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Below is an email I sent to PA Representative Tony Payton about a program he announced on August 21, 2008 (perhaps August 20, 2008) on the Good Day show.

The program he was getting face time on the morning show for was about a "safe escort" program for residents of Frankford who wanted/felt a need for an escort while the Frankford rapist (for lack of a better description) is still an active police investigation.

One man has been charged with four of the rapes, though the investigation is still open and active.

My daughter, who lives almost two blocks from the state representative's office on Frankford Avenue felt the need to call his office to use this program. When Payton was on Good Day, he said the program would operate 24/7, seven days a week until the case was closed.

Below is a copy of the email I wrote the state representative. If an aide opts to reply, I'm sure it will be with some form letter designed for "all occasions" when the representative must declare an "oopsie."

Tony:
   You were on Philadelphia's Fox 29 morning news show this past Thursday or Friday. The reason for your appearance was to talk about an "escort" program operating out of your 4509 Frankford Avenue district office "24/7", as you put it, and a program that would last until the case was solved.

   The idea sounded great, and for me, it was a welcome idea, as my daughter lives about 1-1/2 blocks from that office of yours in Frankford. I jotted down the number that you gave during your appearance, but sadly, Friday evening during her trek home after work, when she arrived at the Frankford Transportation Center (FTC) at Bridge and Pratt Streets at almost 9 p.m., she called your number. The funniest thing happened: she was told to enter her PIN number to access the voicemail system or dial another number.

   While at my home Saturday afternoon, she didn't mention anything, as it wasn't a major issue. On her way home this evening -- Saturday, August 23, 2008 -- it became something of an issue.

   My daughter called me at 7:27 p.m. this evening (again, August 23, 2008), to tell me that I "shouldn't freak out" if I saw anything in the news about police activity in her area. During her call to me, she said at least 10 police cars had passed by, driving at high speeds with lights and sirens on. She said before calling me, at least 10 police cars had already passed, which was the prompting for her call to me.

   During the call, she said, "I hope I have better success tonight than I did last night, as it just went to the login side for voicemail. No one was in the office, I guess, or they were busy watching movies or something." That's a great outlook for a 22-year-old constituent of yours to have, isn't it?

   At 8:22 p.m., my daughter called me back. This call was to tell me that she called your office again, but that, just like the night before, she got the prompt to enter the PIN number for the admin side of your voicemail system. If I were malicious, I would have taken the time to play with enough numeric combinations to get into the system, but I have far more important things in life to deal with than play games, especially at my age.

   Now, though, I am dismayed that one of the Commonwealth's elected officials has apparently gotten face time on TV to promote a "safety escort" program that was supposed to exist until the case was solved. Interesting, the case is still open. One man has been charged in four rapes, but other rapes in the same case are still open and unresolved. Also interesting is that your office doesn't have a voicemail system that answers so constituents can leave a message, but rather callers are prompted to enter a PIN number.

   Even more interesting is that your official HoR site (http://www.pahouse.com/contact/viaLDPC.asp?district=1
79) lists an office at 4621 N. 5th St., and gives a phone number of 215-457-5413. When I called that number, it was enlightening. The number is disconnected! Is the state so underhanded that an elected official's official Website cannot be updated when a district office closes or changes phone numbers (whatever the case may be)?

   I will be waiting, with baited breath, for a reply.

Last month, on Good Day Philadelphia, there was a short story about a woman in New Jersey who says she created a safe pill to help herself and others feel energetic -- even when they are dog tired.

Is something like that safe? Is it wise?

Sleep is an essential function for the body. During sleep, the body rejuvenates itself, fights of illness, and stores all the previous day's memories to long-term memory. Think of the memory aspect as the FILE -> SAVE AS function on a computer. If the files aren't saved on a computer, you may lose everything if the power someone should accidentally pull the power plug out of the socket. Sure, it may be possible to recover some of the file or files you lost, but chances are, everything will not be there. That's the same with memory.

Aside from memory, there are many studies that have been conducted over the past decade or so that show the importance of sleep in our lives. Each of those studies show that there is no shortcut for proper sleep.

All that said, why do people insist on doing things that are less than logical, or, rather, less than wise, especially when it comes to your health. Sleep deprivation has been linked to many things, including memory loss, sexual dysfunction, hypertension, and other issues.

Instead of trying to pop some kind of pill to feel awake, why not try doing something really cool? That would be: get real sleep -- 7-1/2 to 9 hours of sleep each night -- and really be awake and energized naturally.

Additional sources of information:
http://www.AwakeInAmerica.org/
http://www.AwakeInPhilly.org/
http://sleep.scoop0901.net/
http://blog.scoop0901.net/

Scoop0901's Blog

PA Rep. Tony Payton's "safe escort" program a sham?

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