This morning I was thinking about the Dune books.. as I do many times!

 

Emperor Shaddam IV - Bush

Dune - Iraq

Spice - Oil

 

It was quite funny to see that Frank Herbert could see in the future what was going to happen with the oil, but called it Spice

Nice analogy. Really depends on your opinions on this war as to whether you'd agree with it or not, but nice nonetheless.

Nice. I can kind of see what you mean. Sweet analogy! You think to much

*cough* I'm baaack *cough*

 

Well as some of you might've already deducted from the recent boom in the stock-market exchange for handkerchiefs, I had a flu again. Or maybe I just didn't get rid of that last one three weeks ago

 

Well, but as I sat in the waiting room of my doc I read the latest issue of a respectable news mag, I saw that some of Saddam's most loyal toops were called Fedajin or so. Well, I still think, that these will be neither as effective or as loyal as Muaddib's Fedaykin

 

But when I last read the first Dune book on my vacation in Tunesia I found various parallels to the language there. For example market was called suk in Dune and souk in Tunesia.

Herbert must've studied this region extensively when he wrote these books, cause he captured so much of it. So I guess it relates more to the language and culture, than the actual strings of fate.

 

Btw, Tk I think oil is missing the awareness-enhancing effects of spice, or did you find some last supply of leaded gas ?

Hehe

 

Hi just recently heard that Fedajin name too. And this Jihad shit.. wow it's all in the mix. But the analogy of Spice and Oil, the most important link is that 'spice/oil is vital to the Spacing Guild and its navigators'. Without the spice, our cars won't move a centimeter!

 

By the way, I heard an Iraq joke on the radio, most of the are not funny but this one was, and I'll try to translate it in english (some jokes from dutch people are not funny to others somehow )

 

-----

 

An ambassador from the Middle East living in the States, meets George Bush. They talk some together, and finally the ambassador likes to ask Bush a question. The ambassadors son is a huge fan of Star Trek. But this little boy is always wondering why he sees typical americans, and russians, and asian people, but never, NEVER arabian people. And since the makers of Star Trek are americans, he thinks that Bush can explain this.

 

Bush nods, bows forward to the ambassadors ear, and whispers: 'Star Trek is playing in the future...'

TK421 - thats a really funny joke, not very nice mind you , but funny

Thank you. Well, perhaps we shouldn't be pessimistic because of this war, should we? Everything will be allright

 

Another thing about the Spice, I mean, Oil, is that it is addictive. Take a look at America, where fuel for cars cost only a fraction of what it costs in Europe. So take your big american car and drive arround with it, at a using rate of 1 to 5, compared with european 1 to 14

I've seen that joke before, although it was about Muslims, not Arabians. I'm not sure which is more distastefull, but i just take it in the spirit its in.

Well that wish of stirring up a Jihad will remain .... wishful thinking on Saddam's part. Remeber Bin Laden also called every Muslim to a Jihad against the US and all their allies. Geez, were we busy fighting that holy war now, weren't we ?

That's just the thing with tyrants, they try to use religion as a means to an end. Hmmm, actually that relates to Dune as well, also to the use of the dark side (I'm just reading Darth Maul: Shadow hunter again)

 

Also, I'd drive around more with my car as well, if the gas would only cost a fraction of what it does in Germany and if I had the time

I thought fuel was more expensive here?

I don't really know, although it's expensive enough in Europe, allright! Tjough I guess that's comprehensible if you consider that it is fossil fule and that it's a finite supply. With that in mind, I thik we can safely say that prices will continue to go up in the long run...

I guess oil is much more expensive here in Costa Rica. We ahve to buy it already refined, and most of it comes from Venezuela(there'e crisis there agasint Chávez) and Mexico.

And this has learned us an important lesson:

 

You shouldn't live in Costa Rica

Nonsense! I'd be glad to spend my holidays there!