There is an article in the NY Times whose main thesis can be summed up as “There is no proof that drinking during pregnancy is bad.” At the end of the article are links to related articles, including:

no comment.

Rebecca and I went to Toronto last weekend for Elana Setton’s wedding. As I have never been to Canadia before, we also spent a few days taking in the sites. I must say, Toronto has some very nice features. We saw the Hockey hall of fame, where I got to do something few peaple do – I got to kiss the Stanley Cup.

The highlight of the trip of course was the wedding, which was a beautiful affair. I was honored by being one of the aidim and getting a sheva bracha. We met some nice people, the dancing was lively, the guests were sprited, and of course seeing two completely wonderful and deserving poeple join in marriage is a wonderful thing to behold. (Although the fraternity of single male star trek fans is now one fewer).

One of the things I really liked about Toronto was the PATH The path is a series of underground tunnels that connect most of the buildings downtown as well as several subway stops. However tunnels doesn’t really capture what it is – it feels more like an underground mall. What it does is provide pedestrians a way around the downtown area without braving the Toronto winters, as well as make it possible to go straight from the subway to an office building without going outside (again, when th ewinter wind chill can hit -40, that’s an important feature). It also takes a lot of pedestrians off thes streets of downtown during rush hour and lunch hour, easing traffic slightly. It’s something that Philadelphia has tried to do with all the tunnels around Market East and Reading Terminal, but Toronto has done it about 1000 times better.

Oh yes – Toronto also has a ton of kosher restaurants, including the best sushi I’ve ever had (no offense to the sushi rollers I know).

I discovered something interesting today while procrastinating. Doonesbury is sponsoring a forum called “The Sandbox“. It’s designed for members of the armed services (and people with some connection to it) to post stories. Some are sad, some are funny, some are interesting. All are worthwhile. One of my current favorites is an account of a man from Alabama of having his Afghan host slaughter a goat for him and his company, and then being offered a piece of the Goat’s still warm liver. (Seriously – shouldn’t you cook meat before you eat it?)

Today is election day, a truly glorious day in these United States. As I strolled into the polling place this morning I realized that by the time I got home there would be no more political ads on radio or television. For that brief minute, the sun seemed to shine even brighter, although it dimmed again when I got inside the voting booth and realized that I now had to pick which man I wanted to have embarass my state for the next 6 years – the articulate bastard or the inarticulate fool. On the other hand, at least I get to have a senator now.

Rabbi Friedman gave a brief d’var halakha this morning after services on telling lies in halakha. I asked him afterwards about the infamous question “Does this dress make me look fat?”, and he told me that you are halakhically permitted to lie when answering that question.