The Bilderberg Group: Are They a Shadow Government?

"Down The Drain"
Infrared color slide
Photograph by Gilbert Mercier
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By clicking on the title you will get a partial list of the members of the Bilderberg Group.

First of all, and for the sake of full disclosure, I am a rationalist. For this very reason, I put in question most allegations made by conspiracy theorists concerning the take over of world affairs by the "Illuminati " in a so called "New World Order".

However, I have to admit that the very existence of secretive organizations such as the Bilderberg Group is troubling to say the least.

I have done research about them for quite sometime, and it is very hard to come up with anything that is not trivial information.

The group was founded in 1954, and has being holding an annual meeting ever since. They are currently ( from the 14th to the 16th of May) holding their annual meeting in Greece. This year, 130 members are rumored to be in attendance.

They were composed originally of 2/3 Europeans & 1/3 Americans. Their official agenda was to " facilitate relations between Europe and the US, both in the private & public sectors". When you take a look at the Bilderberg's members list you might realize that the conspiracy theorists might be into something very real. They are formers head of states ( Bill Clinton), politicians (Tom Daschle, Jim Dodd), financial world leaders ( George Soros, Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Larry Summers, David Rockefeller, Melinda Gates) and for good measure a few journalists( Bill Krystol, Charlie Rose & Bill Moyer). Last but not least a few Neocons( Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz), and of course the "godfather" of the group Henry Kissinger.

What does this very eclectic group of people have in common?Obviously, not common political opinions, but only two things wealth & power. This really seems to be the only requirement to be a member of the "club". We shouldn't really care that much about who they are but more what they talk about, and what kind of agenda they have.

This is precisely the problem that I have with the Bilderberg Group. Their agenda is unknown to the common man, for one reason: they don't let the press report on their activities. Further, they don't even have a web site. As they meet today & tomorrow, no outsider has a clue on what is on this year's agenda.

What I do know, is that the world affairs' "luminaries" should do their Mea Culpa, have dry bread and water on the menu instead of Champagne & caviar and ask themselves a very simple question: Why were we so stupid in not seeing the global financial meltdown on the horizon?

Conspiracy theorists think and say that the collapse was planned by the very same people( Illuminati, Bilderberg Group etc). I think it is a ludicrous argument; for one simple reason. The wealthy & powerful benefited from the Status Quo. For this very reason, I don't think the crash was planned. The "geniuses" from the Bilderberg Group and other "Masters of the Universe" were caught by surprise. They didn't plan a global crisis to impose a new world order, the elite is just not as smart as a lot of people (including themselves) think that they are.

What the group, composed mainly of elderly men ( and a few token women), should do instead of trying to solve the problems of the Universe (by assuming that they have a superior understanding of it) is to play Bingo instead. It is a lot more appropriate for their demographic.

Got FEMA Camps?

News-Orleans post Katrina
Photo by Gilbert Mercier
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We all know the rumors about the FEMA camps. The topic is the main course of Glen Beck's "news" regimen on Fox News. Beck is far from being alone, his company includes conspiracy theorists denouncing an imminent "New World Order".

First this is the claim, in a summarized version: " There is a plan to declare martial law in the very near future. Americans will be rounded up, taken to these internment camps, exterminated or reprogrammed and given an identifying mark or RFID chip implant. Then they would be released into the New world Order using the US armed forces and the UN military for the purpose of population control. "

This is my reader's digest version of what you can find on countless web sites dedicated to FEMA camps & the new world order.

What strikes me is the strange similarity in the descriptions of the " FEMA camps" with Hitler's concentration camps. Hitler's plan for a new world order ( in conjunction with Japan & Italy) was very real and utterly insane. However, it didn't work back then. I don't see any logical reasons why it could have a better chance to work in present time.

In recent US history, Bush had the perfect twisted mind set and quasi dictatorial powers(with the Patriot Act etc) to implement such a "plan", and he did not. That would have confirmed that the rational for the FEMA camps claim is very thin, to say the least.

In New-Orleans post Katrina, I saw first hand how poorly organized and ineffective FEMA truly was. Trust me, they are no Waffen SS in the making. How could they implement a "final solution" when it took them forever to get trailers and basic help to the people who needed them?

I think what the claim of the "FEMA camps" is about keeping some people ( on the extreme right & the extreme left) in a constant state of fear & paranoia. This climate makes some of these people buy guns and ammunition, and that should be a lot more of a concern for all of us than the so called "FEMA camps".