scott brown

Cheat Sheet: 5 Things You Maybe Missed this Week

January 22, 2010 at 10:32 am , by Catherine LeFebvre

1. Massachusetts Becomes Brown-ville
Massachusetts, often considered the “bluest of blue” states, has elected a Republican to Senate. Scott Brown will head to Washington this week, taking over the seat held for over 40 years by Ted Kennedy and breaking the Democrats’ filibuster-proof super-majority. Brown is pro-choice, against gay marriage but pro civil unions, has vowed to vote against the health care reform bill, and was voted “America’s Sexiest Man” in 1982 by Cosmo.

2. Supreme Court Blocks Ban on Corporate Political Spending
The Supreme Court campaign finance ruling on Thursday means corporations can spend freely on political ads leading up to elections. “Government may not suppress political speech on the basis of the speaker’s corporate identity,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the 57-page majority opinion. “No sufficient governmental interest justifies limits on the political speech of nonprofit or for-profit corporations.”

3. Conan Leaves the Tonight Show
The last few weeks of late night haven’t been pretty. Ever since Leno’s experiment in prime-time failed, there have been an awful lot of cheap shots,  finger-pointing, and jokes that weren’t so much funny as really expensive. But this week NBC and Conan O’Brien reached a deal in which the network will pay around $45 million for him leave his job as the host of The Tonight Show to make way for the return of Jay Leno. As for Coco, he’ll probably head to Fox.

4. A Pug Plays the Piano!

Wow, that was a lot of serious news. So for a little comic relief, TWO puppy stories!!

5. The Puppy Cam Is Back!
A daily webcast of Shiba Inu pups. It’s kind of like staring into the window of the pet store, only at your desk. All the time. Yep, all productivity is lost.

Campaign poster photo via Mark Sardella