Coverage Area (Footprint)

All of Central America, including Panama, the Northern countries of South America including Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador; coastal waters extending to the West of Central America approximately 500 miles; all islands in the Eastern Caribbean including Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Leeward and Windward Islands and all of the Caribbean Sea; Mexico and the Continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, the Gulf of Mexico and coastal waters approximately 400 miles offshore; Canada and surrounding coastal waters.

If your Satellite Telephone is located within this footprint area, you may receive calls from or make calls to anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. Cost: Just 83 cents per minute and $39.99 per month

There was this on the cost of a satellite phone plus accessories:

Transportable phone: $2725; rechargeable battery: $105; Cigarette Lighter Adapter: $570. Adds up to $3,400. The phones have internet and e-mail connectivity. They can be rented on a monthly basis. Two-way pagers are available for rental or purchase. Some phones can be switched from cellular to satellite service.

Expectations for the near future are that satellite phone systems will result in the emergence of the first truly transborder business organizations, the overhaul of existing telecommunications regulatory procedures, and the ability of billions of previously unconnected people to communicate. New regions of the world will be brought into the information age, with great long-term impacts on the global economy. An estimated 90% of the earth's surface is not currently served by land based communications. Satellite communications will revolutionize things in a manner comparable to the personal computer revolution.

Pérez knew, of course, that this technology was out there but hadn't realized that it was advancing so rapidly and that prices were being reduced so much. He had come across no information related to satellite spy gadgets, but why not? The units aren't all that large and could no doubt be cunningly concealed as bugs. Still, Pérez's search had been as complete as he could make it and he had concluded that no such bug—a truly amazing insect—was bugging them. Tomorrow a hi-tech techie with special equipment and expertise would be arriving who could determine readily enough whether there was or not.

It was still quite early. The wake-up serenade of the German 88s had accustomed Eduardo to an early start each day and his eagerness to get all he could from life had made his wake-up time even earlier. Both Anneliese and Ed were up and around by 5:00 a.m., the better to catch more of every day in all its splendor. After breakfast and their morning exercises, they were about to resume their unpromising work at the computers—Anneliese with 3-lb weights, Ed with 4-lb. ones (or relinquish any pretense of macho manhood).

"Anneliese, dulce amor [sweet love], half-dreaming or half-awake last night, I was musing about how we have big long-range goals and opportunities for learning and service which are often interrupted by immediate short-term distractions and necessities. In our limited human conceptions of things, might it not be assumed that God, who sees every sparrow that may fall, is also concerned with both these "lofty" and "lowly" aspects of our existence?

"In Benjamin Franklin's day, there was a consensus among thinkers that God had set everything in motion, sort of like winding up a clock, and then had just left it to run by itself. Everything would tick away on its ordained course and Deity would not intervene or interfere with its operation. But what about freedom? To our earth-bound perceptions, most things in the world definitely do not run like clockwork. Thank God for that! A robotic life would be totally boring and meaningless—a living death. I, know, Anneliese, you don't think my solution to everything that goes wrong on a personal, national, or world level is funny, but isn't there a lot of truth to it? 'Vee haf got to eelimeenate zee yuman eeleement.' Sure, only my little joke, spoken in a ponderous German professorial accent, but the human element does cause all kinds of disruptions wherever we look.

"Yeshua went about his work on earth teaching, healing, serving and reproving and with every act and word he transmitted eternal messages: seek the truth, love, serve, repent, learn, have compassion, be strong, be humble, confront adversity with courage and faith.

"An abstract message conveyed through concrete acts. But día día, day by day, as we pursue our lives, is it possible to receive divine aid as we strive to do all these things? There are millions who have said and say that this is true. In science, findings must be capable of replication to demonstrate their authenticity. All of the above strivings, yearnings, efforts, and successes can be replicated (though never precisely in the very same way) in every individual and over and over again.

"It's difficult for non-synesthetes to appreciate, sense, and feel what synesthetes experience. How is it that a particular number or letter is green or red or violet to them? Can they really remember phone numbers better because they perceive them as a series of colored digits easier to recall because of their dramatic 'Benvenuto Cellini' impact? Communicating to someone something that is foreign to their experience isn't easy. We struggle to accomplish this with words. Poets, musicians, artists, saints, have enviable gifts that help us to 'see,' 'feel,' 'sense,' 'understand,' and 'appreciate' to a lesser or greater extent something that truly is ineffable. From Latin in- (not) and fari (to speak). Something that can't be put into words. By the way, isn't Benvenuto a great name for a new little baby?"

