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<xml><p>THE <ent type='ORG'>BOHEMIAN</ent> CLUB</p>
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<p> For two and a half weeks every July, two thousand of the top
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movers and shakers in business and government attend the <ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent>
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Club's summer encampment. Although highly selective, the club has
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a national membership and is among the most prestigious of
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affiliations in neoconservative circles. Its membership is known
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to include Ronald Reagan, <ent type='PERSON'>George Bush</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Gerald Ford</ent>, William F.
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Buckley, Jr., <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Borman</ent>, Justin Dart, <ent type='PERSON'>William Randolph Hearst</ent>,
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Jr., <ent type='PERSON'>Caspar Weinberger</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Charles Percy</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>George Schultz</ent>, Edward
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Teller, <ent type='PERSON'>Merv Griffin</ent>, and a large proportion of the directors and
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chief executive officers of the Fortune 1000. Daniel Ludwig, the
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richest private citizen on earth, is a <ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent>. Conspiracy nuts
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think <ent type='ORG'>the Bohemian Club</ent> meets each summer to plot to take over the
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world. These guys ALREADY run the world.
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The club's name harkens back to its founding in 1872 by
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artists and journalists in <ent type='LOC'>the Bay Area</ent>; the club proper is at 624
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Taylor Street in <ent type='GPE'>San Francisco</ent>. The annual summer camp is held at
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"<ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent> <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent>," an isolated site in <ent type='GPE'>Sonoma County</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>California</ent>,
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near the town of <ent type='GPE'>Monte Rio</ent>. To get there, you cross the bridge
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over the <ent type='NORP'>Russian</ent> River and take the second left.
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Signs warn off trespassers, and the <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent> is guarded during
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the encampment. Visitors must have invitations and sign in and
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out; cooks and other workers have to wear ID badges. The club (and
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hired staff) is all male. There are no black <ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent>s and just
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one <ent type='NORP'>Asian</ent>; the former <ent type='NORP'>Philippine</ent> president <ent type='PERSON'>Carlos Romulo</ent>.
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The club does a good job of avoiding publicity, although in
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1980 <ent type='PERSON'>Rick Clogher</ent>, a writer for <ent type='ORG'>MOTHER JONES</ent> magazine, managed to
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slip in to the encampment for four days with the help of an
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unidentified insider. Brooding over the <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent> is a giant rock that
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looks like an owl. <ent type='PERSON'>Clogher</ent> discovered that the rock is concrete,
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covered with moss to look natural. <ent type='ORG'>The Cremation</ent> of Care ritual
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takes place in front of the owl when, on the first night of camp,
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robed members burn a doll representing <ent type='ORG'>Dull Care</ent>.
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<ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent> <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent> includes 122 distinct camps in its 2700
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acres. The camps have whimsical names such as <ent type='ORG'>Whiskey Flat</ent>,
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<ent type='LOC'>Toyland</ent>, Owl's Nest, Hill Billies, and Cave Man's, and each one
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has its own kitchen-bar building -- there is a lot of drinking --
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and sleeping quarters. The members of some camps sleep in tents;
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other camps have redwood cabins. Daily "Lakeside Talks" on
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geopolitical topics are given by prominent speakers, both members
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and non-members. It is claimed that <ent type='PERSON'>Richard Nixon</ent> and Ronald
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Reagan conferred during the 1967 encampment, Reagan agreeing not
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to challenge <ent type='PERSON'>Nixon</ent> for the presidential nomination.
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The highlight of camp is the <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent> play, which is written
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exclusively for the club. All the female roles are played by men
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in drag. The 1980 play was an adaptation of the <ent type='NORP'>Greek</ent> myth of
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Cronus and Zeus supplemented with fireworks, smoke bombs, and a
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light show. (One can only wonder if Reagan ever starred in a <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent>
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play. He certainly has more acting experience than most club
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members.) The polished productions cost the <ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent>s as much as
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$25000 -- for one performance.</p>
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<p> xperience than most </p></xml>
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