In 2005 Abbas Kowsari was allowed to photograph the graduation ceremonies of female cadets graduating from Iran's police academy, and his images are featured in the fall issue of The Paris Review. Any small note of progress in a repressive society is a good thing, but the import of female cadets pales in comparison to the awesomeness of these photos, staged by one of Iran's hottest rising politicians. Michael Bay may have a new property.
Following in the footsteps of their Afghani predecessors (above), former Tehran police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf got permission to train female cadets, and he made their graduation ceremonies count, with dramatic performances and demonstrations of gunplay. Now the mayor of Tehran, Qalibaf is half Persian, half Kurd rising star in his home country, and he has openly called for talks with Barack Obama. With this sense of style, screw the preconditions.
Dragnet Tehran [The Paris Review]
Quick: Which one of these two boxes is an ad, and which is official Times Web content? Both ran in a column down the right side of an nytimes.com business news article, both have headlines in sans-serif font, both use the exact same link colors. It turns out the one with the big corporate logo (on the right) is actually the editorial content, while the one designed to look like a trustworthy Times table of contents is actually an ad, taking the reader to awful, faux-objective content 
"The nude portrait was a gift from Iceland's first lady, who tells Bloomberg News she has 'yet to meet someone who does not want a naked picture of their loved ones with text about themselves.'" [
"Coverage of the war in Afghanistan has increased slightly this year, with 46 minutes of total coverage year-to-date compared with 83 minutes for all of 2007. NBC has spent 25 minutes covering Afghanistan, partly because the anchor Brian Williams visited the country earlier in the month. Through Wednesday, when an ABC correspondent was in the middle of a prolonged visit to the country, ABC had spent 13 minutes covering Afghanistan. CBS has spent eight minutes covering Afghanistan so far this year." That is from 
New York's Dance Parade—a parade about dancing and against the city's outdated cabaret laws—is a cool idea, but this bossy e-mail missive to promote it is the worst: "I need your support with this dance parade thing. Monetary or just blast it for me. I know that you charge for this [We don't] but I have no budget to actually pay. I am working so hard to save our way of life... This directly affects you, shit without socialdancing your (sic) out of a job." No, without internet advertising I'm out of a job. Socialdancing is a mere perk.
Paper magazine blogger and faded it-boy Fabian Basabe is still really enjoying his new adopted hometown of Los Angeles. Did you know that it's sunnier there? "When in New York City, people are struggling with the incoming cold weather, meetings, sirens and crowds, while everything is so pretty out here in LA! People are genuinely happier and I mean... why not? Everyone is good looking! And on my part, today I had a killer meeting about a new show concept, ate lunch outside, and came home to sit in my jacuzzi for 45 minutes and now I am watching TV while trying to focus. Not bad right? Work AND play! And did I mention everyone is good looking in LA?" Careful, Fabian: Before you put your money down and buy a car, consider that all the stars who never were are selling cars and pumping gas. [
1. "Afghan investigators check the site after a suicide attack in Baghlan province, north of Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007. A bomb attack targeted a group of lawmakers in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing at least 28 people, including five parliamentarians, officials said. Death tolls varied widely in the confusion of the attack, which also wounded dozens of school children. The bomb blast went off outside a sugar factory in the northern province of Baghlan as the lawmakers were about to go inside. The blast struck school children, Afghan elders and government officials who had gathered to greet the visiting delegation of 18 lawmakers from the lower house, officials said. (AP Photo/Sameer Najafizada)" 2. "A protest signs hangs above the Alhambra Creek in Martinez, Calif., on Monday, Nov. 5, 2007. Beavers have shown up in the San Francisco Bay area suburb, building a dam and lodge that will pose a flood threat to the city. Officials have proposed to euthanize the animals, which has angered some of the locals. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)"
From the mailbag: "Gawker, I am looking for a sponsor for our hockey team that will be competing at Chelsea Piers. The team is a good group of guys all working in the city. One works for Howard Stern, one for Bear Sterns, multiple ad agency guys, etc. What we need is a team sponsor. We will proudly wear any jersey and team logo, anything. If you could help us get Summer's Eve, we will gladly be called the Douches. Let me know if you can help out with this request. It's 8k for a season, but we are open to any and all offers - including those who will pay for the jersey's only. Thanks for your help. Of course, if you help us land a sponsor we will get a Gawker logo on the jersey." Do you ever feel not so fresh? We do!
