As a lifelong member of the I Really Hate Telemarketing Club I am pleased to make this public service announcement: The national Do Not Call Registry is open for business at www.donotcall.gov. Register today and on October 1 your phone will go magically silent at mealtimes. If it doesn't, you can complain. It will not screen all calls. Of course, the direct marketing people are not happy about this service and have sued to kill it because it is predicted that it will cause them to lose half of their audience.

Of course, the cynical among us will think that the government will secretly sell our phone numbers and email addresses to telemarketers in order to balance the budget. I am willing to gamble and signed up today for Do Not Call. It is easy. And if it is a scam and helps to balance the budget, I am willing to do my part and go back into my telemarketing harassment mode. Not really because the people on the other end are just normal folks trying to make a living like everyone else.