Grey’d-out manipulator handles?

Hi guys, I’m a relative newbie with what I hope will be a simple question with a simple answer. I’ve worked around it for a while… but thought it was time to find some answers…I have found that my Transformation Tool Manipulator handles are not always available in all views… i.e. some times I can see them in Perspective view and sometimes they appear as grey XYZ lines .

In addition I have noticed… and perhaps this may be a clue…That while the ‘Move’ tool is always available in all views the Scale and Rotate are not… when I select them a green ‘S’ appears followed by little green boxes.

1. Can you tell me how to have my manipulator handles available in all views?
2. Can you tell me what the green ‘S’ is for?
3. And just for shits and giggles… the perspective view is labeled with a ‘persp’ in the bottom center… how do I label/unlabel all the views?

Thanks for all your help

Jer