If you want to jump up and down like an organ grinder monkey and claim they SHOULDN’T build the mosque so close to ground zero that’s fine.  Frankly, I find it a little insensitive myself but you can’t stop them.  For good reason the free religion clause of the first amendment is absolute.  It doesn’t guarantee the right of YOUR religion; it guarantees the right of all religions.  Arguments like this are why we have a separation of church and state in this country.  If you want to live in a country that’s ruled by religious zealots then go ahead.  I hear Iran is lovely this time of year.

And the next time I hear one of these bible thumpers claim that the founding fathers intended for this to be a Christian nation my heads going to explode.  We know what the founders intended – THEY WROTE IT DOWN you fucking moron.  They didn’t write “freedom of all Christian religions” because they knew morons like you would try to rule the country in the name of your invisible sky wizard.

Before you jump all over me about hating God, stop.  I don’t hate god or religion in general.  I just think that history has shown us that theocracies don’t work.  There is always some nut job out there that wants to be more religious then the next guy.  If you want to believe in a god go right ahead, just keep it to yourself.

You can’t stop the mosque from being built and whether you like it or not, that’s a good thing.  The hypocrisy of people using their first amendment right to advocate taking away someone else’s first amendment right is galling. 

Oh, and five dollar blackjack now playing at Classic.  Flea it up everybody.

Peace, love and good happiness stuff.

Matt

Peace, love and good happiness stuff.

Matt

Update — So I heard through the grapevine that the dealers at Classic and Coconut Creek are going to share tokes.  I’m hoping tthis is just a stpid rumor because I can’t think of many things more idiotic.

I learned something else on the way here that I forgot to mention the other day.  Between San Antonio and El Paso there are only two radio stations and both of them play country music.  I also learned that I would rather turn off the radio and talk to myself then listen to country music for 500 miles.

This whole argument about the tax cuts for rich people is starting to piss me off.  Not because they are talking about giving the rich more tax cuts but because of the way the GOP is arguing in favor of them and saying they pay for themselves.  Believe it or not, that is actually the one thing I agree with the GOP on, and that is a balanced budget.  Every person in this country must balance their budget or the bank comes and takes your stuff away.  Trust me I know.  But to make the argument that you don’t have to pay for them is just stupid.  Let me explain.

Politicians, on both sides, love to throw around the words “tax cuts.”  That’s because it sounds good.  Everybody loves the idea of paying less tax.  It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, having the government take less of your money is a good thing.  However, these cuts need to be offset by a reduction in spending.  If, for some reason, you are bringing home less money, you have to spend less money.  Where you decide to spend less money is up to you but you have to cut something.  It’s that simple and every American knows it.

As everyday people, we work for the money we make.  The government taxes you.  It may sound simplistic but that’s what you are to the government; a source of income.  The more you work, the more they make.  So, the less they tax, the less they make.  This is math and can’t be argued with no matter what side of the political aisle you sit on.

Now, if you extend the Bush tax cuts that will mean the government makes 870 billion dollars less then they could if they decided to tax the top 2 percent of Americans.  The GOP likes to point to the stimulus and say we are spending money we don’t have and their right, we are.  Ideally, you would like for the money being spent to equal the money being taken in.  If you spend money and you don’t bring any money in, you are working at a deficit. 

That argument works both ways.  If you decide that you aren’t going to bring money in, let’s say 870 billion, then you have to go through your expenses and cut 870 billion dollars worth of spending.  If the money doesn’t come in, it can’t go out.  It’s that simple.  Math works like that most of the time.

This is all a micro argument for a macro problem that politicians don’t like to address.  This country needs a balanced budget amendment.  I really don’t think it’s too much to ask my federal government to do something I do every month.  How much I make dictates how much I spend.  If the government wants to spend more money they have to tax more and face the electorate each election.  If they want to tax less then they have to spend less.  Simple really.  We all do it.

My solution; Congress gets paid last.  Just like a business, if you spend more then you make you don’t get paid.  If there is money left over at the end of the year we will split it and pay the politicians.  I guarantee that in 5 years we would be out of both wars and the entire federal government we be run out a two story building in the middle of Nebraska by a bunch of temps.

