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Yesterday, the NY Times ran a front page story about federal prosecutors accusing 11 people of being part of a Russian espionage ring, living under false names and deep cover in a patient scheme to penetrate what one coded message called American “policy making circles.” What was interesting about this story was that these Russian spies have embedded themselves deeply into quiet suburban lives in the U.S. Thought, what really caught our attention — surely Hollywood is working a script right now about this story — was today’s front page NY Times follow up story that had many IC leaders asking “why?”

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Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from got geoint? Monday, Monday. Here we are again. You come back way to soon. But, as true professionals, we have to embrace Monday and all the possibilities that come with this special day. As such, we have all the actionable GEOINT news you need in one place. This week, have stories about the U.S. Air Force launching a “secretive space plane,” the latest from NGA’s Pathfinder, and a rather scathing Op-Ed on the Obama Administration’s “emasculation” of the intelligence agencies. As we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on.

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The White House threatened to veto the Intelligence Authorization bill because its demands for transparency and oversight would, in some cases, put American lives at risk, in the view of the Obama administration. President Obama’s budget director, Peter Orszag (pictured), sent letters to the heads of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees on Monday stating the that the House and Senate Intelligence Authorization bills “and their classified annexes still contain several provisions of serious concern to the Intelligence Community (IC). Three categories of provisions are so serious that the President’s senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill if they are included in the version presented for his signature: the Congressional notification provisions, GAO provisions, and provisions regarding the amounts authorized for the National Intelligence Program.” What do you all think? There is a fine line between transparency and risking the lives of those who work in the IC. Check out the Washington Posts’s coverage here.

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Welcome to the latest installment of Friday’s Food for Thought. While many of us work in the intelligence community, we often forget what the term “intelligence” is really all about. According to Wikipedia, intelligence is an umbrella term used to describe a property of the mind that encompasses many related abilities. From our perspective, it is about the development and analysis of actionable information that can help our nation defend and protect itself. But, really, both meanings are very intertwined. Scroll down and read more. Oh, and don’t miss the “slap chop” video at the end for a few laughs. Happy Friday!

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The news cycle has been dominated by stories about how vulnerable we are to cyber attacks. We have not seen too much coverage about offensive strategies by the U.S. government. That is until now, and the news is not good. According to recent report from a panel of military, diplomatic, legal and IT security experts assembled by the National Research Council, the U.S. government lacks a comprehensive policy about how it will engage in cyber warfare. The report states that the U.S. government also lacks a person or office to coordinate cyberattack. So, does this mean that nothing is happening on the offensive front??

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We often troll YouTube and other video sites for content regarding GEOINT and the Intelligence Community. Often times, we find some interesting nuggets like C.I.A. and NGA recruitment videos or the U.S. Army’ “Future Combat Systems” video series. Along those lines, we came across this video serving as a general introduction to the Intelligence Community. Check it out:

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