2005, a Perspectives in Quotes

File these under:

KATRINA
"What I'm hearing which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on hurricane refugees in the Houston Astrodome.

JUST WRONG
"I got it at Nordsstroms [sic] ... Are you proud of me? Can I quit now? Can I go home?"
Former FEMA Director, Michael Brown, in an Aug. 29 2005, email to an aid about his TV appearance and wardrobe.

"It's got everything. Fame. Race. Homosexuality. A Peter Pan love story."
British paparazzo Jeff Rayner, explaining the media's interest in the Michael Jackson child molestation story.

JUST RIGHT
"This is killing us around the world."
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to VP Dick Cheney, after asking the GOP senators to reconsider the anti-torture amendment.

IRAQ
"It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong. As president, I'm responsible for the decision to go into Iraq."
President Bush, offering a mea culpa but strongly defending his decision to go to war, on the eve of Iraq's first national election.

"I chose to do what my friends wanted me to."
Pfc. Lynndie England, pleading guilty at her court-martial on charges of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib.

"He's said that my son - and other children we've lost - died for a noble cause. I want to find out what the noble cause is."
Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq, on why she was keeping a vigil outside Geroge Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

TERRORISIM
"If London can survive the Blitz, it can survive four miserable events like this."
Sir Ian Blair, London Metropolitan Police commissioner on London transit bombings.

CORP. AMERICA
"You did not notice $25 million was missing from your W-2?"
Prosecutor, Ann Donnelly, to former Tyco CEO, Dennis Kozlowski at his trial for securities fraud.

FINAL WORD
"Courage."
TV anchor, Dan Rather, final word as he signed off from the CBS Evening News" for the last time after 24 years of reporting. Rather was mocked for using the signoff when he experimented with it briefly in 1986.

source: Newsweek

Ramin Talaie
December 31, 2005
Brooklyn, New York

2005, a Perspectives in Quotes

File these under:

KATRINA
"What I'm hearing which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on hurricane refugees in the Houston Astrodome.

JUST WRONG
"I got it at Nordsstroms [sic] ... Are you proud of me? Can I quit now? Can I go home?"
Former FEMA Director, Michael Brown, in an Aug. 29 2005, email to an aid about his TV appearance and wardrobe.

"It's got everything. Fame. Race. Homosexuality. A Peter Pan love story."
British paparazzo Jeff Rayner, explaining the media's interest in the Michael Jackson child molestation story.

JUST RIGHT
"This is killing us around the world."
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to VP Dick Cheney, after asking the GOP senators to reconsider the anti-torture amendment.

IRAQ
"It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong. As president, I'm responsible for the decision to go into Iraq."
President Bush, offering a mea culpa but strongly defending his decision to go to war, on the eve of Iraq's first national election.

"I chose to do what my friends wanted me to."
Pfc. Lynndie England, pleading guilty at her court-martial on charges of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib.

"He's said that my son - and other children we've lost - died for a noble cause. I want to find out what the noble cause is."
Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq, on why she was keeping a vigil outside Geroge Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

TERRORISIM
"If London can survive the Blitz, it can survive four miserable events like this."
Sir Ian Blair, London Metropolitan Police commissioner on London transit bombings.

CORP. AMERICA
"You did not notice $25 million was missing from your W-2?"
Prosecutor, Ann Donnelly, to former Tyco CEO, Dennis Kozlowski at his trial for securities fraud.

FINAL WORD
"Courage."
TV anchor, Dan Rather, final word as he signed off from the CBS Evening News" for the last time after 24 years of reporting. Rather was mocked for using the signoff when he experimented with it briefly in 1986.

Ramin Talaie
December 31, 2005
Brooklyn, New York

So this is Christmas....What have you done?

Peace continues to be missing in the world as billions of people around the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Today four months after the hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the city remains desolate and devastated.

In Iran, Ahmadinejad questions Holocaust and in Iraq Saddam Hussein makes fun of his own victims in a so-called Iraqi court in Baghdad.

Hundred of thousands of Pakistanis are exposed to a harsh winter after a powerful earthquake.

AIDS, poverty and war persist and is rampant in Africa.

The artic caps continue to melt and thank God we continue to ignore our environment and the Kyoto Protocol.

France burns with the anger of Muslim youth while Chinese child-laborers manufacture toys for our children.

The White House admits to wire tapping and spying on its own citizens and the Patriot Act "stays the course" by getting 5 more weeks of life in Washington.

Let us not forget about the avian flu. In my book any flu that can fly is worth being considered pandemic.

Right now, children die of diseases long eradicated in the U.S. such as Polio.

