Up & Coming Weekly

4 UCW OCTOBER 28 - NOVEMBER 3, 2009 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER Bill Bowman bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Janice Burton Joy Kirkpatrick editor@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Tabitha Kidd tabitha@upandcomingweekly.com OFFICE MANAGER Suzy Patterson suzy@upandcomingweekly.com –––––––––––––– GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Soni Martin, D.G. Mar tin, Pitt Dick ey, Margaret Dickson, Bob Cogswell, John Hood, Shanessa Fenner, Stephanie Crider, Erica Gilbert –––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and infor- mation on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per per- son. Subscriptions can be purchased for $30 for six months or $60 for 12 months, delivered weekly by first class mail. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. STAFF Internet Directory ............................ 12 Calendar ........................................... 18 Concert Connection ........................ 25 TV ..................................................... 26 Movie Review .................................. 28 Movie Schedule ............................... 29 Wheelin' Feelin' ................................ 30 News of the Weird ........................... 31 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 31 Classifieds ........................................ 32 Games .............................................. 34 Dining Guide .................................... 35 INSIDE As they prepare to bury 7-year- old Somer Thompson, whose body was recovered from a trash heap in Florida, let's reflect on this sad scenario and start taking some responsibility for this tragedy. We must face the harsh reality that America is becoming a sanctuary and breeding ground for dishonesty, deception, corruption and violence. Truth be known, this little girl never had a chance. After all, she was surrounded by 161 known registered sex offenders not to mention the countless number of drug dealers, addicts, rapists, muggers, burglars, unregistered child molesters and of course, murderers. My Lord, people, this is America! Where is the outrage? Where are our heroes of justice? Have all the honorable men and women with integrity been beaten into apathetic submission? Is the best America can do is vie for the highest ratings on dramatized weekly TV shows like Nancy Grace, Hannity, Dateline, Bill O'Reilly, L arr y King, The View, Glen Beck and 60 Minutes? It's all talk, talk, talk. All Americans do now is talk about tragedy, political corruption, incompetence and injustice. However, no one, and I mean no one, is doing anything about it. The loss of young Somer symbolizes America's misplaced values in supporting, harboring and protecting criminal types at the expense of life and quality-of-life for American citizens. We must insist that our appointed and elected leaders lead. American heroes must emerge and come forth in local, state and national government to protect the freedoms and rights of our residents and to resist and prevent legislation and policies that put the lives of U.S. citizens in danger. We must stop trying to change the definitions of justice to accommodate outsiders and the undeserved. President Bill Clinton redefined and changed the definition of sex. He got away with it only because America turned a blind eye to it. More recently, the North Carolina Department of Community Colleges declared that people living and working in our country "illegally" are not "illegal" aliens but "undocumented residents" and as such are entitled to services and privilege provided at U.S. taxpayers expense. And now, just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, we are faced with the threat of the North Carolina prison system releasing (unleashing) 20 hardened convicted criminals, murders, rapists and cold blooded killers upon the innocents of our state. How is this possible? By changing the definition of what a "life sentence" means. What? If this wasn't so tragic, it would be hilarious. Convicted murders, cold-blooded child killers being let out of jail because of "good behavior"? They are locked up for a reason. Explain this to the families of the murder victims. I hope and pray Gov. Beverly Perdue is successful in thwarting this insanity. And, it is insanity. Unless we can get our leaders to stop all the meaningless talk and political posturing and start taking aggressive action to put ethics and honor back in leadership, we must take back America from those who only intend to destroy and exploit it. Until then the deaths of young innocents like Somer Thompson will only serve as homage to a country that is sadly and tragically out of control. We need heroes. We need people of integrity. We need true Americans and we need them now. Where Are Our American Heroes? by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 106 or Bill@upandcomingweekly.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN

• Cover