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Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from got geoint? We hope everyone enjoyed their downtime this past weekend. As always, we have pulled together all the actionable news you need to kick start the work week. Once again, we have a mix of stories from the latest on WikiLeaks to an innovative use of Google Earth: to track down unpermitted backyard swimming pools. So, as we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on.

McCain Considers Hold On Clapper
Sen. John McCain might delay confirmation of President Obama’s next national intelligence director, a spokesperson said Sunday. McCain is awaiting a report, content unspecified, that will determine whether he will ask Majority Leader Harry Reid to avoid bringing the nomination of Gen. James Clapper (ret.) to the floor. A vote was expected this week and Clapper, who converted doubters on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, was expected to be easily confirmed. McCain’s spokesperson said that McCain would provide more information Monday on what report he was waiting for. Putting a hold on Clapper could delay the vote until after the August recess. Read the full Atlantic blog post here.

MIT Students Helped WikiLeaks Suspect, Hacker Says
Adrian Lamo, the former computer hacker who tipped off federal authorities to WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning, says two men in the Boston area have told Lamo in phone conversations that they assisted Manning.
Lamo said both men attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but he refused to identify them because, he said, at least one of them has threatened him. One of these men allegedly told Lamo they gave encryption software to Manning and taught the Army private how to use it, Lamo said. Manning, an Army intelligence analyst, is being held in solitary confinement at a Virginia detention facility. He is charged with leaking an airstrike video that the whistleblower website WikiLeaks published in April, and Pentagon officials say he is the prime suspect in last week’s disclosure of thousands of field reports from the war in Afghanistan to the site. Read the full CNN story here.

Kerry: WikiLeaks Not a Game-Changer
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said Sunday the information revealed in the WikiLeaks report about the military struggle in Afghanistan is not comparable to the historic controversy surrounding the Pentagon Papers. Asked to assess the report on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” Kerry explained the difference between the two secret reports that roiled Americans perceptions about war. “The Pentagon Papers revealed a government — our government, that had been engaged in a long pattern of deception with the American people. There is no such thing here,” Kerry said. Read the full Politico post here.

ITT Posts Higher 2Q earnings; Geospatial Sees 14% Jump in Sales
ITT Corp.’s Geospatial Systems division in Rochester reported a 14 percent increase in second-quarter sales Friday. The division, which employs some 1,500 local workers, logged sales of $298 million, up from $261 million for a year ago. The White Plains, Westchester County-based ITT posted net income of $238 million, or $1.28 a share, up 18 percent from $201 million, or $1.10 a share, last year. Adjusted earnings were $1.14 a share, excluding gains related to a tax audit. Sales were up roughly 1 percent to $2.74 billion. Read the full Rochester Business Journal article here.

Report: Google, CIA Backing Web Startup
Google Ventures and the investment arm of the CIA funded a company that searches out connections between people, groups, and events, according to a report in Wired. The company, which is called Recorded Future, offers a technology for predictive analysis which lets people to “visualize the future, past, or present.” In-Q-Tel, which develops and invests in technology under the aegis of the CIA and Google Ventures each have seats on Recorded Future’s board. Both companies have been “very helpful,” providing advice to the Cambridge, Mass.-based start-up, Chief Executive Christopher Ahlberg, an ex-Swedish Army ranger, according to Wired. Read the full CBS News article here.

Google Earth Used to Find Unpermitted Pools in NY
A town on New York’s Long Island is using Google Earth to find backyard pools that don’t have the proper permits. The town of Riverhead has used the satellite image service to find about 250 pools whose owners never filled out the required paperwork. Violators were told to get the permits. So far about $75,000 in fees has been collected. Read the full Boston Herald story here.

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