIN "Ollila, Jorma" "Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc"
SWE "Olofsson, Maud " Minister of Enterprise and Energy; Deputy Prime Minister
NLD "Orange, H.R.H. the Prince of"
GBR "Osborne, George" Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
TUR "Öztrak, Faik" Member of Parliament
ITA "Padoa-Schioppa, Tommaso " Former Minister of Finance; President of Notre Europe
GRC "Papahelas, Alexis" "Journalist, Kathimerini"
GRC "Papalexopoulos, Dimitris" "CEO, Titan Cement Co. S.A."
USA "Paulson, Jr., Henry M." Secretary of the Treasury
USA "Pearl, Frank H." "Chairman and CEO, Perseus, LLC"
USA "Perle, Richard N." "Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research"
FRA "Pérol, François" Deputy General Secretary in charge of Economic Affairs
DEU "Perthes, Volker" "Director, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik"
BEL "Philippe, H.R.H. Prince"
CAN "Prichard, J. Robert S." "President and CEO, Torstar Corporation"
CAN "Reisman, Heather M." "Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc."
USA "Rice, Condoleezza" Secretary of State
PRT "Rio, Rui " Mayor of Porto
USA "Rockefeller, David " "Former Chairman, Chase Manhattan Bank"
ESP "Rodriguez Inciarte, Matias" "Executive Vice Chairman, Grupo Santander"
USA "Rose, Charlie" "Producer, Rose Communications"
DNK "Rose, Flemming" "Editor, Jyllands Posten"
USA "Ross, Dennis B." "Counselor and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy"
USA "Rubin, Barnett R." "Director of Studies and Senior Fellow, Center for International Cooperation, New York University"
TUR "Sahenk, Ferit " "Chairman, Dogus Holding A.S."
USA "Sanford, Mark" Governor of South Carolina
USA "Schmidt, Eric" "Chairman of the Executive Committee and CEO, Google"
AUT "Scholten, Rudolf " "Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG"
DNK "Schur, Fritz H. " Fritz Schur Gruppen
CZE "Schwarzenberg, Karel " Minister of Foreign Affairs
USA "Sebelius, Kathleen" Governor of Kansas
USA "Shultz, George P." "Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University"
ESP "Spain, H.M. the Queen of"
CHE "Spillmann, Markus" "Editor-in-Chief and Head Managing Board, Neue Zürcher Zeitung AG"
USA "Summers, Lawrence H." "Charles W. Eliot Professor, Harvard University"
GBR "Taylor, J. Martin" "Chairman, Syngenta International AG"
USA "Thiel, Peter A." "President, Clarium Capital Management, LLC"
NLD "Timmermans, Frans " Minister of European Affairs
RUS "Trenin, Dmitri V." "Deputy Director and Senior Associate, Carnegie Moscow Center"
INT "Trichet, Jean-Claude" "President, European Central Bank"
USA "Vakil, Sanam" "Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University"
FRA "Valls, Manuel " Member of Parliament
GRC "Varvitsiotis, Thomas" "Co-Founder and President, V + O Communication"
CHE "Vasella, Daniel L." "Chairman and CEO, Novartis AG"
FIN "Väyrynen, Raimo" "Director, The Finnish Institute of International Affairs"
FRA "Védrine, Hubert" Hubert Védrine Conseil
NOR "Vollebaek, Knut" "High Commissioner on National Minorities, OSCE"
SWE "Wallenberg, Jacob" "Chairman, Investor AB"
USA "Weber, J. Vin" "CEO, Clark & Weinstock"
USA "Wolfensohn, James D. " "Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company, LLC"
USA "Wolfowitz, Paul " "Visiting Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research"
INT "Zoellick, Robert B. " "President, The World Bank Group"
Rapporteurs
GBR "Bredow, Vendeline von" "Business Correspondent, The Economist"
GBR "Wooldridge, Adrian D." "Foreign Correspondent, The Economist"
AUT Austria HUN Hungary
BEL Belgium INT International
CHE Switzerland IRL Ireland
CAN Canada ITA Italy
CZE Czech Republic NOR Norway
DEU Germany NLD Netherlands
DNK Denmark PRT Portugal
ESP Spain POL Poland
FRA France RUS Russia
FIN Finland SWE Sweden
GBR Great Britain TUR Turkey
GRC Greece USA United States of America
BradLohaus
06-09-2008, 11:04 PM
^Look at what they did to the Obama reporters.
