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 No Do-Overs: By 2009, James Washington believed he had gotten away with a 1995 murder, but then he had a heart attack, and on his deathbed, in a fit of remorse, he confessed to a confidant. ("I have to get something off my conscience," he told a guard in the jailhouse where he was serving time for a lesser, unrelated offense.) However, Washington miraculously recovered from the heart attack and tried to take back his confession, but prosecutors in Nashville, Tenn., were unfazed. They used it to augment the sparse evidence from 1995, and in October 2012 Chuck Sheppard the now-healthier Washington was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 51 more years in prison. [WSMV-TV (Nashville, Tenn.), 10-31-2012] Government in Action Among the federally funded projects highlighted in the "2012 Waste Book" of U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn were a $325,000 grant to develop a "robosquirrel" (to help study the somehow-confusing interaction between squirrels and rattlesnakes) and a $700,000 grant by the National Science Foundation for a New York theater company to create a musical about climate change and biodiversity (which actually opened this year, in Kansas City, and included among its concepts, according to one critic, "flying monkey poop"). Abuses of the food stamp program were also detailed, such as by one exotic dancer who, while earning $85,000, drew food stamps in an amount roughly equivalent to the sum she spent on "cosmetic enhancements." [Fox News, 10-16-2012] While the Department of Veterans Affairs remains under criticism for inadequate funding for personnel disabled in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, it spent in 2010 more than $5 million on training conferences just to teach bureaucrats how to administer parts of its latest collective-bargaining contract, according to an October report in the Washington Examiner. In fact, reported the Examiner, $34 million in payroll goes to department officials who work mainly on unionrelated activities. [Washington Examiner, 10-1-2012] Great Art! "I wanted to create a self-portrait that was completely stripped of ... visual prejudice," said Polish-born New York artist Martynka Wawrzyniak, who thus chose the medium of "smell" for her gallery showing in New York City (running through mid-November). For starters, she "scientifically extracted" her hair oils, armpit perspiration and tears (to protest humans' cloaking themselves in deodorant soaps and laundry powders), and blasted visitors with whiffs of it as they entered the gallery. [Wired.com, 10-20-2012] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM BY WEEKLY HOROSCOPES2012 HOLIDAY For the Week of December 9, ADVICE GODDESS The Happiest Place on Girth GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You've needed help before, and so you have compassion for those who can't do it all on their own. However, you also recognize the one who could perform but doesn't. You help this one best by encouraging him to help himself. I started taking medication that makes me fat — about 80 pounds overweight, which is a lot on a 5'7" female frame. Cutting calories and exercising will not change this, and I cannot stop taking this drug. It alleviates a serious mental health SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) Will talking problem, allowing me to function normally, about what you want help or hinder the outcome? It depends on many factors, including which is pretty much a miracle. Still, the day. You could accidentally cancel the thanks to my weight gain, I am getting success of an unfolding plan by saying too super-depressed. I think people must look much. Better to stay quiet with a hopeful at me like I'm some undisciplined pig. heart and see what happens. My cute clothes no longer fit, so I bought SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) You are clothes that hide the weight. I'd love to truly a sophisticated person with a global date, but I'm so uncomfortable looking at mindset. And because you are open-minded myself naked that I can't imagine letting and accepting of people who are different from you, a wide variety of people feel they fit anyone else do it. with your friendship. — Ballooned CANCER (June 22-July 22) A quest for perfection is futile in the sense that no one is going to achieve the desired end. However, everyone who tries will improve. So why not build success into your plan by seeking improvement itself? CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Though there is something to gain from procrastination, these secondary benefits are nothing that will be healthy for you in the long run. So don't delay your success by putting off the work that is seminal to its completion. ARIES (March 21-April 19) You have rituals for health and well-being that work wonders for you. To an observer who doesn't know or understand you well, these practices may be slightly unusual. You could explain yourself brilliantly but you'll deeply appreciate the one who doesn't require you to do so. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You can be choosy, especially in matters of food and aesthetics. But you're not a snob. You see the value in being an agreeable team player. Also, your heart is grateful this week. Whatever is given, you'll find something good in it. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Before cellphones, people agreed to meet at a certain time and place, and being late made everything confusing and stressful. Now people regularly change the plan, check in with updates and alter the course. This week, punctuality will be important. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) True adventurers are not more courageous than security-minded individuals. They are people who know a secret: Just because something is familiar doesn't automatically make it secure. You're ready to open new doors. Your ears are open for the call, and when you hear it, you'll answer. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) The problems and conflicts you will reconcile tap into your strongest skills. Others may note that you are exceptionally talented; however, this doesn't change your experience or opinion of yourself. There are decades of studies showing that "walking the walk" — acting the way you'd like to feel — is one of the most effective ways to change how you feel. For example, experimental social AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Just because psychologist Dr. Dana R. Carney had you don't go out of your way to seek the people assume power-broker poses adrenaline rush of roller coasters now doesn't mean you've lost your spine. Maybe you're just like sitting with their hands behind wiser and more mature. Life brings enough their head and their feet up on a desk. highs and lows without you having to artificially Subjects only create things to make them more exciting. assumed two PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Steer clear of different poses anything that seems designed to pump up for a total of two your ego. What feels good in the moment minutes, but this could drain you of what is actually good in the long term. Real power exists outside led to measurable Amy Alkon the ego. psychological, By Holiday Mathis biochemical, and behavioral changes. Those who were assigned the power poses had their levels of the dominance hormone testosterone shoot up. They reported feeling significantly more powerful and "in charge," and their willingness to take risks in a subsequent gambling test suggests that they meaningfully increased their confidence. Findings like Carney's make the "just walk the walk" advice I found in the book Stop Calling Him Honey sound a lot more hopeful than hokey. The co-authors, Maggie Arana and Julienne Davis, advise body-loathing women (of all sizes) who want to feel sexy to strut naked, in high heels, in front of their mirror. If that still sounds like a fool's errand, it might help to have a role model. Look up YouTube videos of 200-plus-pound indie rocker Beth Ditto, who struts around in body-hugging dresses, corsets, and fishnets like she invented sexy. There are men who prefer the larger ladies and those who don't have a stringent requirement for any sort of body size, but what no guy wants is a woman who's piled on the shame. Work on adjusting both your head and your appearance. Spend money on your hair, makeup, and a new wardrobe.You're doing what it takes to be mentally healthy and functional. If you look at your weight from this angle, it seems you've got good reason to march through the world like you're all that and 80 pounds more o' that. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. DECEMBER 5-11, 2012 UCW 19