IRAQ THE MODEL

I’ve been facing continuous problems with my internet connection in the past few days and I expect this to last for another couple of days, so excuse the light blogging.

The good thing is that such blackouts are temporary while the service is usually reliable and steady most of the time, unlike what Michael Totten experienced in his Middle East journey so far! Anyway, I’m seeking alternative methods to connect to the internet in case my default connection dies and I found one method that sounds good; one of Iraq’s three cell phone operators Asia Cell has introduced a GPRS service through which anyone can get on the web either directly through a cell phone or through a PCMCI modem plugged into a laptop. I have purchased their sim card and all I need now is to order the modem and then I’ll be able to get a connection anywhere in four provinces (so far) these are Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul and Sulaymaniya. This service is costly though, 1 $ per each 1 MB of data transfer but still it makes a good backup plan for emergencies!


Until later I leave you with two things to check out; first, I did a profile interview for Norman Geras which you can find here and the second (which you shouldn’t miss) is Sooni’s photoblogging of the Eid in Baghdad. Here are two of the photos he posted and you can see many more if you click the link above.






HAPPY EID EVERYONE!

Update: More beautiful Eid photos from Iraq, this time brought to us by al-Dhafer blog from Samawa city.
When coalition forces raid a house used by terrorists it becomes the big news of the day and is consistently used to show Iraq as a hole of hell but when coalition forces help Iraqis build an amusement park that serves a city with population of over 500,000 so that families can spend a good time, no one talks about it…thanks to blogs!





More here.

I’ve been following the progress of building this park for some time. Gladly it opened before the Eid so that people could enjoy it!
Here are some photos from August:





And more here.