"To the very depth of our souls," Anneliese vehemently asserted, "every tiny baby should be benvenuto, willkommen, bienvenido, bienvenue, welcome, in every language and land. With very rare exceptions—if any—once started on its way, a baby should be welcome to all who need the sweetest of joys in life in their life. And that is everyone. 'Benvenuto, Benvenuto!' Benvenuto's mother must have cooed when she first joyfully held her sweet baby in her arms."

"Oh, if only everyone could see and feel this!" Eduardo concurred. "There's an old pun that's illustrative: 'I see, said the blind carpenter, as he picked up his hammer and saw.' How can we 'see' or 'hear' the ineffable? We have to pick up on it. We have to try it. It is possible to replicate in our own lives the inspirational behavior of great ones. We need to listen to their words, observe their deeds, read about the things they comprehend, listen with ears like theirs, attune ourselves. It can be done. Above all we must read the words of Yeshua, pick up on them, meditate upon them, pick them up, put them into our lives, live them.

"Surprisingly, some scholars claim that the historical record is not clear regarding Yeshua's acts and words. They would discredit the Gospels because they were written long after the events described—they say—and each varies to some extent from the others. Well, the dots are there but some scholars somehow seem incapable of connecting them. An eminent Biblical authority once pointed out something derived from his research that is of the utmost significance.

"When addressing large groups, as was customary in his day, Yeshua spoke loudly and paused after every phrase when giving the Sermon on the Mount, for example. The pauses allowed listeners to take the words in and reflect on them. It also gave them time to write his words down. Why on a mount? So his voice would carry out to the vast multitude.

Many people seem incapable of speaking up today. We have microphones and loud speakers, but one of my gripes, as you well know, since my hearing isn't what it ought to be.... It probably started on its way downhill when so many shells exploded around me in combat.... My gripe is that people are given a microphone but mumble and don't speak into it. Yes, the marvels of directional microphones and all the rest are great, but they rely on the microphone (one of McLuhan's extensions of man), and expect the technology to do all the work. Atrophy of our voices seems to have set in."

"Hold on, Eduart! Parents don't need mikes at their kids' soccer games. I agree, though, that in front of one, too many people expect it to do the job that is their voice's."

"Let me ask you this, Analisita, To whom is the world (the Western world, at least) most indebted for its level of literacy? Many types of writing systems have been invented over the course of history and some very ancient ones are still in use today. Alphabetical systems definitely are the simplest and easiest to learn and use. Ideographs, as used in Chinese, Japanese and other tongues do not adapt well to the requirements of modern technology—specifically, computers, the internet, and even outdated typewriting.

"Inscriptions recently discovered at Wadi el-Hol in Upper Egypt have set the invention of the alphabet at a far earlier date than previously supposed. Other inscriptions in Canaan—present-day Palestine—had been dated about 1650 to 1550 B.C. The Wadi el-Hol ones date to 1800 B.C. or earlier. In both instances, the inscriptions were made by Semites, the ancestors of the Jews and Arabs (also the Syrians and Phoenicians).

"The Old Testament was written in alphabetic Hebrew. To the Jews their ancient scriptures were a great treasure and therefore literacy was highly prized among them. They had to be literate to access Holy Writ. After the Old and New Testaments were translated from Greek and Latin into the vernacular languages and made accessible to all the people—not just the clergy—these two books were the world's greatest promoters of literacy, especially after the invention of the printing press. There was a great thirst among the people for the "living water" of the Scriptures. Contrast this sublime thirst with one of today's prime movers of literacy: Harry Potter books. We should be rather pleased, though, that they accomplish this at least."

"So what you're saying, Professor Pérez, is that to a large degree, far greater than is generally appreciated, it's thanks to Semites and their scriptures that literacy has spread so widely throughout the earth. We should all pause and give thanks to them."

"For sure! The Jews are a highly literate people and have been for many centuries. They were highly literate at the time of Yeshua. Can the experts really assume that not a single one among the thousands who heard him speak took notes? They would have done so on the most widely used writing materials of their time and place: parchment (stretched animal skins) and sheets of papyrus. Our word paper derives from papyrus. Is it unreasonable to suppose that many devout disciples of the Lord recorded his words?

