Monthly Archives: June 2009

links for 2009-06-30

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Lewisville in the News

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You never like to hear stories about people being shot because someone shot into their home for seemingly no reason, but it's even worse when it happens close to home:

A Lewisville man was hit by a bullet Saturday night when someone shot into his home on Shallowford Road, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office said.

George Bargoil, 55, and his wife were in bed when they heard gunshots about 11:50 p.m., said Maj. Brad Stanley, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.

Bargoil got up, and that's when a bullet hit him in the arm, Stanley said.

Bargoil was taken by ambulance to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

Lewisville also made the news in a roundabout way when Kevin Jennings, who grew up in Lewisville, became the focus of a Family Research Council effort to block his nomination for Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education:

The Family Research Council (FRC) aims to keep Winston-Salem, N.C.-native Kevin Jennings — founder and former executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) — from taking his post as assistant deputy secretary of education for the department’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

The FRC has set up StopJennings.org, which lists quotes from past Jennings speeches and writings, including from his memoir “Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son,” recounts his life growing up in conservative North Carolina.

In a press release, FRC said the statements on their campaign website are “Kevin Jennings’ most outrageous quotes.” The website allows the public to send an email to the president and Congress opposing Jennings’ appointment…

Jennings takes his post on July 6. The appointment was originally decided on May 19 and publicly announced June 1. Jennings grew up right outside of Winston-Salem, in small town Lewisville, N.C. He is the son of a Baptist preacher. Jennings attended Harvard College, graduating magna cum laude, began a career as a school teacher and later founded GLSEN.

Heading Back to Green

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I’ve spent the last week in Vegas on business and I can’t wait to get home to NC. I really miss the color green, and although it was something like 900 degrees in Vegas I wouldn’t know because I was in a conference center, thus I’m also looking forward to seeing the sun again.

BTW, it rained in Vegas while I was there and I learned that the news folks there treat rain like we treat snow in NC. They rolled out team coverage with quadruple Doppler technology to let everyone know that when you get a cloudburst that produces 1/10 of one inch of rain the ground gets wet and the roads get slick. They also want you to know that the cumulative rain total for June is 1/10 of one inch and that they are just as capable of finding the dumbest people in the city for “man on the street” interviews as the news folks in NC are. Oh,, and 109 is frickin’ hot.

Yep, looking forward to getting home. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Amazon.com Throws Me Overboard

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Amazon.com is in a tax tiff with North Carolina and as a result any North Carolinian based person or business is apparently no longer welcome in the company’s Associates Program. Not that it means a whole lot to me because in the however many years I’ve been a member I think I’ve earned a grand total of $6 which is less than the minimum they require to actually go to the trouble of sending me money, and now that I’ve been tossed I’ll never attain my goal of becoming an Amazon gazillionaire. Despite the fact that this means literally nothing to me I still feel like I’ve gotten a “Dear John” letter…oh wait, I guess I kind of have. Anyway, here’s the text of the email they sent to gid rid of me:

Subject: Important Notice from the Amazon Associates Program

We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account has been closed as of June 26, 2009. This is a direct result of the unconstitutional tax collection scheme expected to be passed any day now by the North Carolina state legislature (the General Assembly) and signed by the governor. As a result, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com after June 26. We were forced to take this unfortunate action in anticipation of actual enactment because of uncertainties surrounding the legislation s effective date.

Please be assured that all qualifying referral fees earned prior to June 26, 2009 will be processed and paid in full in accordance with our regular referral fee schedule. Based on your account closure date of June 26, 2009, any final payments will be paid by September 1, 2009.

In the event that North Carolina repeals this tax collection scheme, we would certainly be happy to re-open our Associates program to North Carolina residents.

The North Carolina General Assembly s website is http://www.ncleg.net/ [ http://www.ncleg.net/ ], and additional information may be obtained from the Performance Marketing Alliance at http://www.performancemarketingalliance.com/ [ http://www.performancemarketingalliance.com/ ].

We have enjoyed working with you and other North Carolina-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program, and wish you all the best in your future.

Best Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry