On Thursday the Bilderberg group marks its 50th anniversary with the start of its yearly meeting. FOR FOUR DAYS SOME OF THE WEST'S CHIEF POLITICAL MOVERS, BUSINESS LEADERS, BANKERS, INDUSTRIALISTS AND STRATEGIC THINKERS WILL HUNKER DOWN IN A FIVE-STAR HOTEL IN NORTHERN ITALY TO TALK ABOUT GLOBAL ISSUES.

What sets Bilderberg apart from other high-powered get-togethers, such as the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), is its mystique. Not a word of what is said at Bilderberg meetings can be breathed outside. No reporters are invited in and while confidential minutes of meetings are taken, names are not noted. This year Bilderberg has announced a list of attendees They include BP chief John Browne, US Senator John Edwards, World Bank president James Wolfensohn and Mrs Bill Gates

In the void created by such aloofness, an extraordinary conspiracy theory has grown up around the group that alleges the fate of the world is largely decided by Bilderberg. In Yugoslavia, leading Serbs have blamed Bilderberg for triggering the war which led to the downfall of Slobodan Milosevic. The Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, the London nail-bomber David Copeland and Osama Bin Laden are all said to have bought into the theory that Bilderberg pulls the strings with which national governments dance.

And while hardline right-wingers and libertarians accuse Bilderberg of being a liberal Zionist plot, leftists such as activist Tony Gosling are equally critical. A former journalist, Mr Gosling runs a campaign against the group from his home in Bristol, UK. "MY MAIN PROBLEM IS THE SECRECY. WHEN SO MANY PEOPLE WITH SO MUCH POWER GET TOGETHER IN ONE PLACE I THINK WE ARE OWED AN EXPLANATION OF WHAT IS GOING ON. Mr Gosling seizes on a quote from Will Hutton, the British economist and a former Bilderberg delegate, who likened it to the annual WEF gathering where "the consensus established is the backdrop against which policy is made worldwide".

"One of the first places I heard about the determination of US forces to attack Iraq was from leaks that came out of the 2002 Bilderberg meeting," says Mr Gosling.

But "privacy, rather than secrecy", is key to such a meeting says Financial Times journalist Martin Wolf, who has been invited several times in a non-reporting role. "The idea that such meetings cannot be held in private is fundamentally totalitarian," he says. "It's not an executive body; no decisions are taken there."

That activists have seized on Bilderberg is no surprise to Alasdair Spark, an expert in conspiracy theories.
"The idea that a shadowy clique is running the world is nothing new. For hundreds of years people have believed the world is governed by a cabal of Jews. "SHOULDN'T WE EXPECT THAT THE RICH AND POWERFUL ORGANISE THINGS IN THEIR OWN INTERESTS. IT'S CALLED CAPITALISM."

The newest deceptions are with jobs and housing. Each is much worse than reported. The housing decline might be as much as 15% worse than reported, which leads to much bigger job loss than is reported. Most of the home construction job loss is under the table, to people not on state jobless insurance programs, and to immigrant workers paid in cash. Both fall through the statistical cracks in those home frames and plywood floors underlayments.

A quick preface on the two biggest corrupted statistics first, since of paramount importance. The US Federal Reserve will likely respond to more rapid job loss, and to more rapid home sector erosion decline. WHEN THEY DO, EXPECT AN OFFICIAL RATE CUT SEQUENCE TO RESEMBLE THAT OF 2001. AS IN, SHARP & SUDDEN.

The signals surround us, that the major powers are in the process of permitting the USDollar to fall.
Premeditated doctored and falsified economic statistics are the laughing stock of the USGovt reporting system. The are the tarnish on a once respected emblem. The two most important chronically corrupted pulse measures for the USEconomy are the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the economic growth, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on the price inflation. The GDP is lifted improperly by 4% to 5% in order to conceal the ongoing fight with a recession since the 2000 stock bust.

HOUSE SECTOR IS CRASHING - Every reason looms large that housing data is equally inaccurate as most other major economic statistics. Whether intentionally falsified or incompetently calculated by the National Assn of Realtors (NAR), it is irrelevant. Call it financial engineering. My guess is again a premeditated doctoring of the statistics, since their motive is so clear, to sell homes. In a worse declining market, sales would halt, pure and simple.

WE ARE IN AN AGE WHERE THOSE PARTIES WITH THE WORST, MOST EGREGIOUS, VESTED INTEREST ARE GIVEN CHARGE OF ASSEMBLING, CALCULATING, AND REPORTING THEIR OWN STATISTICS. This is laughable. Imagine the mafia in charge of reporting on crime levels, or children in school reporting on actual valid sickness and missed days in class.!

