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  • irishtimes.com - Posted: March 16, 2009 @ 11:01 am

    Who’s Behind the Conspiracy Theories?

    Deaglán de Bréadún

    When the world starts falling apart, the conspiracy theories flourish. It’s a source of comfort for the bewildered. Back in the 1930s there was a ready audience for wild and wonderful scenarios and nowadays public opinion is ready for some new ones.

    The latest to surface is that Barack Obama’s administration is a plaything of the Bilderberg group which is allegedly scheming to achieve world domination. For the “evidence” you should click here.

    When you go through the photographs it has to be said that a goodly number of White House figures are “Bilderbergers”. But that’s because the group is essentially a gathering of the great and the good. You won’t find the bin collector of the milk delivery driver there, although they might well have something to contribute.

    I met a very old friend on the street the other day. A fine mind, he has now yielded to conspiracy theories. The Freemasons are behind the current crisis, he told me. They are manipulating the international financial system to their own ends; they’re the hidden hand behind the current crisis.

    The European Union also provides fertile ground for the conspiracists. It’s all a big plot to undermine our sovereignty, our morality, bring in widespread abortion and euthanasia, straighten our bananas, etc., etc.

    Then we have the Trilateral Commission which is somewhat similar to Bilderberg and whose membership includes our own former president Mary Robinson.

    The arrival of the internet has given a whole new lease of life to the conspiracy theorists who can sit all day at their desktops composing fantasies. It is of course perfectly legitimate to raise questions about, and take a hard look at, these bodies, whose activities are a matter of public interest, but that’s a long way from the spider’s web of plots and intrigues that has been concocted about them. 

    Thankfully there have been no anti-Semitic theories so far. They bedevilled the political scene during the Great Depression and were used by fascist leaders such as A. Hitler as a means of getting to power.

     What I want to know is (tongue in cheek here): who’s behind all these conspiracy theories?

    • 35 Comments »

    1.
    March 16, 2009
    12:49 pm

    The Jews.

    Comment by Niall
    2.
    March 16, 2009
    3:28 pm

    I think in the case of Ireland, it’s Charlie McCreevy and the PDs – they’re trying to detract attention from the mayhem their failed taxation policies is now causing! Harney is working it domestically, while Charlie is covering the EU side!

    Comment by Peter B
    3.
    March 16, 2009
    4:27 pm

    http://www.911mysteries.com
    http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
    http://www.iamthewitness.com

    Unfortunately The Irish Times was not up to the task of warning the people of Ireland about the financial Tsunami soon to come.

    Too late now, ho hum. The “conspiracy theorists” saw it coming though. If there is one lesson to be learned here it’s this….don’t trust mainstream media.

    Got gold?

    Comment by A. Dolan
    4.
    March 16, 2009
    5:48 pm

    I had a feeling this post would smoke out a few genuine conspiracy theorists and you sure seem to fill the bill, A. Dolan. Your first link doesn’t seem to work; the third one is skating on very thin ice and is a disturbing illustration of what’s going on in some people’s minds. Let me respond with a quote from Hamlet:
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
    Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

    Comment by Deaglán
    5.
    March 18, 2009
    2:35 pm

    I can still remember finding on a train a really professional looking magazine in London in 1988 with an article by Enoch Powell in which the EU, or EEC as it still was then, was denounced as nothing less than a front organisation for the Catholic Church working for the return of the Holy Roman Empire which was in turn the Whore of Babylon as foretold in the Bible.

    As for who is behind the conspiracy theories? Why the Lemurians in the personages of Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes and Hedy Lemarr acting as agents for the many angled ones.

    Comment by Dan Sullivan
    6.
    March 21, 2009
    12:02 am

    Yes go ahead and ridicule….first stage of coming to the truth. Everybody out there should read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged - a rather accurate account of today’s global situation and where it is headed.
    The crash of the dollar is looming (especially with Obama’s injection of 3 trillion dollars into the US “economy”- and it has been orchestrated to bring in a new currency in the new (not yet established North American Union). This currency, called the Amero has already been minted – look it up on google images.
    The Freemasons are a mere part of the structure that are behind this. Does anyone else find it quite coincidental that the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland is just a stone’s throw from Leinster House?? Anyone know if there are underground tunnels connecting the two?

