Dune Chapterhouse essays

Dune Chapterhouse essays By Frank Herbert (New York: G.P. Putnams Sons, 1985) At first, Chapterhouse: Dune (a sequel of Dune) by Frank Herbert is confusing. It is almost necessary to read Dune, or watch the movie. I hadnt read Dune before I had started this book, and I was totally confused. I thought about putting the book down, but then I rented Dune. Everything suddenly cleared up. Suddenly, Chapterhouse: Dune became the greatest book I have ever read. The Dune universe is much more complex than most science fiction universes; such as Star Trek. It is filled with alien (human) races, technology that might someday be invented, and a story line that encompasses some 50,000 years. That is one huge feature about Chapterhouse: Dune, there is a history that you can learn about from other Dune books. Unlike in other science fiction books, where the back story is the back cover. Another thing that makes Chapterhouse: Dune more complex and more intriguing than other titles are the characters. Frank Herbert writes in a way that you cant truly get a grasp on their persona. Such as Scytale, who is a Mentat. A Mentat is a human computer, able to calculate immense problems, and have the ability to have a thing called Other Memory. Other Memory is where memories of other people before them are implanted into their brain. It is very hard to explain; you would have to read more about it. Scytale since he is a Mentat, strives to attain information. But it is hard for him to achieve this goal. Scytale is a prisoner on Chapterhouse for being of aid to the Jews. He was ordered to be held there by Ordade, the Mother Superior. Mother Superior is the leader of the Bene Gesserit; the last remnants of the Old Empire. She is tough to understand. She is compassionate in her own little way, yet totally feared by all. She too, has Other Memory, but of past Mother Superiors. A thing that I really liked about Chapterhouse: Dune is th ...

Kitchen Cabinetâ€Origin of the Term and Its Political Meaning

Kitchen Cabinet- Origin of the Term and Its Political Meaning The Kitchen Cabinet was a mocking term applied to an official circle of advisers to President Andrew Jackson. The term has endured through many decades, and now generally refers to a politicians informal circle of advisers.   When Jackson came into office after the bruising election of 1828, he was very distrustful of official Washington. As part of his anti-establishment actions, he began to dismiss government officials who had held the same jobs for years. His reshuffling of the government became known as​ the  Spoils System. And in an apparent effort to ensure that power rested with the president, not other people in the government, Jackson appointed fairly obscure or ineffectual men to most of the posts in his cabinet. The only man considered to possess any  real political stature in Jacksons cabinet was Martin Van Buren, who was appointed secretary of state. Van Buren had been a very influential figure in politics in New York State, and his ability to bring northern voters in line with Jacksons frontier appeal helped Jackson win the presidency. Jacksons Cronies Wielded the Real Power The real power in Jacksons administration rested with a circle of friends and political cronies who often did not hold official office. Jackson was always a controversial figure, thanks largely to his violent past and mercurial temperament. And  opposition newspapers, implying there was something nefarious about the president receiving much unofficial advice, came up with the play on words, kitchen cabinet, to describe the informal group. Jacksons official cabinet was sometimes called the parlor cabinet. The Kitchen Cabinet included newspaper editors, political supporters, and old friends of Jacksons. They tended to support him in such efforts as the Bank War, and the implementation of the Spoils System. Jacksons informal group of advisers became more powerful as Jackson became estranged from people within his own administration. His own vice president, John C. Calhoun, for example, rebelled against Jacksons policies, resigned, and began to instigate what became the Nullification Crisis. The Term Endured In later presidential administrations, the term kitchen cabinet took on a less derisive meaning and simply came to be used to denote a presidents informal advisers. For example, when Abraham Lincoln was serving as president, he was known to correspond with newspaper editors Horace Greeley (of the New York Tribune), James Gordon Bennett (of the New York Herald), and Henry J. Raymond (of the New York Times). Given the complexity of issues Lincoln was dealing with, the advice (and political support) of prominent editors was both welcome and extremely helpful. In the 20th century, a good example of a kitchen cabinet would be the circle of advisers President John F. Kennedy would call upon. Kennedy respected intellectuals and former government officials such as George Kennan, one of the architects of the Cold War. And he would reach out to historians and scholars for informal advice on pressing issues of foreign affairs as well as domestic policy. In modern usage, the kitchen cabinet has generally lost the suggestion of impropriety. Modern presidents are generally expected to rely on a wide range of individuals for advice, and the idea that unofficial persons would be advising the president is not seen as improper, as it had been in Jacksons time.