Both existing home sales and new home sales data are providing misleading national sales information. The new home curve ball involves cancellations, which are not properly recorded in current data. The housing market has declined much more sharply than is being reported, like 13% to 15% worse. Home sales have fallen 22% on a 12-month basis versus the prior 12 months, in reality. On a simple year-over-year monthly comparison, the decline is even worse. Contrast that to a mere 10% in the compromised NAR reports. It is hard to call theirs or USGovt's work analysis, when it is more like a fraudulent marketing promotional effort.

So the housing decline is much worse than reported, LIKE TWICE AS BAD.

One of America's top economists today revealed that the retiring prime minister is being considered as a replacement for disgraced Paul Wolfowitz.Nobel prize-winner Joe Stiglitz, a former senior vice president at the World Bank, said: "He is one of the people that is clearly being discussed."

Mr Blair is expected to cash in on his international contacts after quitting Downing Street on 27 June and his agent said he would quit as an MP if "a big international job" came up. Mr Stiglitz said the World Bank would probably prefer an economist with experience in development. "But Blair has clearly been a political leader that has the kinds of connections that one needs, that would be useful as head of the institution," he added.

Embattled World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz agreed to quit last night over a favouritism row involving his girlfriend. The move ended weeks of intense pressure on the former U.S. deputy defence secretary, a close ally of President Bush and an architect of the Iraq war. He had faced furious criticism after details emerged of his role in securing a promotion and pay rise for his partner, Oxford-educated Shaha Riza, when he joined the bank in 2005.

A white paper published last year proposed banning the use of hybrid embryos amid fierce opposition to the research from pro-life groups. But yesterday, the draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill reopened the door for such research, which scientists claim is essential if they are to find treatments for serious diseases such as Alzheimer's.

The bill allows scientists to create "cytoplasmic" hybrid embryos, which are 99.9 per cent human and 0.1 per cent animal, such as cow or rabbit. he legislation also goes further, in that it allows human embryos to be altered by the introduction of animal DNA. It is hoped that the hybrid embryos - also referred to as chimeras - could help tackle the shortage of human eggs available for research.

Caroline Flint, the public health minister in Westminster, denied the government had staged a climbdown on the hybrid issue. She said that the white paper had always left the door open for specific research on a case-by-case basis.

True hybrids - creatures created by the fusion of sperm and eggs - remain outlawed. In all cases, it remains illegal to allow hybrid embryos to grow for more than 14 days or for them to be implanted in a womb.

This period allows enough time for scientists to harvest stem cells for their work. However, Dr David King, the director of the campaign group Human Genetics Alert, which is strongly opposed to hybrid research, said: "Do not be fooled by the claim this is just research. "Once we start down the path to GM babies, it will become very hard to turn back."

The Serious Organised Crime Agency said 73 tonnes of cocaine with a street value of £3bn were uncovered.
In its annual report, Soca also reveals it has prevented 35 potential murders by working with police forces using high-tech surveillance techniques. It says it has arrested some of its list of 1,600 organised crime chiefs.

The agency began operation in April following the merger of the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the National Crime Squad and other law enforcement agencies.

Up to three million are thought to have fled to South Africa, amid a worsening economic and political crisis. There is high unemployment, and fuel and food shortages across Zimbabwe. Addressing parliament, Mr Mbeki said it was not possible to put "a Great Wall of China" between the two countries and stop people walking across the border.

The annual rate of inflation in Zimbabwe has soared to 3,731.9% - by far the highest rate in the world, official figures show. Mr Mbeki has always preferred "quiet diplomacy" to public criticism of President Robert Mugabe's government. But recently, senior ANC official Toxyo Sexwale said he feared that the Zimbabwe government was not listening and the "volume may have to be turned up".

Speaking after an EU-Russian summit, Mr Barroso said the EU was based on principles of solidarity. The summit in the Volga city of Samara was overshadowed by Moscow's rows with countries including Estonia and Poland. Disputes between Moscow and Brussels have also arisen over the status of Kosovo, energy supplies and trade.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, expressed concern at the difficulties opposition activists were reporting in getting to the summit venue.
Initially the main summit issue was the security of Europe's energy supplies - much of which come from Russia.

But the BBC's Richard Galpin, who was at the summit, says there were now sharp differences over the future status of Kosovo, on how to resolve a trade dispute with Poland and over Estonia's treatment of ethnic Russians.

In a break with previous practice, no joint declaration was prepared. Nor would the two sides be able to begin delayed talks on a new strategic partnership agreement, because of a veto imposed by Poland, now supported by Lithuania. The veto follows Russia's decision last year to block meat imports from Poland over apparent food safety issues.

