Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, a vaccine documentary that premiered in New York and will be released in theaters in L.A this Friday, exposes the CDC's falsified results of their study about the link between the MMR and autism. The mainstream media has worked very hard to convince people that they shouldn't see it. Dr. Robert Sears says on Facebook: "I SAW THE MOVIE VAXXED LAST NIGHT . . . TRYING TO COVER IT UP WAS THE WORST IDEA EVER!...So, whose brilliant idea was it to tell people NOT to see the movie VAXXED? Are they just that shortsighted? If you are trying to cover something up, what's the ONE thing you NEVER do? If you are trying to get people to NOT do something dangerous or controversial or risky, you NEVER, EVER actually tell them NOT to do it. That would be like telling your teenage daughter she can't ever see "that boy" ever again (the one with the tattoos and the motorcycle). Or telling a child NOT to sneak cookies out of the cookie jar. Or telling a couple of people they can eat everything EXCEPT the apples. You have to be way more creative than that. ...Robert De Niro's pulling of the movie from the Tribeca Film Festival may have been the best thing that could have happened for this film. And those Texan lawmakers followed suit by threatening their own film festival. Duh! I mean, seriously! All they accomplished was to make everyone MORE curious." (https://www.facebook.com/Dr-Bob-Sears) I'm going to see it tomorrow. Stay in tune for my own opinion about it!

This is an original Greek myth that I wrote for a writing class recently: a special twist on the story of Theseus.

The True Story of Theseus the Minotaur

Let me just get one thing straight: I have a TERRIBLE family. Face it-my dad is a GRAZING ANIMAL. Because of him, I’m part-human and part-bull. I’ve got white skin and razor sharp horns. The horns are handy for impaling flies. Cow skin, on the other hand, makes me sweat like crazy in the slightest warm weather and practically freeze to death when it’s a little chilly. The hooves aren’t that bad, though. Sort of stylish, even. My torso, however, is that of a giant with huge biceps and a complexion that’s not very slender. That alone would be alright, but that combined with my other features makes me one of the strangest-looking creatures on earth. How could things possibly be worse? Well, they are. My stepdad locked me in a maze, probably so that he wouldn’t have to look at me! The only thing he ever said to me was:

“Hey, Asterion, you’ll get 14 innocent teenagers to eat every nine years. I’ve given you a nice place to live. prison cell. Oh, and by the way, since you’re only half-human, I’ll call you the Minotaur: ‘the bull of Minos’,”

I was thinking: Why in Crete would I want to be named after you? And bulls are HERBIVORES. It’s not in my nature to be a cannibal!

But, lucky me, all I can say is “Moo!”, so that’s how I ended up in the “monster” category.

I do not like the taste of humans. Even if I did, Athenians have no meat on their bones. So I tried to make Minos’ life as miserable as possible. All day, I would bellow so loudly that I could make his palace shake and give him many a sleepless night due to a chronic migraine caused by my noise.

One kid from Athens, some guy named Theseus, was apparently cheerfully accepting his death. I listened as he joked around with the other frightened tributes and the royal family at the palace feast held for the guests. victims.

                                Late that night, I heard voices whispering at the Labyrinth entrance.

                                                “This is a magic ball of string to guide you through the Labyrinth, Theseus,” That was the voice of Ariadne, my stepsister.

                                                                I felt bad for Ariadne. Obviously, she’d gone insane. A magic ball of string? Really?

“Thanks,” said Theseus (either playing along or also crazy), and I could hear him set the string down in front of him. His elephant-like footsteps came up fast (Phew! Ariadne was not crazy). I fell to the floor and pretended to be asleep.

                                Theseus came into my chamber. He was a muscular young man with dark hair, gray eyes like Athena; his ancestor, and fair skin. I nearly pitied him. He was clearly trying to be quiet, but he was so heavy that I could easily hear him. He looked as if he were trying not to set off a land mine, but he sounded very similar to one.

                                                Suddenly, he jumped on top of me, stepping on my arm and pulling my horns. If I had actually wanted to, I could have eaten him, but I didn’t. I decided to take one for the team. Once, he hit me on the head so hard that he almost knocked me out (At that moment, I actually might have eaten him, but my head hurt too much). But I faked being unconscious anyway. Apparently, the kid thought I was dead, so he followed the creepy bewitched thread out of the Labyrinth. He sailed away with my stepsister while I took care of all the cuts and bruises I had gained from the mostly one-way fight.

                                                                I found my way out of the Labyrinth eventually, and traveled to a vacant island, where I spent the remainder of my days eating grass and enjoying my freedom.

Here's a link to one of the songs in my orchestra performance last night. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYx6llyjWEQ

The 11 Elements of Eating (inspired by the 7 Elements of Art)

Flavor (Like that taste?)

Texture (Feels good going in?)

Coverage (How messy?)

Chewing (Fast or slow? Do your teeth have to tear and crush?)

Familiarity (Have you seen the food before?)

Satisfaction (Filled up? Want more?)

Nutritional Value (Healthy or junk?)

Environment (Where do you eat? At home? On the go? At a restaurant?)

Culture (What kind of food? Mexican? Asian? Italian?)

Size (How big are your portions?)

Temperature (Cold or hot? Heated or raw?)

(My dad helped me with some of the ideas above)

Have you ever wondered WHY we eat what we eat? In Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, And Wear Cows, social psychologist Melanie Joy addresses this subject. The traditions of eating meat and having dogs for pets have been in society for centuries, so we never really think about the fact that it doesn't make sense. Visit www.carnism.org for more information. 

Hi! I am now writing book reviews for children's literature on my Aunt Traci's blog. Here's the link if you want to check it out: http://bookplusheart.weebly.com/childrens-lit          

The Scoop on SB277

     Governor Jerry Brown signed SB277 last month. This law, rumored to have originated from the measles outbreak at Disneyland last December, goes into effect on July 1st, 2016. It states that, in California, unless a child is proven by a doctor to have medical problems that prevent them from being able to have vaccinations, they must be up-to-date on all vaccines or they will not be allowed to go to school. So, the only ways to not be affected by this law are to acquire a medical exemption or to home-school. Many parents can't homeschool, too. Action must be taken to stop this law from going into effect. Parents should be allowed to choose what they think is best for their children. Also, the eradication of religious exemptions clearly violates the 1st Amendment. Many religions, like Jehovah's Witnesses, do not believe in vaccines. We must argue against this law before it affects many children and parents across the US.