Monks Succeed in Cyclone Relief as Junta Falters. In Burma (Myanmar) the Buddhist monks are doing more than anyone to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis. At the same time, Burmese officials are trying to stem the influence of the monks by forcing survivors who have sought refuge in monasteries to return to their shattered homes.

Authorities from the local tax assessor to members of Congress are increasingly challenging the tax-exempt status of nonprofit institutions -- ranging from small group homes to wealthy universities -- questioning whether they deserve special treatment.

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And there are others: Does a nonprofit hospital give enough charity care to earn a tax exemption? Is a wealthy university providing enough financial aid?

In a ruling last December that sent tremors through the not-for-profit world, the Minnesota Supreme Court said a small nonprofit day care agency here had to pay property taxes because, in essence, it gave nothing away.

The agency, the Under the Rainbow Child Care Center, charges the same price per child regardless of whether their parents are able to pay the full amount themselves or they receive government support to cover the cost.

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"From the assessors' standpoint, the Under the Rainbow ruling didn't change anything for us," said Thomas J. May, the tax assessor for Hennepin County and a spokesman for the state's assessors.

In determining which organizations qualify for exemption, assessors in Minnesota rely on the State Constitution, which explicitly exempts things like public burial grounds, seminaries and colleges and universities from taxation, and on six criteria set out in a 1975 State Supreme Court decision.

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Some 95 percent of Under the Rainbow's $550,582 budget in 2006 came from fees for services paid by families or by county and tribal governments. The court concluded that because the center charged all families the same amount, regardless of their ability to pay, and because its rates were not lower than those of its competitors, it was not an institution of "purely public charity" under the law and thus was subject to thousands of dollars in property taxes -- $16,000 in 2006 and in 2007.

These challenges don't seem new in light of the 1975 Supreme Court decision. And I tend to agree, if you're not giving things away, then are you really a charity?

Burma: It Can't Wait is a month-long video campaign by the US Campaign for Burma to raise awareness of the plight of Burma (Myanmar) and Aung San Suu Kyi. There will be one video a day for 30 days from celebrities including Will Ferrel, Sarah Silverman and Eddie Izzard.

But now the political situation in Burma has been overshadowed by a humanitarian catastrophe: a massive cyclone hit Burma on Saturday, killing over 10,000 people. The question now is whether the reclusive military Junta will accept international aid, and what the political ramifications will be if they don't handle this well.

As the MacHeist 2 software scavenger hunt winds down this weekend, the release of the MH software bundle for full-fare paying customers is just around the corner. TUAW has learned that the contents of the bundle will be announced next week on January 9th, and pricing will be the same as last year ($49). As usual, MacHeist donates 25% of the purchase prices of the bundles to charity.

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One thing that we are told will definitely be in the bundle is Pixelmator, so you'll be looking at a bargain on the basis of one $59 app by itself.

I was just remarking to Allie last night (since I've got her doing the MacHeist thing now, too) that Pixelmator would probably be the "big application" that tops off MacHeist this year, much like TextMate was last year.

It's that time of year again -- time to make some charitable donations while the giving spirit is on you and while you have the chance to shelter some of your income from the revenooers. I'm rerunning last year's Charitable giving guide for the end-of-year, with a few updates. I've been lucky enough this year to have some money to put toward the causes I support -- hope you're lucky enough to do this, too. Here's my charitable list for the year.

I thought that a list was put together last year, I was searching for it when putting together my list this year.

For a number of years, I've told people who have been thinking of getting me something for Christmas or whatever holiday excuse they have for gift giving that I'd simply prefer they not get me anything at all. The reaction to often ranges from confusion (i.e., how can you not want gifts?) to exasperation that my insincere "no, no, you don't have to get me anything…" ways just means they will have to be extra crafty in getting me a gift, since I’m not helping them by hinting at what I want. This is when people ask my wife what I want, and she tells them that I told her years ago to stop getting me Christmas gifts. At which point I suspect their heads explode.

Actually, I started doing something similar this year. Mainly because of his first reason, "When I really want something, I buy it." I really do buy myself the things that I want. Also, "it’s money more profitably spent on people who want something in particular, or (if you’re in this frame of mind) to a charity, or just kept in their own pocket." Going along with that charity thing, I set my mom this email:

From: brian@brianpuccio.net
Subject: Christmas
Date: November 17, 2007 9:43:05 PM EST
To: ctpuccio@optonline.net

So I was thinking that since this year my charitable donations have sucked, I'm not asking for anything. If anyone asks what to get me, they can just make a donation to any of the below. Also, another terapass would be nifty.

Thanks!

EFF
Habitat For Humanity
Medecins Sans Frontiers
Free Software Foundation
Heifer International
The Trust For Public Land
International Red Cross
International Medical Corps

I had this list put together and then I read this:

http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/702-darryl-c-didier

So I'd like to add the American Brain Tumor Association to the list.

Thanks!

Scienceblogs.com, as a whole, collected over $54,000, not counting the additional $15,000 that Seed Media will be donating in matching funds. (As of this morning, Steven Colbert and his TV viewers have kicked in $46,000.)

If you like free money, Six Apart (owners of Movable Type and LiveJournal) have an offer for you: send them an email, and they'll send you $30.

"What's the catch?" you say. Because there has to be a catch...

And, indeed, there is a catch: the $30 is in the form of a gift certificate for DonorsChoose.org, the favorite educational charity of ScienceBlogs and a bunch of other people.

As far as charity discs are concerned, Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino is a rather generous helping of good will. For one, the roster of artists who contributed recordings to this collection is a fantastic cross-section of top rock, blues, jazz and roots talent: Tom Petty, B.B. King, Randy Newman, Willie Nelson, Herbie Hancock, and Toots & the Maytals are all there, among many others. There’s even an old John Lennon recording of “Ain’t That a Shame,” which would be a nice bonus if it wasn’t already available elsewhere and if it was even a tenth as good as Cheap Trick’s version (or Fats’ own original). But it’s John Lennon, and if he were alive he’d probably have contributed something new. Since he’s not, this is what we get.

I was listening to some samples through the iTunes music store (though I won't purchase DRM'd music and try to buy used whenever possible) and I really want this CD.