I know that it's common knowledge in the telephony and computing world that most advanced life forms in the US live in densely populated areas with beautiful smog clouds and sweeping vistas of cracked concrete and asphalt. But there are some lower species who populate the wastelands beyond the enchanting sodium vapor glow where, beyond our wildest dreams, civilization has deigned to allow us a few 21st-century conveniences, e.g., indoor plumbing, electricity, and even cellular towers every five miles. Some of us in the primordial ooze have even gone so far as to purchase these fancy, 'pocket-rocket' cellular phones, like the iPhone, in hopes that just by pure proximity we can enhance our position in the evolutionary hierarchy. The great ones even allow us to pay $30/month for data fees which has revolutionized our smoke signal system.

Now we hear that our great overlords are going to spend vast sums on the weak and vulnerable in the beautiful places. Mirabile dictu!