    Comment by AnnaO
    7.
    March 23, 2009
    1:49 am

    Marian Finucane tried to open debate on her radio programme this morning about the dangers of U.S. injection of trillions. Her guests did not give her concerns the attention they deserve and readily dismissed them. It was as if she opened up a taboo subject that we cannot even acknowledge is taboo. Everyone knows what U.S. is doing is destructive, and that there is no additional wealth to back up the U.S.’s aggressively expansionist monetary policy.
    It seems like a case of the Emperor with No clothing. Everybody is scared to point out the bleeding obvious.
    If the dollar fails, its stranglehold on every other currency will cause immediate and outright global financial collapse.

    Comment by S. Hayes
    8.
    March 23, 2009
    12:24 pm

    To S. Hayes: You make a very valid point. What the US government is doing is going to cause global financial collapse. Not a case of of if, but when. Hyperinflation is on the cards for all of us. Britain printing billions out of thin air too is just plain wrong. The thing I find strange about people going on about conspiracy theories is that people are considered conpiracy theorists just because they merely critically analyse things that are going on around them. Most people would rather wallow in sport and reality tv than actually take a step back and find out what’s going on. About three years ago I warned my sister not to buy a house due to the coming depression and she just laughed at me and didn’t take me seriously. She’s now been out of a job over 8 months and is finding it difficult making mortgage repayments. If my interest in alternative media, world affairs and generally being informed of what’s happening and what’s about to happen makes me a conspiracy theorist then I’m willing to live with that mantle.

    Comment by kenneth
    9.
    March 23, 2009
    1:49 pm

    It’s perfectly possible to analyse world affairs critically without being a conspiracy theorist. Indeed, there may well be forces trying to make a killing out of the present difficulties but whether they would have to power to mount a conspiracy to ensure events went a certain way is questionable. What kind of alternative media are you talking about?

    Comment by Deaglán
    10.
    March 24, 2009
    12:02 pm

    As PJ Ó Rourke said when talking about conspiracies, in this case the faking of the moon landing or the cover up of the landing of aliens, these are people who can’t even deliver our mail and it’s got our address on it and everything.

    Comment by Dan Sullivan
    11.
    March 28, 2009
    2:19 am

    you wouldn’t expect an establishment newspaper to criticise the establishment would you

    Comment by sw
    12.
    April 12, 2009
    8:59 am

    From Richard Dolan PhD, UFOs and the National Security State:

    The very label [Conspiracy Theory] serves as an automatic dismissal, as though no one ever acts in secret. Let us bring some perspective and common sense to this issue.

    The United States comprises large organizations – corporations, bureaucracies, “interest groups,” and the like – which are conspiratorial by nature. That is, they are hierarchical, their important decisions are made in secret by a few key decision-makers, and they are not above lying about their activities. Such is the nature of organizational behavior. “Conspiracy,” in this key sense, is a way of life around the globe.

    Within the world’s military and intelligence apparatuses, this tendency is magnified to the greatest extreme.

    [...]

    Anyone who has lived in a repressive society knows that official manipulation of the truth occurs daily. But societies have their many and their few. In all times and all places, it is the few who rule, and the few who exert dominant influence over what we may call official culture. All elites take care to manipulate public information to maintain existing structures of power. It’s an old game.

    America is nominally a republic and free society, but in reality an empire and oligarchy, vaguely aware of its own oppression, within and without. I have used the term “national security state” to describe its structures of power. It is a convenient way to express the military and intelligence communities, as well as the worlds that feed upon them, such as defense contractors and other underground, nebulous entities. Its fundamental traits are secrecy, wealth, independence, power, and duplicity.

    Nearly everything of significance undertaken by America’s military and intelligence community in the past half-century has occurred in secrecy. The undertaking to build an atomic weapon, better known as the Manhattan Project, remains the great model for all subsequent activities. For more than two years, not a single member of Congress even knew about it although its final cost exceeded two billion dollars.

    During and after the Second World War, other important projects, such as the development of biological weapons, the importation of Nazi scientists, terminal mind-control experiments, nationwide interception of mail and cable transmissions of an unwitting populace, infiltration of the media and universities, secret coups, secret wars, and assassinations all took place far removed not only from the American public, but from most members of Congress and a few presidents. Indeed, several of the most powerful intelligence agencies were themselves established in secrecy, unknown by the public or Congress for many years.

