student blogger

After the first anniversary of Morsi's presidency, the protest movement Tamarod collected millions of signatures demanding the ousting of the president, accused of doing very little to help the stagnant economy, and criticized for his attempts to introduce a Muslim-orientated constitution in a secular country.

Since the army ousted Mr Morsi on 3rd July 2013, Egypt has been in turmoil as the pro Morsi protesters condemn the military coup d'état, and demand the reinstatement of the Muslim Brotherhood leader.

Wednesday 14th August was the most violent day since the protests started: violence erupted throughout the nation and caused the death of hundreds, including women and children.

Morsi supporters attacked and set ablaze tens of Christian properties including churches and schools; they set fire to a military buildings; they took over a police station and committed acts of violence against policemen and journalists.

Following the attacks, a state of emergency has been declared till the end of the month. Egyptians are also subjected to a curfew, with the risk of imprisonment for those who will not abide by it.

It looks like our shops' shelves are full of poison, and I am not referring to those at the Sunset Strip in 1980's. Over the weekend, it was proven that products from the world's largest dairy exporter in New Zealand were contaminated with botox. In my home country of Slovakia, it is almost weekly practice that the supermarkets apologize to the customers and ask them to return suspicious goods for a refund.

At the moment, many people are pushed by the economic situation and have no other option but to choose the cheaper option at the supermarket. They help their wallets in the short term, but can end up paying for it twofold in the long term.

First of all, cheaper suppliers often do not give as much attention to quality and safety standards in order to push the price down. Food might contain more preservatives and harmful substances than allowed. It can result in food poisoning scandals, but more likely, will simply accumulate in the body and require a doctor's attention later. Many preservatives are toxic and such waste does no good to the organism that is your body.

The recent acquittal of George Zimmerman, who killed the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida in February this year, has sparked protests across the African-American community in the US, who are protesting against the verdict of the jury.

President Obama declared during a public speech, that the protests are the result of racist discrimination against black men who are often judged by the colour of their skin:

"It's important to recognize that the African-America community is looking at this issue through a set of experience and history that doesn't go away. There are very few African-American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me. [...] The African- American community is also knowledgeable that there is a history of racial disparity in the application of our criminal laws."

Trayvon Martin might have been a ‘thug', he might have acted suspiciously and might have assaulted Zimmerman.

However, rather than focusing on whether Zimmerman reacted in self-defence (a right that is often abused and extremely hard to prove right or wrong) or not, the argument here is on the conversations going on about racial discrimination and prejudices that show still how ephemeral any integration can be.

People were so preoccupied by the royal baby that they failed to realize that the King of Belgium resigned in favour of his son this week.

It seems that people all around the world, including Slovakia, were curious about the new prince in London.
Women with small children who still remember their own labour felt especially sorry for the Duchess surrounded by journalists. The couple confirmed my opinion that William and Kate give a good name to the Royal Family and should not be hassled by the public and press.

When I asked my friends whether they knew about the Belgian king stepping down, they did not. Well, people are so preoccupied by celebrities that they fail to take notice of the everyday happening. On the one hand, it testifies to the popularity of the Royal Family even in central Europe. On the other hand, is such a media craze necessary?

Prince William took paternity leave from his duties as a helicopter pilot in order to be with his wife. I don't think, he can realistically get much closer to the common man. New kings are not born every day, but common people are, most of them into poverty. And I believe William and Kate know that.

On Saturday I attended a wedding. It was the first wedding in our family after a series of funerals and everyone was looking forward to it. And it was nice- a bit of Spanish fiesta mixed with Hungarian folklore and meals.

However, after midnight, everyone wanted to get home. The police would not be interested in the fact that you are more likely to be run over by a car when walking drunk, than cause an accident whilst drink driving. Common practice is that one passenger from each car keeps away from alcohol to be able to drive the others home. But drowsy drivers can be just as dangerous as drunk drivers.Actually, it does not matter whether your reactions are slowed down by alcohol or fatigue.

However, people will always choose to drive tired due to the legal reasons. There is zero alcohol tolerance in Slovakia and if you exceed 1.0 (which is likely after a wedding where the home-distilled spirit is a must), you can end up in prison.

Perils of Flying

Getting home from the wedding was one thing, but some of the guests will soon have to get back to Spain, and judging by recent news there are further dangers lurking in the air. The same Saturday as the wedding, 307 people on board a flight from Seoul to San Francisco went through a terrifying experienced.