Choice

Plantar fasciitis. If you haven't had to deal with it personally, just ask around. Chances are you know lots of people who can describe it in great detail: stabbing heel pain and agonizing steps followed by a frustratingly slow recovery. Plantar fasciitis - an inflammation of the plantar facsia, a thick band of tissue that runs along the arch from the heel to the toes - has become so ubiquitous that podiatrists can practically make the diagnosis before a patient even sets foot in their office.

Re "Why Jolie's surgery? It's for the kids," Column One, May 15 My story is similar to Angelina Jolie's, though there are some differences. Ten years ago, at the age of 43, I had a prophylactic double mastectomy because I was the single mother of two sons, one of whom has autism. The thought of dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis while raising them was inconceivable. Although I do not have the BRCA mutation that prompted Jolie to undergo surgery, I had a history of mantle radiation to my chest for the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma in my early 20s. The long-term side effects of the intense, prolonged radiation treatments of the 1980s became apparent many years later.

Whether by necessity or choice, a quarter of Americans take at least one vacation by themselves each year. Some solo travelers are single. Some have partners who dislike travel or have different interests or can't get away. Some just crave freedom. But all face the same question: What's the best trip for the person traveling alone? "The key is to know yourself," said Beth Whitman, author of a guide for women traveling alone and founder of Wanderlustandlipstick.com , a website devoted to advice and tours for women on the go. "There are times when you just need to get away, to recuperate.

By opting for surgery to remove her breasts while they were still healthy, Angelina Jolie joined a growing number of women who have used genetic testing to take control of their health. Here are answers to some common questions about how DNA influences breast cancer risk and what women can do about it. What genes are involved in breast cancer? The two primary ones are known as BRCA1 and BRCA2. Hundreds of variants of these genes have been found that make a woman - or a man - more likely to develop breast cancer.

It's all crossovers these days. From the polo grounds of Malibu to the campgrounds of Maine, nearly a fifth of all vehicles sold in the U.S. last year resided somewhere in this netherworld between a car and an SUV. So the stakes were high for Toyota's overdue redesign of the RAV4, a pioneer of the segment in the mid-1990s that had grown stale in comparison with competitors. Often resembling small sport utility vehicles, crossovers are truck-like vehicles built on front-drive car platforms.

You can do a lot with smartphones these days, but unless you're downloading the best apps for your device, you aren't really using it to its full potential. So if you aren't sure what to download, just make sure you have these 10 apps on your iPhone or Android device. Google Maps This app comes preinstalled on Android devices and should be the first app downloaded on iPhones. Besides top-notch design, the app is the best free voice navigation app for driving directions.

WASHINGTON - President Obama said Friday he wanted to put more Americans to work by slashing the amount of time it takes to grant federal approval for big job-creating projects. But Obama's choice of venue for his remarks - a Baltimore company that makes mining and pumping equipment - provided fodder for Republicans. They noted that the company president had, just the day before, testified on Capitol Hill in support of the Keystone XL pipeline, which the Obama administration has delayed for years over environmental concerns.

After days of silence during which long-held resentment toward Abercrombie & Fitch Co. began to boil over, Chief Executive Michael S. Jeffries tried to stem a backlash against the teen-focused retailer. Jeffries, in a statement Thursday, discussed criticism that the company lacks women's XL and XXL sizes in favor of catering toward young, good-looking customers. "A&F is an aspirational brand that, like most specialty apparel brands, targets its marketing at a particular segment of customers," he said in the statement.

T-Mobile introduced its new no-contract Simple Choice Plan this week, with Chief Executive John Legere boldly telling users that if the service is not good, they can drop it after one month of trying it. The new plan includes unlimited talk and text and half a gigabyte of high-speed Internet data for $50 a month. Users can choose to pay an additional $10 for a total of 2.5 GB of high-speed data or $20 for unlimited high-speed usage. Adding a second line costs $30, and each line after that costs $10. Although T-Mobile says there are no contracts, users must either provide a T-Mobile-compatible smartphone or buy one from the company.

Re "Greece still in postelection impasse," May 9 Kevin Featherstone of the London School of Economics is right when he says that Greece must choose between Eurozone membership and the so-called rescue package. What Greece faces are choices offered not by Greece but by the global financial system. It set the path of recovery for Greece, a path that guarantees creditors get paid at the expense of the people of Greece. Austerity does not mean prosperity, as it is not designed for such an outcome.

On these beautiful, lazy mornings of late spring, brunch beckons like the promised land. Bring a couple of good friends (or your mom), sit in the sunshine and catch up over a relaxed meal. We're not talking giant buffets but carefully prepared, seasonal dishes. I don't indulge often, but whenever I do, I leave with a feeling of well-being that leaves a glow on the rest of the day. A.O.C. Reserve a table in the romantic garden at A.O.C.'s new digs (the former Orso). Bougainvillea nods over the garden wall.

