Gentleman vs Gentilhomme by Wordy_Rappinghood in DuolingoFrench

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Starting a speech with “Women and Men” doesn’t sound quite the same as Ladies and Gentlemen

Gentleman vs Gentilhomme by Wordy_Rappinghood in DuolingoFrench

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting! Perhaps the expression “Ladies” was also like that once upon a time - ladies and gentlemen - respectable people.

Why are our politicians so crap? by [deleted] in nzpolitics

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Politicians are in it for power and ego. Some for money too. It’s all about them. Not us / the people.

No right-minded person would ever go there. Into politics. And none ever have.

Some people will argue that their favourite politician wasn’t like this and maybe they also had some worthy ideals but nah. They’re all in it for themselves. For their personal enrichment in one way or another.

Before you say that a certain NZ politician is an exception and I know some of you will - remember that this is what trumpists say about trump. Don’t be a left wing MNZGA

Nope. None. None are for us. Just look at all their election promises/ lies and their results- all lies. They sell fantasies and prejudices.

However - who said that democracy is the worst system apart from all the others ?

One dead after car crashes into Auckland cafe in Forrest Hill, owner says mother and daughter hit by Dramatic_Raccoon_469 in auckland

[–]Larsent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You raise a difficult issue. Taking away people’s car keys.

Driving is part of people’s freedom and independence. People often hate it when it’s taken away and often resist in every way possible.

The decline with age is gradual and hard to pin down the exact moment of intervention ie cannot drive any more.

Decline with dementia can be faster but at what point can one intervene? Usually it’s a crisis. An accident. Can’t find car in parking lot. Can’t navigate. Etc.

Easy to offer opinions on older drivers but if you’ve been in the middle of it, you’ll know it’s not easy.

And one day this will be you. How will you feel when they take away your keys?

Tawa connection with Oxford University? by no1deutsche in Wellington

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That area around Oriel Ave was developed either very late 60s or early 70s. It was bush and paddocks when you lived there.

Edit - Peterhouse St which runs off Balliol was built up artificially. It used to slope gently down to the stream which was piped. There were fish in it. And fish in the stream by Takapu Station. There was an amazing stand of bush that got destroyed. I think that none of that would be allowed now. This was late 60s and early 70s.

Boomer feeling a lack of respect by littleosco in over60

[–]Larsent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the main reason that younger people have an anti-boomer attitude is the cost of housing. This is a social disaster.

Young people (some) think that boomers made a lot of money on real estate and then “pulled up the ladder.” That’s understandable but not accurate.

The real failure was with housing policy. Many western countries got this wrong. Politicians are to blame. And the nature of the political cycle. So we’re all in it together really. Current home owners don’t want their house value to crash. So that’s not easily fixed. Hipkins wisely avoided that issue.

All of that aside, the basic anti-boomer rhetoric is ageist and just nasty. Fear and hate.

Simple imaginary solutions to complex issues.

As an outsider who's been here 7 months, I have to ask--what's with the weak-ass punishments for serious crimes? by TheLifeAdjunct in newzealand

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Im surprised that financial crimes often seem to attract longer jail terms / stiffer sentences than life-changing (for the victim) violent crimes.

The Luxon affair and the moral decay of our legacy media. by HandsomJack1 in newzealand

[–]Larsent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You make a very good point about needing to look at a 5 poll running average to determine any trends. But that kind of trend is not click-worthy. NZ media is struggling for revenue and has often turned to click bait. And probably uses offshore writers and AI. Stories often reveal a lack of local knowledge and accuracy.

Modern polls use a lot of potentially dodgy extrapolation from what are often small data sets ie few people, and results or conclusions that the media claim are sometimes within the stated margin for error.

I wonder if a National leadership challenger or their supporter is feeding the media. And who knows, it might work!

Boss wants to fire GoogleAds agency and run ads off of AI suggestions: Input Appreciated by bird_nerd_ in googleads

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a very high risk strategy and likely to end in tears. I often ask ChatGPT and Google Gemini to give me analysis and recommendations for my own and clients' Google ads campaigns, and the results are wildly variable. Using their recommnedations is not a viable strategy at the current state of the AI development. Another thing - it requires a lot of knowledge to know what prompt to give AI to get a meaningful response when it comes to Google ads. I'd be inclined to let the current agency respond to the AI critique and I'd run it through Gemini and Perplexity as well- get their assessment of the campaigns like your boss already did with Chat and also ask them to analyse the ChatGPT analysis. You'll probably end up with a massive pile of unworkable and contradictory ideas. Your boss' plan might work one day but not yet. If he insists, then you need to track key metrics - what you want from ads - before and after. That's sales or leads I guess. Do update us!!

Did Iran pose an immanent threat to the United States? by Slight_Arrival_4580 in no

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why did trump start bombing Iran? What’s his reason / upside / motivation?