At home in New York City I feel lucky. At least I have on-line shopping and the ever popular gift certificates. I am also very excited about the new Mac Donald debit cards. Another Christmas and another shopping season ends.

Transit Workers Union Scrooges almost ruined the shopping season, I mean the holiday season for all of us. At least they now have the 'respect' of most New Yorkers.....get back to work you “thugs” someone yields. A few more days of walking in brutal cold and I am afraid FEMA would have had to intervene.

After over 20 years in America, what I like best about Christmas is the Yule log on Channel 11. It was there when I first landed in this country and it is now back again.

Below is a frame grab taken from a broadcast of WPIX-TV's Yule log. The televised Yule Log, a recurring 7-minute video that debuted on the Tribune Co. stations in 1966, has gained renewed popularity since returning to the air in 2001 after a 10-year hiatus.

Courtesy of WPIX - Via Bloomberg News

The Yule Log on my TV on Christmas day

Ramin Talaie
From my apartment in Brooklyn, New York.

Ethics

Take a look at the following images and note the photo credits:

Majid/Getty Images - Published in The New York Times

Roozbeh Jadidolislam/Polaris/Deadline Photo Press - Syndicated Worldwide

Majid/Getty Images - Syndicated Worldwide by Getty

Hossein Fatemi/FARS News Agency - Syndicated for free in Iran

Hossein Fatemi/FARS News Agency - Syndicated for free in Iran

Fact
All of the above photos are essentially one image. However, there are 3 different names attached to it.

Questions
Who is the real photographer? Was this image stolen? Is this a common practice among Iranian press?

The Real Story
The image captures the pandemonium, rescue and the tragedy of a C-130 plane that crashed into a residential tower.

Reuters reported that over 116 people died in the crash. Among the dead were 68 journalists and media technicians, en route to cover military exercises in the Gulf from various news agencies.

I feel that the tragic loss of friends and colleagues is over shadowed by the lack of ethics shown by the Iranian press/photo community.

Fars News Agency, like other government sponsored news gathering organizations in Iran is underwritten by the Ministry of Ershad a branch of the government in charge of monitoring and controlling media in Iran.

Photographers who work for these news agencies (i.e. Fars, ISNA, ILNA) are sometimes given full access to events that are not always welcoming to foreign press.

Their photographers get paid a salary and the images are owned by the news organizations for distribution. The publications in Iran do not pay for the use of the images or the reports.

Some photographers hungry for worldwide recognition and a quick dollar sell the exact images to various stock and news agencies outside Iran.

Polaris in New York along with SIPA and Deadline in Europe are some of the agencies that syndicate their work. I believe that in some cases they do turn a blind eye to this issue.

One principal offender, Majid, who is a senior shooter with Fars also takes other people's work and sells it under his own name.

Majid also sells to Getty Images which supposed to be distributing exclusive pictures through their wire services.

I am not sure how to address this problem. One photographer blogger in Iran, Mohammad Kheirkhah is trying to address this issue from the inside.

Perhaps one cause and motivation is the lack of existing strong copyright regulations and disregard for international intellectual property laws.

The annual international book fair in Tehranattracts millions of people. Various trade show attendees openly promote and sell titles translated from English without permission from the rightful authors and/or the publishers.

Computer programing titles on sale in Tehran book Fair
document IRAN/Ramin Talaie -April 2004

Iran is applying to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). A byproduct of the WTO membership is enforcing and supporting international copyrights and intellectual property laws.

WTO membership might be years away, but the way I see it, ethics among journalists should rise above it all.

This is a challenge for all Iranian journalists to understand and to face it head on...now.

Ramin Talaie
Brooklyn, New York

Transit Strike

Many of the 7 million New Yorkers will be affected if the Transit Workers Union (TWU) and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) do not reach an agreement during the current ongoing contract negotiations.

Subway entrance across from Grand Central Terminal - 8:30 pm

At 12:01 Friday morning TWU contract with MTA ran out. However, a strike was averted as the deadline was pushed to early next week. At the same time, a few privately operated bus routes in Queens by MTA and under TWU labor agreement will start a partial strike.

I will be on an 8 hours shift for the Bloomberg News (12 to 8 AM) on Sunday night to cover the negotiations just in case if there is a resolution.

Ramin Talaie
New York, New York

Greenspan at NYU

The U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan makes a speech after receiving an honorary degree of Doctor of Commercial Science from the New York University.

Ramin Talaie
The New York City, December 14, 2005

Iranian Journalists Die in Tehran Plane Crash

Sorry friends. . .


Ramin
Brooklyn, New York