    Since the 1940s, the US Defense and Intelligence establishment has had more money at its disposal than most nations. In addition to official dollars, much of the money is undocumented. From its beginning, the CIA was engaged in a variety of off-the-record “business” activities that generated large sums of cash. The connections of the CIA with global organized crime (and thus de facto with the international narcotics trade) have been well established and documented for many years. Much of the original money to run the American intelligence community came from very wealthy and established American families, who have long maintained an interest in funding national security operations important to their interests.

    In theory, civilian oversight exists over the US national security establishment. The president is the military commander-in-chief. Congress has official oversight over the CIA. The FBI must answer to the Justice Department. In practice, little of this applies. One reason has to do with secrecy.

    [...]

    A chilling example of such independence occurred during the 1950s, when President Eisenhower effectively lost control of the US nuclear arsenal. The situation deteriorated so much that during his final two years in office, Eisenhower asked repeatedly for an audience with the head of Strategic Air Command to learn what America’s nuclear retaliatory plan was. What he finally learned in 1960, his final year in office, horrified him: half of the Northern Hemisphere would be obliterated.

    If a revered military hero such as Eisenhower could not control America’s nuclear arsenal, nor get a straight answer from the Pentagon, how on earth could Presidents Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, or Nixon regarding comparable matters?

    Secrecy, wealth and independence add up to power. Through the years, the national security state has gained access to the world’s most sophisticated technology, sealed-off millions of acres of land from public access or scrutiny, acquired unlimited snooping ability within US borders and beyond, conducted overt or clandestine actions against other nations, and prosecuted wars without serious media scrutiny. Domestically, it maintains influence over elected officials and communities hoping for some of the billions of defense dollars.

    Deception is the key element of warfare, and when winning is all that matters, the conventional morality held by ordinary people becomes an impediment. When taken together, the examples of official duplicity form a nearly single totality. They include such choice morsels as the phony war crisis of 1948, the fabricated missile gap claimed by the air force during
    the 1950s, the carefully-managed events leading to the Gulf of Tonkin resolution…

    The secrecy stems from a pervasive and fundamental element of life in our world, that those who are at the top of the heap will always take whatever steps are necessary to maintain the status quo.

    [...]

    From an historical point of view, the ONLY reality is that of conspiracy.

    Comment by Niall B
    13.
    April 12, 2009
    11:28 am

    Fascinating stuff and definitely a cut above the usual Freemasons-and-Bilderberg theories.

    Comment by Deaglán
    14.
    April 12, 2009
    1:02 pm

    Why don’t you tell the BBC and the police they were idiots do this (BBC article):

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/26/newsid_4396000/4396893.stm

    Tell them a baby innocent accidental view of the world is nicer to have.

    Comment by alan
    15.
    April 12, 2009
    6:37 pm

    Touché, Alan.

    Comment by Deaglán
    16.
    April 13, 2009
    9:47 am

    The 9/11 ‘crazy conspiracy theorists’ loaded gun…

    http://www.911blogger.com/node/19805

    Comment by James Roc
    17.
    April 22, 2009
    7:47 pm

    Ater reading all the comments here, it really is good to see that alot of people are awake to what’s going on. Just in today’s Times we here that Garett Fitzgerald and Peter Sutherland (2 Bilderberg members) are talking about recovery. How would they know unless they’re getting it from the very people at Bilderberg, the CFR and the Trilateralists who caused it in the first place? 9/11 has been used to bring about police states all over the Western world and the final pieces are falling into place. If anyone is in doubt about where this is heading you only have to listen to the global warming scaremongers in the mainstream media now talking about CO2 being carcinogenic! How insane does that sound? A conspiacy theory perhaps? Oh yeah and if you’re overweight, watch out, the carbon police will be after you but don’t worry because all the polar bears are going to die because they can’t swim!

    Has anyone noticed how many so called experts are talking about population reductions? We have a Mr. Porrit saying that the UK has to lose 30 million people. How are they going to do that? Nuclear war? Bird flu?

    Remember what happened in Stalin’s Russia, Hitler’s Germany, Moa’s China and Polpot’s Cambodia. These events weren’t that long ago. Rough estimates amount to 200 million people murdered by despots in the last century.

    Don’t be fooled into thinking it can’t happen again.

    Turn off your TV, stop dosing up on flouride and aspartame, stop taking the vaccines and grow your own food.

    Life is too short, don’t let these eugenicist maniacs take it from you.

    WAKE UP!

    Comment by Neil Foster
    18.
    April 22, 2009
    7:49 pm

    I should also have mentioned Charlie McCreevy and Michael McDowell are also Bilderbergers.

