If it's Sunday, then it must be time for another stream of unconsciousness ...
The push-button telephone inspired today's column. It went into service on this date in 1963. Touch-tone service only was available in two Pennsylvania cities - Carnegie and Greensburg.
Telephone service has come a long way from when Timmy Martin's mom or dad had to crank the wall phone by hand to call the operator for help while Lassie, the family collie, was saving them.
The push-button phone helped introduce speed dialing; voice menus and those annoying telephone "numbers" used by businesses that are said as clever four-letter words, like "To get these incredible savings, call now - 412-555-SCAM.
The following outbursts try to push the buttons of tri-state renegades, reprobates, ringleaders and riffraff who have a major disconnect whenever they try to give you what they want instead of what you need.
If you think the government can do a better job of protecting travelers at Pittsburgh International Airport than the private firms that screen passengers, you may change your mind after reading the following three observations. If the private firms that have been screening passengers are so inept, why hadn't there been any domestic airplane hijackings for so many decades⢠As horrible as Sept. 11 was, that appears to have been a one-time failure at just three airports nationwide. And who knows how many potential hijackers couldn't carry out their plans because they couldn't get past private security personnel? If you still think government can protect you better than private companies, you should ask some New Jersey Postal Service employees how safe and secure they felt when they asked the government to protect them. And if you don't feel air travel is safe, why aren't you blaming the government since major airports are owned and operated by government agencies⢠If the judicial system determines that charges against a former Swissvale borough manager are true, you'd have to wonder how no one noticed Tom Esposito had written 618 extra payroll checks to himself over 11 years so he could pocket almost $800,000. And if he's found guilty, you have to wonder if any other Swissvale government employee had done anything similar, since it appears no one had bothered to double check the books and the bank account. Many local politicians were surprised and disappointed so few voted in the last election. When asked, they claimed they didn't know why. If they would've asked me, they would've understood why even I didn't bother to vote. There isn't much to choose from between the two dominant parties. The Democrats and the Republicans (also known as "Democrat Lite") usually differ just slightly on many issues. Both want the middle ground and both want to do everything possible to discourage other parties from existing. That's why they've made ballot access for "third parties" such a torturous process. Since there were no Libertarian Party candidates on the ballot, no candidate deserved my vote. I didn't vote because I didn't care. I just didn't care about them.
