This Week's WTF Moments In The News

Every once in a while, you guys write stories so crazy we can barely believe what we're reading. Here's a round up of a few WTF moments from this week. National Journal, Nearly One in Five Members of Congress Gets Paid Twice The Story: Congressmen get paid, and some also collect pensions—lucrative pensions WTF: This story may or may not be a big deal to you, depending where you fall on the political spectrum. Seems, though, if you work a job that promises you a pension and you put in your years of service—usually a lot of them, there's not much of an argument for not collecting that pension. Unless, of course, you don't actually put in your years of service. National Journal mentions Tea Party Rep. Trey Gowdy in South Carolina. There, if you're a judge or state lawmaker, you can buy your years of service. Buy. It seems like that's just what Gowdy did, but no one from Gowdy's office had the balls to step up and actually admit it. "So, in 2011, the year after he rode the tea-party wave into Congress promising to slash government spending, he reported $88,432 in pension income—one of the 10 largest in Congress," Congressional reporter Shane Goldmacher wrote. #wefoundrusty... Missing Red Panda From National Zoo Found In DC The Story: A rare red panda escapes from the National Zoo, Twitter finds him. WTF: #findrusty! Not long after the National Zoo posted a BOLO Monday morning on Twitter, sightings from Adams Morgan poured in and pictures appeared, where else? On Twitter. This also happened to be the day that Edward Snowden gave reporters the slip in Russia, so it had an extra dose of irony attached, irony that wasn't lost on the Washington Post Express: How Rusty escaped is still a mystery. A source, though, tells us he was probably on his way to Cuba, or maybe Ecuador. Couple asks Starbucks Patrons For Help In Naming Baby The Story: Baby's name, up for a vote. WTF: This is crowdsourcing run amok. Yes, naming a baby can be hard work, fraught with indecision. There are whole books written about it, after all. One couple, in Connecticut, though, decided to skip all that and let 1,800 of their friends at Starbucks choose their baby's name for them. To be fair, the parents had already done most of the work and narrowed the vote down to two choices: Logan and Jackson. Mom, however, was worried how Jackson would sound with Dad's last name, Dixon. Well, good for her because Logan won. But in a twist worthy of Iran's Executive Election Board, they're throwing out the vote and declaring both names winner. Say hello to baby Logan Jackson Dixon. He'll arrive in September. Huffington Post, The Worst Jelly Belly Flavors: A HuffPost Deathmatch The Story: HuffPost Taste notices some really awful jelly bean flavors, makes you vote. WTF: First of all, the whole concept. But, seriously? The voting comes down to popcorn and licorice? Okay, gross, yes, but who picked the first round options? You can't very well pit licorice against coconut and expect a fair match. Or cotton candy against popcorn for that matter. And how did Chili Mango not make the list at all?

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This Week's WTF Moments In The News

National Journal, Nearly One in Five Members of Congress Gets Paid Twice

Justin McLachlan

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National Journal, Nearly One in Five Members of Congress Gets Paid Twice

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Justin McLachlan