    Surely the people should know what these groups are discussing?

    They’re not talking about X Factor!!!

    Comment by Neil Foster
    19.
    April 23, 2009
    3:32 pm

    I challenge any doubters to watch EndGame in which the financial collapse is predicted and that it was going to be blamed on the US sub-prime mortgages.

    Comment by DangerMouse
    20.
    April 23, 2009
    4:10 pm

    Did you ever listen to President Eisenhower talking about the military industrial complex?

    You can see it in YouTube. He didn’t look a happy man.

    Did you ever listen to John F Kennedy talking about secret societies. Also available in YouTube. Please watch it. JF Kennedy looked very serious, and of course he was murdered for daring to challenge these people.

    Did you ever hear about Operation Northwoods? If you haven’t. Look it up.

    Operation Gladio?

    USS Liberty?

    HAARP? Did you know of the protest to President Putin by 90 Russian deuputies who said the HAARP posed a threat to global peace?

    GM Crops? Did you know that Monsanto gave us Agent Orange? I strongly recommend the book “Seeds of Destruction”.

    9/11? Did you know that a Japanese politician discussed this in the Japanes Parliament, last year I believe. Just last week on Danish TV, there was a 10 minute discussion of the findings that nanothermite was found in the debris of the WTC. Remember: 2 planes, but 3 skyscrapers fell like a pack of cards. The pentagon plane? How did an inexperienced pilot fly a boeing into the pentagon and vanish the plane in the process. Why no cctv pictures from that day?

    Global warming / climate change? Why no mention of solar activity by Al Gore? Why discuss only CO2? Why no mention weather manipulation. It’s no secret. The Russians and the Chinese are quite open about it. Geoengineering. Do you feel good about the global climate being dictated by Dr Strangelove and his friends.

    Dr Strangelove? Did you ever hear of Operation Paperclip? Thousands of Nazis who came to work for the Americans and got top jobs in NASA and the CIA? Maybe these were the people who Ike Eisenhower was referring to in the military industrial complex.

    Fluoridated water? Did you know that sodium fluoride is a byproduct of aluminium production? Did you know that the Nazi’s use fluoride to pacify the population of occupied territories? Did you know that prozac is 94% sodium fluoride.

    What vaccinations that contain heavy metals like mercury and aluminium, plus a host of other unsavoury items. Why no mention of the recent contamination of the flu vaccine with live bird flu vaccine…

    Thanks for giving people a chance to air their opinions!

    Conspiracies have been around for as long as civilization, To dismiss them as farce is the most studip attitude of all. Yes, there may be some bogus ones out there, but what you prefer? People who try to find out the truth about what goes in the world or people who lap up the headlines of the Sun, Sky News, Fox News etc.

    Funny how the world media is in so few hands.
    But that’s another story. And now they want to crack down on the Internet. I wonder why?

    I leave the final words to Walter Rathenau, socialist minister in post WW1 Germany:

    Walter Rathenau, writing in the Wiener Press (24 December, 1921) said, “Only 300 men, each of whom knows all others govern the fate of Europe. They select their successors from their own entourage. These men have the means in their hands of putting an end to the form of State which they find unreasonable.” Exactly six months after publication, Rathenau was assassinated.

    Comment by Anthony
    21.
    May 15, 2009
    12:18 pm

    Re the Hamlet comment,

    How were the masses described..oh yes, the distracted multitude!

    Its very easy to laugh off comments of “conspiracy theorists”, its a totally different matter to confront the massive body of evidence which some can provide and have proven to have more than a little foresight and inside knowledge.

    Try looking at Daniel Estulin among others. The guy has an interesting past.

    ps-The “evidence” the Times chooses to point to here is pathetic. This organisation has remaind pretty much secret for over the last 50 years, and it would have been impossible to do so without the co-operation of big media publications like the Times.
    They could have mentioned Obama’s running mate was chosen by Bilderberg attendees, as has been the case with numerous previous candidates, their influence over the timing of the Iraqi invasion or pointed to the influence individual members have exerted over the worlds biggest power structures, namely top level positions within North American & European governments, the EU, IMF, World Bank, and the largest corporations in finance & banking, energy, defense, media, academia & industry.

    The most shocking thing is that despite all the secrecy, we are told to believe they are a benevolent group seeking to better the world.