Peace, love and good happiness stuff.

Matt

There are several other things that have caused me to stop writing and I’m going to get into them in just a minute.  I’m not going to get into them in any depth at the moment because it would be too much to write.  However, I’m going to write out some simple, declarative sentences and hope that most of you get the point.

I don’t work at the Hard Rock anymore.

I now live in Desert Hot Springs, CA with OMD.

OMD and I are engaged.

I don’t have a job but will begin looking for one shortly.

Luckily, OMD has a very good job.

We have a beautiful house in a very small town with no furniture.

My furniture will be here by the end of the week and I can’t wait.  A tile floor is not nearly as comfortable as it looks.

I just got done driving out here from Tampa and I learned a few things on my long trek across the county.  I learned…

… that Oklahoma is the only thing uglier then west Texas.

… that Desert Hot Springs looks a lot like west Texas.

… that I will risk running out of gas in the middle of nowhere instead of buy gas from BP.

… that people in west Texas don’t clean the bathrooms in gas stations.

… that Desert Hot Springs is hot as hell in the daytime but actually very pleasant in the evening.  I’m currently sitting on my patio in my underwear typing this and it’s beautiful.

… that Desert Hot Springs looks like hell after the fire’s go out.

… that I really missed OMD.

Now, since I have nothing to do for the next week while I wait for my furniture to be delivered I will finally have the time to put into the website and see if I can fix it.  Then I will begin writing again because there is plenty to write about.

I’m thinking of trying to restart the forum for all of the people that still work for the Hard Rock to discuss things since I won’t be writing about them anymore.  Let me know in comments if that is something that you would like for me to do.

In the near future I will tell you about my departure from the Hard Rock and my overall impression of them as a company.

I hope everyone is doing well and I will weigh in on what happened before I left and try to keep the information flowing about the new openings.

Peace, love and good happiness stuff.

Matt

I’ve checked with several of my sources and this is what I’m hearing about Coconut Creek.  Evidently, last year when they did the hiring for Coconut Creek they promised people they would be hired for that property.  I had heard about this at the time but never really believed it.  Evidently I was wrong.  Anyway, all of those people are going to be offered that spot first and I’ve heard they are over staffed with just those people.  I’ve also been told they are only going to open 10 tables which would explain the fact they are overstaffed.  With that being said, it would appear that unless you have been offered the job at Coconut Creek last year, you won’t be getting in there.

That leaves us with the other properties.  There has been a note up at that scheduling office that tells everyone to be on the look out for transfer opportunities to the other properties.  The note says that all transfer opportunities will be posted internally.  I haven’t seen any postings and I look everyday because I’m hoping there will be a posting for poker dealers.

What makes that last paragraph seem utterly pointless is I actually know someone who has already been offered a job in Hollywood and will be transferring next week.  He’s transferring as a full floor but I still never knew that any positions had been posted.  Since I’m not trying to transfer down there I’m not really on top of everything that is going on.

I’m going to quickly address a comment from Jeannie on my post about the Arizona immigration law.  First, I would like to thank you for the intelligent and well thought out comment.  If I have the time I will make a full post but for now let me say this.  I agree with almost everything you say.  Illegal immigration is a huge problem in this country and something needs to be done.  However, this is a federal issue that needs to be addressed by the federal government.  I understand the frustration of states when the feds seem to be averse to taking on a problem that is so obvious.

My problem with the law is the implementation.  The wording of the law makes it legal for an officer to stop someone because they believe the person might be illegal.  This type of wording makes racial profiling legal.  I’m waiting to see whether or not the police use the wording to enforce the law.  They may choose to only ask people for papers when executing a normal stop.  (ie, the example you used about being stopped for speeding.)

Without the authority to grant citizenship it makes it impossible for a state to ratify immigration laws.  Our immigration laws are broken.  You will get no argument from me on that score.  I just believe this is the wrong way to go about trying to enforce the law.

Not for nothing but I use to date a woman that was in this country illegally and she had a driver’s license so I don’t know how that is proof of legal status.

Peace, love and good happiness stuff.

Matt