In the News- In the Future of Cars, Irag's New Culture, and Catholics are Facing a New Dilemma.

What has our military done to Irag?

Finally the American military is leaving after more than eight years in Irag, leaving behind not only a new democracy and bitter memories of war, but a new culture for the country's youth. Eight million, a quarter of the population, (and about one million people born each year if my math is right if we've been in Irag for eight years) has been born since 2003 and nearly half the country is under 19. Many youngsters have adopted hip-hop styles:

Calling themselves "punky," or "hustlers," many are donning hoodie sweat shirts, listening to 50 Cent or Eminem and watching "Twilight" vampire movies. They eat hamburgers and pizza and do death-defying Rollerblade runs through speeding traffic. Teens spike their hair or shave it Marine-style. The "Iraq Rap" page on Facebook has 1,480 fans.

To many of their fellow Iraqis, the habits appear weird, if not downright offensive. But to the youths, it is a vital part of their pursuit of the American dream as they imagine it to be.

Another youth,  Mohammed Adnan, 15, says that nobody minds the "U.S gangsta" look in his neighborhood. In fact, they get invite to weddings or other celebrations to preform break dancing.

It all adds up to a taste of the wide world for a society which lived for decades under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship that deprived them of satellite TV, cell phones and the Internet, and then through invasion, terrorism and sectarian killing.

But not all Iragis are accepting of our (American) culture. One sociologist says that many of the youths are adopting the negative aspects of American culture such as rejecting school uniforms (okay really, since when do any kids willing accept those?), engage in forbidden love affairs (Um, hello? Kids are going to and have been doing that for centuries.), and rebeling against their elders (like that hasn't happened before).

Like many Iraqis, high school student Maytham Karim wants to learn English. But the English he hears most often from his peers — and mostly those who listen to American music — is laden with profanity. "The F- and the 'mother' words are used a lot, which is a very negative thing," Karim said.

Apparently the only thing these youth seem to have gotten out of "American culture" are the negative aspects. What about the good things? Why are those being reported on? To see the whole article click here.

New Mass Translations for Catholics. 
Yes, I'm Christian, but these changes do not affect me. I am a Lutheran and although we've never had our services in Latin before, we used to have them in German in the past because where I live most people come from a German heritage. Actually one church that I know of still offers services everyonce in a while in German. Anyways:

The Mass itself — the central ritual of the Catholic faith — hasn't changed, but the English translation has, in the largest shakeup to the everyday faith of believers since the upheavals that followed the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. A years-long process of revision and negotiation led to an updated version of the Roman Missal, the text of prayers and instructions for celebrating Mass, which originally was written in Latin. The new translation was rolled out across the English-speaking Catholic world on Sunday after months of preparation.

And what exactly are these changes? Well apparently the English translations are now closer to Latin. Most things haven't been changed, just a few words or pharses here and there, but it's enough to make some people dislike them. So much that some people fear that it may make people distance themselves from the church. Here's what some people have said:

Maribeth Lynch, 51, a publisher from the Milwaukee suburb of Elm Grove, said she was "distraught" over the changes and would refuse to "learn the *beeep*  prayers."
"It's ridiculous. I've been a Catholic for 50 years, and why would they make such stupid changes? They're word changes. They're semantics," she said.
"It's confusion. All it's doing is causing confusion," she said. "You want to go to church and be confused?"

Kathleen McCormack, a church volunteer and former school teacher, said she didn't like the new translation and didn't understand why the church needed a translation closer to Latin.
"Consubstantial? What is that word?" McCormack said, referring to a term in the retranslated Nicene Creed that replaces language calling Jesus "one in being with the Father." 

"It's more British in some ways," said Monsignor Michael Clay, pastor of St. Ann. "But this is the first time that every English-speaking country in the world will be using the same translation of the Mass." 

