Interesting Posts and Articles #84

1. A Simple Jew on a "middat chassidut" of not going to doctors. And is there any heter to avoid shul on the Yamim Noraim when you are coughing and might be contagious? I wonder if one can flip the question to whether there is a heter to go to shul under such conditions. Some concepts to be brought to bear: (a) that egoz is gematria chet, to avoid the coughing in shul which would disturb concentration of perhaps the tekiot; (b) that kotz bereshut harabbim sometimes supercedes certain deRabbanan aspects of Shabbat (see e.g. here for an example, and see Shabbat 42a); (c) the concept that my fellow Jew's gashmiut is my ruchniyut.
   
   
2. A Luekemia drug may reduce, or reverse, the effects of multiple sclerosis.
   
   
3. Shaking the lulav. Oy vey.
   
   
4. A McCain supporter a victim of a robbery, then attacked for her McCain bumper sticker and gets a "B" carved into her face? Michelle Malkin has strong doubts, because of refusing medical attention and because the B is backwards. And now the police find conflicting evidence at the scene and administered a polygraph test.
   
   
5. In a St. Louis school, "Hit a Jew Day," by students, who are now being punished.
   
   
6. Doctors administering placebos to patients, at quite high levels -- half of US doctors do this regularly. And so, this recent Bizarro comic is relevant.