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/245977
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD At least two U.S. medical schools so far are early adopters of Dr. Benjamin Lok's and Dr. Carla Pugh's "Robot Butt" for teaching doctors-in-training to properly (and compassionately) administer prostate exams. The robot, bent over a desk to simulate the patient profile, has sensors to alert the students if they dig too deeply or quickly for comfort. Other sensors enable a check on eye contact to evaluate "bedside manner." (News of the Weird reported a similar innovation in 2012 by Nobuhiro Takahashi, whose model's "sphincter" has the ability to "clench up" if the probing becomes too distressing.) [Huffington Post, 1113-2013] The Continuing Chuck Sheppard Crisis Neuroscientist James Fallon, fascinated by the brains of serial killers, experienced a seminal career moment in 2005 when he realized that his own brain scan was a dead-on match for the typical psychopath's. Subsequent self-examination revealed him to be, he said, a "pro-social psychopath," displaying traits similar to a killer's (aggressiveness, low empathy) and different ("killing" opponents only in games and debate, with little compassion for their haplessness). "I'm kind of an asshole," he admitted, according to a November report by The Smithsonian, "and I do jerky things that piss people off." Fallon failed to break bad, he guesses, because he "was loved (growing up), and that protected me." He figures he has not kicked his pathology but rather strives "to show to everyone and myself that I can pull (this balancing act) off." [Smithsonianmag.com, 11-22-2013] Sucker's Game: (1) Homeless man James Brady had his New Jersey state benefits cut off in October for "hiding" income. He had found $850 on a sidewalk in April and turned it in; when no one came forward, it was returned to him, though he was unaware that he needed to report it as "income." (2) A 16-year-old Fox Chapel, Pa., boy realized at a football game in September that he was inadvertently carrying a pocket knife and conscientiously turned it in to a security guard -- which earned him a 10-day school suspension. The school's "zero tolerance" rule, said the boy's father, "sends a message (that) you should probably lie." (3) Betty Green was fired as clerk at the Speedway gas station in Lexington, Ky., in November when she "just said no" to an armed robber, who smiled and walked out. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of January ARIES (March 21-April 19)You're in an outgoing mood, and you'll add to your friendship base. Having more friends doesn't make you a better person, but it does make you a person with more options. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) There's something you need to get out of your head and into words. Start on paper. It's better than waiting for things to slip out sloppily in an unguarded moment. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) No one likes to be put through life's character-building exercises, but everyone who completes them is better off for the experience. Strive to be wiser than the others — and also more modest so they'll never know. CANCER (June 22-July 22) Your friend will be very consistent in his or her behavior, and this predictability is part of what makes the relationship good. You deserve to be around people you can depend on. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) One thing you've learned from your history with a certain person is that there is something you haven't learned. There has to be a reason why you're willing to repeat a pattern despite less than optimum results. Maybe that reason is love. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)You will succeed because you say you will in a private youto-you conversation. That's why it's crucial to take time before and after events for a private briefing and debriefing. 1, 2013 LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23)If you love a game, you love its rules. After all, what is a game without them? You will get into the minutiae of a scenario and enjoy examining the small details, some of which will have a big impact. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) The jokes of comedians often fall flat in their retelling by lay-people. Similarly, what you're doing seems deceptively simple, but there are nuances involved that only you can make work. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Excellent guests never come early to the party. That's how you feel about the events of a relationship. You're not afraid of the future, but you want it to arrive in a timely manner. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)You're all business in the early part of the day, but when evening hits, you will find you can be happy without a purpose, joyful for no reason and satisfied without an agenda. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) The truth will be all you need to break the code that once kept certain doors closed to you. Call it as you see it, and you'll be let in — to a club, a heart or a sweet deal. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Relationships will demand your maturity and inner poise. Even though this is your personal life, nothing is really personal about it. What you have here is a conflict of interest. By Holiday Mathis Good Morning Fayetteville with Goldy & Jim W Weekday Mornings 6-10 a.m. Talk Line: 910-864-6400 ADVICE GODDESS Wedding Bells Are Ringing I am a bridesmaid in a wedding in four months and haven't been able to think of a guy to be my date. I recently met a guy at a party. He is the friend of a friend and is cute and funny and seemed really nice. He lives two hours away, so it isn't easy to meet for coffee or something, but I thought I could ask him to be my date for this wedding and see where things go from there. — Single Bridesmaid Taking a guy to a wedding on the first date is like taking a cow sightseeing at a slaughterhouse. On a first date, the only Amy Alkon person asking "So, are you two next?" should be a counterperson at Starbucks. The commitment-ganza first date also goes against the three things I always say first dates should be: cheap, short and local. That way, even if you and a guy hit it off like the Israelis and the Palestinians, you can probably stick it out for a polite 59 minutes of happyhour drinks and then bail — in a way you can't if you've signed up for a wedding ceremony, a four-course sit-down dinner, and people you don't know crying on your sleeve and throwing up on your shoes. Beyond this being the wrong venue for a first date, inviting a near stranger four months in advance has to come off weird and desperate. This far ahead, a guy has to wonder why there isn't another male soul in your life you could ask — and wonder who's next on your list if he says no, the wino living under the bus shelter? (On a positive note, that guy would especially appreciate the open bar.) Also consider that there's a reason this guy hasn't asked you out, and it's probably that he isn't interested or isn't interested enough to date a woman he has to travel two hours to see. (A guy who'd date the 7 who lives around the block would probably need her to be a sexually gifted 11.5 to make up for the two-hour drive.) But there is an upside in the rubble of all these downsides. If you can accept that you won't have a date for the wedding, you might find a date at the wedding by turning it into an opportunity to strike up conversations with interesting and possibly handsome strangers. Who knows, you might even meet a really great guy for you — one who gets that glimmer in his eye, realizing there's no better woman to invite on a first date to either his nephew's circumcision or his grandma's funeral. Amy Alkon all rights reserved Local News, Weather, Traffic & Sports JANUARY 22-28,12014 UCW 23