Companies are accustomed to dismissing employees for misuse of computers at work.

Federal regulations forbid delaying inspections for fracture-critical bridges like the fallen Minneapolis bridge - the kind with a lack of redundancy in design, so that a single failure in a load-bearing part can cause the entire bridge to collapse.

Some parents believe that competition helps prepare children to succeed. Others fear that their children will not be able to handle failure.

Disclosure of private e-mails from government officials has been a legal issue in many states.