Oh my God, I just realized I'm researching political advocacy restrictions in the US tax code.

Apparently the IRS is going after the NAACP on the grounds that a speech by Julian Bond that criticized administration policy constituted anti-Bush campaign activity, forbidden by the group's 501(c)(3) status.

I thought I was going to catch the IRS pulling a big tasty double standard here, but I haven't (though I agree with Bond that springing this now seems awfully Nixonian). As it happens, lots of really overtly Republican organizations are 501(c)s, including the NRA, and lots of little groups that are basically stealth versions of 527s. However, that article is frustratingly nonspecific: it turns out that most of these aren't 501(c)(3) groups, which seem to have the most restrictive limits on political activity of all the various flavors of 501(c). The NRA is a 501(c)(4), though their kids' gun safety campaign is a 501(c)(3). Maybe the NAACP ought to be classified under a different subsection.

howdy

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I'm pretty sure I bought way too much Halloween candy. I'm going to have to bring the surplus to the office or something, or else it will surely kill me dead.

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Radka seems to be a bigger draw than the pumpakins.

Pair of jacks

( Both jack-o-lanterns )

Photographing animals

paracelsvs asked how to take good pictures of cats. I don't consider myself that great a photographer, certainly not compared to a pro like, say, Photodude who has good equipment and pro-level knowledge and stuff, but I think I've picked up a few things.

( some pointers... )