Andrew M. Barnes

Because I consider myself an honest blogger, I feel it is my responsibility to share with you an update to today’s earlier post.  If you haven’t already, go back through and read it, ‘My Weed Is Better Than Yours’. 

Apparently Hillary Clinton is a reader of my blog.  Go here and read the new article on that whole situation that I found tonight.  I decided to disect this one.  You better enjoy these kind of breakdowns, they’re rare….but admittadly fun.

“A top campaign adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton resigned Thursday, a day after suggesting Democrats should be wary of nominating Barack Obama because his teenage drug use could make it hard for him to win the presidency.”

Resigned?  Is that what we are supposed to call being fired now?

“Clinton herself apologized to Obama as they waited to fly to Iowa for a debate. “

Recovery time!  She should do more than apologize, maybe a Christmas card with a dime bag perhaps?  Notice she’s not apologizing because she believes what the guy said is wrong, she’s apologizing because it makes her look better.  Hillary and Obama also clearly hate the environment, why fly when they could take a train? or a ride a bike?  Maybe they bought carbon credits from Al Gore.

“I made a mistake and in light of what happened, I have made the personal decision that I will step down as the co-chair of the Hillary for President campaign,” Shaheen said in a statement released by the campaign Thursday. “This election is too important, and we must all get back to electing the best qualified candidate who has the record of making change happen in this country. That candidate is Hillary Clinton.”

Does this guy think we are all idiots?  A personal decision?  I’m sure Hillary had nothing to do with it.  It always amazes me that people believe that no one sees through their idiocy.  Haha, then he ends his statement by saying that Hillary Clinton is the most qualified.  Compared to who, or better yet, what?  I will admit she is more qualified than a rock, but I saw a vending machine the other day that blows her away.  Seriously, it always gives you something in return at around an equal of what you put in, no matter the time of day it is working, it’s always willing to make change when necessary.  I know those aren’t much for qualifications, but put a vending machine and the HRC side by side.  Who would you vote for?…seriously?

“Having been on the receiving end of unfair attacks for years, she doesn’t think this is what the campaign should be about,” said Clinton spokesman Jay Carson. “She told him she wanted to win the presidency, but not through tactics like that.”

Um, what actually classifies as an unfair attack?  She gets kinda defensive when anyone asks her a direct question, but other than where are these unfair attacks?  Is the media really gonna let her get away with this?  She’s pretending like she had nothing to do with this whole thing.  This guy wasn’t a random blogger, volunteering at the headquarters, blowing up balloons and such.  He was at the top of the chain in that campaign.

 ”Clinton’s campaign said it had nothing to do with Shaheen’s comments.”

Why lie about this, she’s only making herself look more foolish.  That vending machine is looking really good right now.

“When you see a pattern of people making statements and the follow-up statement, ‘Oh, that wasn’t authorized,’ it doesn’t take a genius to see that there’s a thread going on here,” Helms said.

Ding ding ding!  No further comment.

Posted under Mass Transit, Environment, Politics, Government, Sarcasm

Go here and read this article.  If you need help understanding it, feel free to come back here and read my observations.

“A top adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign said Wednesday that Democrats should give more thought to Sen. Barack Obama’s admissions of illegal drug use before they pick a presidential candidate.”

I wonder if she said the same thing after Bill admitted to using illegal drugs during his youth…and then saying he would do it again, come on.  My guess is no and she didn’t.  Personally, I have my issues with Obama, but he is being honest, that gives him at least 1 point.  Too bad that still puts him in the negative.

 ”Obama’s campaign said the Clinton people were getting desperate. Clinton’s campaign tried to distance itself from the remarks.”

Score another point for Obama…still in the negative.  Hillary Clinton has been desperate from day 1, of course if Bill wouldn’t have been desparate in college she would’ve never made it to the White House in the first place.  Desperation makes the Clinton’s stronger.  The fact that the campaign tried to distance itself from the remarks is laughable.  A blind Jewish left-handed Canadian in a wheel chair could’ve told you not to bring up his drug past. 

“He [Bill Shaheen, in the Clinton camp] said the Republicans would work hard to discover new aspects of Obama’s admittedly spotty youth.

“It’ll be, ‘When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?’” said Shaheen, whose wife Jeanne is the state’s former governor and is running for the U.S. Senate next year.”

Wow, where do I begin?  It is absurd to think that Republicans are the only ones who would want to know a candidates past.  As an American citizen I think its only fair I know about your past, seeing how you might be managing the free-world for a few years.  I’m almost positive there are several million other people with the same attitude.  What is most interesting is that a democrat (Hillary Clinton) is the one bringing up his spotty youth.  I guess its just easier to blame Republicans for everything.  I prefer to blame global warming, but thats just me.

