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 see them) came after a months-long undercover investigation. [Tampa Bay Times, 10-25-2012] Recurring Themes Among the most creative illegal behaviors are those of clever smugglers — or immigrants trying to enter a country illegally. In September, two Moroccans tried to smuggle a Guinean man into Spain at the Melilla border in north Morocco by disguising him as a Renault car seat. One Moroccan drove, with the passenger perched on a seat in which the foam had been removed to make room for the Guinean. A police spokesman called the attempt "novel." [Daily Telegraph (London), 9-25-2012] India's notorious bureaucracy In October, state alcohol agents, assisted by local police in full riot gear, pointing their weapons, raided a bar in Largo, Fla., to shut down the latest gathering of the venerable Nutz Poker League, even though its players do not wager. (They meet at bars and restaurants, where management gives winners token gifts in exchange for the increased business.) A prosecutor told the Tampa Bay Times that Florida law defines illegal "gambling" as any game that permits players to win something — even if they don't have to "ante up." The raid (during which players were ordered to keep their hands where the officers could WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of December 2, 2012 ARIES (March 21-April 19) You won't be able to judge success by what happens on the out- side. Only when you sense the emotional tone of others and get clues as to their contentment with an outcome will you know for sure the effectiveness of an endeavor. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Your soul doesn't function on the same kind of intelligence neces- sary for practical function in the modern age. Books and television won't expand its reach. Your soul has a different intelligence, the intel- ligence of oceans and stars. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) Before you get caught up in someone's expectations, stand back and look in the mirror. Know yourself. That way you can be who you are instead of who they want you to be. Chuck Sheppard CANCER (June 22-July 22) You were once an amateur at the very thing you now do like a pro. Many are amazed by you but never tell you so. They forget, or think that praise will alter the delicate balance of human relationships. But there's nothing wrong with giving yourself credit. You deserve it. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Too many distractions could overwhelm your senses and cause you to go numb to the greatness of what's around you. To stop this from happening, clear your schedule and eliminate clutter of all kinds, in- cluding social clutter. You need your quiet time, especially early in the week. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) If everyone would just get along, you could exist in a comfortable environment and focus on bigger and better things. Though you don't have total control over other people's relationships, you can infl u- ence them by staying positive and refusing to support negative talk or gossip. ADVICE GODDESS Jenny from the Blocked LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) The only thing defi nite is that things are up in the air. Your shifting aspirations are to blame for this fl oat- ing feeling. Can you be comfortable without your feet planted? Yes. Just because the future feels unpredictable doesn't mean you have to be afraid. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) You're destined to meet interesting people who can contribute to your personal and professional well-being. New environments may not be entirely com- fortable this week, but make the best of it. Your attitude will speak volumes to your character and will attract only the cream of the crop. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Handle unfi n- ished business early in the week. The enthusiasm and strong sense of direction that this moon brings will revitalize the part of your life that was ailing. You are exceptionally lucky these days. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Everyone gets overly self-centered once in a while, but there's someone you know who is consistently oblivi- ous to the rest of the world. You will be more compassionate with this person when your exposure is limited. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You always thought it would be a big deal when the material world started to refl ect your recent emotional and spiritual growth. But now that you're getting external proof of your efforts, you may realize that the growth itself was the bigger deal. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) You like to be as independent as possible. Talk to people about the expanded version of what you want. With the right attitude, it won't be hard to attract a small team to help you accomplish what you can't do on your own. over or under. I appreciate that you tell it like it is instead of telling people what they want to hear. I heard you on the radio saying that an online dating site isn't a very good venue for women over 40 who aren't very physically attractive. Honestly, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'm probably a 5. My marriage ended last year, and I'm ready to start dating again. Should I bother with online at all? — Realistic By Holiday Mathis The problem for anyone online dating is that the format — endless choice — is overwhelming to our quaint little human brains, according to research by social psychologist Dr. Sheena Iyengar. Although we think having loads of options is ideal, when presented with more than a handful, we often choose poorly and are bummed out afterward, or we fi nd ourselves unable to choose at all. So, like a rat pushing a lever for more cocaine, even a man who sincerely wants a relationship and who's just gotten home from a promising date often can't help but make a beeline for the computer. (There's always another one … thousand where that last one came from. No need to stop and smell the 45-year- old roses.) Amy Alkon records deaths particularly ineptly, to the advantage of men seeking an alternative to divorce. They find it easier merely to swear out a death certificate on one wife so they can marry another, but that means the first wife will face years, and maybe decades, of campaigning to convince officials that she is not dead. BBC News chronicled the plight of Ms. Asharfi Devi, now 64, in September as she was finally declared "alive" after being deserted by her husband at age 23 and ruled dead at age 40. After Devi finally earned a hearing and brought relatives and evidence to the village council, deliberations took eight more months. Notwithstanding the ruling, the husband stuck to his story. [BBC News, 9-2-2012] Two FBI agents, providing a backstory to "underwear bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's Christmas-time 2009 attempt to bring down an airliner in Detroit, said they believe the man accustomed himself to the tricked-out scivvies beforehand by wearing them full-time for the three weeks leading up to his flight (except for bathing). The agents, speaking to Detroit's WXYZ-TV in September, suggested that the excessive wearing might have ruined the detonation mechanism. [WXYZ-TV, 9-27-2012] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Especially for women who are over 40 and physically underfabulous, a more fruitful and less confi dence-eating option than a dating site is a group meetup site like meetup.com or grubwithus.com, where you sign up for group dinners and other activities with people who share your interests. Some groups have hundreds or thousands of members, and the criterion for joining is whether you, say, like to combine tennis and Bible study, not whether you have a waist the size of a chewed pencil. Also, online, the risk of humiliation is low for a guy who's a 5 messaging a woman who's a 9.6 (on the off chance she's bored with rich guys with movie- star looks). In person, it becomes clear that he can either go home alone for the rest of his life or go for the more evenly matched. That's when he starts talking to the nice 5 lady on his right — giving you a chance to sparkle in a way you can't online. But, all the better if you sparkle inside and out. (Get Staging Your Comeback, by Christopher Hopkins.) A little money smeared around in the hair, wardrobe, and makeup departments can be a powerful thing. Without it, as you see in shots of famous actresses caught sans makeup and groovywear, even some pretty stunning women can end up looking like they've taken a break from picking their pimples in the doublewide to duck into the holler and shoot a squirrel for dinner. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. NOV. 28 - DEC. 4, 2012 UCW 23