The Bilderberg Group

Inaugurated in 1954, the Bilderberg Group consists of political movers, business leaders, bankers, industrialists and strategic thinkers that meet yearly, keeping everything that's said and done a secret. This week, the members are meeting in Italy and, as usual, there's much speculation about what they do and their influence in world affairs. They publish no meeting minutes, papers, notes, and they don't have a website. All the secrecy is pungent fruit for conspiracy theorists.

My opinion of this group is that it seems to offer a forum for influential and high-profile individuals to meet and talk in private. Reading more into it is probably a mistake. A conspiracy seems unlikely. It's tough enough to get a mere handful of people to pull off a conspiracy. I don't see it coming from a worldwide mixed bag of individuals with diverse interests, loyalties, and ideologies. Of course, looking at my history of losing lottery tickets, I have been wrong at times.