"As you know, I often take notes at academic meetings and religious services, jotting down gems to add to the "Treasures" folder on my hard drive. I often wish there were pauses like those that undoubtedly occurred during the Sermon on the Mount in order to write down everything accurately. So, given the high literacy of the Jews, I venture to say that beyond reasonable doubt contemporaneous records were kept of many of Yeshua's words. Unless engraved on clay, metal or stone, however, they would rapidly deteriorate.

"There is another—McLuhanish—aspect to this.... What is writing? An extension of what? Of our brains? Yes, but specifically.... Say it out, Anneliese, for the benefit of readers."

"Our memories!"

"Exactly right, Anneliese.

"Ancient sages objected to writing. They did not like it. People would no longer rely on their memories and would lose the art of memorization. It is known that among the ancients, selected individuals were trained from earliest childhood to remember. They developed fabulous memories and could recite interminably long ancestral records, fables and epics. The sages were right. Reliance on writing caused memories to atrophy."

"You rimed atrophy with cry, Eduart. Doesn't it rime with the y of baby?"

"With either the baby or its cry. Take your pick. As a verb, I prefer y as in by by a country mile. The noun is supposed to rime with the y of crabby, and that is usually the way it's heard. What can you expect of English spelling? Our dictionaries are used more for looking up pronunciations than for meanings. A respected colleague of mine once said epitome over a microphone before a large assembly of professors and students. Yes, he actually rimed it with home instead of hysterectomy. Who could blame him? Spelling is supposed to indicate pronunciation—except in English, that is. Everyone knew what he meant, but his prestige hit bottom just the same because of something so inconsequential."

"Faith, hope, and charity..." mused Anneliese. "And the greatest of these is charity. Amazing how we can catch someone in a tiny fault like this and be so uncharitable.

"Why are some people so 'liberal' in their judgment," she wonders on. "Dan Quayle supposedly misspelled potato, when in effect he was just reading from the teacher's flash card, and the liberals are still hooting him out of town. Aboard a great aircraft carrier, Commander-in-Chief William Jefferson Clinton referred to the bow of the ship as in bow tie rather than the bow of a dog's bow-wow. Was he hooted all the way back to Arkansas? The media scarcely mentioned it and then it was forgotten by them for good."

"How a given culture 'polices' things like this," stated Ed, "is very intriguing. In some areas of performance and behavior where deviation from a particular norm is not permitted, ridicule may be employed as an enforcer. One of the most illuminating books I've read is a small volume entitled Un Village en Vaucluse, an anthropological-sociological study of this French town in Provence, département of Avignon. Emphasis was made of the fact that in society in general in Vaucluse, but especially in the schools, ridicule is the weapon or means most commonly used to keep people in line. This obviously is not limited to Vaucluse. I once had a French supervisor in one of my lines of work and got to experience this first-hand. He was highly cultured, however, and left other, very positive, imprints on my life."

"Well, it seems that it's present in all cultures—except possibly Austrian and, in particular, Viennese," commented Anneliese. "But it can be so ironic. On the one hand, kids may scream, 'Copy cat! Copy cat!' ridiculing imitative behavior and yet, conversely, imitation, conformity, and emulation are generally expected. This is a strange trait in humanity that can result in great cruelty. We know how Alice suffered when playmates called her 'Baldy!' and snatched the scarf off her head. If baldness is so deplorable and offensive, why did they want to expose her baldness?"

"In Navaho culture I've read," added Ed, "the strong are expected to be particularly caring of the weak. The fastest runner may deliberately slow down to let another win—especially a younger one. Everyone knows who is faster, but they appreciate and admire the gesture. I ask myself now, why my dad thought he always had to beat me at arm-wrestling and how come our son Paul, the wrestler, had to out-tussle me from about age.... sixteen? Twelve? I will admit that they were good-natured about it. It was all great fun. Funny! I consoled myself with thoughts of Whatsizname Mendelssohn. I'm just kidding. His name was Abraham. He was the son of Moses, the acclaimed philosopher, and the father of Felix, the great musician. A mere wealthy banker—a nobody caught between two notables, as he put it.

