So THAT’s Why…

God created war so that Americans would learn geography.
—    Mark Twain
[Just over a week ago, I was discussing the Ukraine (at that time the Russian threat of invasion) with someone who said, he didn’t want the U.S. to get involved in the problems of some “tiny, insignificant country in Europe that I can’t even point to on a map”.  I replied Ukraine is bigger than California (almost twice the size) and just smaller than Texas (roughly 90%), and you probably can’t find it because it was part of the U.S.S.R. when you were studying world geography.  I added the Ukraine President is the guy who stood up to #45 when he (#45) tried to extort them into a announcing a bogus investigation of Joe Biden in exchange for military funding for Ukraine’s defense.  The funding had already been authorized by Congress and #45 was withholding the funds to try to “buy” the U.S. election with a made-up scandal.  Maybe Twain was only part right.    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2021	I Welcome The Questions
	6:00 AM
2020	Increasing Importance
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2019	But Yours
2018	And Smile More Often
2017	He’s Keeping The Light On For Us
2016	The Results Of Trying Too Hard
2015	Make Me Look
2014	Fresh Drink
2013	Good Business
2012	Unsure Spirit
2011	A Lost Valuable

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Support For Ukraine Independence

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
—     Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2021	Right Up Until Armed Insurrectionists Attack Congress
	No Time
2020	Sometimes Human Nature Stays The Same
2019	Sometimes Too Subtle
2018	A Lot Like Teaching
2017	Wake Up
2016	I Like Dreaming
2015	Importance
2014	Unearned Humility
2013	Science Is Trial And Error
2012	Franklin’s Creed
2011	First Steps
2010	Home Ill…

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Putin Invades Ukraine To Recreate The Old Soviet Union

Schoolboy days are no happier than the days of afterlife, but we look back upon them regretfully because we have forgotten our punishments at school and how we grieved when our marbles were lost and our kites destroyed – because we have forgotten all the sorrows and privations of the canonied ethic and remember only its orchard robberies, its wooden-sword pageants, and its fishing holidays.
—     Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2021	Even If It’s A Nice View
	There’s A Calm Before The Storm
2020	First Steps – The (California) Primary Vote
	#IncompetentTrump Administration Faces A Pandemic
2019	Hearts Torn In Every Way
2018	Recently Seen On A T-shirt:
2017	Rhythmical Creation
2016	In The Beginning
2015	False Gods
2014	But Sometimes Careers Choose People
2013	Pretty Sure Of Uncertainty
2012	Face Reality
2011	Intelligent Luck

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Full Of It

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.
—    Mark Twain
[Found at one of the blogs I follow:  “A Pondering Mind“
The site is located at:  https://aponderingmind.org/
The specific post is at:  https://aponderingmind.org/2020/05/17/politicians-and-diapers-must-be-changed-often-and-for-the-same-reason-mark-twain/
Please visit the original site if you have a spare moment.   —   KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2021	I’m Still Learning To Play
	What Are You Looking For?
2020	All You Can
2019	No Wall And Not One Dollar
	‘Cause It Makes Me Scratch
2018	Mirror, Mirror
2017	Keep On Keeping On
2016	Reflections
2015	Is It Time Yet?
2014	Ask Any Follower
2013	Cornered Or Surrounded?
2012	Escape
2011	Achievement
	Not Unreasonable Enough

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Are You A Loner?

There are basically two types of people.  People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things.  The first group is less crowded.
—     Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2020	I Wish Republicans Valued Democracy As Much As They Say They Value Freedom
	It Sure Does
2019	Something Very Different
2018	For Most Of Us
2017	Stories We Need On Life’s Edge
2016	Heart Trouble
2015	From The Inside Out
2014	Alone And Free
2013	Superstition Is Your Way
2012	Escape Hatches
2011	Sing Like No One Is Listening

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And Speak To Me

One must travel, to learn.  Every day, now, old Scriptural phrases that never possessed any significance for me before, take to themselves a meaning.
—     Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2020	If You Haven’t Done It Yet: VOTE!!
	I Agree
2019	I’m Still Looking
2018	I Choose Love
	Courage Can Be Contagious
2017	Scary And Wonderful
2016	#AmnestyDon Hears The Polls
2015	Dare The Improbable
2014	All Together Now!
2013	This Road
2012	Profit
2011	God Is Personal
2010	Playoff Fever Gets the Best of Me…

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The Mirror Would Know

Who would find out that I am a natural fool if I kept always cool and never let nature come to the surface?  Nobody.
—    Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2020	Why #45 Is Always Crying
	Watching #45 Hold A Rally
2019	I Think Reading Books Is A Good Place To Start
2018	And Pay In Full
2017	If Only
2016	Equal Justice
2015	Not Enough
2014	Are You Even Listening?
2013	Namaste
2012	Looking Up
2011	Et Tu Brute?

