Blog Heap of Links for the day 19 October 2012

[The Clintons'] experts came to the conclusion that the cables proved that Hillary had in fact given specific instructions to beef up security in Libya, and that if those orders had been carried out — which they weren’t — they could conceivably have avoided the tragedy. … [Hillary] firmly believes that when the State Department cable traffic is made public… it will exonerate her and shift the blame for the entire mess onto the president.

Kevin Dunn joining HBO comedy Veep 2nd season in the recurring role of Ben, the president's new chief of staff.

Sylvia Kristel, the Dutch actress who starred in the 1974 porn landmark "Emmanuelle," about a couple’s erotic adventures in Thailand, has died of cancer at age 60. [Oh, so that's what it was about. I wondered, but not enough to find out. iMDB: Sylvia Kristel, RIP.]

IN THE 1930s, publishing bosses Jack Liebowitz and Harry Donenfeld paid a couple of young men $130 for the rights to Superman. … A federal judge in California has ruled that Shuster’s heirs cannot reclaim copyrights to Superman. U.S. District Court Judge Otis D. Wright decided that those rights were surrendered 20 years ago when Shuster’s siblings reached an annual payment agreement with DC Comics and gave up interest in the Son of Krypton….

DC Comics' superheroes can finally team up on the big screen following yesterday's legal victory for Warner Bros. in its long-running fight over the rights to Superman. … Had Warner lost its case against the heirs of Superman co-creator Joe Shuster, it would not have been able to make "Justice League" or any other movies, television shows or comics featuring key elements of the Man of Steel's mythos after 2013 unless it reached a new agreement with the estates of Shuster and co-creator Jerry Siegel.… [Well! Thank goodness they can proceed without regard to the heirs of the character's creators!! :P]

President Obama stammered through a lame response that ultimately failed to address the question. When Romney attempted to address the President’s inconsistencies in his excuse making, the moderator managed to forget her position and came to the aid of the President. [Video]