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Sumeria
Written by: Jack Lemoine
Blogging Will Durant’s History of Civilization
Written history is at least six thousand years old. During half this period the center of human affairs, so far as they are now known to us, was the Near East.
These people occupied the Tigris and Euphrates River Valley in modern Iraq and may have developed the first civilization with agriculture, commerce, and writing thousands of years ago. Durant considers them the first civilization of history because they left written records behind.
The names of the city-states carry a special ring today: Akkad, Lagash, Ur – are these the last audio we have of their forgotten language?
About 2800 bc, a king, Sargon, conquered all of Sumeria and then the fertile crescent of land to the Mediterranean Sea. How could he have ruled such a vast territory? It was either with a very light hand or a higher level of administration than we normally associate with primitive civilizations. I suspect that the Sumerians advanced closer to classical civilization (e.g. Greece, Rome) than we are used to thinking.
Sumeria gets 20 pages in Durant.
Durant’s Brief Outline
- The Historical Background
- Economic Life
- Government
- Religeon and Morality
- Letters and Arts
- From Book One, The Near East, Chapter VII. Sumeria.
I believe that this series is one of the great works of modern history literature. Its material is essential knowledge.
New IRS Policies on Tax Liens
Written by: Jack Lemoine
Exciting new policies for taxpayers who are about to get hit with tax liens or have already been hit with one.
- The tax owed the IRS is now $10,000 instead of $5,000.
- It will be a lot easier to get a lien removed. In fact, one may get it removed by getting a direct withdrawel agreement with the IRS, after a probationary period. (This makes so much sense one wonders why the IRS have not been doing this all along!)
- Small businesses with $25,000 in unpaid taxes can now get an installment agreement over 24 months. Earlier threshold was $10,000. At least this is a step in the right direction. One still wonders why businesses cannot get agreements based on projected ability to pay.
- On the Offers in Compromise front, taxpayers with incomes < $100,000 are eligible (versus < $50,000 earlier). Tax liability must be < $50,000 (versus < $25,000 before).
Many people may have just given up. They now have some hope of getting out of their tax debt.
More info from the IRS.
Outsourcing
Written by: Jack LeMoine
It’s the final push for those tax returns. CPA’s are desperate to get the work out while those looking for work are desperate to find it. I know because I’m one of those in that last category.
People talk about out-sourcing. It seems to me that I would prefer someone who could come into my office and either do it right there or else pick up the work and do it at his own office. The long distance thing can be such a back-and-forth chore.
The problem right now is that the folks needing seasonal help don’t have the time to interview right now. What to do? – Just call me! (Grin!)
Seriously, if I was looking to hire someone right now, I would be looking at temp per-diem relationships. I would consider minimum qualifications and a record of activity. That means software (Quickbooks certified?), tax experience, accounting experience. Also, are they active in GSCPA?
If there was work past April, so much the better but right now, I’d just be thinking of getting to 4/15.
jack_pc@bellsouth.net
Our Oriental Heritage by Will Durant
Written by: Jack LeMoine
This is the first volume of a multi-volume series intended to cover the history of the world. After 40 years, the author got to the Age of Napoleon before old age stopped him.
I’ve had this set since I was a young man in the 1970′s. It has been a treasure. I know I can borrow from the library but this is one of those sets that I want with me always.
The history goes lightly over politics and wars so that it can concentrate on art, culture, and everyday life. This represents a refreshing break from standard fare. Read the rest of this entry »
Books…
Written by: Jack LeMoine
Got a set of classic books that look great on your bookshelves? Really spruce up your rooms, right? Have you read them? Me neither.
This year I figured out an angle. I downloaded a set from Guttenberg Library (free), chopped the texts into bite-sized chunks and uploaded them into a blog. I call it my “Literature Daily” blog.
Since I didn’t have to write these posts – the great masters did – it was easy to pump out a lot of them at a time. I did this before tax season started and used the scheduling feature in Blogger to line up the posts for publishing each day. I’ve scheduled them through June. Sometime after tax season, I shall extend the publishing to the end of the year. Read the rest of this entry »
