Should they allow phone calls on planes? You probably won’t like the answer.

Is it time to allow phone calls on planes?

European regulators think so. This summer, the EU quietly cleared inflight cell phones for takeoff, saying that allowing cell phones on planes would allow for more technological innovation. The EU designated certain frequencies for inflight 5G technology, which would allow airlines to create an in-flight network capable of handling phone calls.

“The sky is no longer the limit when it comes to possibilities offered by super-fast, high-capacity connectivity,” noted Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for the internal market.

But most American air travelers still strongly oppose the use of cell phones on a flight, arguing that they don’t want to be in a confined space with someone making a call. A minority of passengers say having a conversation is harmless and that the ban is preventing them from getting important work done on the plane.

I’ll tell you who’s right in just a minute.

Many passengers are “totally against” allowing phone calls on planes

“I am totally against phone calls on planes,” says Stephanie Wolkin, a retired educational worker from White Bear Lake, Minn.

She says people talk too much on planes already, and they are “loud and obnoxious.”

“Can you imagine the cacophony?” she asks.

Allowing phones might also be unsafe, passengers worry.

“If the phone call policy was liberalized, I think it might make it difficult to hear important safety announcements,” says Susan Sherren, founder of Couture Trips, a travel agency. “Planes are confined spaces, and airlines should protect those spaces and keep them free from phone calls.”

Some etiquette experts agree that phones should not be permitted on planes.

“Oh, for the love of Pete!” says Jodi RR Smith, an etiquette consultant. “Please do not encourage passengers to make calls on planes.”

Air travel is is stressful enough, she adds. “To have people engaged in extended conversations onboard would be torturous.”

So, to sum up the arguments against making voice calls on planes, it’s potentially unsafe and definitely annoying. Mostly annoying. So it shouldn’t be allowed.

Some passengers think it’s time to legalize phone calls on planes

For other passengers, and especially business travelers, the cell phone ban is silly. You can already make internet calls as long

Reverse Mortgages

The likeliest answer: Airlines kept taking things away from passengers, including legroom, the ability to carry a bag on the plane, seat assignments. The one thing they haven’t removed yet is the peace and quiet at cruising altitude.

Bottom line: The pro-phone folks believe calls are safe and that banning them stands in the way of personal freedom and progress.

Who’s right about making phone calls on planes?

The anti-call passengers make a valid point about unwanted noise. The cabin of an airliner can be chaotic and loud, so why add to the confusion?

Broker, DRE 01200868

NMLS 315848 as you’re connected to the in-flight Wi-Fi network. Why not make it official?

“We put up with babies crying, nonstop conversation of passengers, and annoying seatmates who have to get up and go to the restroom constantly,” says Andy Abramson, a frequent traveler and a communications consultant from Las Vegas. “So I ask, ‘What’s the big deal?’”

He says many business travelers routinely ignore ban on in-flight calls. They simply log on to the plane’s Wi-Fi network and start talking.

“My phone has rung many times on a plane,” says Barry Graham, a sales manager based in Washington, D.C. “Which is really annoying when I know that I could be arrested for answering it.”

Graham says the in-flight ban doesn’t make sense to him because it prevents him from participating in all calls, including web conferences where he doesn’t even need to speak.

Practically speaking, the law against phone calls is almost never enforced. I couldn’t find any record of a passenger being arrested for making an illegal phone call. But you should mind what you say when you’re allowed to make a call. A few weeks ago in India, a man was arrested after discussing plans to hijack the plane before takeoff.

The pro-call passengers wonder how making phone calls became such a controversial topic. After all, you could make a call from a plane until 2013, when the last Airfones were decommissioned. What happened in the decade between?

But their main argument that it somehow makes a flight less safe doesn’t really fly. Swarun Kumar, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, says aviation safety experts are no longer concerned that wireless calls could interfere with cockpit equipment.

