got geoint?

Welcome once again to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post. Due to the Labor Day holiday last week, we did the Monday Morning News Kick Off Post on Tuesday. Yes, it felt odd to us as well. Fortunately, the planets are all lined up again and peace has been restored. We are back to doing this post on Mondays (whew). Perhaps we are all creatures of habit? Speaking of habit, feel free to grab that second cup of coffee and get ready to kick start your week with a mixture of IC, GEOINT and GIS news that will surely make your professional dreams become actualized. Scroll down and enjoy.

Hoekstra Blasts AG Holder’s CIA “Vendetta” in Midst of War
US Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, issued the a biting statement to the National Association of Chiefs of Police after learning that the Department of Justice will continue its investigation of terrorist interrogations and that Attorney General Eric Holder is intent on naming a special prosecutor to investigate CIA officers engaged in counterterrorism. Read more here.

Panetta Email Message to Staff Marking 9/11; Chance to Boost CIA Morale
Last week, CIA Director Leon Panetta addressed agency staff in an e-mail marking the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks tomorrow. With the CIA facing scrutiny over Bush-era torture of detainees and questions about how it should share responsibilities with the FBI and other federal agencies, Panetta used the opportunity to try to boost morale and rally employees. Read the full email message here.

Judge Chides CIA in Secrets Case
A federal appeals court has put a lawsuit against the CIA on hold temporarily, disagreeing with a lower court judge who claimed the agency was hiding behind dubious national security arguments to shield itself from potential embarrassment. In the suit, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent claims the CIA illegally wiretapped his home when stationed in Rangoon, Burma. The CIA argues that allowing the case to proceed would divulge classified information. The interesting thing about this story is that the AP article is as opaque to read as the case. We guess it’s hard to cover a case when its about top secret stuff?

GeoEye Extends Service Level Agreement with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
USGIF member company GeoEye, Inc. recently announced that it has signed a contract to extend its Service Level Agreement with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) through March 31, 2010. The contract extension gives the NGA continued access to high-quality color imagery from the GeoEye-1 and IKONOS Earth-imaging satellites. GeoEye was awarded a contract with a maximum value of $50 million for the four-month extension period under essentially the same business terms as the prior agreement. Read more here.

OGC Announces Speakers for Spatial Law and Policy Summit
The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) will hold a Spatial Law and Policy Summit at The Westin Washington, D.C. City Center on October 7, 2009. Professionals from government and the private sector whose work involves laws and policies related to geospatial technology are invited to register and
attend. This event will feature a keynote talk by Robert W. Corell, Vice President of Programs at The Heinz Center. Noted for his role in climate science research, Dr. Corell has served as a Senior Policy Fellow at the Policy Program of the American Meteorological Society and as a Senior Research Fellow in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University`s Kennedy School of Government. Read the full press release here.

ESRI Adopts DeLorme World Map as a Global Cartographic Standard
DeLorme, an industry leader in geospatial technology, today announced that its seamless, horizontally-accurate DeLorme World Base Map, is now available from ESRI, the world`s GIS software leader, through ArcGIS Online. DeLorme showcased its World Base Map as a new Business Partner at the recent
ESRI International User Conference in San Diego. ESRI and ESRI Business Partners will utilize the DeLorme World Base Map as a template for world topographic map generation. Read the full press release here.

Happy Monday!!

Tags: 9/11, CIA, Eric Holder, ESRI, GeoEye, GEOINT 2009, got geoint?, Leon Panetta, Leon Panetta Email to CIA Staff, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, NGA, Pete Hoekstra, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, USGIF