The EU has also said it could withhold final approval of Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization until trade tariff problems are resolved. A major factor in the deterioration of relations has been Estonia's removal last month of a World War II monument to Red Army soldiers in central Tallinn.

The event sparked unrest by ethnic Russians in Estonia, and a blockade of the Estonian embassy in Moscow.
More recently, EU leaders have expressed alarm about Russian threats to veto a UN Security Council resolution proposing Kosovo's independence from Serbia.

The study of thousands of websites across 120 Internet Service Providers found 25 of 41 countries surveyed showed evidence of content filtering. Websites and services such as Skype and Google Maps were blocked, it said. Such "state-mandated net filtering" was only being carried out in "a couple" of states in 2002, one researcher said.

"In five years we have gone from a couple of states doing state-mandated net filtering to 25," said John Palfrey, at Harvard Law School, "What's regrettable about net filtering is that almost always this is happening in the shadows. A number of states in Europe and the US were not tested because the private sector rather than the government tends to carry out filtering, it said.

The filtering had three primary rationales, according to the report: politics and power, security concerns and social norms. The survey found evidence of filtering in the following countries: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Burma/Myanmar, China, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.

The move could stop 150 babies a year from developing conditions such as spina bifida, the Food Standards Agency said.It could also improve the general health of the 13million Britons who do not consume enough of the essential nutrient.

Critics claim, however, that the measure is the latest excess of the nanny state, as it will over-ride consumers' choice on what they eat. They also fear the fortification of the nation's diet with folic acid could be harmful to some. There are concerns it can mask a vitamin B12 deficiency in the elderly, which can seriously damage the nervous system.

Some reports even suggest particularly high levels of folic acid might speed up the development of a particular type of cancer. The FSA believes, however, that the benefits far outweigh these small risks.

His long-awaited formal switch to the faith of his wife and family will come shortly after he surrenders office, it is claimed.The Prime Minister's decision to formalise his Catholic beliefs was revealed by Father Michael Seed, a leading cleric at Westminster Cathedral, when speaking at a memorial service.Father Seed is regarded as unofficial Catholic chaplain to Westminster and is a regular visitor to Number 10.

Last year Cherie Blair praised him for his "ability to reach out to all kinds of people, whether it is the homeless on the streets to the people in the highest places in the land, including even in Downing Street." Mr Blair has long been expected to complete his conversion to Catholicism after leaving Downing Street. He has regularly attended Catholic services, both with his family and alone, in recent years.But he has not been seen in a church of his professed Anglican faith except on official occasions.

While opposition leader in the mid-1990s Mr Blair regularly took communion with his wife and children at a Catholic church in Islington, a step which signals full loyalty to the faith. Mr Blair is widely considered to have remained an Anglican because of the potential complexities of conversion while in office.

Some lawyers consider that the 1829 Emancipation Act, the law which gave Roman Catholics full civil rights, may still prevent a Catholic from becoming Prime Minister.The Act contains clauses which say no Catholic adviser to the monarch may hold civil or military office.

In recent months the current English Catholic leader, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, has been severely critical of the Sexual Orientation Regulations which the Prime Minister has pushed into law.These, Catholic leaders say, will force Christians to act in conflict with their principles. The Cardinal has threatened to close Catholic adoption agencies if they are forced to place children with gay couples.

Why was the Senate silent?

In describing the empty chamber the way he did, Byrd invited a specific version of the same general question millions of us have been asking: "Why do reason, logic and truth seem to play a sharply diminished role in the way America now makes important decisions?" The persistent and sustained reliance on falsehoods as the basis of policy, even in the face of massive and well-understood evidence to the contrary, seems to many Americans to have reached levels that were previously unimaginable.

A large and growing number of Americans are asking out loud: "What has happened to our country?" People are trying to figure out what has gone wrong in our democracy, and how we can fix it.

To take another example, for the first time in American history, the Executive Branch of our government has not only condoned but actively promoted the treatment of captives in wartime that clearly involves torture, thus overturning a prohibition established by General George Washington during the Revolutionary War.

It is too easy and too partisan to simply place the blame on the policies of President George W. Bush. We are all responsible for the decisions our country makes. We have a Congress. We have an independent judiciary. We have checks and balances. We are a nation of laws. We have free speech. We have a free press. Have they all failed us?

Why has America's public discourse become less focused and clear, less reasoned? Faith in the power of reason the belief that free citizens can govern themselves wisely and fairly by resorting to logical debate on the basis of the best evidence available, instead of raw powe remains the central premise of American democracy.

This premise is now under assault.

Find this article at:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1622015,00.html

The minorities figure stood at 100.7 million, up from 98.3 million a year earlier. Within that, the Hispanic population was the fastest growing at a rate of 3.4 percent between July 2005 and July 2006.

