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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NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD One of the many decisions greeting Pope Francis, as Salon.com pointed out, is whether to officially recognize a Patron Saint of Handgunners ��� as urged by a U.S. organization of activists for more than 20 years. According to legend, St. Gabriel Possenti rescued an Italian village from a small band of pillagers (and perhaps rapists) in the 19th century by shooting at a lizard in the road, killing it with one shot, which supposedly so terrified the bandits that they fled. No humans were harmed, activists now point out, signifying the handgun was obviously a force for good. The head of the St. Gabriel Possenti Society has noted that, however far-fetched the ���lizard incident��� may be, it was rarely questioned until U.S. anti-gun activists gained strength in the 1980s. [Salon, 2-21-2013] Can���t Possibly Be True Though Americans may feel safe that the Food and Drug Administration approves a drug only for certain specific uses, the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York ruled in December that drug company salespeople have a First Amendment right to claim that drugs approved for only one use can be marketed for nonapproved uses, Chuck Sheppard as well. Doctors and bioethicists seemed outraged, according to the Los Angeles Times, generally agreeing with a University of Minnesota professor who called the decision ���a complete disgrace. What this basically does is destroy drug regulation in the United States.��� [Los Angeles Times, 12-7-2012] Denials of disability allowances in the town of Basildon, England, near London, are handled at the Acorn House courthouse, on the fourth floor, where afflicted people who believe they were wrongly rejected for benefits must present their appeals. However, in November, zealous government safety wardens, concerned about fire-escape dangers, closed off the fourth floor to wheelchairusing people. Asked one woman, turned away in early February, ���Why are they holding disability tribunals in a building disabled people aren���t allowed in?��� (In February, full access resumed.) [Yellow Advertiser Today (Basildon), 2-6-2013] Among the helpful civic classes the city government in Oakland, Calif., set up earlier this year for its residents was one on how to pick locks (supposedly to assist people who had accidentally locked themselves out of their homes), and lockpicking kits were even offered for sale after class. Some residents were aghast, as the city had seen burglaries increase by 40 percent in 2012. Asked one complainer, ���What���s next? The fundamentals of armed robbery?��� (In February, Mayor Jean Quan apologized and canceled the class.) [San Jose Mercury News, 2-28-2012] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of April 7, 2013 ARIES (March 21-April 19) You have a kind of magic power tingling in your ���ngertips this week. You might use your wizardry to make someone fall in love with you. Check your heart to be sure this is what you really want, though, because the spell you cast might be stronger than anticipated. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You might think you need help, but what you really need is motivation. There are many things that could provide it: a deadline, an undesirable consequence or a potential result that is so powerful that it lifts and draws you in like a high-powered super-magnet. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Your political prowess will be tested. Power is yours to gain or lose. Gain it by expressing yourself. Lose it the same way. Discretion and discernment are the keys to success. Know what���s appropriate and what others want before you speak out. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) An old television commercial suggested, ���Never let them see you sweat.��� Unfortunately, that���s not always possible. You pay your dues through exertion, and the exertion makes you sweat, until the day comes that you are conditioned enough that it doesn���t. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You put people at ease by being the one to reach out ���rst. This is a sort of gift you give, and it does come at an expense to you: You risk being rejected. But you���ve made the ���rst move enough times to know that chances are you won���t be. You���ll promote unity wherever you go. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) When things take too long, it���s a turn-off for you. It goes against your high-energy spirit and makes you feel like your time is being waste. This week brings an exception to this rule in the form of someone or something you���re willing to wait for, even if the waiting feels like an eternity. CANCER (June 22-July 22) It might amaze you that people often cannot see their own best qualities. They have lived so long inside of them that they forget what they are. That���s why when you point out people���s strengths, you do them a great service. It���s just part of your natural interaction in the world. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Course corrections may be necessary this week, and this is the way of movement. Walking, running, driving, ���ying ��� there is no perfect way to do it. You are always responding to your environment. You get where you���re going through a series of adjustments. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You���ve wondered at times about your guardian angel and have tried to envision the face of this kind, protective force. You may change the way you think about your angel, but that won���t change the way this constant source of loving energy considers you. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You���re not so worried about what���s expected of you this week, because you are very involved in getting to the result you want. You are impervious to the opinions that might sway others, wisely noting that everyone comes from their own experiences. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Your work ethic isn���t strong because you���re trying to impress someone or because you have to prove your worth. The bottom line is that you work hard because you want the chance to develop your skills and build a stronger inventory of achievements. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Objectivity can be dif���cult in the most normal of circumstances, and it will be even harder to come by this week. What if the thoughts and feelings you are having belonged to a dear friend instead of to you? What compassion would you offer? By Holiday Mathis ADVICE GODDESS Will You Flash Mob Me? I���m going to propose to my girlfriend, and it seems there���s this trend of doing crazy, elaborate things to ask a girl to marry you. I know I can���t compete with the guys like the New York City dude I just read about who threw down $45,000 to pop the question. But even if friends help me out for free, I don���t know whether I can make my proposal cool enough to go viral like the Portland guy who had his choreographed and filmed. ��� Don���t Want To Disappoint Although the trend toward extreme proposing is surely the lovechild of reality TV and social media, it has something in common with the mythic quest ��� an epic mission a man would go on to prove his love and worth to a woman. That said, you���re asking a woman to grow old with you, not auditioning for America���s Got Proposal Talent. If you are ���all in,��� you probably show your girlfriend that in a lot of little ways Amy Alkon every day. Your proposal likewise needs to reflect who you are and tell your girlfriend that you get who she is ��� starting with whether she���s someone who���d be horrified to have an intimate moment like a marriage proposal take place on the Jumbotron. The truth is, there���s no need for Jumbotrons or trying to hire away the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from some Bar Mitzvah gig they picked up. Even if every one of Lamb���s dancers stayed home in bed, his proposal would have been extremely moving simply because of the words he spoke. Put your effort into telling your girlfriend why you always want to be there to hold her hand, even when it gets all wrinkly. Couple that with an essential element from the elaborate proposers ��� delighting a woman with the element of surprise. You can do this by planning your proposal around something your girlfriend once said (and will be amazed you remembered) or just by serving her toast a slightly different way: with a heart cut in the middle with the ring inside it. This sort of proposal sends a message ��� ���I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you��� (not to be confused with ���Bet I can get more YouTube hits than that big dog teaching the puppy to go down the stairs!���). Amy Alkon all rights reserved. APRIL 3-9, 2013 UCW 27