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 The National Security Agency is a "supercomputing powerhouse," wrote ProPublica.org in July, with "machines so powerful their speed is measured in thousands of trillions of operations per second" — but apparently it has no ability to bulksearch its own employees' official emails. Thus, ProPublica's Freedom of Information Act demand for a seemingly simple all-hands search was turned down in July with the NSA informing ProPublica that the best it could do would be to go oneby-one through the emails of each of the agency's 30,000 employees — which would be prohibitively expensive. (ProPublica reported that companywide searches are "common" for large corporations, which must Chuck Sheppard respond to judicial subpoenas and provide information for their own internal investigations.) [ProPublica, 7-23-2013] Recurring Themes To commemorate its 500th "deep brain stimulation" surgery in May, UCLA Medical Center live-Tweeted its operation on musician Brad Carter, 39, during which he was required to strum his guitar and sing so that surgeons would know where in his brain to plant the electrical stimulator that would relieve his Parkinson's disease symptoms. Carter had developed hand tremors in 2006, but the stimulator, once it is properly programed and the surgery healed, is expected to reduce his symptoms, restore some guitar-playing ability, and reduce his medication need. (And, yes, patients normally remain conscious during the surgery.) [Daily Mail (London), 5-24-2013] Americans stage dog shows, and Middle-Easterners stage camel beauty contests, and in June, the annual German Holstein Show took over the city of Oldenburg, with the twoday event won by "Loh Nastygirl," topping bovine beauties from Germany, Luxembourg and Austria. The event is also a showcase for the cow hairdressers, who trim cows' leg and belly hair (to better display their veins). Said one dresser, "It is just like with us people — primping helps." Groomed or not, cows with powerful legs, bulging udders and a strong bone structure are the favorites. [The Local (Berlin), 6-142013] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES by holiday For the Week of August 24, 2013 ARIES (March 21-April 19) You'll be open to an idea that you wouldn't even have considered until this week. Strange environments will be a part of your experience. You'll wind up in a place you couldn't have predicted you would be. Whether you stay or go is also up to you. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) There are those who'd like to help you but are not in a position to do so. Then there are those who will give precisely the kind of "help" you don't need. This week will show you someone who can do precisely what you most need. So don't miss the opportunity. Ask outright for help. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) Think about the best things people have told you in your life. Chances are, when you first heard the wisdom, you didn't think much of it. You'll give and receive such wisdom this week. CANCER (June 22-July 22) To others, it may seem like you are doing several things at once. Like a juggler, you catch one ball and release it, catch another and release it. Your attention to each step adds up to an optical illusion in which you are handling everything at once. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Most people will retreat from unfamiliar circumstances. You'll react differently, letting curiosity and spontaneity lead the way as you happily head right for the very things others run away from. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) Be patient as you get to know people this week. They will show themselves to you slowly. This reserved style will give you both a chance to ease into a course of action you'll both be comfortable with. There's no reason to rush. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Some people need to be No. 1 because they are so confident that they think it's their given spot. Others need to be No. 1 because they are insecure. This week you'll need to be No. 1 because you have the best idea, and many will be helped if people do it your way. So stay on task. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Trying to meet each person's individual needs won't work. You'll only wind up running around, doing too much and having little impact. Instead, do what you most like to do and give your best — then you'll attract a good fit. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Right now, what you need most is to pull your arms tightly around yourself in a kind of soul-hug. Getting the proper amount of time alone this week will be crucial to offering yourself some selfappreciation and protection. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You want freedom and security at the same time — opposites that are difficult to balance. You're bold enough to push the boundaries, but your wisdom and maturity may win out. Just because you can do something doesn't mean it's a good idea. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) There are many moving pieces that propel your life forward this week. You'll objectively understand what has to come together in order to set your life in order. By Wednesday, you'll be ready to make a bold decision. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Sometimes you feel like a fish out of water who's forgotten all about the other world that lies beneath the surface of the lake. You like to hear stories about what exists in that world, because those tales resonate with something deep inside you. By Holiday Mathis Ft. Bragg and our Military Community for naming UP & Coming weekly as your #1 Magazine Source* for local events, venues and information about the Fayetteville Community. We're glad you're here! Come Visit Historic Downtown Fayetteville Fayetteville After Five Cape Fear Trail Dogwood Festival International Folk Festival 4th Fridays Exciting events, great food and a whole lot of fun. For more information visit www.upandcomingweekly.com *Survey by the Army-Community Heritage Partnership as part of a joint effort of Ft. Bragg Chamber of Commerce and the City of Fayetteville. ADVICE GODDESS Barn Yesterday For two summers, I've traveled to work on a small organic farm. There, this woman and I had this amazing romance, including lovemaking during summer thunderstorms and dancing naked in the fields! It was all very romantic, and this spring, I moved across the country to live with her. I soon discovered that she was infatuated with a man living several hours away. She even pointed out ways she wanted me to be more like him. After a heartbreaking month feeling worthless, foolish, and ignored, I left. In retrospect, she showed signs of her self-centeredness on the farm (such as compulsively talking about herself) and a habit of dropping friends instead of working out conflicts. Somehow, I still long for her, and I can't bring myself to unpack my things because they remind me of the love we shared. — Stuck You allowed yourself to fall prey to "confirmation bias," our tendency to seek out information that confirms what we want to believe and to shut out information that says, "Come on… really?" Understanding this tendency is the Amy Alkon best way to root out the ugly truth, the one suggesting that the summer romance is just a summer romance, since trying to squeeze love (or a scrap of empathy) out of a narcissistic person is about as productive as trying to squeeze orange juice out of a desk lamp. Sure, in the moment, it's more fun to believe "She loves me, she really loves me!" but forcing yourself to take a few skeptical walks through the less than ideal bits about a woman can help you avoid spending a long winter weepily harvesting everything in sight at another farm — Pepperidge Farm. To begin giving yourself a muchneeded hippiechick-ectomy, unpack your things. As long as they're together in your suitcase, they're about her, but a lone shirt back on your shelf is just a shirt. And because research shows that trying to suppress thoughts makes the little buggers come back with a vengeance, use a surprisingly simple trick discovered by psychologists Jens Forster and Nira Liberman: In trying to stop revisiting a thought, admit that doing this is hard, which actually makes the unwanted thought far less likely to bubble up. You should also change the story you're telling yourself. You weren't loved by her; you were fooled by her. She might have run naked through the kale, shouting, "Shall I compare thee to a locally-sourced summer's day?" but a woman who loves you doesn't let you move across the country so she can spend a month comparing you unfavorably with Chad from the food co-op, with his wind-powered toilets and biodegradable sports car. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. AUGUST 21-27, 2013 UCW 23