[OT] Dune RE: Current Events

>I believe Herbert took allot of his Dune terminology from either Arabic
or
Hebrew
>(possibly both), and the two are related enough to have a good number
of
similar words.

Making the references to Saddam Hussein's paramilitaries as the
'Fedayeen',
though I think an Arabic speaker pronounced it 'fedayu', all the more
eerie.

World building in literature always starts with things you know, of
course.
So often it's carbon copy-ing with a thin veneer of name changes. I know
I
feel Frank Herbert's genius was to blow completely other worldly life
into
the rise-of-Mohammed-thru-off-with-colonial-chains history that was his
obvious inspiration.

I must say that kind of 'make it your own' ethic seems mighty strong on
this list. People take historical names, states, and situations, and
generally do a fine job in adapting them to a believable interstellar
future.

The_Beast