MWI Weekly 7.12.22
July 12, 2022
Due to the long Fourth of July weekend and short week last week, and some overlapping vacations, we decided to skip our weekly newsletter and pick things up this week. We'll be publishing on our regular schedule for the rest of the summer.
There are a few important publishing items coming up, not the least of which is a series on the big Supreme Court opinions which came down at the end of the term. It's fair to say they constituted (as many observers have noted) a sea change in the general direction of the Court. But from our perspective, what is most important is the underlying reasoning, and that is the perspective from which we'll be looking at the cases.
Another series we'll be running through addresses our national industrial policy. Economic issues are some of the most important to us, so we'll deal with it in a couple different places. One will be on the Members Blog, where member Hank Thayer's article will be published in three parts. The first part is already up, so check it out if you haven't already (we mentioned it just before the holiday).
The third series currently in the works has to do with a recent publication by the Rand Corporation. In it, political scientist Michael J. Mazarr looks at seven characteristics common among highly competitive societies. We think it's a useful framework, so we'll be tackling each of those characteristics individually from a Whig perspective. The introductory post is below.
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For the sake of convenience, we refer to Mazarr's characteristics of successful, competitive societies as the Seven Attributes. Before addressing them one by one, we offer some general thoughts and a little taste of what's to come. Click the link for the latest.
READ MORE >
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In news outside the Institute, the first batch of pictures from the James Webb Space Telescope were released this morning at around 11 a.m. To say the images were stunning is an understatement. In just its first few days of full operation, the JWST has already produced images unlike any seen before.
And then there were five: NASA releases the rest of Webb’s first images | Ars Technica
Clearly, we're about to enter a new era of understanding. Where the journey of discovery will ultimately take us is anyone's guess at this point, but we can all be sure there are a lot of surprises to come.
One of the big ones is the confirmation of the presence of water on the first exoplanet the JWST snapped. It's a hot gas giant and not a habitable world, but the fact the telescope could detect water molecules at that distance (which it was designed to do, and more) means we could be on the verge of answering whether we are, in fact, alone in the Universe.
Of course, some of us think they have the answer already:
Our Fascination With Aliens and When it All Started | Discover Magazine
We've started a thread on our members-only Forums to talk about the telescope, plus a couple other subjects of interest these days: China, political polarization,and the ongoing War in Ukraine top the list along with the JWST. To join our part of the Great Conversation, whether on the Forums or in the Roundtables or among the connections you make through our Directory, just click on the link below or visit our website. And feel free to share us with your own social circle.
Why Become a Member? — Modern Whig Institute
As a reminder, our new Membership Packages include:
a Welcome Letter
an informational buckslip
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a Modern Whig Institute membership card
(Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.)
Finally, two very serious matters continue in the news. One is the ongoing hearings of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol. As with the others, the latest hearing revealed yet more deeply disturbing evidence of the nature of the attack, the planning which went into it and the motivations behind it. You can watch the full hearing here:
WATCH LIVE | Jan. 6 committee holds hearing - YouTube
Needless to say, there is little Whigs oppose more than sedition, especially sedition of the violent sort. And we are not fooled in the least by false claims of patriotism. We have but one flag, the Stars and Stripes; one country, the United States of America; and one Constitution -- the one which created it. There is no room in our land for allegiance to anything else.
The other big story is the War in Ukraine. Since the fall of the parts of Luhansk Oblast which remained in Ukrainian hands, the Russians have paused their offensive operations. According to reports, they may have lost as many as a third of their operational tanks, over 24,000 soldiers and dozens of aircraft and missile launchers. At the same time, reports indicate Russia is acquiring some advanced weaponry from Iran (and perhaps some other places) to make up for its losses and shortfalls.
Russia Seems to Be Running Low on Drones - Defense One
The issue is still in the balance, of course. But with the Russians likely to continue to rest and refit their forces through the summer, this could be the decisive period in the war, at least in terms of whether Russia can ultimately move beyond the Donbas to threaten all of Ukraine. If the Western Powers can supply Ukraine with enough advanced weapons of their own, especially tanks, artillery and HIMARS launchers, it's possible they can be stopped where they are.
And that does it for this week. We're starting our regular publishing program right away, so don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Check there and on our website for new and interesting content.
As always, it's a pleasure to be at your service. See you next week.
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The Modern Whig Institute is a 501(c)(3) civic research and education foundation dedicated to the fundamental American principles of representative government, ordered liberty, capitalism, due process and the rule of law.
