Sock it to 'em, Sam

Justice Department Files $100 Million Claim in Fatal Baltimore Bridge Collapse

The lawsuit asserts that the companies’ actions leading up to the catastrophe were “outrageous, grossly negligent, willful, wanton, and reckless.”

Wow.

That Justice Department is really cracking down, suing Hamas and Hezbollah and various other … ahem … notable wrongdoers.

The U.S. Government hopped on that bridge collision when it happened, six months ago, promising to front the money for rebuilding it to avoid delay, get it back up right away, toot sweet [I know, I know]. 

I met somebody last week who had just flown over Baltimore harbor the day before, took a picture from the airplane window. There is, of course, no bridge there, nor any sign of construction. 

Imagine.

And no way, really, off

Do you really know how the US power grid works?

The easy answer is that it is our fundamental power infrastructure, which supplies electricity for everything from household lights and refrigerators to the internet, data centers, and hospitals. But go deeper, and one ends up quickly in a jumble of regulatory authorities, utilities, wires, power plants, early-20th-century technologies, and cutting-edge science – as well as big questions about what power and life should look like in the 21st century.

I guess "early-20th-century technologies" are not "cutting-edge science" to these guys. Here, in New England, I'm pretty sure we're still using the same wires the Pilgrims hung on poles. 

And this is news?

Lutherans in Walz’s Minnesota put potlucks before politics during divisive election season

Lutheranism came to the Upper Midwest with 19th-century Scandinavian and German settlers, and it remains the dominant faith together with Catholicism. Potlucks and that staple of Midwestern lore, lutefisk — dried cod cured in lye — remain part of rural church life.

Seriously, AP, you should know better.  Potlucks come before everything in Minnesota. In most of the Midwest, in fact. Although lutefisk is, well, not so much. 

(I worked in a butcher shop for a while when I was in high school. One of my once-a-week jobs was to change the brine on the lutefisk in the very smelly pan at the back of the cooler. And until this very moment I have managed to not even think of it for three quarters of a century.)

Some people visit outer space — others, Cleveland

You Don’t Need to Be a Billionaire to Ride in Her Rocket Car

You can be in the worst mood, and when you get in a Rocket Car, you’re happy.

Please don't dump your ducks

Duck dumping: Abandoned pets often can’t survive in the wild

Domestic ducks in the wild become easy targets for predators; they are literally sitting ducks [sigh]. Being bred and reared for the meat industry means most domestic ducks can’t fly because their bodies are oversized and their wings are too small. And Chicago has no shortage of possible predators, including coyotes, foxes, raccoons, hawks and great horned owls. As pets, ducks also learn to depend on humans for food so they aren’t prepared to forage.

If you have too many ducks, get a bigger bathtub.

Dare we say LOL?

The Kids Who Didn’t Know Their Parents Were Russian Spies

Building a family around a sleeper agent comes with a heavy price—presenting ethical quandaries so profound that Western intelligence services rarely go that route.

Spying is an ethical quandary entire. Adding fake identities and phoney nationalities may muddy the water, but doesn't make it any wetter than it was.

We've come a long way from "gentlemen don't read other gentlemen's mail." There's likely no way back.

A boot camp boot camp

No pushups? No problem. The Army builds a steppingstone to boot camp.

Still, commanders have long cautioned that their biggest recruiting challenge may be more about basic fitness. Some three-quarters of 17-to-24-year-olds don’t qualify for military service in the first place because of physical fitness levels, mental health challenges, or drug use, both recreational and prescribed.

Military aside, this level of fitness among young people seems concerning. It's not just about pushups; it's about the ability to thrive — or even survive — in a world that is.

Some horsing around

Germany’s first hobby horsing championship gallops through Frankfurt

[It's a video.]