Below The Beltway

Southwest Airlines’ new Boeing 737 is turning some heads:
Passengers are angry about being forced to fly on a new Southwest Airlines plane featuring a bikini-clad model, saying it is “soft porn” and is offensive to families.
Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli, currently dating actor Leonardo DiCaprio, is pictured lying seductively in a revealing white bikini along the [...]

It looks like Michael Phelps won’t be charged in connection with the now-famous photograph of him smoking from a marijuana pipe:
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina sheriff said Monday he was not going to charge swimmer Michael Phelps after a photo of the 14-time gold medalist showed him smoking from a marijuana pipe.
Richland County [...]

If there was any question that Rush Limbaugh was the voice of the future of the Republican Party, this should make that idea laughable:
They will not control government forever, and when our turn comes, we are going to turn the power of government against the left. We are going to investigate them. We are [...]

South Carolina’s Governor doesn’t think that law enforcement in his state should pursue criminal charges against Michael Phelps for taking a bong hit:

I’m really starting to like this guy.
         

In case you weren’t aware of it, the motion picture industry is getting a bailout:
A provision in the current “stimulus” bill would allow Hollywood moguls to write off half the production and filming costs of big-budget films and TV shows.
Backed by Walt Disney and the Motion Picture Association of America, the provision amounts to an [...]

Gene Roddenberry and his wife are headed to deep space:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The creator of “Star Trek” and his wife will spend eternity together in space. Celestis Inc., a company that specializes in “memorial spaceflights,” said Monday that it will ship the remains of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry into space next year.
The [...]

This is not how free people behave:

The only good thing about this is that we’re talking about celebrities, most of whom are a little crazy to begin with.
Why am I not surprised that Oprah’s behind it ?
         

Ricardo Montalban has passed away:
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Ricardo Montalban, best known as the mysterious Mr. Roarke on the popular television series “Fantasy Island,” died on Wednesday at the age of 88, a Los Angeles city official said.
Mexican-born Montalban had a long career in entertainment but found broad fame as the star of ABC’s [...]

A familiar face, and voice, to all Star Trek fans has passed away:
NEW YORK (AP) — Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, has died. She was 76. Roddenberry, an actress who appeared in numerous “Star Trek” TV shows and movies, died Thursday of leukemia at her home in Bel-Air, Calif., [...]

The original pinup girl has died:
Bettie Page, a legendary pinup girl whose photographs in the nude, in bondage and in naughty-but-nice poses appeared in men’s magazines and private stashes across America in the 1950s and set the stage for the sexual revolution of the rebellious ’60s, died Thursday in Los Angeles. She was 85.
Her death [...]