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 Was Moammar Gadhafi the last of the "buffoon dictators," asked BBC News in October. His legend was earned not merely with his now-famous, dirty-old- man scrapbook of Condoleezza Rice photos. Wrote a BBC reporter, "One day (Gadhafi) was a Motown (backup) vocalist with wet-look permed hair and tight pants. The next, a white-suited comic-operetta Latin American admiral, dripping with braid." Nonetheless, Gadhafi had competition, according to an October report in the journal Foreign Policy. For example, the son of Equatorial Guinea's dictator WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the week of Dec. 18. ARIES (March 21-April 19) In order to say yes to your goals, you have to say no quite a lot to the things that are not in line with them. New inspiration comes into your life this week that motivates you to continue to choose in favor of your dreams. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) It takes a certain amount of planning to expand your mind. You'll investigate two topics of interest in par- ticular over the course of the week. Consider participating in related gatherings and discus- sions in the new year. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You'll stretch in a way you can be proud of this week. Your fel- low Gemini said it best: "Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing." — W.B. Yeats Chuck Sheppard owns, among other eccentric luxuries, a $1.4 million collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia. North Korea's Kim Jong Il owns videos of almost every game Michael Jordan ever played for the Chicago Bulls. [BBC News, 10-22-2011; Foreign Policy, 10-26-2011] Leading Economic Indicators In March, William Ernst, 57, owner of the QC Mart chain of Iowa convenience stores, excitedly announced a company- wide employee contest with a prize of $10 for guessing the next worker that Ernst will fire for breaking rules. "Once we fire the person, we will open all the envelopes (containing the entries), award the prize, and start the contest again." Ernst added, "And no fair picking Mike Miller from (the Rockingham Road store). He was fired at around 11:30 a.m. today for wearing a hat and talking on his cellphone. Good luck!!!!!!!!!!" (After firing a cashier who had complained about Ernst's attitude, he challenged the woman's unemployment-compensation claim, but in October, a judge ruled in her favor.) [Des Moines Register, 10-3-2011] Even in a flagging economy, Christie's auction house in New York City was able to attract a record sales price for a photograph. In November, a 1999 photo by German artist Andreas Gursky, of a scenic view of the Rhine River, sold for $4.3 million. (It is possible, of course, that buying the actual waterfront property that Gursky photographed from — to enjoy the same view every day — would have been less expensive.) [Washington Post-AP, 11-11-2011] Following October arrests by Nigeria's Abuja Environmental Protection Board, authorities learned that local prostitutes earned premium fees by selling their customers' semen to "juju priests," who use it as "medicines" in rituals. Police who rounded up the sex workers found inventories of condoms with the necks tied. [Codewit World News, 10-12-2011] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD 22 UCW DECEMBER 14-20, 2011 CANCER (June 22-July 22) You may not have the tools or resources needed to succeed in a venture. But if you can manage to stay relaxed, your imagination will fi ll in the gap. Also, being bold enough to ask for help will make a difference. Your intention to do your best is a constant. Keep going forward no matter what. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) About 5,000 asteroids are discovered each month. Of course, they've been there all along, but so have a lot of things that are yet to be discovered. You'll make at least fi ve juicy discoveries this week, as your mind is more curious than it has been in weeks. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Some feel a pressure to go through life comparing and con- trasting their efforts and outcomes with those of everyone else. You feel sorry for them. Not everything has to be judged, and most things are best understood through nonjudgmental observation. If you have to make an assess- ment, it will be positive. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23)In order to keep connected with a friend, you'll have to make an effort to extend yourself. It may seem that you are always the one to facilitate connection, but it's always worthwhile for you to do so. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) As much as you desire to fi nd love and contentment with someone who can be a meaningful partner, it's not your primary focus right now. You're so magnetically attractive as you pursue interests that are centered in your individual curiosities and passions. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) When you heed the whispering wind, your wanderings often bring fantastic serendipity. However, there are weeks like this one when the wind doesn't seem to be telling you anything in particular and you'd rather have a good plan. So you'll carefully plot your intentions, and fortune will fi nd you. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Having compassion for others helps you live peaceably. Turning that compassion toward yourself will make you resilient, strong and able to deal more easily with the setbacks that are a normal part of the human condition. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You'll do what you do for the love of it. There may be money involved this week, but that's not a signifi cant motivator for you. What really excites you is that you keep fi nding beauty in your activities. The more you commit yourself the more beauty keeps showing up. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Some say hu- mans can see about 10 million different colors. Others say the number is infi nite because each color changes depending on its viewing condi- tion and who is observing it. This week brings colors you've never seen before, and you'll enjoy the changing scenery. By Holiday Mathis ADVICE GODDESS Blister Wonderful I'm starting to have feelings for this guy friend I've been fooling around with, but I'm worried he isn't feeling the same way. He's stopped short of having full- blown intercourse with me, which I fi nd odd, although I don't want to have sex yet because I have genital herpes and I'm not ready to tell him. (I take an antiviral drug for this daily, and I'd have him wear protection during intercourse.) Do you think he knows I have herpes? Maybe he just isn't interested in me romantically and doesn't want me getting too attached. — Puzzled Genital herpes hasn't always been such a big stigmatized deal — to the point where it's led to the tanking of countless potential relationships. Until the late '70s, it was seen as "cold sores down there" and often not even worthy of a visit to the doctor. Amy Alkon In 1979, the CDC, seeing the herpes stats rising, got a little hysterical and announced an "epidemic" (of cold sores!), and the media ran with it. The thing is, if you're having an outbreak and your naked parts are rubbing against somebody else's naked parts, you could infect him. The risk of transmission may be reduced by daily antiviral treatment and condom use — provided there are no contagious areas outside the condom zone. But, you can be in a contagious stage and not know it. Putting this guy at risk for herpes without giving him any choice in the matter was not only unfair but pretty dumb. For many people, the betrayal is the biggest problem. If you tell somebody before he fools around with you and maybe pull a fact sheet off the Internet to allay his fears, he'll be less likely to ditch you, and he won't have the rage he would at being unwittingly exposed. To launch the conversation, maybe say something like "Ever gotten a cold sore? I get them sometimes…but not on my lip!" And then, as DatingWithHerpes.org advises, don't say "I have herpes," which makes you sound like you're having an outbreak right then. Instead, say "I carry the virus for herpes" and explain how often you have outbreaks…which should make it sound more like a manageable annoyance than the guy's ticket to a lifetime of Crusty Pustules Anonymous meetings. NOTE: There are press reports, tracing back to the respected Herpes Viruses Association of the U.K., that drug company Burroughs Wellcome caused the initial stigmatization of people with herpes by marketing the stigma to sell its drug. The association could provide me no evidence supporting its accusation, nor could I fi nd any in 51 years of newspaper and journal articles (from 1960 to 2011). I'm very much for going after drug companies for malfeasance, but not in the absence of evidence they've committed any. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM