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/123631
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD Undocumented immigrant Jose Munoz, 25, believed himself an ideal candidate for President Obama's 2012 safe-harbor initiative for illegal-entry children, in that he had been brought to the U.S. by his undocumented parents before age 16, had no criminal record and had graduated from high school (with honors, even). Since then, however, he had remained at home in Sheboygan, Wis., assisting his family, doing odd jobs and, admittedly, just playing video games and "vegging." Living "in the shadows," he found it almost impossible to prove the final legal criterion: that he had lived continuously in the U.S. since graduation (using government records, payroll sheets, utility bills, etc.). After initial failures to convince immigration officials, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in March, Munoz's lawyer succeeded — by submitting Munoz's Xbox Live records, documenting that his computer's Wisconsin location had been accessing video Chuck Sheppard games, day after day, for years. [Journal Sentinel, 3-24-2013] Government in Action! Among the lingering costs of U.S. wars are disability payments and compensation to veterans' families, which can continue decades after hostilities end. An Associated Press analysis of federal payment records, released in March, even found two current recipients of Civil War benefits. Vietnam war payments are still about $22 billion a year, World War II, $5 billion, World War I, $20 million, and the 1898 SpanishAmerican war, about $1,700. [Associated Press via MassLive.com, 3-19-2013] Each year, Oklahoma is among the states to receive $150,000 federal grants to operate small, isolated airfields (for Oklahoma, one in the southern part of the state is so seldom used that it is primarily a restroom stop for passing pilots). The payments are from a 13-year- old congressional fund for about 80 similar airfields (no traffic, no planes kept on site), described by a February Washington Post investigation as "ATM(s) shaped like (airports)." Congress no longer even requires that the annual grants be spent on the actual airports drawing the grants. [Washington Post, 2-25-2013] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of April 28, 2013 ARIES (March 21-April 19) People who desperately need help are also afraid that asking for it will only present more problems. Override worries by taking initiative. Demonstrate that you can solve a problem for another person, and you'll be paid. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) The good thing about worries is that they can fuel you to do something. Instead of one backup plan, consider having three or four just because the process of thinking them up helps you get to your most brilliant solution yet. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) If you think "the die has been cast," you are wrong. You will change your destiny. Doing one thing right will undo a dozen previous wrongs or at least make those wrongs seem faded and forgettable. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) It will feel as though you're working on what should have been finished yesterday or weeks ago. It's best to strike "should" from your mental vocabulary, though. Things are what they are. Keep working and doing your best, and you'll soon see why the timing is perfect. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) Your visceral reaction to people will inform you more than any other information you can gather. Whenever possible this week, it's best to meet in person. Even if this creates a momentary inconvenience, it will be better for your life in the long run. CANCER (June 22-July 22) Even though you know making mistakes is just a part of life, you'd rather prevent them all the same. You are open to new ideas, but you also don't have time to waste. Wait for the test market to report a good result before you jump into the game. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Creative people are often glamorized and put on pedestals. Creativity requires that you pay closer attention, notice more and often feel more, too. Being creative can be painful, but it's a pain you're willing to endure because your heart is full when you create. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) If you stick with what you know, you might be able to achieve flawless accuracy. But you'll also be uninspired. Instead, branch out on a limb extended just far enough from the main trunk to set your mind spinning freely. Do you dare leap? Happiness is accepting the process of trial and error. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Youthful folly is more easily forgiven than the mistakes of older people who should know better. But the truth is that those who know better do better. Once you accept that learning can occur at different stages and ages, you become more forgiving. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You're usually grateful when people chip in to help you take care of a need, but there are other thoughts going through your head these days. Reaping what you've sown is only fair. For people to really touch you now, they must go above and beyond the norm. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Expectations may lead to disappointing real-life experience, but they also open a window of possibility, fantasy and creativity. Being aware of your expectations, you can take measures to create a fantastic reality. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Your body will dictate so much about how things develop for you this week that you would do well to make its needs sacred or at least a top priority. Getting proper nutrition as well as enough sleep and exercise will be absolutely crucial to your mood and success. By Holiday Mathis ADVICE GODDESS Fry, Fry Again I walked into my apartment and, to my horror, thought my boyfriend had been electrocuted. He was sprawled on the kitchen floor by an open electrical outlet with wires sticking out. There was a screwdriver near him, and the skin on his arm and hand was discolored. I ran over and started crying and shaking him. He started laughing and yelled, "April fools!" It hadn't occurred to me that it was April Fools' Day, because I truly thought he was dead. He says he thought I'd freak for a moment and then bust out laughing. I'm finding myself unable to forgive him, despite the fact that he says he is sorry and meant it to be a joke. — No Laughing Matter Laughter does seem to be pretty good medicine for relationships — assuming a guy's attempt to make a woman laugh doesn't make her hold a grudge. Researchers have found that the ability to be funny is correlated with high intelligence — a plus in a partner — and with what cognitive psychologist Dr. Scott Barry Amy Alkon Kaufman deems "the Woody Allen effect," the possibility for even geeky-looking guys to get and hang on to girlfriends. (Woody Allen didn't attract the ladies because, in pitch darkness, he looks just like Clive Owen.) As for why your boyfriend pulled this stunt, the phrase "Seemed like a good idea at the time," comes to mind. A guy can get so caught up in making authentically gruesome char marks on his arm that he never considers how hilarious you're likely to find it when the man you love appears to be lying dead on your kitchen floor. As for your inability to forgive him, it probably feels "safer" to cling to your grudge because it puts distance between you and the potential for future hurt. Unfortunately, it also distances you from the good stuff — love, affection, connection and the continuation of your relationship. To decide whether to break up with your grudge or your boyfriend, ask yourself a few questions: Does he now understand why you were so upset? Is this number 3,024 in a long line of painful idiocies or just a one-time painfully stupid thing? And outside of when he's pretending to have died horribly, does he show you he cares about your feelings and well-being? Unless you have reason to believe Faked Death: The Sequel or other major insensitivities will pop up in your future, it's probably time to give that grudge you've been holding a pat on the butt and a bag lunch and send it on its way. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. APRIL 24-30, 2013 UCW 23