Good questions, TB, and ones I hadn't thought of. Mutual violence certainly isn't likely to happen in a healthy relationship.

Beyond that, must rethink.

I know I can do at least 4 miles.

If you can do 4 you can do 5!

I dunno. If you fight back you are not being abused?

That seems really conditional. If a woman hits a man to little effect and the man hits back causing injury wouldn't the woman be the abused? Is it a matter of intent or actual harm? If the man never lays a hand on the woman except for a reaction to being struck is he an abuser? To me it seems like either intent or harm is abuse, but I can see how there can be shades of gray.

Tonight: going to a "congratulations for getting citizenship" dinner celebration for a friend.

Tomorrow: Study, study, study. Maybe sushi for dinner if I'm good

Sunday: Study, maybe cooking.

If the man never lays a hand on the woman except for a reaction to being struck is he an abuser?

I'd think one factor would be proportionality of response, as in self-defense. If A hits B to little effect, pushing A away might be appropriate. Breaking bones would not.

I'm running a five mile race tomorrow that starts and ends at the local brewery. With free beer at the end.

I know I can do at least 4 miles. I'll crawl the last mile for free beer if I have to.

Not even for free beer would I run any distance. And y'all know how I feel about beer.

"Do you run?" "Only when chased."

Um....

Illinois plutocrats are frakkin’ goofy

The government of Illinois, an an obvious attempt to distract America from Blagojevich’s hair, has declared that Pluto is a planet.

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that as Pluto passes overhead through Illinois’ night skies, that it be reestablished with full planetary status, and that March 13, 2009 be declared “Pluto Day” in the State of Illinois in honor of the date its discovery was announced in 1930.

Thank heavens — so to speak — Pluto doesn’t pass over any other states. That could propagate a Constitutional crisis.

So what would drive the government of a state to go out of its way to do such a ridiculous thing?

WHEREAS, Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of the planet Pluto, was born on a farm near the Illinois community of Streator

I've always wondered if his name were pronounced Tom-baw or Tom-boy.

EpicTangent, much -ma to you and yours. I was surprised to find that depression is a known side effect of stroke -- not just because you had one, but because that's the way brain biochemistry reacts to the injury. So it might be good to make your Mom aware of this and maybe alert medical providers about it?

Epic, best wishes for your mother's recovery. It is possible. And they prescribed Zoloft for me after I had a stroke for both the anti-depressant effect and because it did something good for my brain chemistry.