Drawing by Gianluca Costantini, slightly modified to minimise file size.

Update 2024-10-28: Omar's detention orders keep getting extended every 15 days. Each time via video link. He hasn't seen the prosecution face-to-face since his arrest.

Update 2024-08-19: ✍️ Friends and supporters of Ashraf Omar started an online petition demanding his release. Please sign this petition here. It will be forwarded to human rights and press freedom organizations.

Update 2024-08-18: He received another 15 days 😔

Update 2024-08-05 …

I am slowly developing an apathy towards the current political process. Not sure if future elections are meaningful.

There are no credible politicians left. Maybe few untainted ones exist but they hardly can be popular enough to win seats in any elections, either because they represent fringe ideology or have been smeared by everyone in power.

Those who came with a democratic process betrayed its values and those who claim to stand for such values …

Richard Feynman was a Nobel prize winning American physicist who wrote a fascinating autobiography called Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! It documents his eccentricities and adventures throughout his life. From how he taught himself how to fix radios as a kid to his work on the Manhattan project (that developed the US atomic bomb) to how he learned to play samba music in Brazil.

In his book, he explains the difference between real science and …

Yesterday the number of people who responded to the call for mass protest against Mohammed Morsy is staggering. Many consider this the largest protest in the history of Egypt. But sadly there were news of deaths and injuries due to violence. Forty four cases of mob sexual harassment took place in Tahrir.

Since 11 February 2011, Tahrir square has been marred by incidents of sexual harassment. In these incidents masses of highly violent men attack …

Things that occupy our thoughts often occupy our imagination. Our brain tries to find meaning out of things and tries to fill in the gaps of missing information. This is true for all kinds of stimuli.

Essam el-Haddad, one of the Muslim Brotherhood top members and Mursi's assistant on foreign relations and international cooperation, wrote yesterday on his Facebook page the following:

It is important to note, after the wide circulation of news around attempts to limit free speech through the court system in Egypt, that neither the presidency nor the government pursued any legal action against the comedian, Bassem Yousef. The complaints issued against him, were mainly individual initiatives by …

Last week, Dr. Manal Omar was summoned along with TV host Mahmoud Saad by the prosecution and questioned for seven hours over one of their TV episodes on Nahar TV. She is accused of insulting the president. A lawyer from the presidency filed the case on Morsi's behalf. In this video she made indirect references to Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and their number two, Khairat el-Shater.

Dr. Omar is a psychiatrist specialised in child and …

via GIPHY

This is crazy. They are all kids on the frontline. Aged 9 and up. Average age by the look of it is 15. Kids lie to me about their age, say 12 when they are clearly 10 years old. Most are wearing surgical masks and eyes red from teargas.

By asking a few why they are here, they say their older brothers were injured or killed by police. It's not clear if this is meant …