Less Miscellany Than Usual

Once the real­iza­tion is accept­ed that even between the clos­est peo­ple infi­nite dis­tances exist, a mar­velous liv­ing side-by-side can grow up for them, if they suc­ceed in lov­ing the expanse between them, which gives them the pos­si­bil­i­ty of always see­ing each oth­er as a whole and before an immense sky.
–Ranier Maria Rilke
from Let­ters to a Young Poet

(Thank you, cybr­cat, for the quote)

Air­borne can­cer­ous agents can reach fetus
The arti­cle cites first-trimester dam­age. Many women aren’t “vis­i­bly preg­nant” at that point, so the ass­holes who insist on smok­ing around non-con­sent­ing oth­ers (such as in pub­lic places) can’t claim they “don’t smoke around preg­nant women.” I con­sid­er the study to jus­ti­fy thwack­ing smok­ers who invade my space. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, I doubt legal author­i­ties would agree—which is just anoth­er rea­son that I should be the queen of the universe.

dot_gimp_snark seems to be a hit. 🙂