Did you read about Republicans in Congress, Hans Riegel, and telephone buttons?

• Lexlexlex/Wikimedia Commons
• Telephone buttons

Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, amuse, or inspire us.

Hey, did you read:

• That according to a senior editor for the American Conservative, after the last few weeks, “it is hard to argue that Republicans should have control over any part of the government”? —Steve Bogira

• And that “even if you prefer conservative policies” the Republicans in Congress “are just too dangerously incompetent to be trusted with power”? —Steve Bogira

• This list that, in the spirit of last week’s sports list, picks the best-known books set in every state? —Aimee Levitt

• That Hans Riegel, founder of the German candy company Haribo, has died at age 90? —Ben Sachs

• About Fukuppy, the unfortunately named mascot for Osaka-based refrigeration company Fukushima Industries? —Ben Sachs

• About the Supreme Court case that could effectively bring the federal government to a halt in another way? —Mick Dumke

• What telephone buttons could’ve looked like? —Gwynedd Stuart

• David Byrne writing in the Guardian about how the Internet will hurt creative industries? —Tal Rosenberg