The State of West Virginia has found itself in dire straits, financially, and rather than cut spending elsewhere to pay for its pension benefits, the governor wants the state to borrow a ton of money and invest it in the internet.

The Bond Amendment failed miserably, and the governor is now wondering why. It seems to me that should be pretty obvious. The governor is a Democrat. When you tell the state’s citizens that they should borrow money and invest it (in hopes of making enough to pay for pensions and the interest on the bonds) in something you’ve been telling them is too risky for the money that they’re giving you for their own futures, it’s not surprising they don’t want to risk borrowed cash.

Politicians amuse me sometimes.

Well, the Supreme Court is on a roll, isn’t it?

First, they ruled that government can take property not for public use, but for purposes of increasing tax revenue. Now, developers of perfectly legal software can be held responsible if users use said software for illegal purposes. The former decision showed a marked disrespect for the Bill of Rights and the intent of the Founding Fathers, but the latter is just insane.

Here’s the gist of the ruling: anyone making a product that is used to break the law can be held responible just as though they had themselves broken the law. As an extension of this later ruling, gun manufacturers will no doubt be put on trial for murder. Those growing coffee beans will be put on trial for drug smuggling. Paint manufacturers are going to be held responsible for graffiti.

Not only is the substance of the ruling a bit silly, it will be a huge hindrance to the development of free software (and possibly any software), because there is almost certainly an illegal application for any software package that has any more practical use than a video game.

Who do we contact to start proceedings to impeach the Supreme Court?