“In fact, using data when airborne is technically not a violation, and of course, plenty of travelers use in-flight Wi-Fi,” he adds.

I’m not aware of any evidence that in the Airfone days, the handsets distracted passengers from the inflight safety announcements or somehow made flying less safe, either.

So maybe the time is right to consider allowing phone calls on domestic airlines, which EU regulators have already recognized. You can’t turn the cabin into a no-call zone in 2023. People need to communicate. But there’s a right way to do it.

How to make a responsible phone call in flight

There are two key issues when it comes to in-flight phone calls. The first is, who gets to make a call, and when?

Airlines would have to communicate their policies clearly in advance. They would need to address issues like when calls are not allowed, such as during in-flight safety announcements or during takeoff and landing. And they would need to enforce those rules, probably by disabling the network during those times.

More importantly, airline crew would need to brief passengers on proper phone manners, since this

Snow from page 5 erything would be okay.

The weather continued to get colder and the snow was coming down in heavy amounts. The old village hotel where Captain Snyder made his headquarters had been warm. The American unit wasn’t equipped to handle enemy prisoners, so Kurt was put into an upstairs hotel room. A guard was assigned to stay outside the door.

It was around 10 o’clock at night when Bill Oliver climbed the stairs of the hotel to the room where Kurt was being held. He had a canteen cup full of stew and another filled with coffee. The guard let him inside the room.

“I thought you could use some chow,” Bill said, holding the two aluminum cups out toward Kurt.

Kurt smiled, took the food and drink, then sat down at a small table. He motioned for Bill to sit in the other chair at the table. The German was hungry. Kurt thought the conglomeration that had been taken from a C-ration can was tasty – better than anything available in German field rations.

The two chatted as Kurt ate, albeit in cryptic fashion. Basic words of English and German, salted with a lot of gesturing allowed them to understand each other. After about 20 minutes, another soldier opened the door of the room and announced to Bill that he was a German-speaking interpreter who would explain to the prisoner of what would happen next.

Kurt was told he was to be taken to a rear G-2 interrogation center for interrogation and debriefing. Bill asked whether or not his German friend would receive special treatment because of how Kurt saved him. The answer: “I don’t know.”

Oct. 24, 1945

Languishing in a POW camp is boring at best, so Kurt volunteered for work details. Some of them were outside the compound, so he at least got a taste of freedom. One of the better jobs was working in the kitchen of the American army mess hall. The POW workers got to eat their meals in the back. The food was of a definitely higher quality, as well as quantity, from that being served inside the fence of the camp.

Late one afternoon as Kurt was preparing a load of potatoes for steaming, a man in a tweed jacket and black fedora walked into the

Snow continued on page 13

If you’re ever attacked by a mob of clowns, go for the juggler.

A Good Policy

An insurance salesman was getting nowhere in his efforts to sell a policy to a rancher. “Look at it this way,” he said finally. “How would your wife carry on if you should die?”

“Well,” answered the rancher after giving it some thought, “I don’t reckon that’s any concern of mine, so long as she behaves herself while I’m alive.”

A Shy Cowboy

Two cowboys went to a night club show. As the chorus girls pranced out to perform their number, one cowboy turned to the other and whispered, “See that fine lookin’ gal on the left end. I feel like taking her out again.”

“Why I didn’t know you had taken her out before,” answered the other.

“Well I ain’t,” came the reply. “But once before I felt like it.”

Were you born between 1935-1965? Here’s why we are the lucky ones!

This brought back many fond memories from our childhood. Too bad the kids today can’t enjoy the things we did and we are all still alive to show we lived through those days.

No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us, we are awesome and our lives are living proof!

To all the kids who survived the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s: First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.

Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes..

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank cor-

Pet Parade Squooshy

Squooshy is pet of the week at your Rancho Coastal Humane Society. She’s a 1-1/2year-old, 6-pound, female, Exotic Short Hair cat with a Red and White Tabby coat.