"It's the same with my brothers—two older, two younger. The oldest is a brilliant scientist, the next, a man with the greatest 'people' gifts I've ever known (don de gentes, in Spanish). The fourth is a fine teacher and writer, and the youngest a solid citizen and a Colonel Pérez, far outranking Private First Class Eduardo Pérez, 19153139, Sir!"

"Ach, du armer Schlucker!" [Oh, you poor.... Let's say guy! Schlucken = swallow, gulp, hiccup. Schluck that, you poor Schmuck!]

"So you don't think I let them beat me, like a stalwart, brave Navaho brave?"
"I'll believe what you believe."

"Mille grazie, vielen herzlichen Dank, merci beaucoup, 'chas gracias, thanks a lot. That rejoinder is so diplomatic and mild it doesn't come within a kilometric ton of ridicule."

"Of course! My constant guide is St. Paul's marvelous words in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing.

Charity suffers long, and is kind; charity envies not; charity vaunts not itself, is not puffed up.

Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil.

Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Charity never fails; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know even as also I am known.

And now abide faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

"Honey, your memory certainly hasn't atrophied! That is so beautiful, and true. It was a favorite scripture of mi mamá. I've told you how she used to write talks for me. The young people of our church—even little children—were often invited to speak before religious gatherings and fraternal organizations. Doña Josefina wrote a talk for me once that was so well-received I was invited to speak at other groups. She would never allow me to read. I had to learn every talk by heart, no matter how short or long.

"Back then I could read one of her talks through once or twice and that sufficed. Now I can't remember my own name without pulling out one of my business cards. One of my fondest memories is how she would hold my hand as we walked together to an appointment. Then she would sit on the front row and beam at me during my talk. I sturdily refrained from looking her way. It would be too disconcerting, even embarrassing, to see her putting out all that love for her 'little' boy. I was 11 to 12 at the time—a big boy, too big a boy for such an outpouring of affection.

"I had only one bad experience. I was a teen-ager at the time, but still giving talks now and then. My mother continued to offer her help, though I tried to develop talks on my own. In one of my talks I quoted Shakespeare. It was at a church. After the meeting, I walked through the hallways, admiring paintings on the walls. I was out of sight of others around a corner when I heard a girlish voice mincingly pronounce, "Shakespeare says...," parodying me, ridiculing me. I had a big gap in my mouth from missing teeth then and was very shy. Her words devastated me. I was only doing my best, and anyway, could it be that she had paid no attention at all—no homage—to Shakespeare's wonderfully striking, beautiful words, but instead had concentrated on a poor Schmuck's defects and inadequacies?"

"Charity, where art thou?" Anneliese sighed. "Keep me from mentally punching that girl out!"

"Too much of our education and intellectual life sinks to the lowest common denominator. It's as in a parable based on the behavior of lobsters that I once read. A man who had never seen a catch before asked why they were placed in a shallow receptacle instead of a deep bucket. 'Because if one of them tries to escape the others will pull it back,' was the reply. Sluggards and slackers resent it when someone eager to learn pulls their grade down by 'raising the curve.' One of my best courses ever was in Differential Calculus. There was an intense but friendly rivalry all semester long to see who could score highest on every test and the final exam. It was exhilarating. Every single one excelled because of this. How sad that someone should want to pull you down for quoting Shakespeare! Just a little attention, a little thought, and one good quote from him could hook you on him forever.

"Well, Anneliese, you know no doubt that I'm trying to pick up a thread leading me to a point I've intended to make. The point.... it comes to me now.... is that at the time of Yeshua, even though the Jews were extremely literate they nonetheless highly prized memory. They knew their scriptures and could quote them at great length. They remembered and they also wrote, so this notion that there were no contemporary records of Yeshua's words and deeds, seems to me to hold less water than a thimble with a hole in it. People would remember! And they would write! How could they not!.... Benvenuto Cellini's box on the ear multiplied by a factor of thousands by the dramatic impact of Yeshua's words, his love, his healing of the sick, his other miracles, his crucifixion and his rising from the dead!"

"Well, Eduart, many, sadly, prefer to 'look through a glass darkly.' They could have a clearer vision, but like you giving those talks—a 'big' boy too aware of and shying away from your mother's deep expression of love—they are big scholars and authorities, too big for the slightest trace of sensitivy. They would be in danger of lapsing into sentimentality and subjectivity and they must ever remain far above that.

