I'm done for the day. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Wikileaks released a trove of documents about CIA hacking tools used to break into "smartphones, computers and even Internet-connected televisions."

What it means (according to Edward Snowden)"[it's the]first public evidence [of]USG secretly paying to keep US software unsafe."

The CIA reports show the USG developing vulnerabilities in US products, then intentionally keeping the holes open. Reckless beyond words.

...Why is this dangerous? Because until closed, any hacker can use the security hole the CIA left open to break into any iPhone in the world.

Although Wikileaks says Signal and WhatsApp were compromised, Snowden says the released documents show "iOS/Android are what got hacked - a much bigger problem." Others say if you're worried about being hacked, Signal is still the safest option.

Check out Sam Biddle at The Intercept, Wikileaks Dump shows CIA Could Turn Smart TVs into Listening Devices.

The decline of ISIS seems to be hastening, according to analysts, who say it's only a matter of time before ISIS is defeated, either militarily or though a negotiated settlement.

Where will their potentially thousands of fighters, referred to as transnational terrorists, who avoid capture and death, go next? Amarnath Amarasingam and Colin P. Clark take a stab a the question in the Atlantic, and say the fighters have a few options. Here are their conclusions:

ISIS fighters are unquestionably capable: Dug in to their positions, they have skillfully used tunnels and subterranean networks to move men and materials, and have perfected the production and deployment of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices to keep their adversaries at bay.

[More...]

Former MI6 spy Christopher Steele is back home in London, and returning to work.

"I'm really pleased to be back here working again at the Orbis's offices in London today," said Steele.

"I'm now going to be focusing my efforts on supporting the broader interests of our company here. I'd like to say a warm thank you to everyone who sent me kind messages and support over the last few weeks.

About the unsubstantiated Trump dossier he worked on:

"I won't be making any further statements or comments at this time."

The year's first case of U.S. bird flu has been found at a chicken farm in Tennessee which is under contract to Tyson Foods. Tyson says it will euthanize 73,500 affected chickens. The farm, along with 20 poultry farms within a 6 mile radius, are now under quarantine.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said this represented the first confirmed case of highly pathogenic H7 avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial poultry in the United States this year. It is the first time HPAI has been found in Tennessee, the state government said.

[More...]

I didn't have to read a word of the Republican proposed health care bill to know it would be an as*-backwards approach to medical care. I've now read one article, and need go no further than this to prove the point: It swaps penalties for not buying insurance for penalties for letting it lapse:

People who let their insurance coverage lapse, however, would face a significant penalty. Insurers could increase their premiums by 30 percent, and in that sense, Republicans would replace a penalty for not having insurance with a new penalty for allowing insurance to lapse.

No major health care bill passes without months or years of discussion and amendments. The final version is always a compromise, and looks little like the original proposal. So other than demonstrating once again, what bad ideas Republicans have, I'm not going to be reading too much about it as of now, but for those of you who are worried about it, here's a place to discuss it.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has set 8 executions for a ten day period in April, now that the state's supreme court rejected lawsuits over the controversial drugs used.

The upcoming execution schedule is unprecedented, notes Robert Dunham, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. "No state has ever conducted eight executions over a 10 day period," he told CNN.

The Associated Press speculates that they were scheduled for such a short window because the state's supply of one of the lethal injection drugs, Midazolam, expires at the end of April. Arkansas has already run out of potassium chloride, which causes cardiac arrest upon injection, and has yet to acquire a new supply. Hutchinson has expressed confidence that a new supplier for the substance will be found in time.

While Hutchinson has no moral qualms about killing his fellow human beings, he did have qualms about a pig named Roxy P. Hamilton, and in January, he granted the pig a pardon.

More on the executions here.

Donald Trump has signed a new executive order banning people from six countries from getting visas for 90 days. (Iraq was omitted.) You can read the order here. Trump also issued a Memorandum for the Secretary of State on how it is to be implemented, which you can read here.

Also, according to the Washington Post article linked above:

the nation’s refu­gee program will be suspended for 120 days, and it will not accept more than 50,000 refugees in a year, down from the 110,000 cap set by the Obama administration.

A few other exceptions were included: [More...]

David Letterman weighs in on Donald Trump in a new interview with Vulture Magazine:

Say the head of the family, let’s say his name was Larry Wasserstein. If Larry behaved the way Donald behaves, for even a six-week period, the family would get together and say, “Jesus, somebody better call the doctor.” Then they’d ask him to step down.

But Trump’s the president and he can lie about anything from the time he wakes up to what he has for lunch and he’s still the president. I don’t get that. I’m tired of people being bewildered about everything he says: “I can’t believe he said that.” We gotta stop that and instead figure out ways to protect ourselves from him. We know he’s crazy. We gotta take care of ourselves here now.

[More...]

This may be the best SNL cold open of the Trump season yet -- Kate McKinnon as Jeff Sessions -Forrest Gump. Mediaite has the video.

"This is my best good friend Kelly Ann, she ain't got no legs....They don't let her talk any more.

On Russia: "My lawyer said, Run Jeff-ey Run. So I ran and ran...."[More...]

Ecuador has launched a campaign against U.S. Immigration policies. It is providing consular assistance and wants Ecuadorians to know that they are not alone, no matter where they are.

Here are some of the graphics, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Translation isn't really needed but I added some to the less obvious graphics:)

Breaking with yet another tradition, Donald Trump's Secretary of State couldn't be bothered to personally appear for the release of the State Department's annual report on human rights.

“It’s just signaling a lack of basic interest and understanding in how support for human rights reflects what’s best about America,” said Rob Berschinski, senior vice-president for policy at Human Rights First.

Ecuador is blasting the report, saying the accusations against it are unfounded. In an official release, essentially telling the U.S. to examine abuses within its own borders before casting aspersions on others, it makes a few good points: