When using with_scope with a :joins clause, the SQL generated is just
SELECT * FROM "table_name" INNER JOIN....
but a direct query (say, Table.all :joins => { :the => { :same => :stuff} } ) generates
SELECT "table".* FROM "table_name" INNER JOIN...
I have a patch right now, but I wanted to a) check if someone else had seen this already and fixed it and I'm just slow, and b) wait to post it until I had a test case first.
-=Eric