Saturday July 31, 2010     Last Update: 2 hr ago

Articles for July 2010

Select:
Article Published Author Rating Comments

A Government of Men, Not Laws

When our country was founded, one of the major complaints against King George and his minions was that they exercised arbitrary power and didn't follow due process of law. The colonists didn't appreciate having to bow and scrape before ...swarms of O...		 Jul 30, 10 Will Offensicht 0 3

Wal-Mart, Tracking Tags, Privacy, and Liberal Philosophy

The Wall Street Journal brings us news of a frightening new change coming to your underwear: Starting next month, the retailer will place removable "smart tags" on individual garments that can be read by a hand-held scanner. Wal-Mart workers will be a...		 Jul 29, 10 Petrarch 0 2

The Racism Monster Eats Its Young 2

The first article in this series noted an abrupt and seminal shift in how the mainstream media report racial politics. The NAACP, which both blesses and promotes black discrimination against whites, approved when the Secretary of Agriculture fired a lo...		 Jul 28, 10 Will Offensicht 0 1

Of Frogs, Burkhas, and Boiling Pots

Something is not right when the French take a stronger stand against the enemies of civilization than the United States does. Of course, the French have a much bigger problem in their daily lives than we do. The United States has a few percentage poi...		 Jul 27, 10 Petrarch 0 22

The Racism Monster Eats Its Young 1

By now, most Scragged readers know of the controversy involving Shirley Sherrod and her speech at a NAACP meeting. To summarize: * Ms. Sherrod is a black 62-year-old who worked for the USDA in rural Georgia. * She gave an address at a NAACP ...		 Jul 26, 10 Will Offensicht 0 4

Why Welfare Cannot Work

The Daily Mail reports: A haulage boss was left stunned after an unemployed driver rejected the offer of a job paying more than £500 a week so he could remain on benefits. Graham Poole, the managing director of a 23-wagon fleet in Rochdale, offered...		 Jul 23, 10 Petrarch 0 5

Hail, the Conquering Hero Comes! 5

This series has explored the process by which failed states might be put right. In the past, when a government fell apart, some other nearby nation would march in, take over, and put the place right. The leader of the invading army won fame and sometim...		 Jul 22, 10 Will Offensicht 0 3

E Unum Pluribus

We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. - Dr. Benjamin Franklin From the very first days of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers understood that America had to be one nation - truly, the United States. Of cou...		 Jul 21, 10 Petrarch 0 0

America in Decline 1

We at Scragged have deplored many trends which are visible in our society today - increased government intrusion in our lives, declining economic activity, declining academic performance, and much else. As a democracy, we voters have a chance to turn th...		 Jul 20, 10 Will Offensicht 0 3

God and Man at Harvard

Harvard University, which was founded 130 years before the United States, has always had a fundamental influence on American educational practice. With its ancient and storied history combined with by far the richest endowment of any educational institu...		 Jul 19, 10 Will Offensicht 0 0

Hollywood Accounting and Democratic Politics

Bloomberg News reports that Celador International Ltd., a small, closely-held British TV production firm, won a lawsuit against Walt Disney Co. Celador invented the popular TV show, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and sold Disney the right to adapt it ...		 Jul 15, 10 Will Offensicht 0 3

Sports Stars and Excessive Taxes

There are few things in modern life that consume so vast an amount of societal energy, mental awareness, and ordinary people's time as professional sports. Unfortunately, there are also few things that have so little effect on what you might call the ...		 Jul 14, 10 Hobbes 0 0

Celebrate Inequality!

Come good times or bad, a favorite plaint of the left is American inequality. American society contains both the very rich and the very poor, supposedly unlike more socialist places such as Europe where the difference between the two is said to be less....		 Jul 13, 10 Petrarch 0 2

Unions Trashing Consumers Again

Reuters reported on July 7 that the Obama administration was probably not going to "name China a currency manipulator." Various Senators, Congresspersons, and union representatives have been complaining for years that the Chinese government keeps its c...		 Jul 12, 10 Will Offensicht 0 0

When Unions Were Useful Instead of Harmful

On Scragged's list of "awful things we often write about" right below "Obama administration appointees" can be found "unions." Labor unions are responsible for the destruction of countless millions of American jobs and the death of high-wage American ma...		 Jul 9, 10 Petrarch 0 9

Why Shouldn't Public Employees Take A Pay Cut?

As a longstanding member of the private sector, I've taken many a pay cut when times were bad for my employer. I've even gone without pay when things were really bad. Sometimes I've received some of the back pay, sometimes not. Given the sacrifices ...		 Jul 8, 10 Will Offensicht 0 0

Impeachment, High Crimes and Miss Kagan

 As anti-Constitutionalist Elena Kagan continues her uninterrupted march towards a Supreme Court seat, the divide of political opinion grows ever deeper. On the left, the New York Times heartily endorses her because, as their Editors wrote: Ms. Kagan...		 Jul 7, 10 Petrarch 0 6

Our Government-Regulated Oil Spill

The oil business has become the latest industry that our government loves to hate. It's no surprise that the New York Times would publish "As Oil Industry Fights a Tax, It Reaps Billions From Subsidies." As we know from their past articles, the Times ...		 Jul 6, 10 Will Offensicht 0 4

The Declaration of Dependence

Today is the Fourth of July, Independence Day. Well, yesterday actually, but since most people have Sunday off already, celebrating it then would be a waste of a holiday. It's not quite the violation of history that it might appear, since the Declarati...		 Jul 5, 10 Petrarch 0 1

Colin Powell's Revenge

Retired General Colin Powell is one of the most-respected men in American public life and has been for many years. As a longtime holder of high office in both our military and civilian realms, his vast breadth of experience offers rare insight into the ...		 Jul 2, 10 Petrarch 0 1

The Would-Be Judge Who Would Not Read

Solicitor General Elena Kagan is spending this week under the Klieg lights of Senate hearings concerning her appointment to the Supreme Court. Thus far, like most modern Supreme nominees, she has artfully avoided saying anything at all while the Senator...		 Jul 1, 10 Petrarch 0 8