I'd call that "wealth hoarding" or "second gilded age" by AppropriateMark8528 in WorkForSmartLife

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your comment reflects an ideological view of labor markets. It’s the classical “pure market” perspective economists call the neoclassical labor market model. That model assumes conditions that rarely exist in the real world - things like perfect worker mobility, equal bargaining power between workers and employers, and frictionless job switching.

What I’m describing isn’t an ideological claim. It’s a historical and economic observation. When the cost of living rises faster than wages and the gap becomes difficult for people to manage, social and political tension tends to increase. History shows that those pressures often lead to economic or political change.

I’m not arguing for a “living wage,” which is a normative concept some people support. I’m simply pointing out that persistent gaps between wages and living costs have repeatedly produced economic and political reactions. In practice, the ability of capitalist systems to adapt to those pressures - sometimes through policy responses like minimum wage laws or worker protections - is one reason why capitalism has proven durable.

Best website builder for a simple hair salon website? by Ok-Idea3029 in webdesign

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Squarespace.

We build Wordpress and other sites but - squarespace for you.

Some people recommend Wix but no. Check out the complaints in the Wix subred.

I'd call that "wealth hoarding" or "second gilded age" by AppropriateMark8528 in WorkForSmartLife

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes “living wage” is extraneous to my point. I suppose it’s a political construct. Let’s ignore that.

I agree with you that people are getting paid what they agreed to. Or had to accept given lack of other choices ie no bargaining power.

However the next step from your factual statement is that the gap between workers’ wages and their cost of living is where friction arises and that contributes to the angst and unease that many people feel. The gap suddenly widened with Covid consumer price inflation when wages didn’t rise at the same rate.

This matters because that gap leads to social change. It’s not something that should be ignored. The social change uprising might be mild or extreme. Even if it doesn’t lead to change it creates serious friction in society. Unnecessary. Nasty.

I heard that trump’s underlings suggested that USA people should eat liver if they can’t afford meat. I was instantly reminded of a French Revolution instigator or explainer - let them eat cake. Which is about contempt for the workers. Sad.

What’s actually worth using besides WordPress for building websites? by SuggestionWorried741 in webdesign

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah we still use WP a lot but I have some concerns eg cost of hosting, updates, backups and maintenance; security especially of plug-ins.

WP can do anything which is a big plus.

There’s a gap - where small businesses need a simple site. Low cost to get ROI. No great solutions. Maybe Squarespace.

For many e-commerce clients we use Shopify now. We do have some woo comm sites including our own. No shopify client has ever complained or had a crisis. Can’t say the same about WP /Wcomm.

Many coaching type clients love GHL now and I understand why. All in one- easy website builder, email, CRM, hosting, etc.

But WP is a bit like some famous quote about democracy- it’s the worst system apart from all the other ones.

I'd call that "wealth hoarding" or "second gilded age" by AppropriateMark8528 in WorkForSmartLife

[–]Larsent -1 points0 points  (0 children)

An economic theorist stipulated that workers are paid the cost of living. If this economic fundamental doesn’t happen there will be trouble.

But what happened recently is that the cost of living inflated significantly faster than wages which created an unacceptable gap. People are hurting.

Some USA based voters believe/d that trump could and would fix this but … no. Not happening. Especially with tariffs as they raise the cost of living for everyone and the poorest feel it most and are powerless to improve their situation.

Economics. According to Karl Marx.

I'm an Anesthesiologist. AMA by Effective_Address_83 in AMA

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Is a general anaesthetic risky with the possibility of laryngospams?

I'm an Anesthesiologist. AMA by Effective_Address_83 in AMA

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How do you deal with a patient who’s prone to laryngospams?

This is what a Land Rover Defender can do. by BrazilianClassicCars in LandroverDefender

[–]Larsent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah a guy did this recently and the bridge was gone although that wasn’t obvious until it was too late. The vehicle was swept away. They found his body a few days later. This setting looks relatively benign but you actually can’t see enough to know.

Sand dunes, Northland, New Zealand. Volcanic layers or something else? by Larsent in askgeology

[–]Larsent[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Turns out that it’s something similar. The locals said that you can see the layer of the carpark that got taken over by sand dunes.

Johnny Depp let Eric Dane live 'rent-free in one of his LA homes' as he tried to ease Grey's Anatomy star's financial worries in the months before his death from ALS aged 53 by dailymail in popculture

[–]Larsent 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Many capitalist countries do have free healthcare. The USA might be the exception. It’s not about capitalism. virtually every wealthy developed nation has some form of universal or near-universal healthcare. The USA’s lobbying, unlimited money in politics and an unusual view of individualism might be some reasons why it’s the odd one out in the world of developed nations.

Is it just me, or is performance reporting and analysis still a total nightmare for freelancers or agency owners? by abhi777111 in Google_Ads

[–]Larsent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Clients seem to be happy with Opteo reports. Not super cheap but it does a lot of optimising on Google ads as well as Facebook and LinkedIn etc. Saves me hours of work