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 from North Carolina State University demonstrated their latest technological advance in aiding "first responders" to peacetime and wartime disasters: cockroaches. Outfitting Madagascar hissing cockroaches with electronic backpacks that include antennas, batteries, cameras and microphones, the scientists hacked the bugs' nervous systems to steer them remotely into the tiniest of openings — a crucial step toward finding survivors of earthquakes or bomb damage in densely built-up and populated areas. Said one researcher, to ABC News, "(S)omewhere in the middle (of tons of rubble) your kid is crying," and huge machines are "not very efficient" at finding him. [ABC News, 9-13-2012] The Continuing Crisis At a conference in August, researchers WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of October 14, 2012 ARIES (March 21-April 19) There's a possibility that you know things that you couldn't possibly know. Or maybe not. But you get the feeling that your intuitive knowledge is growing stronger by the day. That's why logical choices aren't the best. Move on your heart's desire. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Consider that you can achieve a certain state of mind by doing things the way they used to be done before the modern age — for instance, writing a note by hand or using the stove instead of the micro- wave. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You have a way of making what is good for a person also seem mighty appealing. You can't force others to choose well, but by choosing well yourself, you highlight the benefi ts of doing so. Chuck Sheppard CANCER (June 22-July 22) You are charis- matic, and people are drawn to you. This isn't always a good thing. You'll be wary of excessive kindness, and you're correct to set up boundar- ies that encourage relationships to develop in a slow, controlled fashion. Cue the Black Helicopters: A website that tracks sometimes-obscure federal government purchases disclosed in August that the Social Security Administration had recently requested a price for 174,000 hollow-point bullets and that the National Weather Service had requested a price for 46,000 rounds of ammo for semi- automatic pistols. (The latter was subsequently corrected; it was actually the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Office that needed bullets.) Both agencies told reporters that they have armed officers investigating potential crimes. [CNSNews.com, 8-16-2012; Washington Post, 8-14-2012] Weapons for the 21st Century: Thousands of farmers in the northeastern India state of Assam are growing the world's hottest chili peppers and selling them to the army to make weapons, reported London's The Guardian in a July dispatch. One expert said a "few drops" of "bhut jolokia" "could make you senseless." Blasting a container of it into a terrorist hideout, he said, would "make them all drop their guns" after "just one breath." (Bhut jolokia has also been used traditionally to repel elephant attacks.) [The Guardian, 7-29-2012] In a tactical risk, Russian gay rights leaders went to court in Moscow in March to demand the right to hold a rally not only this year but, daring the city to oppress them, also a rally every year for the next 100 years. However, the city did not blink. It rejected the demand, and in August, a Moscow city court ruled that the city could be gay- rights-rally-free until the year 2112. [BBC News, 8-17-2012] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You've felt at times that you were a supporting character in someone else's movie — or worse, an extra. That's why you give your full attention when it's someone else's turn to shine. Your generosity of spirit will make a difference. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) An event on the horizon is fast approaching. Success depends on your ability to think ahead about how you'll navigate the details. When the pressure is on, it's likely you will do your best because of the physi- cal and mental preparations you make this week. So, with the end in mind, work backward. ADVICE GODDESS Hell in a Hen Basket LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Your thoughts may be in a state of disarray at times this week, but you can't deny that there's a certain beauty to this. Your physical environment refl ects the dis- order. There is wisdom to glean from this "hot mess" status. Also, you are ultra-attractive to a certain someone. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) The truth is that you won't know what makes you happy until you've sampled a number of options. And that makes fi nding what really makes you happy all the more gratifying. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Experience has made you stronger and wiser. If you feel yourself slipping into an unwanted pattern as the planets test you, you'll be quick to interrupt the pattern and replace it with a more pleasing behavior. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) This week you won't feel the strong need to put yourself out there. Don't worry that your reserve shows weakness or a lack of confi dence. The opposite is true. You sense that you have much to learn, and you're wise to hang back and observe. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You will be drawn to pursuits of higher learning, though something may hold you back. Your quest for knowledge is anything but selfi sh. You see no point in learning if you can't share what you know with those who could use the information. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) The need to win at all times is a disease that robs people of pleasure and happiness. Even though there is a prize dan- gling in the future, you understand that it's not going to satisfy you to get it unless you enjoy and feel good about the process. By Holiday Mathis Seven months ago, when I met my boyfriend, I had no idea he had so many female friends. I'm 26; he's 30. I understand having opposite-sex friends to get perspective on dating, but he's like one of their girlfriends. He gabs on the phone with them constantly, and they treat him like their little teddy bear, inviting him to baby showers, bringing him leftovers, and baking him cookies. He only understands my jealousy as fear that he will cheat. But, these are married girls he's known for years, and he's not a sleazeball. I'm not scared of catching him in bed with another woman; I'm terrifi ed I'll overhear him discussing what color she should paint the baby's room. I know he won't be comfortable telling his girlfriends that he picks out nail polish with only one woman from now on — me! I don't feel he needs these relationships when he's in a serious relationship, and it isn't their job to take care of him. — Feeling Inadequate Odd as it is to have a boyfriend whose homies are a bunch of suburban homemakers, outside friendships can help keep a relationship alive. (No one person shares their partner's every interest or meets their every need.) Outside friendships can also go too far — like if your boyfriend's confi ding things he'd otherwise confi de in you, ditching you to hang with them, or answering the phone during sex as their fi rst responder for nail polish emergencies. Amy Alkon It is understandable that you feel a little jealous. When you get into a relationship with a guy, you expect to be his one-and-only, and not feel like you need to get in line behind the housewife harem bringing him plates of homemade brownies. Stamping your foot and ordering him to ditch the biddies is a bad idea. Even if you got him to cave, resentment would surely rise up in him to fi ll the void. What you can do is tell him what you need. Explain that you aren't worried he'll cheat, just anxious that he's got a bunch of women in his life who mean a lot to him, who do kinda girlfriendy things for him, who have a history with him that you don't. Get him to tell you what he sees in you and why he's with you. This should help you recognize that these women are special to him, but not special-special, like you, which should help you rest easier when he comes home smelling like he spent the night singing into hairbrushes with the girls. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. OCTOBER 10-16, 2012 UCW 27