Psychics!

Journal 4-5

I.
                Last week we spent a lot of time talking about the ethics of magic and magicians. I was very interested this topic, and after seeing many magicians perform, I was curious as to who were the top magicians of all time. After much research, the answers have been found!

               The list of the top three magicians varies from source to source, but after looking at the results of several polls, I have found the most common top three. Number 1 : David Copperfield. Number 2: Jonathan and Charlotte Pendragon. Number 3: Criss Angel.  

II.
              Last week in Ethic's Class was a very interesting and informative week, even though we did not have many classes. We continued our discussion of magicians and magic tricks, but we also began discussing the ethics of psychics. All in all, it was a great week!

              I thought that the most interesting part of the week was the documentary we watched on the ethics of psychics. I knew very little about mind reading and psychology, so this movie was very informative. I thought it was hilarious when the psychics were proven wrong! I had two favorite examples in this documentary. One was when Uri Geller was made a fool of on live television. It was even more remarkable that his career was not ruined by it! Another favorite was when the two ladies from Britain were trying to read the picture of the criminal. They were proven to be frauds because they could not even see that he was a mass murderer! I really loved how the host was able to mock the field of magic, while doing it in a comedic way that made the documentary very entertaining!  All in all, it was a very entertaining documentary and it was my favorite one of the year! I am so glad that we watched it!

               In class, everyone did not have a chance to speak their minds about psychics, so I will do so now. Personally, I think that all so-called psychics are frauds. I totally believe that there is no such thing as a sixth sense, and that people possessing supernatural powers is completely ridiculous! I have never seen anything to make me believe that such things are true, and until I do I will continue to deny their existence. Who knows, there maybe someone in the world that actually may have a sixth sense, but the chance of this happening is very slim to none.


III.
                After all of this talk about psychics, I am very interested in learning more about psychics. Who is currently the most famous psychic? Who is the most famous of all time?

Please stay tuned for the answer next week!

Sources

5 greatest magicians of all time. (2010, September 30). Retrieved from http://www.blindloop.com/index.php/2010/09/5-greatest-magicians-of-all-time/

Crazy town. (2011, May 25). Retrieved from http://crazytownmayor.com/blog/781/manic-monday/ 

Joke pranks blog. (2011, May 25). Retrieved from http://jokesprank.com/blog/funny-jokes/hilarious-psychic-jokes-psychic-tarot-jokes-funny-astrology-jokes.html

Uri geller. (2011, May 25). Retrieved from http://www.uri-geller.com/dates_archive_01.htm

Illegals and Magicians

Journal 4-4

I.
               After watching Outsourced last week, I was very interested in the financial state of India. How many people are unemployed, and how many live in poverty? After much research, the answers have been found!

               India is estimated to hold one third of the world's poor. According to a World Bank study in 2005, 42% of India falls below the international poverty line, or over 456 million people. Despite this high number, the poverty level has actually significantly dropped from 61% in 1981.


II.
              This past week in Ethic's Class, we covered a variety of topics. We first talked about illegal immigration when we watched another 30 Days video. Also later in the week, we discussed and learned about the topic and art of magic by watching a punch of little videos. All in all it was a very interesting and informative week!

               The most controversial thing we talked about last week was the topic of illegal immigration. We watched the television episode where the "Minute Man" lived with the illegal immigrants. First of, how they found illegal immigrants that we willing to participate is a miracle to me. They could get deported for that, and I am pretty sure that the television show can get in huge legal trouble for knowing and not doing anything about it. Another heated issue in the class was the fact that the daughter was applying for college and for scholarships. Everyone was upset that she could do this when she was here illegally and have never paid taxes. She ended up not getting into her dream school, which I guess can be considered karma. Also I can only assume that she did not get her scholarship as well because at the end of the documentary, it states that she is attending a local community college.(not the one that she opens the letter from and I guess can not afford without the scholarship.) All in all, I  guess justice was served in a round about way for the family's illegal status. Personally I do not think that they should be granted amnesty, and to teach them a lesson, they should be deported. I do however think that the government needs to make the process of gaining citizenship or a green card much easier.

