Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 17:13:47 -0500 From: "n0b13 l0n9" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Bohemian activist has made her point http://216.167.95.20/local/news/15boho_b1empireb.html Bohemian activist has made her point No protests at encampment July 15, 2000 `ByCHRIS SMITH Press Democrat Staff Writer For years the grandest, most elaborate summer party in Sonoma County -- perhaps in all the world -- was the one where protestors shouted "Shame! Shame! Shame!" to guests arriving at the front gate. The two-week bash, the Bohemian Grove Encampment, is getting under way this weekend in a splendid and private redwood retreat in Monte Rio. But the demonstrators are staying home. Mary Moore, the woman from nearby Camp Meeker who organized yearly protests outside the grove, says she believes as firmly as ever that the present and past presidents and cabinet secretaries, industrialists and other powerful men who come to the male-only encampment bear responsibility for many of the ills of the world. "More and more power is in fewer and fewer hands," said Moore. Over the past 20 years, she and other activists have gathered outside the Bohemian Grove in July to chide the arriving revelers for promoting or profiting from Central American wars, environmental degradation, apartheid, the plundering and bullying of the Third World, nuclear weapons proliferation, homelessness and myriad forms of social injustice. But Moore turned 65 Friday, the same day that dozens of private jets whisked Bohemian Grove guests into the Sonoma County Airport. She said it's too much to continue organizing the mid-summer protest against what she sees as capitalist exploitation that benefits a wealthy few and victimizes many. Besides, she said, "I personally feel the points have been made." The grand camp-out, sponsored by the Bohemian Club of San Francisco, dates back to 1878. The people who put it on say protesters and the press exaggerate when they portray the Encampment as an opportunity for the rich and powerful to hatch plots and partnerships. "You come here to relax and enjoy the camaraderie of friends in a beautiful setting," said Stephen DePetro, manager of the sponsoring Bohemian Club of San Francisco. "You don't come here to do business." The motto of the Bohemian Grove -- "Weaving Spiders Come Not Here" -- officially discourages talk of business or politics. DePetro said the approximately 2,000 men who travel to Monte Rio from across the nation and overseas come to unwind and take advantage of programs that focus on nature, drama, literature and art. The Bohemian Club was created by four newspapermen for the purpose of engendering the arts in San Francisco, which in the late 19th century was, compared to New York, an uncultured outpost. Club officials say that ever since the first Encampment was held 122 years ago as a farewell party for a departing member, its function as a social and cultural retreat has not changed. Major attractions each year include elaborate stage plays, lakeside talks, musical performances, drink and golf. On Friday, several dozen men from the Grove appeared at the Northwoods Golf Course on River Road, just inland from Monte Rio. "Probably about 40 guys play each day," said the course's PGA pro, Don Kite. "We know them now," he said. "It's pretty much the same guys who keep coming back every year." Kite said the players include some celebrities, rock stars and big-name political or business leaders. "We never know which dignitary is going to be in which group," he said. Over the years, the more prominent guests at the Bohemian Grove have included nearly every Republican president and some Democrats. George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon all have attended. Other big names in recent years have included Clint Eastwood, former Cabinet members Henry Kissinger, George Schultz and Caspar Weinberger, and industrialists Stephen David Bechtel, Leonard Firestone and David Rockefeller. The Bohemian Club never publicizes the names of guests, many of whom arrive at the Sonoma County Airport aboard private jets and twin-propeller planes. Airport tower chief Dayle Buschkotter said Friday several dozen corporate aircraft -- Citations, Learjets, Falcon, Beechjets, Gulfstreams -- delivered Bohemian Grove guests Friday. "It's been steady," she said of the arrivals and departures of sleek, privately owned and high-priced aircraft. "It provides eye candy for all of us watching from the tower." In some previous years, demonstrators greeted new arrivals at the airport, holding up signs and shouting. Typically the demonstrators gathered at the Grove's gate, sometimes under the supervision of sheriff's deputies. It's been several years since the last Bohemian Grove protest. Moore said from home Friday she feels that she and the others who demonstrated have done their work, alerting the public about the dangers of allowing too much power to fall into the hands of a fairly small group of men. She said the cause has widened now, as witnessed by street protests against the World Trade Organization. "Twenty years ago, they weren't talking about corporate power, not the way they are now," she said. Only the men inside the Bohemian Grove know for sure what they're talking about in the camps and beneath the redwoods. Club Manager DePetro said business and politics are just the sorts of things the club members and their guests are coming to Monte Rio to get away from. [This message contained attachments] http://www.sonomacountyfreepress.org *** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Feel free to distribute widely but PLEASE acknowledge the source. *** http://www.angelfire.com/mi/smilinks/thirdeye.html <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
