Three..Two...One...Light On, Light Off

I don't have flashbacks often -- but a moment ago, my wife, speaking on a teleconference for a computer system upgrade, just looked up and said to me 'They just declared a go' -- and the sonic image that came to mind was what it sounded like when I'd be in a Minuteman missile procedures trainer and they'd declare a launch warning. "Three two one...Key Turn... Light On, Light off...Missile away", I murmured ...and she looked at me funny. Ah, the good old days, when all I had to worry about was solid-fuel missiles and targetting instructions.

The Washington Post's Outlook section today has an article headlined Why Should We Care What They Wear, illustrated by three photographs -- a woman with her face mostly obscured by her scarf, another dressed very conservatively but with her face visible... and Miss Afghanistan, wearing a bright red bikini. I think that some of the irritation against wearing the scarf is because when you can't see most of a person's face, you can't see *them*, so you're at a disadvantage (thats the rational reason; there are emotional ones, too). So by that consideration, I like Miss Afghanistan just because she's, um, more accessible. Yeah, thats the ticket.

Its a lot more serious than that, I know. The two articles -- here and here -- under that headline and those pictures lay out some views.

Health care costs: Michelle Singletary's column, also in today's Washington Post, points out that more people can accurately estimate the cost of a new car than the cost of a new knee. She lists some sites that can be useful in estimating your costs: www.familyhealthbudget.com, www.wageworks.com, www.ehealthinsurance.com, www.healthdecisions.org, and www.healthgrades.com.

And finally, from the New York Times Magazine:

Do you know anybody who voted for Kerry in 2004 and wishes he hadn't?