“ ”There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It’s hard to overcome,” Shaheen said.”

Hahaha, dirty tricks?  Wanting to know a candidate’s criminal history is a dirty trick?  Oh, but Hillary Clinton bringing up his past is just in an effort to help the democratic party, I see it clearly now. 

“Clinton’s campaign said it had nothing to do with his comments.

“Senator Clinton is out every day talking about the issues that matter to the American people. These comments were not authorized or condoned by the campaign in any way,” spokeswoman Kathleen Strand said.”

But.  I shouldn’t have to point out the problem….but I will.  Shaheen is a ‘veteran organizer’ for Clinton, and he was giving an interview for The Washington Post.  If she had nothing to do with his comments then fire him, tell him to go open up a small deli in Brooklyn, I don’t care, just tell him he is done with their campaign.  It won’t happen though, simply because his comments are her comments.  That’s the way it works, she knows that.  If she can’t figure that one out then she has a long way to go before qualifying to run for President.

 ”You know, I made some bad decisions that I’ve actually written about. You know, got into drinking. I experimented with drugs,” he said. “There was a whole stretch of time that I didn’t really apply myself a lot. It wasn’t until I got out of high school and went to college that I started realizing, ‘Man, I wasted a lot of time.’” - Obama

I wonder what he’ll be thinking next November while he is sitting at home, when he realizes that he just wasted almost 2 years of life running for President.  Al Gore gained like 300lbs after his defeat, I’m sure Obama will probably lose weight though, that’s what cocaine does to you.  Ever noticed how ’stick-like’ he is?

“Clinton’s campaign has distributed its first flier that criticizes Obama’s health care plan for leaving 15 million people without insurance. TV ads following the same theme also have been prepared.”

15 million.  I’ve seen that number before.  Oh yeah, that’s how many votes she’ll get next November….cause she’s a moron.

Note: It does appear that Obama is running a clean campaign so far.  Two things he needs to work on: his public speaking abilities and all of his policies.  Other than those two things, he is great.

Posted under Politics, Government, Sarcasm

It’s the end of the year so you can expect to hear Counting Crows ‘A Long December’, hear every radio station in the world playing Christmas music, and my favorite, the argument over whether we should say ’Merry Christmas’ or ’Happy Holidays’.  Within every year there is a good and bad of everything, or what I would like to call the ’best’ and the ‘worst’.  I split my ‘best’ and ‘worst’ into several categories like Food, Entertainment, etc.  Let’s get rolling….

FOOD CATEGORY
Best Burger
Jack in the Box: I know they are fast food, this year however they introduced a new sirloin burger, you can pick grilled or regular onions, and what kind of cheese.  For the price and the size of the burger this is a good deal, it does however get messy if you decide to eat this not sitting still….like driving. 
Notables: Ruby Tuesday, In And Out Burger, Cookout

Worst Burger
Five Guys: Sorry, but I was really disappointed. 

Best Steak
Big Texan Steak Ranch:  While my friend nearly died attempting the 72oz steak challenge in an hour, I was having a delicious meal.  The steak was flawless and comparable to a Morton steak that I had a couple of years ago.  The big shocker here is that this steak and the whole meal was less than $40.  If you’re ever in Amarillo, TX make a stop at the Big Texan, its about the only reason to be in Amarillo.

Worst Steak
Chilis: That was a mistake.

Best Pizza
New York: No, New York isn’t a pizza company, but I doubt you’ll find a bad slice of pizza there.  Most every meal I had there was pizza based.  The slices are huge (the way they should be) and cheap, like $1.50 cheap.  Combine that with a Coke and you’re golden for the next few hours.
Notables: Pizza Hut (They brought back their stuffed crust). Hungry Howie’s

Worst Pizza
Papa John’s: Maybe I’m just sick of it.

ENTERTAINMENT
Best New Album
Fall Out Boy ‘Infinity on High’: I know this may not fit everyones taste for good music, but the album only has a couple of non-listenable tracks, that by itself is a rarity in today’s music world.  The rest of the songs are straight upbeat and rockin’ (even though most of the time I have no idea what the song is about or what they are saying).
Notables: Ben’s Brother ‘Beta Male Fairytales’

Worst New Album
The Last Goodnight: Outside of their one single, ‘Pictures of You’ which is great, the album is horrible and deserves no place in my iTunes.
Notables: David Crowder Band ‘Remedy’ (cough…horrible…cough cough)

Best New Band
Ben’s Brother: We are all better off with these guys putting out albums.  Their music isn’t too upbeat, but every song is different and full of meaning.  You can tell they had most of the creative control of the songs, you can just feel the song as they play.
Notables: Andrew Barnes Band