    People were always suspicious about the Fianna Fail tent at the Galway races, why then do people not cast at least the same amount of suspicion on the Bilderberg conference?!

    Comment by Sean h. murphy
    22.
    August 13, 2009
    3:49 am

    Yawn Yawn. Deaglán you can call everyone that investigates the truth “conspiracy theorists” so you can continue to live in a box and not bother researching anything for yourself. People are waking up worldwide to this, so nothing you can say will divert people’s minds from it. You probably are a Mason.

    Comment by Patrick
    23.
    August 13, 2009
    10:20 pm

    A Mason, eh? Am I Jewish as well?

    Comment by Deaglán
    24.
    August 25, 2009
    2:52 pm

    Guys, guys! Hold on a sec, if you want conspiracy theory (read fact) look up ‘Codex Alimentarius’. You might think its bad now ‘Megacorp’ controls our money, wait until they control our food. While you are at it check out the Swine Flu Vaccine, it pays to do the homework-shocking!
    Regards
    The Denizen

    Comment by The Denizen
    25.
    August 25, 2009
    2:57 pm

    Guys, guys! Hold on a sec. You want conspiracy theory (read fact) look up ‘Codex Alimentarius’. You think its bad having ‘Megacorp’ controling our money, wait till they control our food. Swine Flu vaccine with thimerasol and squalene is another one to look at. It pays to do the homework, its shocking!
    Regards
    Diane

    Comment by Diane
    26.
    September 29, 2009
    3:10 pm

    What’s the point in writing a comment sniggering at what you call ‘conspiricy theorists’ if you have nothing solid to offer to dispell the facts of the ‘conspiricy theorists’?

    Comment by Mary
    27.
    October 20, 2009
    12:52 am

    It’s good to be sceptical of the multitude of conspiracy theories that are all over the internet etc … but it’s stupid to take someones elses word for it – do your own research and come to your own conclusions. And when I mean research, i don’t mean read some book that came out two years ago about the Twin Towers, go back further than that – find books from the 18th, 19th century etc and see where all this stuff came from … family bloodlines etc … some people seem to be under the impression that this is a relatively recent phenomenon.

    Comment by Dave
    28.
    October 23, 2009
    12:02 am

    There is something behind the throne greater than the king himself

    Comment by David G
    29.
    November 14, 2009
    9:34 pm

    When the governments tried a few years ago to move over to nuclear power, there was so much objection, how to overcome this obstacle? global warming, you will have the people begging for nuclear power instead of fossil fuels,
    The latest in the news “we are going to run out of food in ten years” yes you guessed it ; GM crops, the people will be begging us to go GM.
    We are being manipulated, and we should take our eyes off the football and television soaps for a while and look around us!

    Comment by David
    30.
    April 10, 2010
    2:54 pm

    The crucial point as I see it is not why global politicians and business leaders meet in secret but why the media chooses to ignore these meetings. This is the same media that raises a huge row about relative trivia such as TDs’ expenses or smallish financial transactions between politicians and business people. So why do they prefer to ignore it when the really big fish get together in secret? All the media righteous indignation about political corruption is really a diversion – an attempt to portray themselves as outsiders holding the establishment to account. If they were really holding the establishment to account they would report on events like the Bilderberg meeting and the ultra-creepy Bohemian Grove gathering in California. At the very least these are very interesting stories – both in the public interest and of interest to the public. So why the deafening silence ..?

    Comment by James H
    31.
    April 20, 2010
    12:53 am

    This article is typical of the ignorance and miss representation of anyone with a mind of their own. What an idiot, trivially waving their hand dismissively over anybody who wants their children to grow up in a just and fair society not, the web of corruption and sleaze that permeates our society.
    How dare they poke fun of documented facts when the haven’t got the spine or the inclination to ask the tough questions.
    They just role over over and moan like the media whores they are. Where the hell are the facts that debunk the glaring evidence of our burocratic dictatorship? I didn’t see a lot.
    The same mantra, your an antisemite or a climate change denier or what ever dirt they can throw.
    The sad thing is this person actually believes themselves to be the informed one! Good God! we are truly at our lowest ebb if this is the level of journalism given to the most crucial of subjects to our society. Oh the bad bankers and their silly mistakes, oh the great and good all wondering how to deal with the little cock ups, the stripping of civil liberties. It would have been much more honourable to not bother writing the bloody article….Think for yourself, question authority, hstory consistently shows this to be the necessary truth.

