WHY I DON'T LIKE CELL PHONES I hate it whenever someone calls me using their cell phone and when I am forced to call someone on their cell phone because they no longer have a land line. I imagine, like one of the current TV advertisements suggest, that some services are better than others, meaning that they cover wider areas and they experience fewer dropped calls. One would think that living in a large metropolis like San Diego that one should never experience a dropped call, but I've had it happen on numerous occasions. This makes me wonder if these dropped calls might be caused by the owners of these cell phones not having properly charged their phones to begin with! Since I don't have any use for them personally I am resolved to make it a point of hanging up on anyone who calls me with their cell phone at the slightest indication of interference! Should they call back, I will tell them that the call was terminated on their side and that either they were calling from an area that had weak coverage or that their batteries must need recharging! One last gripe, I have heard that the California State Legislature has passed a law about using cell phones when driving in a motor vehicle that goes into effect next year. I can barely wait for this to hopefully put an end to all the preoccupied idiots that think that they can drive responsively while trying to operate their cell phones. If the city of San Diego is looking for a cash cow to solve their financial woes at city hall, I suggest that they equip their traffic officers with devices that will identify people using their cell phones while driving their vehicles! Cha-ching!

DO YOU HAVE A SOUL BROTHER? I'm not talking about the cultural sort of "Soul Brother" like the late James Brown or Ray Charles, I'm talking about the spiritual "Soul Brother" that I never knew existed until I had made a fifteen minute phone call earlier tonight!

• It is a wonderful feeling that you know that you have a friend for life!
• A friend that loves you unconditionally!
• A friend that you can always be truthful with, knowing that whatever you reveal to them, even your deepest and darkest secrets, who will not condemn you for them!
• A friend that is willing to hide his disappointment in you for not showing up at his bedside when he was in the hospital near death because he understands my reasons for not visiting him!
• A friend that you can empathize what he must have felt as he saw his life slowly slipping away!
• A friend that you can always depend upon to fight the "good" fight with every ounce of his strength!
• A friend that you can have diametrically opposing views about a topic and engage in vehement debate over the topic and come to the conclusion that we can agree to disagree!
• I am filled with joy by the news that my "Soul Brother", the best friend that I could ever ask for has survived a burst appendix that wasn't properly diagnosed until two or three weeks after the fact.
• I was afraid to talk to him during his illness because I didn't know how I would handle hearing his weakened voice or looking at his frail body!
• My friend, Steve Young, who I have known since 1967 has revealed himself as being my "Soul Brother", although I haven't told him how this happened. Once I have retraced the progression that this life-long process has followed and I can begin to formulate an opinion on how or why it happened as it did, I will tell him. Then I will await him to say, "That's all very interesting, but do you believe it to be the truth?" Which will give me a sense of being one of the twelve apostles at his Master's feet answering my questions with His questions that make you have to think about what it is to be a human being?
• I have always suspected that Steve came to know that he was a special person early in his adulthood! His keen perception, I thought, may have mislead him a time or two, but I also had a deep sense that there was some sort of hidden agenda that he was unable to clue the uninitiated to, so that they would be able to understand.
• Steve told me that he was a chosen man, for what I do not know! He alluded to his being something similar to a Messiah! I am glad to say that he has not left me after he was resurrected!
• When he visited Israel and Palestine and we discussed the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict he made me understand how oppressed the majority (Palestinians) has become under the rule of the minority (Israelis). Which made it clear as to why America is so hated in the Arab world! America stands for hypocrisy not democracy! If democracy were allowed in the occupied territories that Israel has confiscated from the Palestinians the Israelis would be unanimously voted out of all political offices and the Israeli government would be forced to negotiate with Palestine on an equal basis. That is why all previous negotiations have failed in the past and they will continue to fail far into the distant future because Israel has refused to give back all the territory that they have confiscated from the Palestinians as one of the conditions in any negotiation. As Israel tries to justify the land grab that they enforced against Palestine by the building of "security fences" they further embitter the Palestinian. The building of the "security fences" have nothing to do with ensuring security it is a term that the Israeli government finds to be palatable for what is in effect their policy of "divide and conquer"!
• Don't get me started on David Bowie!

Thank you Steve! I'm glad that you are on the road to making a full recovery "Soul Bro"!