Weekend link dump for October 23

It’s hard out here on a clown.

Your Internet-connected devices have lousy default security. You might want to do something about that.

President Obama’s list of essential sci-fi movies and TV shows.

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown turns fifty years old this Halloween. It’s still as sincere as ever.

Robbing banks ain’t what it used to be.

The most important gay rights case since marriage equality was won is set for an appellate hearing.

Our elections are not rigged, no matter what a certain short-fingered vulgarian may claim.

“To the anonymous caller who invoked the name of Don Bolles — he’s the Republic reporter who was assassinated by a car bomb 40 years ago — and threatened that more of our reporters would be blown up because of the endorsement, I give you Kimberly. She is the young woman who answered the phone when you called. She sat in my office and calmly told three Phoenix police detectives what you had said. She told them that later, she walked to church and prayed for you. Prayed for patience, for forgiveness. Kimberly knows free speech requires compassion.”

“But Donald Trump’s supporters’ concerns are heavily about race. Taking them seriously means, first and foremost, acknowledging that, and dealing with it honestly.”

This Is Spinal Tap star Harry Shearer is suing Universal parent Vivendi for what he alleges is dramatic and deliberate under-payment of music royalties from the classic spoof rockumentary.”

The oral history of baseball on Seinfeld. A great read even if you’re not a big Seinfeld fan.

“Where is the white evangelical support for Evan McMullin? The answer to that question will tell us a great deal about white evangelicalism.”

“Confidence that votes nationwide will be counted accurately has, if anything, increased since 2012. Trump’s rhetoric appears not to have reduced Republican confidence in the accuracy of the vote count over the past four years. Rather, it has increased the confidence of Democrats. The degree of party polarization over the quality of the vote count has increased since 2012, but it is Democratic shifts in opinion, not Republican, that are leading to this greater polarization.”

“But Lessig’s reaction is plainly correct. People have a right to say mean things about other people in private. Let he who has not sent a needlessly catty email about a friend, ex-lover, co-worker, or long-shot presidential candidate start the Twitter shaming.”

The case for official neutrality as an effective weapon in political entertainment.

Don’t mess with nerdcore, Alex Trebek.

If you’re citing the Dred Scott decision in your legal argument, you’ve already lost.

The new silent majority is minorities and educated women.

“In 2015, there were 58 shootings committed by toddlers, or more than one every week. The drumbeat of tragic shootings involving children barely able to walk has continued unabated this year.”

Emmy voting isn’t rigged, either.

How Hackers Broke Into John Podesta and Colin Powell’s Gmail Accounts.

“I know Al Gore, I’ve studied Al Gore, and you, sir, are no Al Gore. You are a sniffing idiot who isn’t fit to shine Al Gore’s lockbox.”

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