The first thing you need to know about Maria Isabella “Belle” Boyd (1844-1900) is that she refused to be ignored. After that, you need to know that the first thing about her informs the second thing about her, which was that she was one of the most successful Confederate spies, if not one of the [...]
“Hanna”
I’m not sure I have fully processed this movie about a genetically engineered super-soldier in the form of a teenage girl locked inside one damn twisted fairy-tale-esque nightmare, but here we go… The movie opens with a young girl in the Arctic tundra stalking an elk (or was it caribou?). She nabs her prey only [...]
Odile Harrington
I think we’re way beyond explaining how the media misrepresents the spy trade but the fact remains that certain people get drawn in by those little falsehoods and it has very real consequences. Odile Harrington (1961- ), a young white woman recruited by South African Intelligence in 1986, then controlled by the white minority government during the [...]
Live from the Dungarvan Conference
A conference on analytical best practices is currently underway in the wonderful town of Dungarvan, located in Co. Waterford, Ireland. Organized by the Mercyhurst College Institute of Intelligence Studies in Erie, PA the conference seeks to examine analytical best practices across a variety of fields and, hopefully, come to understand how these best practices may be applied to [...]
Abby Sciuto “NCIS”
Okay, I’m sooo late to the game on this one, but after a recent weekend spent on the couch with a lame back, a friend loaned me seasons 1-4 of NCIS, and now, I hate to admit, I’m hooked. The upside is that I feel like I have gotten my proverbial blogging mojo back. And [...]
Elizebeth Friedman
Elizebeth Friedman (1892-1980), in three words: What A Broad. Elizebeth was one-half of the Dynamic Duo of Friedman and Freidman. Although married to the reknowned cryptographer William F. Friedman, Elizebeth was quite the crypto-dame in her own right and is often to referred to as the America’s first female cryptanalyst. Let me first say that I could [...]
The Intelligence Cycle: Project Runway Style
So, this is GiRl SpY’s first departure from the dames. I hope you won’t mind if I expound on a topic that is most confounding. Trust me, I’ll return to the ladies tomorrow. And at risk of this sounding like a total cliche about women, which is something I strive hard to avoid here, I’m [...]
Ana Montes
I’ve always heard it that Hell hath no fury like a women scorned, but lately I’m more inclined to think it is that Hell hath no fury like a woman with a cause. Anna Montes (1957-) is the daughter of the career Army doctor. Born in West Germany and bounced around a bit as a [...]
Gracie Hart
Before I lambast this movie into the great hereafter, this Agent must make a confession: she laughed her hiny off when first she saw it…at the dollar show. And in retrospect, I think I want my dollar back. Sandra Bullock plays Gracie Hart, a foul and unkempt FBI agent amongst a group of Frat-Pack FBI [...]
Cpl. Barbara Lauwers
Let me just start by saying that Cpl. Barbara Lauwers had the best job ever. Seriously, only a broad could think of a weapon so simple, so elegant as a mind game of this nature. I am, of course, speaking of the one and only OSS Lonely Hearts Club. Sigh. Makes my young heart go [...]