"The irony of this, Ed, is that back in St. Paul's day there was hardly any science at all compared with what we have now—science that makes it much easier for us to comprehend and accept certain things. If puny man has such great powers of communication, with satellite phones, the internet and such, and is now contemplating computer chips of molecular and even atomic dimensions, imagine what simple kindergarten stuff this is to God. If we, looking through a glass darkly, can posit the existence of other dimensions, of logic-defying quantum states and subatomic realities, of possibilities that boggle the mind, shouldn't that instil a little humility?

"For good reason Yeshua said, 'Whosever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.' Obviously, he didn't mean like a little boy of 11 or 12 unable to withstand the blinding rays of his mother's love. Let's say, from a little baby up to the terrible twos. That's for boys. Girls, of course, up to age eight, at least. What with TV and other media, though, innocence is an endangered species."

"Too true," Eduardo agreed. "and yet there's lots of learnèd innocence around. The theory of the Big Bang, for instance, is still making a big bang in the world. A 'singularity' exploded and is still exploding outward. According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, this exploding universe will eventually reach equilibrium. Every part of the universe is now exploding away from every other part, but eventually it will either collapse and become one big cosmic black hole or else continue expanding until all its energy is exhausted and it reaches a static state. There will be no life. No change. Time will cease. In this view, our universe is a closed system. There is nothing else. Nothing but it. That is, outside of an infinite number of parallel universes, or branes."

"Well," put in Anneliese, "if there's nothing else, going all the way back to the very beginning of everything, where did this so-called 'singularity' come from? Where did this incredibly vast initial energy get its start? How come it is so incomprehensibly enormous that it is till exerting itself universe wide today?"

"Yes," concurred Eduardo—"and this is not a new idea, by any means—there has to be a prime mover. There can be no other answer, however unfathomable it may be. Prime comes from Latin primus, first. In house painting, a primer coat is usually applied—a first coat. When I was a boy, before we moved to town, we had no running water, hot or cold. We had to prime our pump. That meant putting some water in it, the first water, so more would come out. A primer.... (primmer for us, prymer for the Brits).... is a first reader for little children, starting them out on the way to literacy. I love the analogy or metaphor of priming a pump. We have to put something into it to get something out.

"That is the way of life. God is generous and kind. If we put in a little faith, and remain faithful, we'll get a lot more out. Put in a little starter virtue and continue to pump away, and we'll get virtue forevermore. Put in a little knowledge and avidly, objectively and unintimidatedly add to it, with heavenly inspiration and aid, and we'll escape from grievous errors and scams and equip ourselves to be fit to teach others. The stubborn, the arrogant, the proud, who are above priming the pump with a little faith, virtue and knowledge, will never know how they are failing, what they are missing, unless they wise up and hear a voice or see a light like the Saul who became the Apostle Paul."

"Saul's becoming Paul should be a consolation to you, Eduart. Saul was his Hebrew name. His nickname became Paul, from Latin paulus—small or a little bit of something. Like in Spanish paulatinamente: a little bit at a time, slowly. From this we can deduce that he was short in stature, but God made him great."

"So there's still hope for me!"

"Aber natürlich, sure, you may yet become a vir, a man. It has always bothered me that your English virtuous comes from the Latin word for man—manliness, being a real man. By all rights, it should come from Latin femina, woman, and we should speak of femue. A much more alluring, attractive, lovely, and accurate term. Now in German, we have Tugend. No throwback to either masculinity or femininity—though naturally the word is feminine in gender. Immanuel Kant wrote of it as fourfold: Weisheit, Tapferheit, Besonnenheit und Gerechtigkeit—wisdom, valor, self-possession, righteousness.

"We were taught to be tugendhaft, virtuous, in school. It was a key part of our education until Hitler took over Austria and its schools and attempted to twist and pervert everything with his Hitler Jugend [Hitler Youth], pure Aryan race, Aryan supremacy and Wagnerian mythology.... All right, Eduart! All this has been stimulating, but I hope that you will now consider getting to work!"

"O.K., if that's what you call it."

So, just whistling "Buckle down, Winsocki" this time, Eduardo checked out the website and then had a look at "London Bridge" on Google. Not surprisingly, this husband had remembered that Anneliese was impatient to see it. They would have to start out for it that very morning because the Agency hi-tech techie would arrive the next day.