Beautiful! Thanks for sharing

I can't imagine a better "alert" bird than a conure. I've never heard anything that loud. Sounds like your birds have a much better life now.

Good point about lower income people who need tax exempt status to accomplish their mission. With slim margins, every little bit helps.

I like some of the clever, non-physical interventions others have mentioned and will try to remember them for the future. However, while we're talking about proportionality, it can't be forgotten that the woman slapped Williamson (I assume it was across the face) after he grabbed her phone. It may have been pure reaction on her part, but would you say it was an overreaction on her part? My take is that it was excessive and unjustified.

@ kohana

It sounds like, for your group, tax exempt status might not have been worth pursuing, depending upon the time spent on the process. It's probably difficult to know until you get going. It sounds like a good cause though.

What a beautiful bird! I once found a sun conure that had escaped from its owner's house. Kept it for a few months until we were able to locate them and discovered that I really liked it. It's quite a commitment though, not one I'd take on lightly.

I wonder if Williamson can find a friendly optometrist to diagnose him with some type of bright light/dark room eye problem, thus justifying the throwing of the phone in self defense?

And yes, I like the ticket refund punishment for the rude woman. She definitely needs to learn a lesson.

I have virtually no faith that the GOP will lead the way or stay the course. It will be Tea Party/Libertarian types who make the real effort. I just hope the GOP doesn't muscle in only to screw it up.

Yep, surely a church would value its right to operate according to its principles more highly than any tax exemption.  

I guess that goes to the heart of my question:

is the amount of money saved enough to offset the potential damage to the mission?

are there legal requirements that basically compel a church to seek non-profit status? (Amy may have answered that one though I can't imagine it applies to churches/synagogues etc)

And I've been conflating non-profit with not-for-profit with religious institutions, so that probably doesn't help clarify things.

No kidding! Thanks for the info.

Aha, that explains some of what is confusing me. Thanks!

True, though an organization can be non-profit without actually possessing a government license (so to speak) for tax exemption, right?

Great ideas. I'd add that we should continue to unearth stories from real people affected by this and create sympathetic, highly personal, ready to launch ads  that can be used in 2014. The more, the better. Rather than repeating a handful of stories, we ought to be highlighting the breadth of the problem and not letting up until it sinks into the national consciousness.

Extrapolate from this scandal the ramifications for IRS-run Obamacare and scare the daylights out of people. Note the recent IRS access of millions of medical records without a warrant. 

Make examples of any GOP pol or talking head who tries to "take the high road" by failing to support House-led investigations into the IRS and fully support good attempts at tax reform that may spring from them.

If the Right can't properly manage a golden opportunity like this, it deserves to be buried.

He was right, though he should probably compensate her for the damage to the phone. However, if she up and slapped him as a result, I'd say they're even. If he is hit with criminal charges and she isn't, that's insane.

There is an unwritten rule about how to act in public and it used to be understood by everyone. If reactions like Williamson's, and public support and approval for same, were more common, we'd see better behavior overall. It's not enough for a person to react strongly to rude behavior; people in the immediate vicinity should cheer him on, else the jerk gets to feel like a victim and carries on.

And yes, the theater management failed miserably. They should have removed the woman if she refused to turn off the phone.

Great post.

Likes:

The ability to get and stay clean (indoor plumbing, daily showers, washing machines)

Disposable goods--toilet paper, tissues, cotton balls, aluminum foil

Refrigerators and freezers

MRI/X-ray/Ultrasound--examine the body and its processes without cutting it open

Cars--go when and where you want, quickly, and not worry about the weather

Recorded music--can’t imagine a time when music was only available if you played it yourself (or hired musicians)

The ability to transmit sound and images over large distances--how many humans who ever lived never experienced more than the world right in front of them?

Inexpensive (e-)books--no need to explain

Internet, incl. e-commerce--anything you could possibly want to know or have, at any time, from around the globe

Dislikes:

Cell Phones (I grudgingly accept a single, stationary house phone might be advisable, for some people, out in the country, maybe)

Facebook

Bachelorette parties

Jogging and other public exercise

I’d bring back:

Carrier pigeons/smoke signals/telegrams

Free-range childhood

Hats on men and women

After-dinner pipes

Buildings that aren’t hermetically sealed

The possibility to get lost and start fresh

Here's hoping!

I was once told by a liberal guy (can’t call him a man) that while he deeply regretted cheating on his wife, once they split up, he didn’t feel at all bad about continuing the affair with a married woman because then he wasn’t doing anything wrong (the married woman was). Nope, no moral gray area there!

I actually thought I hadn’t heard him correctly, or maybe had suffered a small stroke, because I couldn’t comprehend that an adult could believe such a thing.

Those 25-33%, starting their journey of enlightenment with disappointment in Obama, may move on to a fuller appreciation of liberty and self-reliance and vote accordingly the rest of their lives; or they might pin it all on Obama and his flaws and have their heads turned by the next Dem or Dem-lite who promises them a better run system with many of the same features; or they might vote in a Republican only to turn on him later when they don't receive the goodies they feel they are due.

In my experience, it's a rare person who changes substantially and people generally don't assign blame to themselves or their beliefs---it's always the case that they were lied to or confused or voted for someone who wasn't up to the job.

My despair and helplessness in the face of my fellow man precedes Obama by decades.