Behind the Scenes: Obama press 'hijacked' during Clinton meeting
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/06/btsc.welch.obama.press/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- What seemed to be a routine evening waiting for Barack Obama aboard his campaign plane turned into anything but when the cabin doors closed and the passengers were informed the aircraft would be taking off immediately -- without the candidate.
The first sign something was amiss on the Thursday flight came when the pilot told those aboard -- about 25 members of the media, a smaller group of Obama staffers and only a handful of Secret Service agents -- that everyone was on board and that the plane would be departing for Obama's hometown of Chicago, Illinois, momentarily.
The press soon noticed there were far too few people aboard for a standard campaign flight. Something was different. It's fair to say that the term "everyone" was used a bit loosely -- especially when the presumptive nominee appeared to be missing.
As the plane taxied, communications director Robert Gibbs admitted that Obama was remaining behind because he "wasn't going to be back in D.C. for a while" and had "scheduled some meetings" before he left.
Obama staffers, including Gibbs and Linda Douglass, a newly appointed senior adviser and campaign spokeswoman, didn't ask the reporters on board if they'd prefer to wait on the runway in Washington until the meetings concluded. They were going to Chicago. Without Barack Obama.
"I'm not going to discuss what he's going to do tonight," Gibbs added before heading up to the front of the plane, moments before wheels up from Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
It was just after 9 p.m. -- just about the time, it is now known, Obama was sitting down to meet with Hillary Clinton. Watch Gibbs discuss the meeting »
For 45 minutes before departure, however, Obama's staffers gave the impression that everyone was waiting because Obama would arrive shortly.
With the plane sitting on the tarmac, staffers shot the breeze with members of the press as if nothing was amiss, though they later admitted they knew all along Obama wasn't coming.
One campaign aide said he asked not to be told what was going on so that he "wouldn't have to lie."
Asked later in the evening why the press was kept waiting there if they knew Obama wasn't coming, Gibbs said he "had two phone calls to make."
Once airborne, a timid and slightly giggly Gibbs granted the confused and agitated press corps a meeting, one that any eyewitness would have easily labeled contentious and heated. Watch the riled press corps grill Gibbs »
Gibbs took on a barrage of questions, and, to his credit, listened to what he called the "anticipated grievances" from the press for almost 20 minutes.
"He's having a secret meeting tonight, and we're not going to see him until Monday" because of three scheduled "down days," one reporter began. "I'd like to say that's unacceptable. He's the -- "
"Presumptive Democratic nominee?" Gibbs finished, adding a giggle. "Yeah."
Questions centered largely on why the press was essentially held hostage with no candidate and no choice but to fly to Chicago on a chartered plane -- a flight many news organizations pay thousands of dollars to keep their journalists stationed on, ideally with the candidate.
"We're not paying however much this plane is to be here -- no offense -- with you," one reporter said to Gibbs as the largely newsless news conference wrapped up.
When pressed, Gibbs admitted he was responsible for how the situation was handled.
"It wasn't an attempt to deceive in any way," he said. "It was just private meetings."
For the duration of the one-hour and 25-minute flight, Douglass remained out of sight at the head of the plane, leaving Gibbs the sole person on the record for the evening.
It wasn't until the aircraft was on the ground in Chicago that Gibbs conceded his candidate met with former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
He delivered no details of any substance from the meeting but said the two talked about "bringing the campaigns together in unity." He also said the rendezvous did not happen at Clinton's Washington home. He declined to say where it did happen.
Meanwhile, in Washington, CNN reporters joined others searching for the Obama-Clinton meeting. Tom Foreman reported from outside Clinton's home shortly after 10 p.m. that "there seems to be a certain buzz of activity here right now."
But the real buzz was just finishing up about that time in Sen. Dianne Feinstein's living room, where Obama and Clinton had talked alone for about an hour.
Two hours after the plane touched down in Chicago, Gibbs finally confirmed Obama's whereabouts, in an e-mail to some reporters at 12:15 a.m. "In the air -- hasn't landed," was the extent of the message.
By that point, a number of television outlets had already made their way to Obama's house, about a half-hour from downtown Chicago, to begin a stakeout process that remained under way late Friday afternoon and, pending any unexpected appearance from the senator, was likely to continue until he heads out on the campaign trail again Monday morning.
This happened Thursday and Obama didn't campaign again until Monday. Bilderberg met Thursday through Sunday.
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