I have been thinking about this more and more lately and wondering more and more of the same, who reads blogs? Print media seems to be on the decline. It is at the point where Warren Buffet is unwilling to invest in it, which to me says that we will be watching the last of print media in the next several years. Blogs are such a different audience though. Blogs are written for the young and possibly less educated I would say, or at least from the medium I write from. There are different blogs, run by newspapers, radio stations, and tv news stations about things so much different. I wonder if the President Obama reads blogs. Do his staffers use blogs at all to measure public opinion in some sort of qualitative way?
Employers more and more have come out and said that anything on the Internet or that is public is far game. What can be posted online for protection is now limited. The other location of the JCC in Atlanta faced a lawsuit several years over a photo that someone didn’t like (and won), but as a precaution, we can’t post any pictures publicly using our names that have campers in them without specific consent from parents. The JCC though has parents sign releases so they can post the pictures. Parents always want pictures of their kids at camp (who could blame them, my parents are always online looking for pictures of Anna at Coleman). This all makes me wonder where we will be 10 or 20 years down the road. Are we being too protective? So specific? Are we making decisions that won’t really fix the problems, but rather complicate the everyday process?
Where has the first amendment gone? Is the press really free? Who actually is the press? Are photos not a form of expression? How can a photo that uses free expression be grounds for any lawsuit? Do people really own their own image? I’m pretty sure in the past when I was little I was used in promotions and I don’t remember signing any release forms, but I’m sure my parents signed something. Whatever release they signed is minor in comparison to the ones we are forced today. Every base needs to be covered.
Recently we were talking about the McDonald’s Coffee Case where a woman spilled coffee on herself and was severely burned and sued from my understanding because there was nothing on the coffee cup suggesting that the coffee was hot. Now everywhere you look, things say caution (insert adjective here). I am yet to find a caution cold container though, so maybe I can make some big money there, right? You mean this ice cream container is cold? NO WAY! I did not know I had a sense of touch.
Today looks to be a nice relaxing day. Back to camp tomorrow, but for today I’ll probably just relax all day, do some laundry, take a name, and read some. Oh what a day it shall be! I need to start thinking about packing for Charleston soon. I head back to good ‘ole Chucktown on August 18th, so there are only about 30 more days to go. You have no idea how excited I am. Getting back to work and being back in the office will be very relaxing surprisingly. I’m not too excited about the humidity there, but once it’s September, the weather is unbeatable, so I really don’t have much to complain about. Sadly all of this also means I only have another couple weeks of camp left :(. It’s been a great summer at camp, so I’m sad to see it end.
Kickball for a Cause:
Does anyone know who owns that field with soccer goals that is over by the Aquarium? I want to see if that location is possible for the event. I haven’t done much in the last couple weeks as far as planning goes for this, but there isn’t much I can do considering how remote I am to all the resources I need to make this event happen.
Adios!
Ross