an accountancy corporation

                                   

Member
American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants

THE IRS FIRED 71 OF ITS EMPLOYEES FOR THEIR failure to file income-tax return or misstating their tax liability.

THE U.S. IN-BOXES ARE FLOODED WITH SPAM: Unsolicited e-mail, known as spam, is a growing portion of e-mail sent on the Internet.  Spammers who prefer to be called "bulk e-mailers" are so unpopular that 26 states, including California have banned their messages.  Currently, there are no federal laws regarding spam.  But the FTC has cracked down on fraudulent spam.  Spam make up 40% to 80% (according to Earthlink and AOL, respectively) of all e-mail on the Internet, up from 8% a year ago.  Ms. Laura Betterly, a Florida spammer, says she could make a profit if she gets as few as 100 responses for every 10 million messages sent for a customer.  She made some $200,000 last year, doing spamming.  Spam-attacks range from financial, loans, and insurance products to adult, leisure, spiritual and other products and services.  "Buffalo spammer" sent 830 million spam e-mails, used 343 stolen identities to sign up for e-mail accounts with Earthlink, ridiculed his investigators on the phone and evaded subpoena servers for three months.  Catching spammers is not easy.  Because e-mail was not designed to be traced.  Spam sent from overseas computers is almost impossible to trace.  

FOR MORE OF the Generalists, visit our Website at ARKCPA.COM

Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby) said she was at a total loss to reply to the following actual letter:

Dear Abby:

My mother is mean and short-tempered.  Do you think she is going through her mental pause?

80% OF COUPLES WHO WERE "VERY UNHAPPY" in their marriages and agreed not to divorce described themselves as "happy" five years later.  Of those who divorced, only half were "happy" five years later.

BANKER: "A person who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and takes it back when it starts to rain." 

MARRIED COUPLES who lived together prior to getting married are 50% more likely to get divorced.

THE RECORD INDUSTRY MAY BE ABOUT TO BUST your teenager: In what amounts to a war against illegal Internet file swapping, media companies are to go after individuals with large downloaded music and movies.  Identifying and catching such individuals apparently is not a problem.

the Generalist, a one-page monthly publication of the accounting firm of A. R. Kakhsaz Company, is in its ninth year of providing information, presented fairly and accurately, from sources we can depend upon and trust.

WAR IN IRAQ AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A wide range of war-related items are being sold on the Web.  Here's a sample: (1) Iraqi Dis-Information Minister Doll @ $24.95 for non-speaking "dumb" version, $35.95 for "dumber" speaking doll (2) Iraqi "Most-Wanted" Playing Cards@ $5.95 a set (3) Bad Day in Baghdad Hot Sauce @ $5.95 (4) Bumper stickers, mugs, mousepads and other novelty items featuring questions from former Iraqi Information Minister who said such things as "There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!" at $3.99 for a bumper sticker to $29.99 for a sweatshirt. 

President George W. Bush has been quoted as saying: "The French don't have a word for 'Entrepreneur.'"

AS CHINA IS FAST BECOMING A VENERABLE contender in the world economy, the rate of suicide among Chinese is now nearing 4% of all deaths.  Suicide is more prevalent among women and rural residents than among the general population.  The economic growth and social changes of late have brought much uncertainty and stress.  No longer does the state guarantee the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter.  No longer is gain from labor more valued than gain from capital.  Private entrepreneurs are welcomed into the Communist Party.  And China now has a middle-class as large as the U.S. population.   

ONE IN FOUR CHILDREN IN THE NEW YORK neighborhood of Harlem have asthma.  That's one of the highest rates in the U.S.

ONLY 15% OF TODAY'S COLLEGE STUDENTS graduate in four years.  43% of students do not finish in five years. 

WE SEE MORE IN NUMBERS than just numbers… 

Ali R. Kakhsaz, CPA, MAcc

www.arkpca.com