|
|
May 9, 2013
When I was growing up in Iran, one of the places I always wanted to visit the Orumieh (Urmia) lake in the north-western part of the country. The lake was known as Rezaieh lake prior to the Islamic revolution in the country.
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.
May 8, 2013
 Speculation is running rampant that Windows Blue, the successor to the much hated Windows 8 will see the return of the Start button, as well as other improvements.
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.
April 29, 2013
 Last week Amazon reported an $0.18/share earnings on a lower than expected revenues for its past quarter. The shares seesawed after hours and finally ended down some $20 on Friday. The earnings were almost twice what the street had expected, but think about this, The street was expecting this company to earn a measly $40 million. This is a 17 year-old established company with a market capitalization of $130 billion, it should be expected to do much better.
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.
April 17, 2013
 Apple shares hit a 52-week nearing $400/share today, even below some of the price points from when Steve Jobs was alive. The news surrounding Apple isn't very rosy. iPhone continues to lose market share to Google's Android, iTunes is losing market share to Amazon, and the PC/laptop markets are shrinking in general dragging Apple down along the way. Analysts aren't predicting a good quarterly report next week.
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.
April 16, 2013
 Big sympathy for Boston, the marathon runners, and those affected in the senseless act of violence.
Hope for a swift and severe justice to whoever did this to one of my favorite cities and one of my favorite activities.
April 14, 2013
It was barely 10 days ago when the news broke of Amazon's Bezos investing $5 million is Blodget's web site, Business Insider. Most saw it as Bezos' genius investing in the up and coming web site. I just saw it as one pal taking care of another, as Blodget has been a vociferous support for Amazon almost from its inception.
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.
April 13, 2013
Finally the wheels of justice have begun to ever so slowly move towards logic and fairness. This time it is in the state of Florida.
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.
April 10, 2013
Kudos to the New Jersey lawmakers for presenting a bill that would abolish permanent alimony.
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.
April 8, 2013
 A rifle prop from the original Star Trek pilot was recently sold by an auction house for nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
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
April 3, 2013
A new Nebraska jail has invited people to act as guinea pigs and test the facility. For $30 participants get a taste of being an inmate for one night plus a couple of meals. Proceeds go to charity.
Strange but wish I could do this. Odd invitation from Nebraska jail: Spend the night for $30
Older Posts »
Powered by 
Liked this page? Donate and support the effort.
Read Financial Markets |
Home |
Blog |
Web Tools |
News |
Articles |
FAQ |
About |
Contact
© 2001-2013 Robert Hashemian
|
|
kBRm7EfVrOw~~60_1.JPG)
BR,G2),+rg~~60_1.JPG)