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Said The Anti-Vaxxer

I would rather have my ignorance than another man’s knowledge because I have so much more of it.
—     Mark Twain
[I watched an “anti-vaxxer” getting interviewed and his excuse for not getting a shot was:  “We all gotta die of somethin’.“
This is a poor attempt (by me) at sarcastic humor.  And, no, there is no indication AT ALL that Samuel Clemens was anti-vaccination.  In any case, at the time of his (Clemens / Twain) death only five vaccines had been discovered:  Smallpox (1798), Rabies (1885), Typhoid (1896), Cholera (1896), and Plague (1897).    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Is #45 In Good Spirits?
	Alone With My Tears
2019	Learning To…
	Day 15: Die By The Scale
2018	Just Wondering
2017	Until I Think Of Something Better
2016	Who Are You?
2015	Renaissance Reptiles
2014	Book Return
2013	Keep Writing Your Truths
	Perilous Times For The U.S. Military
2012	The Victor
2011	Forging Away At My Deadlines
2010	Try This With Your Shoes…

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I Think They Mean It

Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.
—     Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2020	ITF (365) – Update
	Word Up!
	My Fear: A Second More Tyrannous Term
2019	Reality And Imperfection
	Day 8: One Stone
2018	Pity The Nation (Part 1)
	Day 41: Hiccup Or End Of Days?
2017	Sharp-Edged Beauty
2016	Start, Keep, Finish
2015	Lifetime Friends
2014	Acknowledgement
2013	Longevity, Tenacity and Diversity
2012	What Reagan Really Cared About
2011	Seeming Sane (Or Not)

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Full Value Division

Grief can take care if itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
—     Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2020	The Responsibility Side Is On The Right
	Where Clear Winds Blow
2019	Define Your Life…
2018	It Is No Secret
	Day 25: When 4 or 5 equals 2
2017	Cowardly Defamation
2016	With No Allowance For Chance?
2015	Details
2014	Here’s One…
2013	Non-Fungible Commodities
2012	Hope And Tears
2011	Just Long Enough
	Meaningful Thoughts

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Get It Done

If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.  And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.
—     Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2020	Saddle Up!
	Practicing To Be Clever
	Anybody Want A Bagel?
2019	Welcome Home
	The Whole Community
2018	The Cells Are Right
	Day 19: Broth
2017	Be Responsible
2016	Thinking About November 8th, 2016
2015	Lonely Teardrops
2014	Pleasurable Law
2013	Room For Justice
	In The Minds Of Others
2012	Extinction, n.
2011	Snap!

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And It Will Be Here Last

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living.  The world owes you nothing.  It was here first.
—     Mark Twain
[Whether we leave it habitable or not is a different question…    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Necessary And Desirable
	Who Made The Rules?
2019	The Far Side
2018	Hold On
	Day 11: Just Plain Tired
2017	Why Don’t You Tell Us What You Really Think?
2016	Discontent
2015	Do You Know Me?
	Appetite For Life Update
2014	Tough Journalism
2013	Things I’ve Learned
2012	Abstainer, n.
2011	Rain, Rain, Rain
	Test Your Strength
2009	End the mistakes…

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Get Vaccinated AND Wear A Mask

It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.
—    Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2020	Didn’t I Just Post Yesterday?
2019	A Long Slog
2018	There Is No God But God
	To The Uncommitted Reader
2017	Not Yet That Well-Organized
2016	Probably Whatever Was Sought Yesterday
2015	What We Choose To Divide Us
2014	Peace With Honor
2013	Dangerous Systems
2012	Useful Science
2011	Say It, But Please Don’t Make Me Listen

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Don’t Forget Luck

Inherently, each one of us has the substance within to achieve whatever our goals and dreams define.  What is missing from each of us is the training, education, knowledge and insight to utilize what we already have.
—    Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2020	Plumbers, Philosophers Or Presidents
2019	Watching
2018	Even #45 Shall Pass To Sand
2017	Shedding Light
	In The Neighborhood
2016	The Responsibility Of Freedom
2015	Face It
	Birdfight
2014	Honoring Firefighters
2013	And Never Will
2012	The Human Adventure Continues
2011	Almost Never

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The Principal Difference

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you.  This is the principal difference between a dog and man.
—     Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2020	So Sad, Faux Crowd
	The Spirit Is Willing
2019	And The Same For Blogs And Posts
2018	The End Of Asgard (For Now)
	I Learn The Hard Way Every Time
2017	For Some
2016	Fragile And Explosive, Provocation And Privacy
2015	Bound Up
2014	Economic Engines
2013	Weren’t You Supposed To Be Reading?
	Absent Friends
	Where I Stand
2012	Hangin’ With His P’s
	Help Save
2011	Six Facets Of Good Leadership

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