Worst New Band
Mike Parker Band:  I’ll probably catch crap for this one, but hear me out.  I don’t mind a good cover band, I do however have a problem with a cover band that can’t even cover those songs very well.  If you can’t rip somebody elses music well then there isn’t much hope for quality original material.  Sorry, that’s just the way it is.  I hope they surprise me with something in 2008.  I like good music, no matter who plays it….and I hate bad music, no matter who plays it.  Being a ‘Christian Worship Band’ or whatever doesn’t make bad music okay, it actually makes it worse.  Here’s a quote from a very respectable man, maybe this will shed some perspective for you…

“After all, cover bands may be able to find a gig in some bar, somewhere, every night of the week.  But no cover band ever changed the world.” -Pastor Steven Furtick  (read entire blog)

By all means, I’ll give them Best New Album of 2008 or at least a slot in the Notables, that is if they figure out that quality is more important than hype.

Best New Movie
Superbad: I just saw this one so maybe that’s why it won, but seriously excessively funny if you can get past the f-word every 6 seconds.
Notables: Apocalypto, Transformers

Worst New Movie
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry: There should’ve been something on the cover that said something like even though Adam Sandler and Kevin James are in this movie, it is by no means actually funny at any point.  Could’ve done without the not so hidden ‘gay-is-ok’ message.  What a waste.

POLITICS
Funniest Event
The New Congress: After several years of the media telling us that President Bush’s approval rating is horribly low around 30%, the new decmocratically controlled Congress eclipses his rating to hit somewhere around 20%.  For some reason approval ratings aren’t brought up as much anymore.
Notables: Nick Mackey being apparently ‘qualified’ to be sheriff, even though he is not qualified to be a traffic cop…seriously.

Biggest Racist
Al Sharpton: It’s really hard to take him seriously about improving race relations when he spends the bulk of his time destroying people because they are white.  I’m not sure who is stupider, Imus or Sharpton, but Imus has one critical flaw: he is white.  Sorry Imus, only white cracker jokes for you.
Notables: Durham NC, Jesse Jackson, Every single person that descended on Jena, LA without knowing what really happened.

Most Overlooked Event
The Global Warming Hoax: Scientists are now starting to climb out of the woodwork saying they disagree with the IPCC, and most of that ‘opinion’ is based off of numbers and other such things.  Al Gore has already told us this year in Australia that numbers aren’t that important.  Huh, that’s just interesting.
Notables: UNCC’s Green Fee- the most unknown, misunderstood, secretive and all around disturbing piece of legislation I’ve ever run across from the SGA.  Apparently you should only expect 1 email a semester to be answered.

Man of the Year
Pastor Steven Furtick: Hands down, you may not like him, but apparently God hasn’t asked your opinion on how successful Elevation Church can be.

The awards are in the mail, unless they got lost again this year, which is probably gonna happen.

Posted under Music, Movies, Food, Racism, Religion, Environment, Sarcasm, Government, Politics, Univ. of Charlotte

In case you missed it, I had an article in the last edition of the University Times of the semester.  You can still find the issue on racks across campus.  Here it is for your enjoyment.

University City Partners & Light Rail

The battle to bring light-rail from Center City Charlotte to the University City seemed for most to be over last November 6 as Mecklenburg County voters overwhelmingly voted by a margin of roughly 70-30% not to repeal the current half-cent sales tax dedicated towards transit.  But according to local leaders with University City Partners (UCP), there is still no guarantee that the Northeast line will be constructed.

Established in 2003, UCP serves as a Municipal Service District that acts as a voice for local businesses in the University City including UNC Charlotte.  Since its inception, the UCP has been focusing on extending the rail line to the University City by listening to the desires of local businesses as well as working closely with the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC), which ultimately handles where transit will be developed.  Executive Director of the UCP Mary Hopper points out that all of UCP’s annual conferences up until this year have focused on putting University City on the “road to rail”.

“The two major studies that we funded all encompassed both transit oriented development and the need for transportation choices and much of our advocacy has centered around those same issues,” said Hopper.

UNC Charlotte has worked closely with UCP, with three of the twenty-five board members having ties with UNC Charlotte, Chancellor Dubois being one of those three.  Hopper notes that “UNC Charlotte through Dubois has been a partner and often a leader,” in the effort to bring light-rail to the University City.  She continues by praising his openness to “physically bringing rail to campus.”

The likelihood that the Northeast line would be constructed without tying the line in with UNC Charlotte is slim.  Hopper estimates that the 2200 daily riders that UNC Charlotte would generate should give the line the boost it needs to secure federal funding.  She also notes that “the University City Area Plan that UCP funded and Council approved includes 4 station area plans” which “puts us ahead of where South Blvd. was at this point in time.”