               Also this past week, we discussed the topic of magic, which was one of my favorite parts! Not everyone got a chance to speak about their views, so I will do so now. I personally love magic and think that it is very fascinating. I will probably never be able to do it, partially because my hand-eye coordination is not the strongest, but I admire all magicians. Some people can call them liars or frauds for a variety of reasons. True, the "magic" they do isn't really magic, but the stunts they preform are truly magical. Yes, they do deceive and  lie to the public, but it is not in a bad mindset; it is only for fun! All in all, it was a great week, and I can't wait to learn and discuss more about magic!


III.
            After talking a lot about magicians, I was very curious as to who are the most famous magicians in history? Who are the top 3 ?

Please stay tuned for the answer next week!

Sources

Illegal immigration. (2011, May 17). Retrieved from http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/3573/ramirezapr302006web8jj.jpg
Penn and teller. (2011, May 17). Retrieved from http://hubpages.com/hub/Penn--Teller-Bullsht-is-Bullshyt

Poor in india. (2010, June 11). Retrieved from http://www.teluguwave.net/news/nation-international-news/8-indian-states-have-more-poor-than-26-poorest-african-nations.html/attachment/poor-in-india_26

Poverty in india. (2011, May 17). Retrieved from http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Poverty_in_India

Outsourced

I.

                After watching the film "Promises" last week, I am very curious as to how the children are doing now. What has happened to them after the updates in 2004? After much research, the answers have unfortunately not been found. 

               I have searched and searched and have been unable to find an update on the status of the children past the update that was done in 2004. This leads me to believe that the film makers may have been denied filming access or the children simply did not want to participate any more as they grew older. As seen in the other updates in the film, the children became less and less willing to meet with one another, and this may be why they did not do an update.

 

II.

 

                Due to AP Testing and the SCA Teacher Appreciation Breakfast, I was only able to be in Ethic’s class for one day! On that Thursday that I was in class though, we watched and discussed the documentary Outsourced. All in all, it was a very interesting and informative day of class!

                Outsourced  is an episode of a television show called 30 Days, where people are forced to live in environments for thirty days that are completely opposite from what they are accustomed to. In Outsourced, a former employee of an outsourced company lives in India with a family that does the same job as he used to. It was very interesting to see the difference in the qualities of life between the Indian and American people, even the difference between different Indian people! I had seen pictures before about the poverty in India, but I never knew that people who actually had jobs and families lived in the slums! I always thought it was the unemployed that lived there! It was a truly eye-opening experience to me as well as the people involved with the documentary. 

                Since I wasn’t there on Friday, I was not able to discuss the documentary that in depth. I thought I would take the time now to state my opinion on outsourcing jobs.  Before watching this documentary, I was totally against it. I thought that it was extremely wrong to give jobs away to people who are overseas. I didn’t think that it was right for people to be robbed of their jobs, nor did I think that the people overseas deserved the jobs. After watching the documentary though, I partially changed my mind. After seeing the poverty and despair in other countries, I do feel that others deserve the outsourced jobs. One job in the US would be the equivalent of giving fifteen other people jobs in India. I do, however, feel that it is wrong to lay off American workers, so now I feel for both sides of the situation. I am kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place because I don’t know which side I feel for more. 

III.

 

                After watching Outsourced, I am very interested in the financial state of India. How many people are unemployed? How many people live in poverty? 

Please stay tuned for the answer next week.  

Sources

Morgan spurlock’s “30 days”. (2008, June 14). Retrieved from http://beastandbean.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/morgan-spurlocks-30-days/ 

Outsourced. (2011, May 8). Retrieved from http://certifiedrandom.com/sites/certifiedrandom.com/files/u1/0806outsourced.jpg 

Promises. (2011, May 8). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/pov/promises/  

The promises film project. (2011, May 8). Retrieved from http://www.promisesproject.org/index.html 

Poverty reduction. (2011, May 8). Retrieved from http://www.agricultureinformation.com/mag/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/poverty-reduction4.jpg