We haven’t written about state mottos in a while, but here’s one guy in West Virginia who’s mad as hell that the highway welcome signs have been changed from “Wild and wonderful” to “Open for business.” “The first time I saw one of these signs I almost vomited,” writes Darin Kordyak, who does not deal in understatement. “Now we are told that we’re open for business. But what does that mean? It sounds like an invitation to anyone and everyone to come right in and start raping the land that we have left for strip malls, movie theaters, Starbucks, sex shops and every other business that marks the downfall and overdevelopment of an area.” West Virginia hasn’t ditched “Wild and wonderful.” It’s still plastered all over the tourism site. This is clearly a separate initiative organized by the governor to lure out-of-state companies. And it’s a desperate one. In a recent Forbes story about the best states in which to do business, West Virginia ranked 49th, just above Louisiana.

—Posted by Tim Nudd