Wednesday July 9, 2008     Last Update: 9 hr ago

Articles for July 2008

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Bust-Up Over Caveat Emptor

We at Scragged welcome (well, hope for, actually!) responses from readers and have been blessed with generally high-quality comments. Rare indeed is the foul-mouthed flame who must be deleted or edited. As the purpose of Scragged is to get people to t...
Jul 8, 08 Petrarch 0 10

Going Broke Cluelessly

The New York Times did it again. Just when we thought they'd lost enough market share to get some sense pounded into their editorial board, their electronic edition of July 4, Independence day, introduced their editorial "Freeing Ingrid Betancourt" by ...
Jul 7, 08 Will Offensicht 0 5

Affirmative Action at the Crossroads

Some time back, Scragged predicted that affirmative action might become a Presidential issue this year. In pointing out that Michelle Obama's feelings had been badly hurt by affirmative action at Princeton University, we speculated that, as Mr. Nixon wa...
Jul 4, 08 Will Offensicht 0 2

McCain Wins the Prize

One of our favorite themes here at Scragged is the topic of perverse incentives and government boondoggles. From ethanol to Amtrak and bureaucracy in general, government has a longstanding record of encouraging people to do exactly the wrong thing. T...
Jul 4, 08 Petrarch 0 1

Where Do Little Terrorists Come From #7 - Our Improved Definition

This series began by discussing the causes of terrorism and demonstrating that poverty is not one of them. We then explored several historical examples that lead to the current definition of "terrorism." This illustrated that what the American revoluti...
Jul 3, 08 Will Offensicht 0 10

What's A Driver's License For?

In times past, everybody understood the purpose of a driver's license - it certified that the holder knew how to drive a vehicle of some sort. Over the years, driver's licenses evolved into something for which they were never really intended: a formal,...
Jul 2, 08 Will Offensicht 0 2

Supreme Court Finds Rape Not So Bad

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 5-4 that it is unconstitutional to execute child rapists, a decision that throws out capital punishment laws for such crimes in Texas and five other states. This decision has been a...
Jul 1, 08 Petrarch 0 9

Where Do Little Terrorists Come From #6 - Changes in Strategy

The first article in this series attempted to kill off the false notion that terrorism is caused by poverty. The second and third articles gave historical examples and definitions; the fourth and fifth articles discussed terrorism in the American Revol...
Jul 1, 08 Will Offensicht 0 2