“Here at MRW we don’t routinely cite to ourselves, and I’m pretty sure we’ve never re-posted. No rule is absolute, however, and when reason dictates that we deviate, we’ll do the right thing.”

Those were our words on April 5, 2015, when we reposted We Didn’t Start the Fire (annotated). We Didn’t Start the Fire was first posted on July 13, 2014. It’s a long piece—5000 plus words—and lots of effort went into putting it together. Billy Joel, a very intelligent, serious songwriter/singer, wrote the song and chose the people and events which mattered over forty years. Without his knowledge or consent, we provided the background information and commentary.

Recycling is a virtuous endeavor, despite what former Vice President Dick Cheney said about conservation generally, on April 30, 2001. (“Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy.”) For MRW, at least, we have expended almost no energy, and you get a first or second, etc. chance to track world history between 1949 and 1989.