On public computers inside Brooklyn's public libraries, you are welcome to watch pornography. No, really. The Village Voice's Runnin' Scared blog confirmed it after hearing about a fight that broke out between a guy who was watching porn and another guy who wanted to use the computer. This, of course, begs the question: are the District's libraries similarly cool with customers watching pornography inside its facilities? more ›

This week we've got the classy (the Powell/Pressburger epic ballet masterpiece, The Red Shoes) to the trashy, as E Street plays 3D porn at midnight. We've also got the latest from the world's oldest active filmmaker, a potential guilty pleasure in the making from Liam Neeson, and more Academy Award nominee screenings. more ›

So the Associated Press says that former D.C.-based FOX News producer Aaron Bruns got sentenced to 10 years in prison today for possession of child pornography, while just a few days before, former NPR science editor David Malakoff basically walked on the same charge, getting only five years probation. What was the difference between these two men? Bruns had a prior kiddie porn conviction from about ten years ago, when he was a college student in Michigan, while Malakoff had no previous record. Malakoff also testified that he had watched the videos in order to relive his own rape, which he said he experienced when he was 9 years-old, and the judge in his case obviously believed his story. Still, that's a pretty big disparity as far as sentencing goes. Without U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle's intervention, Malakoff would have been given six to eight years based on federal guidelines. more ›

A couple of years ago, I made some friends on one of our friendly neighborhood listservs -- and people were always asking for favors. After all, that's what neighbors do for each other. In any case, I got roped into babysitting occasionally. No big deal right? A free pizza, playing some Xbox 360, and some quality time spent engaging my inner seven-year-old -- to be honest, it wasn't that much different that my usual evening activities. (You know, just without the booze.) Really, the only downside to the whole shebang was when the two or three kids decided to break into a full-throated argument about which toys were whose, and who, at that very moment, had the right to monopolize the box they all laid in. Invariably, someone got hit, I'd have to step in; it was a considerable mess that accomplished nothing. Ten minutes later, they'd be back fighting again over the same things. more ›