 (Why it's more "British in some ways" I don't get. Isn't it suppose to be more like Latin?) For the most part, what the priest says has been changed the most. But its not like this was thrown out all of the sudden.

Parishes and dioceses around the country have spent months trying to prepare Catholics for the change. Descriptions of the new translation have been printed in weekly bulletins, seminars have been held and, since Labor Day, many parishes have been gradually introducing the new translation piece by piece, starting with the parts of the liturgy that are sung.

 Apparently this choice was made by Vatican officials in 2001. To read the whole article, click here.
*The Beeep is a swear word and I won't put those in this blog.

Toyota unveils the ulitmate car ever.
One of Toyota's latest concept cars is the Fun-Vii, probably the most futuristic and coolest car idea I've seen yet besides hovering vechices. "Vii" standing for Vechicle, interactive, internet certainly shows one of the most interactive cars that could certainly put the "fun" back into automoblies. The wedge-shaped car is designed as a personal display space with both the interior and the exterior doubling as display screens. On the outside, the driver can change the car's color and design plus the car's color also changes depending on mood. And the car works like a personal computer with users able to connect to the internet wirelessly and to the roads around it, letting the car access future technologies like smart grids.

According to one news article:

And it's not just the outside of the Fun-Vii that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie, the interior is just as futuristic. Making generous use of augmented reality technology, the Fun-Vii will plot a virtual path for you right on your windshield, and even offer a virtual guide to help you on your way. Of course, many of these touches still reside firmly in the realm of fantasy, but the fact that a major car company is looking so far ahead gives us hope for a very tech-friendly future.

She looks like a flight attendant!

If you ask me, while being able to change the outside of your car is cool, I could see it causing a lot of distractions while driving. Especially if you change the outside of your car while your driving.

To see the whole pictures and articles click here and here.

But to let you get an idea of how awesome this car looks, I've provided pictures.
If you're having trouble seeing these, just click on them to make them bigger.

One company showing off

The cool interior. Only three people though.

Happy Birthday!

If you ask me, its actually an ugly shape for a car,.

Those little squares you see are interactive. 

Book Review- Chosen

So I just got done with an epic musical at my school. We did Beauty and the Beast with me as the broom (although everyone thought I was some random Hawaiian girl), a villager, and one of the wolves (I looked more like a Russian wolf because my "ears" were more of a hat). And because I'm finally done with it, I'll be able to blog more! Yes! The musical was fun and I'm glad it's over, but I'm sad at the same time. 


Anyways. 

(From Goodreads) Think with your heart and prepare to die for you have been Chosen.

The land of the Forest Dwellers has been decimated by the Horde under the watchful eye of the vilest of all creatures, Teeleh. Thomas Hunter, supreme commander of the Forest Guard, is forced to lower the recruitment age of his army from 18 to 16. From among thousands, four new recruits are chosen to lead--and perhaps die--for the greater good.

The chosen four are sent on a quest to prove their character, but their mission takes a dramatic turn when they are intercepted, sworn to secrecy, and redirected to a different endgame. Now they must find the seven lost Books of History. Books that have power over the past, present, and future. Books whose words are alive. Books sought by the Dark One that control not only the destiny of their world . . . but that of ours as well.

So the author, Ted Dekker, is one of my British litature teacher's favorite authors. I remembered he mentioned him back in freshman year and then he has almost all of his books in his classroom. Plus I've been seeing this series in my library but I haven't been able to find the whole series. Until recently when I discovered that my teacher had all of the books in the series. 

One of the neat things I found out about this author is that most of his books are all somehow connected or related. The other neat thing is that you don't have to read the different series in order that they were written to get one series. So I was able to get into this series without having to read another series first. 

Another cool thing I found out about these books are that even though they're fantasy, they're Christian books too. Which is awesome. The other cool thing about this is that although Christianity wasn't like "BAM!" in your face, the themes of Christianity was subtly woven into the story with clues that I picked up on. Like Elyon (God/Jesus) and Teeleh (Satan). And the lakes were like physical representations of God's forgiveness for us. And the skin illness was sin. 

