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.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/111814
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD An estimated 3.2 million kids aged 5 to 12 take mixed-martial arts classes, training to administer beatdowns modeled after the adults��� Ultimate Fighting Championships, according to a January report in ESPN The Magazine, which profiled the swaggering, Mohawked Derek ���Crazy��� Rayfield, 11, and the meek, doll-clutching fighting machine, Regina ���The Black Widow��� Awana, 7. Kids under age 12 fight each other without regard to gender, and blows above the collarbone are always prohibited (along with attacks on the groin, kidneys and back). ���Crazy��� was described delivering merciless forearm chest smashes to a foe before the referee intervened, and the ���Black Widow��� won her match in less than a minute via arm-bar submission. Parental involvement appears to be of two types: either fear of their child���s getting hurt or encouragement to be meaner. [ESPN The Magazine, 1-7-2013] The Continuing Crisis Breaking Bad (and Quickly!): Tyrone Harris, 26, reported for his first shift at Dunkin��� Donuts in Morristown, N.J., in January and received his name tag. Seven minutes later, according to police, he was on his way Chuck Sheppard out the door with $2,100 from his supervisor���s desk. (Apparently, the supervisor had opened his drawer a little too far when reaching for the name tag, giving Harris a glimpse of the cash.) [NJ.com (Newark), 1-21-2013] In a January submission to India���s Supreme Court, an association of the country���s caste councils begged for greater sympathy for men who commit ���honor killings��� of wayward females. The councils denied encouraging such killings, but emphasized that fathers or brothers who murder a daughter or sister are usually ���law-abiding, educated and respectable people��� who must protect their reputations after a female has had a ���forbidden��� relationship ��� especially a female who intends to marry within her sub-caste, which the councils believe leads to deformed babies. [Daily Telegraph (London), 1-15-2013] Aubrey Ireland, 21, a dean���s-list senior at the University of Cincinnati���s prestigious college of music, went to court in December to protect herself from two stalkers ��� her mother and father, who, she said, had been paranoiacally meddling in her life. David and Julie Ireland put tracking devices on Aubrey���s computer and telephone and showed up unannounced on campus (600 miles from their home), telling officials that Aubrey was promiscuous and mentally imbalanced. A Common Pleas Court judge ordered the parents to keep their distance. [Cincinnati.com, 12-27-2012] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of March 3, 2013 ARIES (March 21-April 19) The way some use media baf���es you. You wouldn���t tell your best friend what you ate for breakfast, so why would you bother to broadcast it to the social networks of the world? You���ll ���nd that this week you do have something worth sharing, though, and your idea will spread because you share it well. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Your happiness is important for many reasons. When you���re happy, your compassion shines through. From the menial to the intellectual or even heroic, everything you touch will hold the energy of your love. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) Many senior citizens admit that of all the years they have lived, the memories of adolescence and early adulthood are the most vivid of all. A memory of what happened in your teenage years will strongly affect your experience this week. CANCER (June 22-July 22)In the past, strong emotions increased your drive to express yourself, but this week, your productivity isn���t related to the intensity of your mood. You simply want to create, and so you do. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)What you ���nd appealing won���t appeal to everyone. And yet the pleasure may seem hollow unless you can share it with like-minded individuals. So you���ll put out sensors, hoping to connect with people with similar tastes. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Like kids on the playground, Venus and Jupiter seem intent on making you choose your loyalties this week. But you���re not a child, and you have the social savvy to ���nd something good in many different kinds of people and interactions. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) People will try to sell to you, but you���re just not buying. You���re not in the mood to be a true believer of any product or method. You prefer to combine the bene���ts of several different offerings, taking the best from every source. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) You like a change you can look forward to ��� for instance, a new season or the mastery of a skill you���ve been working on. But unexpected change like you experience this week can be unsettling. Take it all in stride. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) People will ask you for help. You may be skeptical about whether they deserve or will appreciate your assistance. If you do help, it has to be for completely unsel���sh reasons. But if you have doubts, it���s better to hang back and evaluate the situation. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) When you enter a new situation, it���s only natural to feel a little on edge. If you start dreaming up new requirements, that���s a sure sign that you���re letting insecurity get the best of you. Instead, agree to feel unsure, but assume you have what it takes to make it all work out. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Conversation comes easily when you talk with people who are social and share some of your interests. But you���ll be in a position to work a little harder. You���ll loosen up someone who is naturally reserved and bridge gaps between different generations and cultures. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Hard work is positive as long as you���re working toward something meaningful to you. If you���re in a Cinderella situation ��� slaving amidst evil steprelatives ��� then your sweat and tears aren���t doing anyone any favors. Don���t wait for the mice and birds to save you. Scram while you have a clean shot at the door. By Holiday Mathis ADVICE GODDESS Gratitude Adjustment My boyfriend of three months seems wonderful. Soon after we started dating, a relative of mine died, and he made a real effort to check in on my well-being. He���s always excited to see me; we kiss a lot right at the door. However, he never compliments me. He did it sparingly early on, telling me I had beautiful eyes, for example, but it���s been a while. He also seems uncomfortable being complimented. I called him handsome, and he mumbled something about it being dark. I guess I could ���sh for compliments, but I���m not so much looking to be complimented as I am trying to make sure I���m not being blind to some red ���ag. ��� Underappreciated Men and women do seem to differ in emotional expression. There���s a lack of conclusive research in this area, but it���s clear that men have feelings ��� deep feelings. They just don���t always communicate them in a slew of words. Many seem to walk the talk ��� showing their feelings instead of speaking them. And frankly, shows of affection Amy Alkon are probably a better re���ection of a man���s sincerity. Any Mr. Smooth can read Man Cosmo (Maxim, Details, etc.) and rattle off 3, 8 and 9 from ���10 sweet nothings that���ll have her clothes on your bedroom ���oor in 10 seconds or less!��� Since you say you don���t really neeeeed compliments, you could just decide to accept that there are two kinds of adoring boyfriends. The thing is, research by Dr. Sara B. Algoe and others suggests that when romantic partners articulate appreciation for each other ��� in their thoughts and by telling their partner ��� both the appreciated partner and the partner doing the appreciating feel more bonded and satis���ed with the relationship. It seems re���ecting regularly on what you���re grateful for helps keep you aware of what you have. Your boyfriend may be uncomfortable getting compliments or just those he feels he hasn���t earned. Instead of remarking on his looks, tell him how he���s made life easier for you through some sweet thing he���s done, or admire how he���s solved some problem. To encourage him to be more verbally expressive, sweetly tease him about how he hates to be complimented, and then tell him that it makes girls happy to hear they look pretty. Be appreciative for whatever effort he makes, and don���t start expecting miracles. In other words, be mindful of the limitations of the typical heterosexual male, who, for example, is unlikely to ever notice your hair is different unless you get it all shaved off and the stubble dyed electric blue ��� or it happens to be on ���re. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. FEB. 27 - MARCH 5, 2013 UCW 19