| October 2006
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If it's 4 a.m., that's an infomercial on TV
We can see product demonstrations instantly, online. Yet, even so, this particular brand of extended sales pitch -- rife with painfully bad acting, peppy spokespeople and enthusiastic product demos -- still rules the airwaves in the wee hours. Some suck you in, while others just plain... don't. But they all have something to say. So, now, as we settle down for the post-holiday sales doldrums, we have a few things to say about them. (As for the products themselves, we neither endorse nor malign, as we're strictly infomercial window-shoppers.) That said, we give you "The Insomniac's Guide to (a few) Infomercials," which is -- we swear -- based on descriptions of actual product pitches. The Magic Bullet This infomercial is unique in that it tells a story.
Your Artist Rating:
While at Oxford, he wrote and performed his own songs, which brought him to the attention of manager Larry Parnes (who handled Tommy Steele and other British pop stars). Signing with Parnes, he made recordings for Top Rank Records produced by Tony Hatch (apparently never released) and performed under the name Kris Carson, but he was not successful. After earning a master's degree in English literature from Oxford in 1960, Kristofferson intended to continue his studies there. But during a Christmas break back home in California, he resumed his relationship with an old girlfriend, Fran Beir, and they married. Instead of returning to Oxford, he joined the Army. Like his father, he became a pilot, learning to fly helicopters. He was assigned to West Germany and went there with his wife and their daughter.
GOALFLASHES AND MAJOR INCIDENTS (all times GMT)
Trust me, there's nothing to talk about. This game is dire - as you might see by the "highlights" on Match of the Day tonight. 1845: "Judging by the Player Rater Nolan's having a top game - to anyone watching the match, should he have been taken off?"escavic on 606 .
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
The Athens centre's job is to help Greek consumers enjoy the full benefits of the EU's internal market. It is part of the so-called Euroguichet network of consumer advice offices across Europe. The Athens office is hosted by the Greek Consumer Institute (INKA) and jointly funded by the European Commission, the Central Bank of Greece and the development ministry. Information is available in both Greek and English. The centre is also open to EU citizens visiting Greece who feel they have been swindled, ripped off or bamboozled, and to people living in Greece who feel they have been scammed by businesses in other EU member states. The most common complaints involving purchases concern price hikes, faulty or defective products, inaccurate, misleading or deceiving advertisements and below-standard services as well as instances of exploitation.
Cheaper electricity touted
Now, in hopes of prompting legislators to move on the measure, the Lexington Electric Utility Ad-hoc Committee is touting its review of electricity costs at 12 area high schools from July 2006 through June 2007, which found that schools served by a municipal electric company, or muni, paid about half of the average 18 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity that those served by NStar were charged. NStar is an investor-owned utility. "The study clearly shows that it's not just residential users who would save money with munis," said Patrick Mehr, a longtime advocate for municipal electric companies and member of the ad hoc committee. "Cities, towns, and the state would also save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year - money they could be put to much better use." The study included a review of electricity costs at public high schools in the Acton-Boxborough, Belmont, Brookline, Concord-Carlisle, Lexington, Lincoln-Sudbury, Newton (Newton North and Newton South), Wellesley, Weston, Westwood, and Winchester districts.
Helen Clark Address to University of Southampton
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today on the topic of Social democracy under the Southern Cross: New Zealand in the 21st century. I would like to express my appreciation of the University of Southampton’s academic interest in New Zealand, and its organisation of this lecture series on the “new” New Zealand. .
A Flip-Flopper’s Confession
Yes. I'm a flip-flopper. Of the first degree. Item #225 on the very long list of reasons I could never run for public office. The latest example: The proposed (and languishing, but not yet dead) expansion of the S-CHIP program. First, I was generally in favor of it. Then, I was soundly against it. And then … the factors that prompted me to change my position were challenged by certain astute TMV readers in the back-and-forth comments attached to the October 12 "Center of Attention" feature. So I decided to stop the lazy approach to forming an opinion on this subject (i.e., reading and borrowing the opinions of others) and do a little original homework of my own. Specifically, I decided to seek the input of Republicans who originally supported the expansion and still do, despite the President's veto.
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