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Laurence

Member since: Oct 21st, 2006

Laurence's Latest Comments

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Recent Comments:

James Cameron completes solo dive of the Mariana Trench (Gadling)

Mar 27th 2012 7:41PM What little I know is that the depth is so great, the pressure so extream and the lack of light total that all that is found is very small lifeforms. Be really cool if there was something big down there but the physics of the enviornment argue against it.

Number of Venture Capital Funds Hits 16-Year Low (AOL Small Business)

Jul 15th 2011 11:48PM As if this is some sort of deep mystery. Anyone paying even the slightest bit of attention sees a Federal Government hell bent on wrecking not only our economy but our entire system and guess what? Like we said in the country, it does roll down hill.

Taylor Momsen Gives Female Fan Lap Dance at Concert (Photos) (PopEater)

Jul 8th 2011 1:44AM Hmmm Make up by Rockey Horror or maybe it was an out of work body and fender man.

From Nicky to Larry: The Men in Liz Taylor's Life (PopEater)

Mar 23rd 2011 11:59PM I never mets Ms. Taylor but I did know people who did. She was spoken kindly of. That's enough for me.

Confessions of a Mortician (Funeral Director) (AOL Jobs)

Feb 8th 2011 11:31AM Ok, I"m jumping into the brawl!
I've been a jeweler for many years and I'd love to have a "1000" % mark up. Just doesn't happen!

Now I've also been a small business ownere and a friend of a now retired funeral director.

Just as in the jewelery business, there are good and not so good people. As for the cost, I'd suggest a pre plan as it's not a great idea to be filling out the papers and buying a funeral when you've just lost a loved one. "You DO want the best for grandfather, don't you???" Seriously not all funeral people are preditory, so it might be a good idea to get to know your local funeral home. Make a visit. You might find some nice people there. On the other hand you might find folks you really want to stay away from.

If you choose a cremation you can rent a casket.

You can choose a closed casket, which isn't always a bad idea, especially if your loved one was in poor shape or badly injured when they passed.

If the funeral home has an especially highly trained person you can have reconstruction and produce a last memory of your family member. I've seen some beautiful reconstructions and some really botched ones too. It's also true that sometimes there just isn't much to work with, as in the case of a gunshot to the face suicide

there are options but there are also very ligitimate fixed costs to a funeral

Continental Caused Fatal Concorde Crash, Court Says (AOL Travel News)

Dec 6th 2010 3:53PM I'd say so. Who is in charge of airport security, which I would guess includes runway security. Wasn't the flight crew on our aircraft!

How Much Should a CEO Really Make? (AOL Small Business)

Dec 1st 2010 11:34AM As others have so accurately said "This class BS won't play!"

A "Useful Idiot" with a journalism degree from some left wing school wrote this. How do I know? Simple.

1. A CEO does not "play themselves". They can't do it because they aren't authorized to write checks! They also don't set thier compensation plan. The Board Of Directors agrees to, or rejects the compensation plan.

But back to the "Useful Idiot" part and how I know.

The free market sets the pay. Now either I own my labor or I don't. It's just that simple. Either I own the right to set the level of compensation I'll accept or someone else does. Now guess who the author of this article thinks should set pay scales? Just guess? "Government" you said? Well, we've tried that. When "Govenrment" sets pay for "the workers" it's either called Communism - That's when the "Government" owns everything lock, stock and barrel - in the most literal sense, or if the company remains in private hands but the Government makes the decisions it's called "NATIONAL SOCIALISM".

Most of you are too young to remember "National Socialism". Most of you are too young to remember what happened to the world as a result.

Most of you were taught, just like today in middle school and in highschool, that on one side of the political spectrum are the Communists ( far left) and on the other are the Nazi party. That would be wrong. NAZI stands for National Socialist Party.

As for the government controlling our pay, you might want to think that over. If "they" can tells us what we make, by result they also tell us where we got to school, what we do, and where we can live. "They" can tell us what we can or cannot eat and ultimately how long we are going to live.

Overstock.com Accused of Overcharging Consumers (WalletPop)

Nov 26th 2010 3:04PM I've run retail businesses for years. I've also owned a retail business so I know about how mark-up is made up of all the business expences one need to keep the doors open. I also know all about the fake discounts people are promised in order to "make the sale'.

While everyone of us wants the best possible price on an item, deep down we also know that businesses cannot survive by selling below thier cost. Something has to give somewhere. Deep down each of us understands the bank, or the landlord, or the supplier or the sales staff won't work for nothing.

So apart from the simple understanding that it just can't be "50% off" and still make business expenses, here's a simple rule the consumer can use to "rat out the rats";

Imagine you are looking at a toster. If the price is $80 the store paid $40. That means the store has a gross margin of $40. If a supplier sold the toster for $40, that means the supplier has $20 into the cost or materials and shipping. So the questions a consumer should ask themselves are

1. "Is it possible to build anything close to a decent product for $20? If so, how good a toaster can it be for $20?

2. If the store paid $40 for the toaster, sells it for $80, and it's "on sale" for $39.95, how does that make sense for the store?

3. Most of us know what products of simular price ranges look like. Forget the offered "discount". Use that knowlege of the market to answer the question: Does this really look like an $80 product? And when did it ever sell for full price?

Sky Blue Diamond Fetches Sky High Price (Luxist)

Apr 9th 2010 9:58AM As a gemologist of 35 years I notice several items.
1. I would not describe this stone as "Vivid". The Hope is vivid. This stone is very light in color and in saturation.
2. Looking through the stone one can see the wearer's hand through the culet - the smallest facet on a diamond. This indicates the stone was cut for maximun weight , but not for maximum optical performance.
3. It's nearly impossible to accurately grade color though a photograph, but this stone looks like it has a very gray base under this light blue color.

All in all a pretty stone but it's not the French Blue, and it's not the Hope.

Sen. Ted Kennedy Dies (Politics Daily)

Aug 26th 2009 2:00PM I've been to Hyannis. Place gives me the creeps!

Some say we should speak well of the dead. Fine, but let us also speak the TRUTH.

A politician's first actions upon getting elected is to begin to get RE ELECTED! This is the single worst problem with our system.

Kennedy spent 47 years living a privileged life that few of us ever even glimpse of. That fact alone should tell us that Term Limits are vital.

As for he or any of the Democrats to claim they are for the little guy is just plain NONSENSE! Let's look at the issues.

Minimum wage. That helps anyone? In my 60 years I've not seen it. I started at $2.00 an hour but I didn't stay there, and neither does anyone else who wants to work hard and become productive. Earning above minimum wage has nothing to do with the government.

How about LBJ's War On Poverty? How'd that work out? I was living in a shack eating one meal a day when LBJ started the program. Any of my success did not come from the government. It came from hard work, sacrifice and a burning desire to improve. It's no different for anyone else.

Then we come to Welfare. We have people on Welfare for three and four generations.

In the end Entitlements, Minimum Wage, Welfare, and so on are just there to buy votes from the ignorant, misinformed and those wiling to accept the class envy arguements . Entitlements are for those willing to trade freedom for the illusion of security. A welfare check is some security.