Squooshy was transferred from a rescue partner in Orange County through Friends of County Animal Shelters (FOCAS.) She’s social and likes to greet guests with a sweet, soft, Meow. She could live with kids 7 years or older.

The $100 adoption fee for Squooshy includes medical exam, spay, up to date vaccinations, and registered microchip.

Visit Rancho Coastal Humane Society in Encinitas or log on to www.SDpets.org.Open 11 to 4, Friday through Monday, and by appointment Wednesday and Thursday.

dial made with real white sugar. And we weren’t overweight.

WHY?

Because we were always outside playing…that’s why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day and we were OK.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem..

We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and Xbox’s. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no internet and no chat rooms.

We had friends and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from those accidents.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, pingpong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not

Chuckles continued on page 12

Oodles from page 3 son’s community.

This event is free to attend and will feature a live performance with singers from Encinitas, Rancho Bernardo and Central San Diego. Enjoy our first ever Fabulous Flea Market where unique items will be offered by our members that showcase their skills, talents, arts, crafts and collections. All proceeds from the Fabulous Flea Market will be donated to Tremble Clefs for continuing operations. Please come and enjoy light refreshments and an afternoon of music. To attend, please RSVP at the following website: https://www.trembleclefs.com/ ***

Summer Food Festival

August 19, 2023 4:00pm to 8:00pm Bates Nut Farm 15954 Woods Valley Road Valley Center

Some of San Diego’s favorite food vendors will be on hand serving a variety of mobile cuisine. Participating in this year’s festival are many crowd favorites.

• Margie’s ShuckwagonPotatoes & Corn

• Smokin Fools - BBQ

• Little Thai Cottage

• Arslan’s Gyros

• Epic Eatz - Mexican

• Lady G’s Canteen - Filipino

• Adelle’s Cookies

• Mariposa Ice Cream

Oodles continued on page 12

Pet of the Week

Who is the cutest pup with the wagging tail that just won’t stop? That would be the one and only Ronnie! This dashing shepherd mix came to the shelter as a stray, and his caregivers have seen his playful and loving personality bloom as they get to spend time with him. Ronnie loves to go out on sniff-ventures and will always be a happy companion for walks. This sweet boy doesn’t ask for too much in life – just some tasty treats, a cozy spot for naps and someone to share his days with! Ronnie is available for adoption at San Diego Humane Society’s Escondido Campus at 3500 Burnet Dr. If you have questions about the adoption process, you can visit sdhumane.org/adopt or call 619-299-7012. Adoption fees are 50% off for all dogs and cats through August 31!

Online profile: https://www.sdhumane.org/adopt/available-pets/animal-single.html?petId=868743

The Computer Factory

845 W. San Marcos Blvd. 760-744-4315 thecomputerfactory.net

The “Renaissance man” (also called a “polymath”) is a “person of wide knowledge or learning”. In addition to his well rounded knowledge, the “Renaissance Man” also provided foundational leadership in some particular area of human endeavor. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Copernicus, and Francis Bacon are consensus members of this group. Are there any “Renaissance Men” around today? Probably not.

Certainly there are people today who are as intelligent and creative as the classical “polymaths” but the low hanging fruit has been taken. Today’s disciplines are populated with “specialists” who’ve spent years developing and expanding expertise in their respective vocations. The time and effort needed to acquire expertise in any modern discipline denies the opportunity for

Who killed the “Renaissance Man”?

any would be “Renaissance Man” to become competent in multiple disciplines. Nor could our “Polymath” stand out as a savant because in today’s world, the expansion of knowledge in any field requires a multi-disciplinary team effort. We celebrate Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Samuel Morse, Benjamin Franklin, Eli Whitney, Robert Fulton, George Washington Carver, Cyrus McCormick, Nikola Tesla and other icons whose names are singularly associated with inventions and patents. But today’s inventions and patents are products of corporate, government or research laboratory team efforts. Team composition and leadership is fluid and anonymous. As technology continues to evolve, progress has become ever less based on individual effort and more on the organized efforts of groups of people with different skill sets working together. This collaborative development process permeates all our evolving technology from art to warfare. Increasingly AI (artificial intelligence) is being used to provide answers and guidance within these processes. AI an efficient and effective problem solving tool but……..