Just days before the referendum went up for vote in November, Ron Tober, head of Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), announced that the Federal Transity Authority (FTA) would help fund an engineering study for light-rail along the Northeast corridor to determine if the line would be cost-effective or even worth funding.  That, according to Dubois is “very good news,” but he also warns that “it is too soon to tell whether the [light-rail] project will be funded” by the federal government.  The current estimated cost for the project is around $750 million.  About half of that money would come from the federal government, with the rest being split beween the state and local governments.

The federal funding is completely reliant on the results of the engineering study.  If federal money falls through, it is highly unlikely the state or local government will be able to cover the shortfall thus placing a huge setback to light-rail in the University City anytime soon.

The initial plan according to the Chancellor puts the on-campus light-rail station just north of the Charlotte Research Institute off of Highway 29, somewhere behind Lots 25/26 and Laurel Hall.  “Passengers could then disembark at that point, walk through the passageway of Laurel and Lynch Halls, and then cross the bridge to the new Student Union.”  The line would then extend out to I-485.

Dubois goes on to say that, “this rouing is quite prelimary and is subject both to engineering analysis and additional consultations on campus with students and other members of the campus community.”

UNC Charlotte sophomores Derek Tate and Jason Laws both believe the new light-rail line could benefit students, especially for those wanting to venture to Center City.  Tate particularly likes how the light-rail offers students like him who lack personal transportation the ability to get around the city easier.

Sophomore Mat Brown likes the idea of light-rail on campus, however he believes most students will continue to opt for their cars.

With the earliest estimated completion date of 2013 for the Northeast line, it is unlikely that many of UNC Charlotte’s current students will ever actually use it.  The South line, which is the first light-rail section opened Thanksgiving weekend, almost one and a half years from the originally expected date.

Both UCP and Chancellor Dubois are committed to making light-rail a reality in the University City no matter the challegnes.  For the university it means a much improved connection with Center City and the schools new uptown campus.  For UCP it means increased business as well as a sustainable infrastrutcure for the future.

Mary Hopper reminds proponents of light-rail that, “Although the process is not political, it really is so those of us who want rail to UNC Charlotte need to be hyper-vigilant.”

The university is also currently looking into expanding its on campus shuttle system, however that expansion according to Dubois is driven by campus safety issues.  The university is currently subsidizing the shuttle system by $600 thousand a year.  Future expansion for off-campus shuttles is unlikely unless a new stream of revenue is generated.

Posted under Mass Transit, Univ. of Charlotte

It sounds stupid, but its true. 

I got about 30 mins worth of sleep last night, I know this because I remember seeing the clock at 2:30 and waking up at 3.  So I did what I normally do, I sat there in bed for three hours just thinking over things, you know the normal list of things…what would I do with $87 billion in liquid assests?, what am I going to do after college?, when am I going to graduate college?, and my favorite thought: is IHOP open?

Since I’ve started having sleeping issues, establishing a sound breakfast plan has been closer to the forefront of my mind.  I’m not really sure why.  Anyway, this morning I was determined to make the trip to IHOP, yes, by myself.  It was 6:30am so I doubted anyone would be happy with my inviting phone call.

I’m not sure what happened when I goto IHOP but several realizations hit me.  Let me explain.  I remember driving very calming and relaxed to IHOP, I remember walking to the door and through the door of the IHOP, and I remember casually being seated.  Then something happened.  I took off…my mind exploded.  In less than 30 seconds of sitting down I had placed my complete order, less than 5 mins after that my food was there and less than 10 mins later my massive country omellete (I’ll describe it in a second), 3 pancakes, 1 orange juice, and 2 Pepsi’s were gone…inside me.  I had devoured my entire meal and before I knew it my check was there.  I was only there for 20 minutes.

While sitting there I had those several realizations that I mentioned earlier.  The first thing is that I’m not enjoying anything anymore.  Not just food, everything.  I’m rushing through life looking for something big to happen so that I can be happy.  Of course happy is just a yuppie word.  Joy is where it’s at.  That was a huge realization for me.  I had no reason to rush, I had almost two hours before I had to be at work.  Too bad this didn’t hit me until afterwards.  The people around me probably thought I hadn’t eaten in months the way I was attacking my meal…I know atleast one child cried watching me (that’s not true, but there was child there).

If I can’t find joy in the little things, I don’t deserve to find joy in the big things.  And I really believe this.  Now begins the pain staking task of finding joy in literally all the crap of life, if anything, its beyond humbling.

My second realization was that I just spent alot of money, not that that is a bad thing, just wasn’t looking to throw a wad of cash into breakfast today.

Now I am off to work, where basketball coaches and parents will probably yell at me and tell me I’m a moron for various reasons.  Man, I tell you, if I can squeeze an ounce of joy of today it will be a miracle. 

Oh yeah, the omellete, its huge, put your two fists together and then cover it with sour cream, there ya go.  That’ll be $8.

Posted under Life, Religion