President Obama has nominated venture capitalist Tom Wheeler, a former lobbyist for the cable and the wireless industries, to serve as head of the Federal Communications Commission. "Tom knows this stuff inside and out," Obama said. If that's true, I can only assume that high on Wheeler's to-do list will be a dismantling of the antiquated business model that forces cable and satellite subscribers to pay for dozens of channels they will never watch. It's also a system that can result in a favorite channel disappearing not because it didn't have an audience but because it didn't generate enough profit for a cable or a satellite provider.

Alice Marie Francis believes it's important to have health insurance, but finding a plan that fit her budget was no easy task. "Money is tight," says the 50-year-old Burbank mother of two, whose children are insured by their father's work-based policy. To make sure she had coverage that didn't break the bank, she opted for a high-deductible health plan - an increasingly popular option with lower monthly premiums but high upfront costs before most insurance payments kick in. High-deductible plans are typically recommended for younger policyholders who are in good health and have less need for doctor visits and prescription drugs, and for people with incomes high enough to cover the cost of routine medical care.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kentucky Derby favorite Orb comes from one of the country's oldest racing families, with ties to the greatest horses of the era. The second choice, Verrazano, is a product of Todd Pletcher's new-school empire; he's one of five the trainer is sending to the post. The third favorite, Goldencents, comes from the trainer who, a year ago, lost the chance to run for a Triple Crown when his horse withdrew with an injury a day before the Belmont Stakes. All three drew favorable starting spots Wednesday in the post-position draw for Saturday's 139th Run for the Roses, and they were established as the horses to beat by Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia.

The most sensible solution to the ocean and stream pollution caused by carry-out plastic bags would be to charge a small fee for them. People will do almost anything to avoid even a tiny levy - tote their own reusable bags, toss their loose groceries into the trunk. Unfortunately, none of the three bills in the Legislature to address the plastic bag problem would work that way. Consumers already pay for carry-out bags; they just don't realize it because the cost is rolled into the price of the goods they buy, creating the illusion that the bags are free.

The cooking of the South has never quite caught on in Southern California. But lately we've lucked into a few newish places with a distinctly Southern bent mixing it up with the usual California/Mediterranean fare. Biscuits lead the way, but you can also find Lowcountry shrimp boil riding shotgun with venison carpaccio, and pork ribs with potato salad on the same menu as grilled octopus with preserved lemon. The Hart & the Hunter Brian Dunsmoor and Kris Tominaga, executive chefs and proprietors, once pop-up auteurs, have grown into this permanent space in the raffish Palihotel.

Re "Bid to end the death penalty airs its first ads," Oct. 23 The Proposition 34 campaign claims the death penalty is expensive, futile and inhumane. Death penalty supporters claim that a life sentence without the possibility of parole denies closure to the victims' families, coddles murders and would save the taxpayer no money. I plan to vote for the proposition, but I wish it included a provision to allow the convicts to ask for a prompt death. Who is qualified to say whether death by injection is more or less humane than a life in prison?

Former “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon says she is gay by “choice” - a statement that has riled many gay rights activitists who insist that people don't choose their sexual orientation. Here's what Nixon, who recently shaved her head to play a cancer patient in a Broadway production of “Wit,” told the New York Times Magazine: “I gave a speech recently, an empowerment speech to a gay audience, and it included the line 'I've been straight and I've been gay, and gay is better.' And they tried to get me to change it, because they said it implies that homosexuality can be a choice.

As thoroughly awful as everyone knows cigarettes to be - still the No. 1 cause of premature death in this country - public officials walk a blurry line when they try to reduce smoking's terrible toll. As long as they lack the will to ban tobacco altogether, they face all sorts of ethical, legal and political problems in regulating a product that is, after all, perfectly legal. High tobacco taxes, critics say, unfairly punish smokers, who are disproportionately low income. Banning advertising of a legal product raises free-speech issues.

A ruthlessly self-aware political wife reconsidering her choices. A sensual socialite facing down an oppressive age with informed good humor. A group of young women so busy defying social expectations they've forgotten to have any of their own. A working mother with a gift for passionate stillness. A recently recovered drama addict determined to save the world. A bipolar CIA operative, an optimistic bureaucrat, a frightened sex slave turned canny warrior. The female leads of "House of Cards," "Parade's End," "Girls," "The Good Wife," "Enlightened," "Homeland," "Parks and Recreation" and "Game of Thrones" are very different sorts of women who share one important trait: We have never seen their like before.