People had amazing stories of biodiversity and beauty in and around the lake. The lake, the biggest in Middle East, was apparently so salty that one couldn't even sink in it.

Unfortunately I never got the chance to visit this beautiful part of Iran and the Orumieh lake and apparently I will never have that opportunity. As it turns out the lake seems to be drying up and disappearing forever, thanks to mismanagement, excessive development, and environmental factors.

It takes humanity to destroy such beauty. Shame

Picture courtesy of TIME's Timelapse project, powered by Google.

I'm still a happy XP user at home and at work I use Windows 7 which I equally like. Having seen the strangeness of Windows 8, I decided to skip it as I did with Vista when it was released.

Seems like Microsoft is getting it right (or wrong) with every other Windows release. If some of the classic and useful interfaces like Windows 7 are returned, Windows Blue may just be the platform for my next upgrade.

The thing with Amazon is that investors seem to be so emotionally entangled with company that they have no logic when it comes to its share price. Since its inception, Amazon has played the "long-term" card and it continues today, as in the earnings don't matter because the company is investing in the future.

When this glorified future will materialize for Amazon is anyone's guess. Perhaps in another 17 years or more? Whatever the case, for those who may believe that the latest pullback may signal a return to sanity for this stock, don't believe it. Going by history, it won't be long before Amazon's shares will wipe out all losses and march on to set new 52-week records. It's just that kind of a company.

Now I admit to not being an Apple fan but the one force that was keeping the company firing on all cylinders was Steve Jobs and that is undeniable. When he was there the first time, the company was doing exceptionally well, when he was forced out Apple became a dud, then he returned and Apple came roaring back.

Now Jobs is gone once again and Apple continues on the momentum that he brought with him but that momentum is naturally wearing off. Jobs was a genius and a visionary and it is because of him that Apple has continued to do well much longer than I had anticipated. But eventually the vacuum of vision and innovation must show its effects.

I do wish the company well, but companies don't thrive on well wishes. Jobs was the secret sauce behind the resurgence of Apple and without him the inevitable must now happen. Apple will no doubt survive, but thriving doesn't seem to be the cards.

Hope for a swift and severe justice to whoever did this to one of my favorite cities and one of my favorite activities.

Now Blodget has returned the favor by publishing an article lauding Amazon effusively as an example for other companies to follow.

Is this what has happened to journalism? It has become so contaminated by conflict of interest that people no longer even hide their incestuous relationships. Can anyone honestly read this so-called article and believe it's even close to being impartial?

Bezos is indeed a genius by the way he has pumped up Amazon's shares and by fooling a flock of sheep to believe his company is special and deserves its outrageous valuation. As for the rest of us, there's no need to read the Business Insider article. Surely it is filled with much praise and positivity for a company whose greatest asset is its gullible investors.

States are waking to the reality that alimony in many cases is but a racket perpetrated from one spouse on another and permanent alimony is a specially cruel form of torture.

How permanent alimony came to be is in itself an intriguing topic. How it has been allowed to thrive is a gross travesty of justice and dignity.

Men and women alike should demand that such a draconian law is repealed, never again to be accepted in a civilized society. A marriage should never a be prison sentence enforced by the threat of lifetime extortion for one party and a road to riches for the other.

This is not a male/female issue. It's a fairness and common sense issue. Once a marriage is dissolved, the couple should be able to fairly divide up their assets and move on. Some form of temporary spousal support may be warranted depending on the circumstances, but it certainly shouldn't be forever.

In most cases alimony has become a tool of revenge or a source of income for the leeching spouse, making alimony an incentive to become a parasite.

In a society where equality of the sexes is the rule, outdated alimony laws have no place anymore. Many spouses are too proud and independent to even ask for it and for others, it's time to strongly encourage them to shape up and support themselves.

Normally I would scoff at such excesses, but then this is Star Trek. If I had that kind of disposable money, I would probably splurge quite a bit on the Star Trek memorabilia too. They're after all pretty rare.

'Star Trek' Phaser rifle auctioned off for $231,000

Strange but wish I could do this. Odd invitation from Nebraska jail: Spend the night for $30