Pink-&-blue medicine and revealing clothing רפואה ורוד-כחול ובגדם חושפים

I have long been skeptical of the claim that women having heart attacks “present differently” than do men. Could it not simply be the case that men tend to ignore their symptoms until a later stage? In other words, might a man experiencing back pain, fatigue, weakness, and nausea brush it off as a momentary discomfort; and not until the stereotypical symptoms set in — chest pressure, arm pain radiating to neck and jaw — seek help?

Or the reverse: If a woman experiencing back pain, fatigue, weakness, and nausea were to wait — as men typically do — might she also present with the stereotypical symptoms? I predict that as awareness of heart attack symptoms grows in the lay population, first responders are going to be increasingly seeing men present (sooner) with what physicians now refer to as typically female symptoms. Otherwise there should be a physiological explanation for the differences in symptoms, and I seen none offered, leading me to suspect that gender medicine is simply another manifestation of the blue-and-pink backlash. In fact, in the (admittedly few) articles I’ve read on the subject, the heart attack example is the only one ever cited. So we need an entire new specialty based on a single example, which might itself be flawed? Are not gynecology, obstetrics, and urology enough?

Seguing into a less cut-and-dried area of gender, I finally have a guess as to why Israeli women dress so revealingly, even when inappropriate, i.e., professional and employment situations: They’re hot! “Um, OK,” I can hear you saying. “Yes…so what?” Well, perhaps they’d be more willing to cover up if they could find decent cotton clothing. Ever looked for cotton clothing in Israel? Sure. It’s here — for double and triple the price of synthetics. While many are disturbed by the fact that whole grain flour costs more than white and granola costs more than Sugar Bombs, few seem perturbed about the equivalent situation in clothing.

In order to find 100% cotton elastic pants with pockets, I went all the way to the wholesale district in Tel Aviv, where Ofnát Sabába was willing to sell me one pair, for cash only, in their largest size, which they call Xtra Large. So what’s a woman larger than I to do? The largest size cotton tops at Fox are size 3s, which is barely a medium; 2 is small; and 1 is micro-human. I finally went to Onót, a plus-size chain, where I found a size that doesn’t cover me on top as well as I’d like, but at least it fits me. I’m now officially a plus-size woman (I’m 5’1” and weigh 135 lbs.), I live in a desert country, and can’t find decent cotton clothing that's not white yoga pants. Is this not absurd?

Id al-Adha and organ donation איד א-אדחה ותרומת איברים

Let's begin with Muslim Knesset members' request to postpone the session for Id al-Adha so as to enable them to vote on two bills. Seems the Jewish Knesset members are so eager to get down to the work of running the country that they just can’t countenance postponing. My favorite quote from the article: Zeev Elkin: "...I don't believe these laws have a distinctively Muslim dimension..." Oh. So you mean that simply being an elected official who wishes to vote in the legislature is now not a good enough reason to ask for a deferral? The issue has to concern hizzer’s constituency directly?

This damned country and its parochial leaders. Everything has to be sectarian: You belong to either an "Arab party" or a "Jewish party". You either live in an Arab area or a Jewish area (we conveniently forget Lod, Ramle, Acre, Jaffa, Haifa, and even Eilat); you donate to / villify a "left-wing NGO" (that's "human rights group" on the rest of the planet), or just a default NGO (all the rest). Everything breaks down according to sector. When will we join the 21st century?

And as for the Druze celebrating their Id next week, I offer that we also have two Christmases: the Latin one celebrated December 25th and and the Orthodox one two weeks later. Those pesky non-mainstream denominations! Jeez! You mean they actually expect us to respect their calendars?!

Now let's turn to our current jack-in-the-box bills, i.e., the ones that keep popping up just as you thought we'd shut the lid on them. MK Ofir Akunis explaining why "left-wing" NGOs (aka human rights groups) should be prohibited from accepting donations from abroad: "The fact that a state such as England can donate money to a movement such as Peace Now is blatantly unfair."

Hmm...I was not aware that countries donate to Peace Now — can you cite an instance please, Mr. Akunis? — but for the sake of argument, let’s say it’s so: Would the same apply if England were to donate to Gush Emunim? ‘Cause after all, fair is fair…

Talkbacker Herring on the closure of Jerusalem's acclaimed MaGaL drug treatment facility is absolutely correct when s/he says, "Unfortunately, financing new settlements is a priority." Kah-ching! $17 billion dollars and rising…Because we all know that settler youth don't have drug problems. Anyway, let me get this straight: There will now be ONE 20-bed juvenile addiction treatment facility in a country of 7 MILLION? Are we out of our ever-lovin' minds?

Let's hear how [the] ADI [organ donor card-issuing organization] responded to donors' anger at Cna'an, ADI's ad agency, caving to ultra-Orthodox demands that they use images of men only in their sign-up drive:

“ADI officials: the decision was based on a desire to convey the … campaign's message to all Israelis.” And of course it’s incumbent upon us not to offend the sensibilities of the ultra-Orthodox. But hey. What about me? Last time checked, I was a member of the superset “all Israelis”, and I’m offended at the ad agencies’ excuse that the ultra-Orthodox vandalize whatever offends them. Great. So we’re letting terror win. And where is law enforcement in this equation? How come it’s so easy to detain Palestinian teenagers for throwing stones, but law enforcement just can’t seem to prevent public property from being vandalized by religious extremists? I’m a card-carrying organ donor; don’t I matter?