Since humans first appeared, evolution has worked to enhance our survival and reproductive viability by expanding our cognitive skills thus allowing us to develop technologies and social skills that enabled us to become, by far, the most dominant species on Earth. We have used that cognitive ability to adapt and develop technologies that ensure our success. From fire to modern food production, each new technology provided more opportunity to use our growing brain power to further improve our lives. We built civilizations and cities and all manner of wonderful labor saving gadgets to keep us comfortable, warm, well fed and safe. We may not be as strong as we were when we spent all of our time working just to survive, but we sure are a lot smarter, right?

Maybe not! One of our latest technological triumphs, AI (Artificial Intelligence), just might signal the end of our intellectual evolution. Throughout the 20th century, worldwide IQ (Intelligence Quotient) scores rose 3 to 5 points each decade (the Flynn effect). Experts attributed this steady increase to the mental stimulation of living in a rapidly evolving, ever shrinking world. Since 2000 IQ tests have recorded a 2-3% drop (reverse Flynn effect). The vast majority of IQ test takers are under 40 and advocates blame everything from dumber teachers to global warming. Most experts blame the ubiquitous presence of our Internet connected devices. People today increasingly rely on the Internet for answers instead of using their own logic and reasoning. The answers they get from Internet’s AI are typically more reliable, quicker and waste less energy than the answer they would get by using their own intelligence and knowledge base. That sounds like a win/win/win for AI and it is. But there is a downside. By habitually using Internet based AI we are starting to see some degeneration in our younger generations cognitive abilities as expressed through their falling IQ scores. “Use it or lose it” is a concept we all understand, it’s why we jog, go to the gym or take walks to keep physically fit. Will we find ways keep mentally fit? Is it important? Do we care?

Let’s talk about it.

Refurbished “Enterprise” Grade PC VS New “Retail” PCs

Half the Price.

Twice the reliability.

Higher quality components. Windows 10 or 11 Pro or Home.

Why pay twice as much and get half as much?

Over 60 notebook, desktop, All-in-One & Micros in stock

John Van Zante’s Critter Corner

False Information Makes People And Their Pets Hot Under The Collar

my car on Requeza Street in Encinitas with the doors open. Started recording video, then put a digital thermometer on the dashboard and closed the doors.

My friends Merritt and Beth Clifton at Animals24-7.org told the story about this heat demonstration and they spread it worldwide.

reached 125 in a minute and a half. After an hour there’s a good chance your kids or your dog aren’t going to make it.

Each summer I pick an average day then get in vehicle with a thermometer, close the doors, and roll up the windows. Been doing this for more than 20 years.

Why? Because there’s so much false information about heat danger, It’s being spread by allegedly reliable sources. It’s WRONG and it can kill.

This year I held a dry run of the heat demonstration a few days before our news conference. Parked

This is real-time video. No editing. Nothing fancy. Watch it on You Tube. It’s only a couple minutes. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=vIxstg8pjS8

The temperature inside my car went from 75 to 85 in 11 seconds. Up to 99 in 30 seconds. Then up to 125 degrees in less than a minute and a half.

A pet, a baby, a senior, or someone who’s been ill can die in that heat. DIE!

Thank goodness they did. Fleur Dawes, Director of Communications at In Defense of Animals – IDAUSA.org, was preparing to print posters about heat danger in cars. When Fleur saw the Animals24-7 story, she stopped the presses until they could include correct information.

Their original information from a northern California university stated that, if it’s 75 degrees outside, the temperature in a closed vehicle could reach 120 in an hour.

