Have you ever had a song lyric stuck in your head? It could be a tune that you have not heard for years, coming to mind when you least expect it. That happened to me once. It was an old country song of hardship and pain in which the chorus wailed, “I washed my hands in muddy water. I washed my hands but they didn’t come clean. I tried to do like Daddy told me, but I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream.”

Recent chaos in Egypt has left Western leaders at a loss. But, Egypt’s neighbors are using it to gain influence in the region. “Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries to congratulate Egypt after its army ousted President Mohammed Mursi and dissolved the Islamist-made constitution.

Acceleration is part of modern life. “The process of mechanical acceleration began in the 19th century in conjunction with industrialization” and was intended to “create more available time for the individual” by shortening the amount of time needed to accomplish tasks (Der Spiegel, July 4, 2013).