Joel Gross | Joel Gross's Blog

Government Regulations Crushing Entrepreneurs

Starting a business and operating a business are profoundly difficult activities with no government regulations, but with them it becomes nearly impossible to do everything correctly. I have firsthand experience with the difficult & confusing government regulations on entrepreneurs.

Entrenched bureaucracies like the Washington State Department of Revenue and the Washington State Secretary of State’s office do not have to answer to anyone and extremely tough to figure out what forms to file, when to file them and even how to submit them. … read more “Government Regulations Crushing Entrepreneurs”

Rules of Basketball

My poor roommate Trent has some difficulties understanding the rules of the game of basketball. In order to help him further his education, I have decided to repost a few rules of basketball here:

Blocking- impeding the progress of an opponent by extending one or both arms horizontally or getting in the path of a moving player.

Dine With Shamu – LITERALLY!

During a show at Seaworld yesterday entitled “Dine with Shamu”, where park guests can have dinner and watch a whale show up close, a whale named Tilikum purposely drowned a female trainer.

Tilikum is an 11,000 pound killer whale and people watching the show said he was not following commands and after becoming more agitated, swam around the tank and leapt out of the water to grab her in its mouth and dragged her into the water.… read more “Dine With Shamu – LITERALLY!”

Weirdo Advertising on My Site

Found an ad for a person’s blog on my site today. I use Google Adsense to randomly place ads on my blog. Look at the screenshot below:

What doesn’t make sense to me is why someone would advertise their blog on Google if they aren’t selling something? It’s pretty expensive and doesn’t make sense unless you can turn a profit through it. … read more “Weirdo Advertising on My Site”

Homes: Buy vs Rent?

Most people think that it is better to own a home than to rent a home. Why is this opinion so prevalent? People have had several ideas drilled into their heads over and over again:

If you pay $1,000 in rent each month, you will never see that money again. If you pay $1,000 on your mortgage, it is like putting that money into a savings account (because you can sell the house at the end and get your money back).

Business meeting in compton

Trent is going to Compton for a business meeting… With protection.

Olympics Held Too Often

… perhaps once a decade or century would keep them more interesting.

Tradition is Evil

My title, “Tradition is Evil”, may surprise and upset you. Human nature is to avoid change and cling to the status quo. Please understand this and consider the thought I am about to lay before you carefully. I suggest that instead of blindly clinging to tradition that we use data, logic and rational thought to govern our lives.… read more “Tradition is Evil”

Joel Update

I have not been posting frequently lately as I have been incredibly busy with work.

A few random updates on my life though:

Reading “The History of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell
My room is growing messier due to my workload
Basketball ability is rapidly improving, especially my big man game
Having Tara visit this coming weekend
New friends galore: business associates, basketball players, friends of friends, randoms
Failed to keep practicing guitar, need more time
Socrates was fascinating, as was Plato

Religious Leaders Response to Prayers 4 Sale

I received the following email from a major figure in the Christian religion following the article in AOL about my prayer for sale website:

Hi Joel-

Your website doesn’t give anyone a way to contact you. Hopefully this reaches you.

Interesting concept you have, but as a former televangelist and former fundamental Christian and co-host of the 700 Club with Pat Robertson–honest Injun’–you have to expand your idea to catch the aha!