That’s WRONG! We proved that it

Run your own test. Pick an average 75-to-80-degree, summer afternoon. Put a digital thermometer on the dash, then close the doors and start timing.

Now that you know the truth, you can shoot your own video, use mine, or post the link to the story in Animals24-7.

At the very least, stop posting those charts with false information. You might save a life.

Historically Speaking from page 7 terial and the labor needed. Since Yerba Buena Island was a U.S. Navy base at the time, the approval of Congress was necessary for the island to be used. After a great deal of lobbying, California received Congressional approval on Feb. 20, 1931, subject to the final approval of the Departments of War, Navy and Commerce.

In 1932, Joseph R. Knowland, a former U.S. Congressman, traveled to Washington to help persuade President Herbert Hoover and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to advance $62 million for building of the bridge. Construction began on July 9, 1933, after a groundbreaking ceremony attended by former president Herbert Hoover.

The western section of the bridge between San Francisco and Yerba Buena Island presented an enormous engineering challenge. The Bay was up to 100 feet deep in places and the soil required new foundation-laying techniques. A single main suspension spans some 4,100 feet in length was considered but rejected, as it would have required too much fill and reduced wharfage space at San Francisco, East of Yerba Buena Island, the Bay to Oakland is spanned by a near two-mile combination of double cantilever, five long-span through-trusses, and a truss causeway, forming the longest bridge of its kind at the time; the cantilever section was the longest in the nation

Oodles from page 10

Experience a summer evening with live music by The Smokin Guns from 4:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Kids Fun from 4-7pm

Farm Zoo • Pony Rides • Hayrides

• Slide • Facepainting

City of Vista

Food Truck Fridays

Food Truck Fridays is a new special event being held each Friday night through September, in downtown Vista at the corner of Citrus & Broadway. The event features six food trucks and live music from 5:30 pm-8:30 pm.

***

Summer Sunday Concerts

August • 1-5pm

Moonlight Beach

400 B Street • Encinitas

Moonlight Summer Sunday Concerts are back! For four Sundays across July and August, enjoy free and third-longest in the world.

The bridge consists of two crossings, east and west of Yerba Buena Island. The western crossing between Yerba Buena and downtown San Francisco has two complete suspension spans connected at a center anchorage. Rincon Hill is the western anchorage and touchdown for the San Francisco landing of the bridge connected by three shorter truss spans.

There’s little doubt the economic life of the entire Bay area depends almost completely on the Bay Bridge -- even more so than the nearby Golden Gate Bridge, which connects San Francisco with Marin County.

Next week: The Golden Gate Bridge.

Little league had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever.

The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of those born between 1935 – 1965…. CONGRATULATIONS!

***

Phone Calls from page 8 is a topic passengers have not been taught in school. It’s not OK to have a loud conversation in the middle of the night when your seatmate is trying to sleep, for example.

Issue number two: Where do we put the talkers? Nick Leighton, an etiquette expert, says airlines consider creating a quiet cabin where phone calls aren’t allowed, like Acela’s Quiet Car. I’m sure there’s an airline revenue manager or two out there imagining the extra fees that selling seats in a quiet cabin could generate.

“There are so many compelling and legitimate reasons to be reachable by phone at 35,000 feet that coming up with some sort of etiquetteapproved solution is worthwhile,” he says.

Chuckles from page 10

live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, 22 rifles for our 12th, rode horses, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

live music from local bands at Moonlight Beach!

Sunday, August 20

Headliner: The Silent Comedy 3-5pm

Opener: Donna Drive 1-2pm

Brothers Joshua and Jeremiah Zimmerman with their band The Silent Comedy create rough-hewn, expansive American rock and roll.

Artists subject to change. Admission is free and open to the public. Be sure to follow all beach rules.

For assistance, please contact City staff, email, (760) 633-2746.

