Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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APRIL 27 - MAY 3, 2016 UCW 23 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM ADVICE GODDESS What You Seethe Is What You Get My boyfriend of a year used to fly into rages. He and his ex had huge, ugly screaming fights. He now uses "mental tricks" to stay calmer. Obviously, rage is a bad thing, but it's also a passionate thing. Is it crazy to worry that he doesn't care enough about me to get really angry? — Fretting Rage isn't a sign of love; it's a sign of bad emotion management. Research by doctor and behavioral neuroscientist Emil Coccaro finds that people who are prone to angry outbursts have exaggerated activity in part of the brain called the amygdala. This is a set of lima bean-sized structures that basically work as a security guard, identifying threats (or potential threats). As neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux explains it, the amygdala makes a "quick and dirty" assessment that danger is afoot — before rational thought can get involved — and releases chemical messengers to get us to leap into action, as in, "DO SOMETHING BEFORE YOU DIE!" But because the amygdala is an evolutionarily ancient structure — one we share with sheep and hamsters — it's not all that discerning. In fact, it makes a lot of mistakes. That's because our chances of survival are better if we jump out of our skin at a rustling in the leaves that turns out to be nothing — rather than being all, "Yeah, that could be a deadly poisonous snake, but I'm not letting it get in the way of a good bong hit." Still, socially, a hypersensitive amygdala can pose problems. Chances are that what your boyfriend has learned to do through these "mental tricks" is redirect his attention from the amygdala to the newer, thinkier "frontal" parts of the brain. Your boyfriend's newfound cool is a sign — showing that he gets that rage is to problem-solving as a chain saw is to hangnail eradication. Of course, many people realize that they're doing something totally counterproductive — and remain all pedal to the metal down Stupid Avenue instead of investing the effort your boyfriend did (and does) to respond differently. As for the notion that his not blowing his top means he doesn't care about you … right. Nothing says you've got the lukewarmies for somebody like treating them with love, patience, and respect instead of giving in to your initial impulse to stab them in the neck with a fork. Copyright Amy Alkon WEEKLY HOROSCOPES NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD Eva Tiamat Medusa, 55, of t he Phoeni x area, has a lmost completed her jour ney (she c a lls it "t ransspecieism" ) to become a "my t hic a l beast " — like a dragon v ideo-game charac ter — t hrough pur posef ul facia l sc ar r ing , surg ic a l implant s and even remova l of bot h ears. " Tiamat " was bor n R ichard Her nandez before becoming fema le and now spor t s such feat ures as rept ilian-st yle sk in "sc a les," g reen-colored "whites" of t he eyes, " hor ns" on her forehead and, of course, breast s. ( However, she is perhaps so far sat isf ied w it h one par t , as she is st ill a "pre-op" t ranssex ua l.) [Daily Mail ( London), 4 -5-2016] Gover nment in Ac t ion T he Pent agon admit ted recent ly t hat it has no way to k now how many par t s or dev ices are in it s equipment inventor y — except by going t hrough it s est imated 30 million cont rac t s (on t he tex t- unsearchable elec t ronic dat abase) one by one. For a recent Freedom of Infor mat ion request f rom a sof t ware developer (for t he Pent agon's number of "Hot Plug " power-ex tenders for computers), it quoted a ret r ieva l pr ice of $660 million to cover 15 million hours of work . [Center for Public Integ r it y v ia Slate.com, 3-18-2016] Wait , W hat? (1) T he most recent problem w it h t he Defense Depar t ment 's prospec t ive, ult ra- moder n F-35 f ighter jet , revea led in March, is t hat it s "radar cont rol" somet imes ma lf unc t ions and t hat s ystem updates w ill not be ready unt il 2020. In t he inter im, an A ir Force of f icia l adv ised t hat , as a work around, t he radar could be t ur ned of f and t hen back on again (similar to rest ar t ing a glitchy computer). (2) Michael Ford, 36, a U. S . Embass y st af f member in London, was sentenced in March to 57 mont hs in pr ison for hav ing r un a "sex tor t ion" email scheme prey ing on young g irls — f rom his heav ily monitored embass y computer work st at ion, operat ing undetec ted for t wo years. (One workday last Apr il, for ex ample, he sent 800 emails f rom his desk "phishing " for g ullible socia l media users.) [The Guardian ( London), 3-8-2016] [Washington Times, 3-23-2016] COPYRIGHT CHUCK SHEPPARD ARIES - Mar 21/Apr 20 Aries, it is easy to get excited about the wrong things this week. Try not to be too reckless in your actions, and stick with someone like Libra to keep you grounded. TAURUS - Apr 21/May 21 Taurus, you may be unable to keep your emotions in check this week, and you just might let more things slip than you hoped to. It's okay to open up once in a while. GEMINI - May 22/Jun 21 Pursue a moneymaking idea, Gemini, because a partnership project is something right at this venture in time. Create a solid relationship with someone you trust and get started. CANCER - Jun 22/Jul 22 Cancer, you keep hitting a wall with regard to a project. Accept that you will not make too much progress now and move on to something else. You can circle back later. LEO - Jul 23/Aug 23 A particular goal may seem like an uphill battle to anyone else but you, Leo. You have the stamina, work ethic and the personality to overcome any obstacle. VIRGO - Aug 24/Sept 22 Virgo, you may be ready to go out on your own and demonstrate your independence, but something is holding you back. A support system isn't a bad thing. LIBRA - Sept 23/Oct 23 Libra, you may quickly tire of any tasks that are put in front of you this week. Repetition is just not your friend, so look for activities that may be more stimulating. SCORPIO - Oct 24/Nov 22 Scorpio, repeatedly taking an unsuccessful approach won't produce new results. It's time to try a new tactic. Perhaps ask a friend for a different perspective. SAGITTARIUS - Nov 23/Dec 21 Sagittarius, turn up the charm and you'll have more opportunities to get things to go your way. Just don't put on an act or others will see right through it. CAPRICORN - Dec 22/Jan 20 Capricorn, you are often the one to help others, but this week you need some assistance. Accept any help you can get and thank those around you for their willingness to lend a hand. AQUARIUS - Jan 21/Feb 18 Aquarius, distractions may be enjoyable this week, but you have to limit them or you will get nothing done. There's a lot on your plate that you have to complete. PISCES - Feb 19/Mar 20 Tackling some financial problems this week, Pisces. Focus on old debt or something that has been plaguing you for some time. Amy Alkon