    Comment by Peadar
    32.
    May 24, 2010
    8:49 pm

    Again, this article sums up the mentality of the masses and especially the main stream media.
    Grow a brain, do your own research and come to your own conclusion.
    I did.

    The New World Order is coming.

    Comment by Owen
    33.
    August 27, 2010
    10:03 am

    The author of this article is bigoted and poorly informed for a journalist. You criticise all conspiracies and link its creation to QUOTE: ”conspiracy theorists who can sit all day at their desktops composing fantasies”.

    The Irish times has really went to a low-low with the publication of this author. Bilderberg meetings do exist. members of the Trilateral Commission would also be in attendance including an invite for the editor of the Irish times.

    Yet the author of this article links the reader to some on-line source from America On-line… You don’t deserve to have your article published in the Irish times – maybe the star if lucky.

    Comment by Adam
    34.
    August 27, 2010
    10:08 am

    Bilderberg Meetings
    June 6, 2010

    Sitges, Spain 3-6 June 2010
    Final 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
    GBR Agius, Marcus Chairman, Barclays Bank PLC
    ESP Alierta, César Chairman and CEO, Telefónica
    INT Almunia, Joaquín Commissioner, European Commission
    USA Altman, Roger C. Chairman, Evercore Partners Inc.
    USA Arrison, Sonia Author and policy analyst
    SWE Bäckström, Urban Director General, Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
    PRT Balsemão, Francisco Pinto Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.; Former Prime Minister
    ITA Bernabè, Franco CEO, Telecom Italia S.p.A.
    SWE Bildt, Carl Minister of Foreign Affairs
    FIN Blåfield, Antti Senior Editorial Writer, Helsingin Sanomat
    ESP Botín, Ana P. Executive Chairman, Banesto
    NOR Brandtzæg, Svein Richard CEO, Norsk Hydro ASA
    AUT Bronner, Oscar Publisher and Editor, Der Standard
    TUR Çakir, Ruşen Journalist
    CAN Campbell, Gordon Premier of British Columbia
    ESP Carvajal Urquijo, Jaime Managing Director, Advent International
    FRA Castries, Henri de Chairman of the Management Board and CEO, AXA
    ESP Cebrián, Juan Luis CEO, PRISA
    ESP Cisneros, Gustavo A. Chairman and CEO, Cisneros Group of Companies
    CAN Clark, W. Edmund President and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group
    USA Collins, Timothy C. Senior Managing Director and CEO, Ripplewood Holdings, LLC
    ITA Conti, Fulvio CEO and General Manager, Enel SpA
    GRC David, George A. Chairman, Coca-Cola H.B.C. S.A.
    DNK Eldrup, Anders CEO, DONG Energy
    ITA Elkann, John Chairman, Fiat S.p.A.
    DEU Enders, Thomas CEO, Airbus SAS
    ESP Entrecanales, José M. Chairman, Acciona
    DNK Federspiel, Ulrik Vice President Global Affairs, Haldor Topsøe A/S
    USA Feldstein, Martin S. George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University
    USA Ferguson, Niall Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History, Harvard University
    AUT Fischer, Heinz Federal President
    IRL Gallagher, Paul Attorney General
    USA Gates, William H. Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Chairman, Microsoft Corporation
    USA Gordon, Philip H. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
    USA Graham, Donald E. Chairman and CEO, The Washington Post Company
    INT Gucht, Karel de Commissioner, European Commission
    TUR Gürel, Z. Damla Special Adviser to the President on EU Affairs
    NLD Halberstadt, Victor Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings
    USA Holbrooke, Richard C. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
    NLD Hommen, Jan H.M. Chairman, ING Group
    USA Hormats, Robert D. Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs
    BEL Huyghebaert, Jan Chairman of the Board of Directors, KBC Group
    USA Johnson, James A. Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC
    FIN Katainen, Jyrki Minister of Finance
    USA Keane, John M. Senior Partner, SCP Partners
    GBR Kerr, John Member, House of Lords; Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc.
    USA Kissinger, Henry A. Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.
    USA Kleinfeld, Klaus Chairman and CEO, Alcoa
    TUR Koç, Mustafa V. Chairman, Koç Holding A.Ş.
    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
    USA Lander, Eric S. President and Director, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
    FRA Lauvergeon, Anne Chairman of the Executive Board, AREVA