***

SDG&E Wildfire Safety Fair & Fire Safety Expo

August 26, 2023

9:00am to 1:00pm

Bates Nut Farm

15954 Woods Valley Road Valley Center

Join SDG&E for their 5th Annual Wildfire Safety Fair. Prepare and protect your family and property.

A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: “Ugh, that’s the ugliest baby I’ve ever seen!” The woman walks to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: “The driver just insulted me!” The man says: “You go up there and tell him off. Go on, I’ll hold your monkey for you.” ***

I said to the Gym instructor “Can you teach me to do the splits?” He said, “How flexible are you?” I said, “I can’t make Tuesdays.”

We’re still a long way from being able to make legal phone calls from a plane in the United States. But it is time to start thinking about how we’ll handle voice calls when they become a reality.

It’s not a question of if it will happen, but when.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/

© 2023 Christopher Elliott.

Learn about stocking an emergency kit, developing an emergency plan, designing or modifying the space around your home to resist wildfire and more.

• Admission is free

• Preparedness backpacks and other great give-a-ways provided on a first come, first served basis.

• Spin the prize wheel for giveaways, including weather stations, gift cards, preparedness items and much more.

• Lunch and snacks including gourmet hot dogs, cold drinks, popsicles and kettle corn, from 9:30am to 1:00pm while supplies last.

Valley Center’s Fire Safety Expo will be held alongside SDG&E’s Wildfire Safety Fair this year!

Come meet the Valley Center firefighters! The Fire Safety Expo will feature safety demonstrations and emergency in- formation from a variety of local firefighters, highway patrol, medical professionals and more. Check out the vintage fire engines, fire trucks, and learn how you and your family can be better prepared for emergencies and to learn more about your local emergency responders.

***

Library Learning Center

Open House

August 26 • 10am - 2pm

Library Learning Center

3368 Eureka Pl, Carlsbad

The Library Learning Center is celebrating 15 years of service to the Carlsbad community with an open house on Saturday, August 26. Join us for live music, food and family-friendly activities.

The Library Learning Center is a full-service library and houses the city’s Bilingual Services and Literacy Services divisions, which continued on page 14

Snow from page 9 kitchen. He took out a black wallet, presumably holding some sort of identification card, and spoke with the guard watching the prisoners in the kitchen. The soldier pointed toward Kurt’ direction.

“Are you Kurt Junger?” the man asked in German as he approached Kurt.

“Jawohl,” Kurt replied.

“Let’s stand over here in the corner where we can talk.”

Kurt followed the man to a quiet part of the room.

“I’m Seth Rosenberg. I represent a group of Jewish refugees trying to get to Palestine to set up our own government,” he said.

The man was medium height, thin in stature with sunken cheeks. His black hair was sprinkled with specks of gray. His pants were a shabby green and didn’t match the tweed brown jacket.

“Could he have been in one of the camps?” Kurt thought.

“I know you’re Jewish,” the man continued.

Kurt froze. A jolt of terror shot through his body. Hopefully, none of the other POWs in the kitchen heard that information. The one secret he held from everyone was the fact that he was born to a Jewish mother, which was all it took for him to be declared a Jew by the Nazis. With the help of his uncle, a Lutheran minister, he joined the Heer (army) in order to keep from being suspected. Basically, he was hiding.

His surrender to the Americans seemed planned, but Kurt knew in his heart it was an impulsive decision.

“You’ll be contacted within the next few months to go to the United States,” Rosenberg said. “A very good friend of ours, Mr. Winston Oliver, will be your sponsor and see that you are taken care of when you arrive. I believe you know his son, a William Oliver.”

Kurt shook his head in the affirmative.

Help Wanted

“When you are settled in America, Mr. Oliver will have a job for you.”

“What sort of job?”

“Does it matter? You’ll be free and introduced into a new life. There’s nothing for you here. The Germany you knew is no longer.

“How did you know I am Jewish,” Kurt spoke in a whispered breath.

The man stood silent offering no answer.

