| WikiLeaks lifts the curtain on CIA's alleged 'hacking arsenal' | | Dust off your tinfoil hat because if WikiLeaks is to be believed, paranoia is perfectly natural. Julian Assange's whistle-blowing site published thousands of documents Tuesday it says reveal how the CIA hacks computers, smartphones and even TVs. WikiLeaks says the CIA Center for Cyber Intelligence "lost control of the majority of its hacking arsenal" and published several hundred million lines of code that make up "the entire hacking capacity of the CIA." Some programs in the hacking arsenal take their names from films and TV shows like "Talladega Nights," "Flight Club" and "Doctor Who." But the most appropriate pop culture reference might be to George Orwell's novel "1984" about a totalitarian society where "Big Brother" is always watching. Although none of the WikiLeaks claims have been verified and it's unknown if these tools were ever used on U.S. citizens, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., has called for a congressional investigation into the surveillance program, saying, "The potential privacy concerns are mind-boggling." | | We're No. 7! Magazine sees U.S. slipping | | So much for American exceptionalism. A new ranking of the best countries from "U.S. News & World Report" puts the United States at seventh place, down three spots from last year. President Trump, despite his promise to "Make America Great Again," appears to be a big reason why. Among the 21,000 people surveyed, 75% said they lost some respect for U.S. leadership after the presidential election. The rankings put Switzerland at No. 1, followed by America's next-door neighbor Canada and the United Kingdom. But don't worry, we're still bigly: The USA remained No. 1 on the magazine's list of most powerful countries, closely followed by Russia and China. | | Casey Anthony speaks, but what does she mean? | | Casey Anthony broke her silence about her 2011 murder case and her daughter's death for the first time, but she didn't exactly open up . "I'm still not even certain as I stand here today about what happened," she said in an interview with the Associated Press that raised more questions than answers about the case. Anthony was accused of killing her daughter Caylee in 2008, but authorities were unable to determine a cause of death. A jury ultimately convicted her of four misdemeanor counts of lying to police. "People lie to the cops every day," she said. "I'm just one of the unfortunate idiots who admitted that they lied." If you expected Anthony to be contrite about her daughter's death, you'll be disappointed. "I'm OK with myself; I sleep pretty good at night," she told AP. | | On Facebook, there's a word for fake news: 'Disputed' | | Facebook is now fighting back against fake news by slapping a label on it: "Disputed" . Over the weekend, the giant social network began putting warning labels on clearly phony articles. One example: "Trump's Android Device Believed To Be Source of Recent White House Leaks," from a fictional publication, "The Seattle Tribune." Facebook announced the effort in December amid controversy over its role in the spread of misinformation that fueled intense political partisanship during and after the presidential election. Users can flag fake stories by clicking on the upper right-hand corner of a post. Flagged articles will be sent to third-party fact-checking organizations that are part of Poynter's International Fact Checking Network, Facebook says. |  | | Alec Baldwin's days playing The Donald are numbered | | And finally, some "yuge" news: Alec Baldwin may not be donning the blonde wig and bronzer to play President Trump on "Saturday Night Live" too much longer , he told "Extra." Why? Baldwin essentially says Trump can't laugh at himself. "Trump just overwhelmingly lacks any sportsmanship, he remains, bitter, and angry, and you just want to look at him and go, 'You won!'" Baldwin said. "The maliciousness of this White House has people worried ... that's why I'm not going to do it much longer, the impersonation, I don't know how much more people can take it." He also has some advice for Trump: Stay off Twitter. "The President of the United States should have his office do the tweeting," Baldwin told USA TODAY. | |
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