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Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from got geoint? As always, we hope you had a restful weekend and are ready to take on the world. For today’s MMNKO (we really like that acronym!) post, we offer a diverse range of stories from the House passing the Intel bill, the surge in satellite usage in Afghanistan, and the CIA bomber’s posthumous video about receiving a “gift from god” to more localized news about Kansas being mapped digitally. As we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on. Happy Monday!

More Satellites Will Act as Eyes for Troops
Across the unforgiving terrain of Afghanistan, American combat forces have come to rely on satellites as well as their rifles and body armor to carry out missions effectively, and to stay alive. But American units have found that satellite signals are weakened and even blocked outright by the breathtaking peaks and backbreaking valleys of Afghanistan — making it hard to pinpoint the troops’ location, navigate on patrol, identify friend from foe in battle or call in bombs and artillery when under attack. So the top officer of the military’s Strategic Command, which is better known for control of the nation’s nuclear arsenal, has ordered up what might be called a “satellite surge” to increase the coverage and accuracy for GPS devices in the war zone. Read the full NY Times article here.

House Passes Intel Bill After Stripping CIA Punishment Proposal
It took an extra day, but the House of Representatives on Friday approved a bill to reauthorize the nation’s intelligence programs. The House approved the bill by a 235-to-168 vote, after a controversial measure was removed that would have imposed tough punishments on CIA interrogators who cross the line while questioning suspected terrorists. The House Democratic leadership team hoped to approve the measure Thursday, but in a stunning move was forced to yank the bill off the floor after the controversy over the CIA measure erupted. Moderate and conservative Democrats joined most Republicans in crying foul when Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., added a provision to the measure that could punish CIA officers for engaging in “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” when they interrogate terrorism suspects. There was no concrete language, though, describing what the terms “cruel, inhuman and vague” meant — the bill would have given Congress several years to define the terms. Read the full Fox News story here.

Bomber Called C.I.A. Target Gift From God
In a posthumously released video message, the suicide bomber who killed seven C.I.A. employees on Dec. 30 said that his original target had been his handler from Jordanian intelligence, and that an invitation to meet C.I.A. officers at a remote base in Afghanistan had been an unexpected boon. “We planned for something but got a bigger gift, a gift from Allah, who brought us, through his accompaniment, a valuable prey: Americans, and from the C.I.A.,” said the bomber, Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, a Jordanian physician who carried out the attack, in a 44-minute video posted on extremist Web sites Sunday. Read the full NY Times story here.

Ex-CIA Director Hayden Praises Obama for ‘Continuity’ in War on Terror
Former President George W. Bush’s CIA Director, Gen. Michael Hayden, has offered some surprisingly strong praise of President Obama for his handling of the war on terror and his “continuity” of Bush administration policies that have made America safer from new attacks. In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, Hayden applauded the new administration for helping to thwart new acts of terrorism, as he offered disagreement on several Obama administration initiatives, including its criminal investigation of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques. Read the full Newsmax story here.

DigitalGlobe Reports Flat 4th-Quarter Profit
Satellite image provider DigitalGlobe Inc. reported a flat fourth-quarter profit Wednesday, but its 2010 forecast disappointed investors, who sent shares sharply lower in after-hours trading. The company said it earned $13.8 million, or 30 cents per share, in the period ended Dec. 31, compared to $13.8 million, or 31 cents, in 2008. Revenue edged up 1 percent to $72.9 million from $72.2 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been expecting a profit of 31 cents per share on $72.2 million in sales. Read the full AP/BusinessWeek story here.

Geological Survey Digitally Maps Kansas
The tools are not fancy: a rock hammer, shovel, four-wheel drive vehicle, spade and auger. During the summer months, Terri Woodburn and Bill Johnson pound, dig and scratch into the Kansas soil to gather data to develop geological maps. But now, the dust and warm summer sun are distant memories, replaced with the winter tools of technology. The work for the map makers begins as the data are entered into the computer for development of the digital map. Read the full Kansan.com article here.

SuperGeo Technologies Announces Reseller Partnership with GeoEye
SuperGeo Technologies, the leading global provider of complete geospatial information system (GIS) software and solutions, announced today its partnership with GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY), a premier provider of superior satellite and aerial-based geospatial information and services. Based in Taiwan, SuperGeo develops extensive GIS products and applications for users all over the world. In addition to developing and marketing SuperGIS series software, SuperGeo also resells other remote sensing software and related global positioning system (GPS) hardware in Taiwan. The company will supply high-resolution images to its local market for customers to complete geospatial solutions. Read the full press release here.

Happy Monday!

Tags: CIA Bomber, CIA Director, CIA Interrogations, DigitalGlobe, DigitalGlobe earnings, Digitally Maps Kansas, Gen. Michael Hayden, GeoEye, GEOINT, Gift from God, got geoint?, Hayden Praises Obama, House Intel Bill, House Intelligence Bill, satellites and Afghanistan, SuperGeo Technologies, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, USGIF