“Seriously. How do you know me?” Kurt drew closer to the man, raising his voice slightly, ready to grab this stranger by the throat.

The man looked around the room, then back at Kurt. He stood silent for a few seconds more before answering.

“The Nazis aren’t the only ones with ways to find out such information,” he said. “All will be explained once you get to America. Some day you’ll be in a position to do a great service for your people.”

“My people?” Kurt looked straight into the man’s dark eyes. “I may be Jewish, but only by an accident of birth. As far as I know, the only relatives who can claim such credentials are my mother and my twin brother, if he is still alive. My father died in an air raid.”

“No, there is one other still alive.”

“Who?”

“Me,” Rosenberg replied.

Kurt stood in stunned disbelief.

“I’m your uncle. I’ve been in Switzerland since 1922. Your mother and I decided to keep my existence a secret for obvious reasons. I left Germany after the First World War. I had been a private on the front lines in a trench. I knew sooner or later Germany would get into another war and I wanted no part of it. I met a wonderful Swiss girl in Munich and after we were married, we moved to Bern.”

His uncle? An uncle he had never met? Really?

Uncle Seth briefly explained how he began working with a Jewish organization in Switzerland helping to get Jews out of Germany before being carried off to death camps.

“How did you find me with all of the chaos?” Kurt asked.

“It wasn’t easy, but that letter you wrote to your mother a few months ago helped us locate you. I knew you’d try for the Americans and so I started looking for you in the various POW camps.”

Kurt had sent a note to his mother just to let them know he was alive and in the hands of the Americans rather than being under the harsh hand of the Russians or even the French. The British weren’t much better in their treatment of German prisoners. Over the past five years, those three countries had been treated quite cruelly by Hitler and his war machine. Who could blame them?

Seth placed his hand on Kurt’s shoulder.

“My boy, go have a better life in America,” he said.

“What makes you think I’ll be going there?”

“Mr. Oliver is one of us – he’s a Jew who has been very supportive of our establishing a Jewish homeland. He has sent us money over the past several years to help getting our people out of Germany. He sent my office in Switzerland a letter requesting that we try to find you. If was unbelievably good luck.”

“Yes, but he has no idea I am Jewish. I haven’t told anyone.”

“He knew we had one of the largest organizations for finding displaced people, among other things. We normally don’t get involved in trying to find people in the army, but one of the secretaries knew that my sister’s name, your mother, was ‘Junger’ by marriage. So, there you have it. The search began.”

The two men shook hands.

“You should be hearing something soon about when you’ll be leav- ing,” he said as he walked away. Something didn’t seem to sit right with Kurt concerning the mysterious future his supposed uncle was describing. But, he wasn’t going to spend much time pondering about such things. The fact he would be going to America filled his thoughts. Still, seeing would definitely be believing. cialty services will include an intensive care unit, maternal child health services, emergency department, interventional radiology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, orthopedics, a robotic surgeries program and neonatal intensive care unit.

He did worry about his twin brother, Kris. Had he been shot down? Was he alive or a POW? He hoped to someday be reunited with both his brother and mother if both survived the war.

The preceding is a fictitious narrative based upon a true incident that occurred in Belgium’s Ardennes Forest as World War II was coming to a climax.

“Every design and planning decision we have made since breaking ground on this medical center has been guided by providing an unparalleled patient care experience,” said Jane Finley, senior vice president and area manager for Kaiser Permanente San Diego. “Every patient will benefit from cutting-edge medical technologies, our integrated, model of expert care and most importantly, personal service.”

Designed for cleaner, greener energy, the new hospital uses cuttingedge technologies to produce its own electricity, heat, and cooling, create less greenhouse gases and save water. These innovations have earned the San Marcos Medical Center certification as a LEED Platinum health care facility. The San Marcos Medical Center also offers several areas specifically designed for respite, including landscaped walking paths in the healing garden and a meditation room.