    ESP León Gross, Bernardino Secretary General, Office of the Prime Minister
    DEU Löscher, Peter Chairman of the Board of Management, Siemens AG
    NOR Magnus, Birger Chairman, Storebrand ASA
    CAN Mansbridge, Peter Chief Correspondent, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
    USA Mathews, Jessica T. President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
    CAN McKenna, Frank Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group
    GBR Micklethwait, John Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
    FRA Montbrial, Thierry de President, French Institute for International Relations
    ITA Monti, Mario President, Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi
    INT Moyo, Dambisa F. Economist and Author
    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
    USA Naím, Moisés Editor-in-Chief, Foreign Policy
    NLD Netherlands, H.M. the Queen of the
    ESP Nin Génova, Juan María President and CEO, La Caixa
    DNK Nyrup Rasmussen, Poul Former Prime Minister
    GBR Oldham, John National Clinical Lead for Quality and Productivity
    FIN Ollila, Jorma Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc
    USA Orszag, Peter R. Director, Office of Management and Budget
    TUR Özilhan, Tuncay Chairman, Anadolu Group
    ITA Padoa-Schioppa, Tommaso Former Minister of Finance; President of Notre Europe
    GRC Papaconstantinou, George Minister of Finance
    USA Parker, Sean Managing Partner, Founders Fund
    USA Pearl, Frank H. Chairman and CEO, Perseus, LLC
    USA Perle, Richard N. Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
    ESP Polanco, Ignacio Chairman, Grupo PRISA
    CAN Prichard, J. Robert S. President and CEO, Metrolinx
    FRA Ramanantsoa, Bernard Dean, HEC Paris Group
    PRT Rangel, Paulo Member, European Parliament
    CAN Reisman, Heather M. Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc.
    SWE Renström, Lars President and CEO, Alfa Laval
    NLD Rinnooy Kan, Alexander H.G. Chairman, Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER)
    ITA Rocca, Gianfelice Chairman, Techint
    ESP Rodriguez Inciarte, Matías Executive Vice Chairman, Grupo Santander
    USA Rose, Charlie Producer, Rose Communications
    USA Rubin, Robert E. Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the Treasury
    TUR Sabanci Dinçer, Suzan Chairman, Akbank
    ITA Scaroni, Paolo CEO, Eni S.p.A.
    USA Schmidt, Eric CEO and Chairman of the Board, Google
    AUT Scholten, Rudolf Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG
    DEU Scholz, Olaf Vice Chairman, SPD
    INT Sheeran, Josette Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme
    INT Solana Madariaga, Javier Former Secretary General, Council of the European Union
    ESP Spain, H.M. the Queen of
    USA Steinberg, James B. Deputy Secretary of State
    INT Stigson, Björn President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
    USA Summers, Lawrence H. Director, National Economic Council
    IRL Sutherland, Peter D. Chairman, Goldman Sachs International
    GBR Taylor, J. Martin Chairman, Syngenta International AG
    PRT Teixeira dos Santos, Fernando Minister of State and Finance
    USA Thiel, Peter A. President, Clarium Capital Management, LLC
    GRC Tsoukalis, Loukas President, ELIAMEP
    INT Tumpel-Gugerell, Gertrude Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank
    USA Varney, Christine A. Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust
    CHE Vasella, Daniel L. Chairman, Novartis AG
    USA Volcker, Paul A. Chairman, Economic Recovery Advisory Board
    CHE Voser, Peter CEO, Royal Dutch Shell plc
    FIN Wahlroos, Björn Chairman, Sampo plc
    CHE Waldvogel, Francis A. Chairman, Novartis Venture Fund
    SWE Wallenberg, Jacob Chairman, Investor AB
    NLD Wellink, Nout President, De Nederlandsche Bank
    USA West, F.J. Bing Author
    GBR Williams, Shirley Member, House of Lords
    USA Wolfensohn, James D. Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company, LLC
    ESP Zapatero, José Luis Rodríguez Prime Minister
    DEU Zetsche, Dieter Chairman, Daimler AG
    INT Zoellick, Robert B. President, The World Bank Group
    Rapporteurs
    GBR Bredow, Vendeline von Business Correspondent, The Economist
    GBR Wooldridge, Adrian D. Business Correspondent, The Economist

    Comment by Adam
    35.
    March 4, 2011
    5:34 pm

    Your kinda quiet there Deaglan.

    I suppose you think the ECB and the IMF are our friends too
    Oh yeah, and all the bondholders… twat

    Comment by brian

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