Hispanics were also the largest minority group, accounting for 44.3 million people on July 1, 2006, or 14.8 percent of the overall U.S. population which, according to census data released in October 2006, stood at more than 300 million.

Estonia, one of the most internet-savvy states in the European Union, has been under sustained attack from hackers since the ethnic Russian riots sparked in late April by its removal of a Soviet war memorial from Tallinn city centre. Websites of the tiny Baltic state's government, political parties, media and business community have had to shut down temporarily after being hit by denial-of-service attacks, which swamp them with external requests.

Estonia, he said, depended largely on the internet because of the country's "paperless government" and web-based banking. "If these services are made slower, we of course lose economically," he added.

While the government in Tallinn has not blamed the Russian authorities directly for the attacks, its foreign ministry has published a list of IP addresses "where the attacks were made from". The alleged offenders include addresses in the Russian government and presidential administration.

Anton Nossik, one of the pioneers of the Russian internet, sees no reason to believe in Russian state involvement in the hacking, beyond the fanning of anti-Estonian sentiment. "Unlike a nuclear or conventional military attack, you do not need a government for such attacks," he told the BBC News website. "There were anti-Estonian sentiments, fuelled by Russian state propaganda, and the sentiments were voiced in articles, blogs, forums and the press, so it's natural that hackers were part of the sentiment and acted accordingly."

Hackers, he points out, need very little money and can hire servers with high bandwidth in countries as diverse as the US and South Korea. The expertise is "basic", he says, with virus scripts and source codes available online and there are "hundreds of thousands of groups who have the resources to launch a massive virus attack". "The principle is very simple - you just send a shed load of requests simultaneously," he says.

For Mr Nossik, of more concern is how the global net can protect itself against the big virus attacks like the Backbone Denial-of-Service attack in February which hit three key servers making up part of the internet's backbone.

Populations of seven species have had dramatic declines across the continent since West Nile emerged in the United States in 1999, according to a first-of-its-kind study.

The research, to be published Thursday by the journal Nature, compared 26 years of bird breeding surveys to quantify what had been knowanecdotally."We're seeing a serious impact," said study co-author Marm Kilpatrick, a senior research scientist at the Consortium of Conservation Medicine in New York.West Nile virus, which is spread by mosquito bites, has infected 23,974 people in confirmed cases since 1999, killing 962, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the disease, primarily an avian virus, has been far deadlier for birds. The death toll for crows and jays is easily in the hundreds of thousands, based on the number dead bodies found and extrapolated for what wasn't reported, Kilpatrick said. It hit the seven species American crow, blue jay, tufted titmouse, American robin, house wren, chickadee and Eastern bluebird hard enough to be scientifically significant. Only the blue jay and house wren bounced back, in 2005.

The hardest-hit species has been the American crow. Nationwide, about one-third of crows have been killed by West Nile, said study lead author Shannon LaDeau, a research scientist at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center in Washington. The species was on the rise until 1999. In some places, such as Maryland, crow loss was at 45 percent, and around Baltimore and Washington, 90 percent was gone, LaDeau said.

"It tends to be more suburban areas. Some of the common backyard species including the blue jays, the robins, the chickadees have suffered significant declines," LaDeau said. "That heavily packed urban corridor is a bad place to be a bird. The reason for that is that the mosquito prefers human landscape. They do very well in suburbia."

The birds act as an early warning system for humans, said Wesley Hochachka, assistant director of bird population studies at Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "If you start seeing crows dying and dying in numbers, that means there could be a human outbreak," said Hochachka, who was not involved with the study.

Iraq faces the distinct possibility of collapse and fragmentation, UK foreign policy think tank Chatham House says. Its report says the Iraqi government is now largely powerless and irrelevant in many parts of the country.
It warns there is not one war but many local civil wars, and urges a major change in US and British strategy, such as consulting Iraq's neighbours more.

The report comes as Iran said Iranian and US diplomats would hold talks on 28 May on the security situation in Iraq. Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Office stated that security conditions, although "grim" in places, varied across Iraq. "Most insurgent attacks remain concentrated in just four of Iraq's 18 provinces, containing less than 42% of the population," a Foreign Office spokesman told the Press Association news agency. "Iraq has come a long way in a short time," he added, saying the international community "must stand alongside the Iraqi government".

Mr Stansfield, of Exeter University and Chatham House, argues that the break-up of Iraq is becoming increasingly likely. In large parts of the country, the Iraqi government is powerless, he says, as rival factions struggle for local supremacy. The briefing paper, entitled Accepting Realities in Iraq, says: "There is not 'a' civil war in Iraq, but many civil wars and insurgencies involving a number of communities and organisations struggling for power."