Outside the Beltway

Broadway actors are aiming a familiar lament at Hollywood stars: They’re taking our jobs!

Actor Jeff Conaway, best known for his role of Bobby Wheeler on “Taxi,” is dead after a drug overdose.

Stephen Colbert has been running an ongoing shtick in which he’s trying to start a political action committee, gets letters from his Viacom bosses poo-pooing the idea, and then inviting his lawyer on to explain ways to get around these concerns.

Willie Nelson is torn between Gary Johnson and Dennis Kucinich.

When one realizes that Trump is basically a brand, rather than anything else, his PR foray into politics makes more sense.

Go The Fuck to Sleep, the children’s book aimed at parents, has become an Internet sensation and reached #1 on Amazon well before its release owing to a leaked copy.

Superman doesn’t hate America after all!

An item in the Extra Bases baseball notebook last Sunday misidentified, in some editions, the origin of the name Orcrist the Goblin Cleaver, which Mets pitcher R. A. Dickey gave one of his bats. Orcrist was not, as Dickey had said, the name of the sword used by Bilbo Baggins in the Misty Mountains in “The Hobbit”; Orcrist was the sword used by the dwarf Thorin Oakenshield in the book. (Bilbo Baggins’s sword was called Sting.)

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have announced their separation after 25 years of marriage.

Mashup videos: Iron Maiden and The Monkees (“The Trooper Believer”) and Pink Floyd and Bee Gees (“Stayin’ Alive in the Wall”)

Superman will renounce his American citizenship!

Singing the 1974 Carl Douglas classic “Kung Fu Fighting” can get you arrested in England.

Roger Ebert lays the smack down on the Atlas Shrugged film — but not for the reasons you’d think.

Zsa Zsa Gabor’s 67-year-old husband says he and the 94-year-old actress are seeking to have a child through a surrogate.

Donald Trump is waiting to announce whether he’s running for president until after taping of “The Apprentice” concludes. Some thing NBC shouldn’t allow him to wait.

The Federal government is funding a Pakistan version of Sesame Street for $20 million.

Bristol Palin was paid $262,500 by Candies Foundation as an anti-teen pregnancy spokesman. That’s 7 times what they spent on teen pregnancy prevention.

The iconic WKRP in Cincinnati is not being syndicated or available on DVD in its original format because it’s classic rock soundtrack is hamstrung by copyright laws and music licensing fees.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has mastered the worlds of bodybuilding, show business, and politics. Next, he’s going to try his hand at being a Marvel superhero.

This letter from legendary music journalist Lester Bangs is making the rounds

Ru Paul for President 2012 bumper sticker

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried is the latest idiot celebrity to damage their career on Twitter.

Automated programs are getting very good at poker and are winning large sums on online gambling sites.

An offhand comment in my post “Obama Killed Cap’n Crunch” sparked inquiries about the fate of the General Mills line of cereals featuring monster characters.

Cap’n Crunch is going the way of Joe Camel.

An op-ed by a Hao Leifeng in China’s Global Times argues that “Actor Charlie Sheen is a classic example of the difference in Western and Eastern values and norms.”

Charlie Sheen was the highest paid sitcom actor on the planet. Until a few minutes ago:

Why is Charlie Sheen seen as likable despite his serial abuse of women?

James Franco is a film director, screenwriter, painter, author, performance artist and actor. And working on a PhD at Yale.

My official statement. Please refer to this the next time somebody says something stupid.

Muammar Gadaffi’s family hired big name entertainers for parties. What with the ongoing mayhem in Libya, that’s coming under scrutiny.

A New York judge has sided with comedian Jerry Seinfeld in a bizarre lawsuit by a crazy woman who writes cookbooks.

Is Jon Stewart a useful idiot?