So,
In the category of, "So sadly ironic that it must be business as usual in Washington DC," the Great and Powerful Oz is setting up a new PLAN that will allow him to send a text message to everyone with a cell phone. The battle against spam is an ongoing problem and the president is jumping in on the side of evil. No surprise there really but doesn't he have better things to do with his time like play another round of golf or plan the next illegal war or something.
The president is just following through on the nefarious plot of his handlers, doing exactly what they (and I) expect of him, so I won't malign him today. Instead I will turn my attention to the media, which has given up all pretense at attempting plausible spin.
The LA Times had this piece of shite in their article, like phone carriers were doing us a favor:
"Consumers do not need to sign up for the service; their carrier will automatically sign them up, and they won't be charged for receiving any PLAN text alerts, the agencies said."
How convenient is that? You don't have to do anything at all. You're going to be signed up for the plan. Yes, for those that are asking, even if you don't want the service.
"Consumers will have the option, through their wireless carrier, to block all PLAN alerts except for those issued by the president."
Someone better figure out a way to filter spam out of text messages so we don't have to get this garbage.
There is a possible sliver of hope. Cnet.UK says that to pull off his king of spam act, the president is going to have put special chips into cell phones. Phones with these chips will be available next year. This brings up a very important question.
How long can my current cell phone last?