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Very few things are worse than having to wake up early, very few. I wish I had never seen a sunrise in my life ever, involuntarily. But now that I have, many times, seen it, I hope to never see it again. That's how much I hate having to rise prematurely.

When I wake up early, round my region I always hear the unique call of one distinct bird, a distinct kind of bird, not a specific one. I hope it goes extinct, soon. These words are of course being spat out shortly before dawn, when I always feel entirely alone in the struggle.

I think I'd prefer it if all work would start not before 10am, so that most people wouldn't have to leave bed much earlier than 8am. Or if that's not workable, everyone could wake up whenever...except ME.

I forgot how it felt to have to wake up so early that it was still dark outside, before even the sun had a chance to slowly drag its head up in the sky. Nonsense, to have to start my day when my day hasn't yet started itself.

Probably if my body could talk, without orders from me, it would shout obscenities at me, from first sunlight and two hours following. I wouldn't protest. Oddly enough, since I was a boy, I always knew what I definitely did not want to be when I grow up. I always had a deep instinct that the worst job on earth must undoubtedly and unquestionably be:

In a special two-part series, Egyptian international student Amr Moufid looks at the state of his home country and the ways that freedom of speech is being challenged.

Opinions may differ, points of view might well clash, but facts remain facts regardless of anyone's personal feelings. Egypt is presently, as far as I'm aware, the only country to keep two of its Presidents (out of a total of five, not counting Acting Presidents) behind bars.

It is helpful to bear in mind however that, neither of these two Presidents ever dared to use the army against the people so as to keep in power, something which cannot be said of presidents of some other countries. But still, an unusual situation exists and deserves some reflection; all living Egyptian Presidents are, in accordance to the wishes of the people, locked-up.

Political Satire Gagged

To add to their already towering heap of trouble, the Egyptian people's newly rediscovered voice is under threat yet again. An Egyptian television host of a satirical news program was suppressed for making some mild, watered-down, soft jokes, aimed at some members of the government, during the previous week's show.

I have always loved animals, sometimes more so than people honestly. If you compare the behavior of some individuals to that of your pet, you can't help but feel that animals can be much kinder than some humans.

I know I'm not the only person who feels this way; bearing that in mind, it seemed very strange to me that given the circumstances, some animal-lovers, while very kind to animals, looked at them in two completely different ways. The first: kind, cute, harmless ANIMALS. The second: delicious, juicy, medium-rare DISH OF THE DAY. Basically, they have the ability to transform according to their surroundings, in this case, a Restaurant or a Petting Zoo.

Why do some people who adore animals, feel completely fine with eating them?

1. Disassociation

A new investigation into animal cruelty has recently been conducted on Chinese fur farms exposing new information and spawning some extremely disturbing videos. In response, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has published a related video, narrated by actress Olivia Munn (link at bottom). Until a few days ago, I had been unfamiliar with this issue, until I saw the previously mentioned video. I had heard that the fur "industry" was being attacked constantly by animal rights activists but that was the extent of my knowledge on the topic.

The Video In Question

If you haven't watched the video yet or do not wish to view it at all, you should at least know its contents even if only through words.

Here is the scene:

The video starts by showing Raccoon dogs being slammed on the floor, beaten by steel rods, breaking their necks and heads all while very much alive. Some are tied and hanged on hooks then sliced through by knives, still alive and screaming. Afterwards, their skin is peeled off much like one would tear open a bag of crisps or peel off a tomato skin (if you don't believe me, watch the video). The soundtrack throughout the video of course is the terrified squeals and screams of both, the animals being skinned as well as those watching and waiting their turn.

The horsemeat scandal has been making the headlines for some time now and has been on everyone's mind. At first glance, I couldn't fully grasp the extent of the problem; I thought it was being blown way out of proportion. I'm an (on/off) vegetarian so to me personally, eating horsemeat is no different than eating beef, same principal really.

Accordingly, my focus was on the manipulative intent behind the whole issue rather than the product "ingredients". As I read more on the issue, I started to understand the different aspects related to this whole situation. Obviously there is an overall negative reaction to this issue; however it is fueled by different motivations and concerns.

As I see it:

- Main Parties involved: - Consumer
                                             - Businesses
                                             - Food Standards Agency (FSA)