LIFE IN MIKE BLOOMBERG’S NEW YORK: Staten Island Sandy Victims Charged for Unused Water. “Staten Island residents whose homes were devastated by Sandy say the city is charging them hundreds of dollars for water they haven’t used since the storm. . . .The Department of Environmental Protection sent a letter to residents saying they were subject to a minimum charge of $1.19 a day even if they weren’t using water in their homes.”

SALENA ZITO: Washington Reflects Victim, Entitlement Culture.

In today’s society, especially in large inner cities and affluent suburbs, we have been enabling at least two generations of Americans who do not know how to win in sports or in academics, by handing out rewards for everyone so no one’s feelings are hurt.

Parents and teachers alike obsess over the negative effects of a child losing any sort of competition, ignoring the critically valuable skills of teamwork, healthy sportsmanship and, most important, learning how to lose.

“It’s as if, as a society, we are embarrassed to award excellence for fear it will offend someone who is less than excellent,” said Bruce Haynes, a media partner at the bipartisan Purple Strategies consulting firm in Washington. “Rather than a drive to the top, it creates a drive to the bottom.”

In other words, if you build a better mousetrap, you might have to apologize to other mousetrap manufacturers, then to the Humane Society, for your accomplishment.

They’ll turn us all into beggars ’cause they’re easier to please.

WALID SHOEBAT: Benghazi just got closer to Hillary Clinton. Plus: “The decision to keep U.S. personnel in Benghazi with substandard security was made at the highest levels of the State Department by officials who have so far escaped blame over the Sept. 11 attack, according to a review of recent congressional testimony and internal State Department memos by Fox News.”