GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Open Secrets

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: NextGov

05March2011 11:00amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: In April 2010, some of the most secretive professionals in government launched their contribution to the Obama administration's transparency campaign. CIA officials released their open government plan on the agency's website, "mindful," as it states, "that continued public support for CIA is very much dependent upon public understanding of its mission and activities."

The multipronged action plan includes proactive declassification of historical documents, slick new publications, public speaking engagements by leaders, daily responses to media and citizen inquiries, symposia in cooperation with academia, stepped-up collaboration with other agencies, and encouragement of online feedback from the public.

It's a far cry from the Cold War days when the Kennedy administration demanded the removal of roadside signs indicating the spy agency's mere presence behind the trees of Langley, Va.

While past CIA directors such as Allen Dulles and William Colby largely avoided the limelight, Leon Panetta in his first two years as agency head has given a series of public speeches on national security priorities including counterterrorism and counter-
proliferation. He also has appealed for greater hiring diversity at the CIA in speeches to Hispanic, Asian and Muslim groups.

This is not your father's CIA. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: `End-of-World' Threat Stirs Interest in Scottish Nuclear Bunker

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Bloomberg

28January2011 1:09pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: A nuclear bunker in Scotland built as the Cold War thawed is drawing interest from a U.S.-based group worried about another possible threat: doomsday.

The Vivos Group, a Del Mar, California-based company that provides protection against what it calls “end-of-the-world scenarios,” is considering buying the two-story bunker constructed for the U.K. government in 1990 near Comrie, 67 miles (108 kilometers) northwest of Edinburgh.

“We have been evaluating it, but it has issues,” Robert Vicino, the founder of Vivos, said in a telephone interview yesterday while travelling in Arizona. “The biggest one is altitude. It is also well known, so there would be diminished secrecy. But we haven’t ruled it out.”

Large nuclear bunkers that are no longer needed by governments have been converted into a variety of uses. One in Switzerland has been turned into a hotel, while others have become wine cellars, museums or data-storage centers. One in Berlin now houses a private art collection. (read full report)