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 Only the Government Stung by criticism in 2007 that they were neglecting severely wounded service members, the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs have now gone extreme the other way, routinely providing at least a half-dozen (and as many as two dozen) caseworkers per patient. A Government Accountability Office report in October said the result was "duplication, confusion and turf battles," according to a November Washington Post story, leaving the members and their families often conflicted and overwhelmed about prognoses. At times the Pentagon (serving active- duty personnel) and the VA (ex- military) balked over coordinating their treatments. The agencies, however, told the Post that any duplication was intentional, even though the Post cited military families who each wished they had a single, authoritative case manager they could turn to. A GAO official called the situation "crazy" and "disturbing." [Washington Post, 11-18-2011] Can't Possibly Be True The U.S.-Pakistan relationship has WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the week of Jan. 1. ARIES (March 21-April 19) You have a way of bumping into exactly the person who has been on your mind. You'll do this again before the week is up. You have a strong feeling about the person you soon will encounter, and in some way you're getting ready for it in the early part of the week. Every impression matters to you. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Just because you are an honorable and decent human being doesn't mean you always take the best action. You will spend moments in retrospect this week, wishing you had made a different choice. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) Be careful about how you defi ne your experience. If you see your life through a lens of negativity, it will only bring more of the same. Find the absolute most positive way to think about your activities. Do this not because it will make you a better per- son, but because it will make life easier for you. Chuck Sheppard CANCER (June 22-July 22) You can question the idea without questioning your own mind. Also, just because you recognize certain lines of thought as irrational doesn't mean you can stop yourself from thinking them. But it's a start. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You have taken risks in the past and come out ahead. Past perils spring to mind, and you realize that things turned out much better than they might have. You'll mentally be adding new items to a long list of blessings. Each day the week progresses, you will think of more reasons to be grateful. reached "the nadir of absurdity," wrote Wired.com, after a December report in The Atlantic revealed that Pakistan "secures" its tactical nuclear weapons by moving them around the country in ordinary unmarked vans ("without noticeable defenses"). It supposedly uses the "Econolines of Doom," "hidden" in plain sight on the country's highways, because it fears the U.S. (its "ally") would steal the bombs if it knew where they were. Dizzyingly, wrote Wired, the U.S. funds Pakistan yet regularly invades it, though desperately needing Pakistan's help in Afghanistan, even as Pakistani soldiers fight alongside Afghan insurgents against the U.S. [The Atlantic, December 2011; Wired.com, 11-4-2011] In October, the super-enthusiastic winners of a Kingston, Ontario, radio station contest claimed their prize: The chance to don gloves and dig for free Buffalo Bills' football tickets (value: $320), buried in buffalo manure in a child's plastic inflatable pool. The show's host, Sarah Crosbie, reported the digging live (but, overcome by the smell, vomited on the air). More curious was a runner- up contestant who continued to muck around for the second prize, even though it was only tickets to a local zoo. [Yahoo! Canada Sports, 10-21-2011] Paul Moran, possessing (according to his lawyer) "considerable intellectual ability," nonetheless attempted a procedure to turn his own feces into gold (and was sentenced in October to three months in jail in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, after accidentally setting his apartment on fire in the process). [Belfast Telegraph, 10-20-2011] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You can program yourself to some degree, but not completely. You're not a robot. You can't help but have human feelings, so don't try to suppress them in favor of strictly logical choices. Just because something is logical doesn't make it intelligent. Remember that the body has its own kind of genius. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You'll be fl attered by the attention you receive from someone who has very little time and many choices about where to invest it. When you see things from this person's perspective, you'll realize what you need to do to move your life toward one of your cherished goals. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) There will be someone to assist you in getting things done. This person may not seem to be much help at fi rst. He or she needs to be taught what to do. The instructive period will be minimal, though, and soon you'll fall into a productive groove. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) True, there's a bit of an ego rush in knowing that you tried really hard to accomplish something and were fi nally able to do it. But the struggle of "trying hard" isn't as necessary to the process as you think. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You value yourself, and you know what you have to offer is worthwhile. If there are takers, great, and if not, that's great, too. It just means more for you and yours. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Take things step by step, one at a time. It's what will be most satisfying to your standards. You may fi nd that some of your goals are too ambitious or perhaps just undefi ned. Give more thought to what you want, and then write it down. Writing it down will bring it to earth. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) There's no use in pretending to be someone others will need and want, because if the real you isn't feeling needed or wanted, the victory will be hollow. You understand this attraction secret well, and you'll get the opportunity to embody it this week. You'll be loved for who you are. By Holiday Mathis Youth football is here! Football helmets starting at $49.99 Shoulder pads starting at $39.99 Mouthpieces 99¢ Kneepads, socks, belts, water bottles and a great assortment of protective gear. Thanks to our teams & best wishes for a great season! Two Great Businesses Under One Roof! 3006 Bragg Blvd. 910.323.1791 www.trophyhouseinc.com ADVICE GODDESS The Cad Catalogue A divorced male friend and I recently became "friends with benefi ts." However, I'm not receiving the same, uh, level of benefi ts as he is. He isn't giving me orgasms from intercourse, and his pleasuring of me is measured in seconds rather than minutes, despite my telling him that this is a problem. (I haven't felt this pressure before: "You've got 60 seconds to orgasm!") He also keeps reminding me that he doesn't want any kind of commitment. I get that, and I keep telling him so, but he's persisted with the warnings to the point where I have to say stuff like "I hear and understand the boundaries of this relationship and am in agreement with them." I've known him since we were 8, and he isn't a player. Part of me thinks he isn't attracted to me. He's fi t and I'm … less-than-fi t and have big boobs, and I think they freak him out. However, out of bed, we laugh and have fun and connect. Oh, what to do… — Bothered Amy Alkon Unfortunately, the elusive female orgasm is especially persnickety when one's partner sets up a sexual ambience reminiscent of one of those movies where Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson are staring down a ticking time bomb: "Hey, baby, just relax, lay back and let it happen — anytime before this kitchen timer I've placed on your nightstand strikes :60!" Sure, poor Booboo might have niggling fears you'll get attached, but it isn't like you're buying baby clothes and leaving wedding magazines around. It's unlikely he'd force numerous icky conversations about boundaries on some chickie of his more recent acquaintance. But, probably because he's known you forever, he feels free to go manners-optional and let his worries all hang out: "Don't take your coat off. You won't be staying. And by the way, I'd prefer if you'd fake your orgasms. It would be so much less work for me." Yep, this boy toy of yours is a real animal in bed — a rat gnawing away at your self-confi dence. Why are you still involved with him? Well, there's a tendency to try to fi x a thing instead of just bailing and to get so caught up in the momentum of your efforts that you neglect to consider whether the thing should just be put out on the curb. In continuing to get in bed with a man who can keep his hands off you and pretty much does, you're a co-conspirator in your feeling like crap. It's really damaging to be with somebody who isn't into you. Even in an FWB situation, you need a man who fi nds you hot — or at least is enough of a friend to give you the sense that he's undressing you with his eyes, not using them to drop a refrigerator box over you. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. DEC. 28, 2011 - JAN. 3, 2012 UCW 19 Is your player pr operly equipped?