I solved the problem! I was reading the Network Manager how to -- that
is found here: https://wiki.debian.org/NetworkManager
This is what I did:
******************************************************
# vi /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf
-----IT WAS--------
[ifupdown]
managed=false
-----CHANGED TO----
[ifupdown]
managed=true
-------------------
# /etc/init.d/network-manager restart
******************************************************
I am still baffled about why this happened. It doesn't make sense to me!
Any how, I hope if someone else encounters wireless problems with the
Broadcom driver ( b43 ) ... my list of things to try
( https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2015/07/msg00947.html ) is useful.
Michael