So onto the story, the characters were all good although I wasn't really sure that I liked most of them. Johnis was cool, as was Silvie, but I didn't like the other two chosen teens. They were good, but not my favorites. I like the whole alternate reality thing and the whole idea of the books. 

My favorite part are the Roush, the fuzzy white bats. They sound adorable and I wish they were real so I could hug one. They were funny too. If I had to say if they represented anything I would say they represented angels. 

Well there's actually not much I really want to say about this book. It was good and I enjoyed it. The plot was exciting and interesting, plus orginal. The characters could have been better but they were good too. I wish we could have learned more about their culture and why there's only seven lakes left.

On Goodreads: Chosen

Website: Ted Dekker

So have you read books where the author somehow connects a story to another? Did you have to read the other one to get the one you read or could you read them separately? 

Sincerely,

Sareh

Book Review- Halo

Three angels- Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human- are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness. They must work hard to conceal their luminous glow, superhuman powers, and, most dangerous of all, their wings, all the while avoiding all human attachments. 

Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and neither of them is able to resist the attraction between them. Gabriel and Ivy do everything in their power to intervene, but the bond between Xavier and Bethany seems too strong. 

The angel’s mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?


Tip: Don't judge a book by the cover. Ayways, so the cover caught my eye right away and I was pleased to find a paranormal romance that wasn't so dark and dreamy unlike the majority of paranormal books today. I enjoyed not seeing so much darkness in this story. The cover clearly is a good representative of the story and it's very pretty. It was surprising find that it was about angels where an angel falls in love with a human rather then it being the other way around. 


While I thought that there was a lot of romance for this book, I was expecting it from the book blurb and the reviews I read here on Goodreads. But unlike the rest of the reviewers who only gave this book one or two stars I thought that Ms. Adornetto's style of writing and her choice of words was great. I loved seeing new words I didn't know and having to look them up. It was great. I was surprised to find that that Ms. Adornetto is a teen author. It gives other teen writers like myself hope that we too can get published. 


While Xavier did seem to be Mr. Prefect at times (actually a lot of the times) I enjoyed reading about him and Beth. I thought that his family portrayed a family that we could very much know. Although the characters were good, I thought that the whole "prom is such a big deal!" from the girls Beth was friends with was a little overboard. While Prom is a big deal, most girls I know don't plan their whole year trying to find dresses and stuff. We usually worry about that two or one month ahead. 


Unlike some people I enjoyed seeing the religon in this book sense I am a strong Christian, and in a way it was comforting. But even with this I thought it was interesting to see Beth's (not sure if it's Alexandra Adornetto's version either) version of what heaven is like. And I loved how her angels were different from how other angels are. The part that their skin glows, their wings are paper thin, and they have no naval is cool. 


As an angel turning human, I thought that Beth's transition from being a supernatural being to something more mortal was well portrayed. If I was an angel I would probably act the same way. Seeing how Gabriel and Ivy acted and responded to events and Beth's actions was interesting. You could tell that they clearly cared about her and their mission. I thought that for being one of the most important angels, Gabe was a good character. He wasn't arrogant or mean, but distant and reserved. Ivy was how I would imagine someone like her to be. 


The only part that I found remotely towards their actual mission was when Jack Thorn shows up. And even though they have proof that is was him causing all trouble, they don't do anything about it towards the very end. 


All in all, it was an interesting book. I thought that there was alot of unnecessary stuff and that the book could have been shorter. Beth could have been a stronger character too. Would I recommend it? Probably not. Will I read the next one? Maybe. I'm still deciding. 


So, what do you think about angel books? If you were an angel from heaven to help save the world, how would you go about it? And what would you change first?


On Goodreads: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto
Her Goodreads page (I can't get to her website listed there): Alexandra Adornetto


Sincerely,
Peony