But where’s that damn bookabout camouflage?
PAGE 11
Te blg must go on
Forbidden Planet employs Edinburgh blogger sacked by Waterstone’s. Words: Tim Abrahams
ndcpcndcnt comic book chain liorbiddcn Planct
lntcrnational has stcppcd into thc argumcnt on
blogging about work. liarlicr this month thc company ol'f'crcd a job to Joe (iordon. thc author of an onlinc diary. thc \Voolamaloo (la/cttc. (iordon had bccn sacked by \Vatcrstonc‘s Princcs Strch liast [ind branch in January for writing a blog that was critical of his workplacc. (iordon. who starch writing his onlinc diary oycr IZ ycars ago and has continucd to writc throughout his sacking and his subscqucnt appeal to Watcrstonc‘s.
said: ‘l-‘orbiddcn Planet arc wanting to improve thcir
graphic noycls and scicncc fiction books sidc oi' the busincss and wanch somconc who was cnthusiastic about thc gcni‘c.‘
In an act that puts l’orbiddcn Planct at thc forcl'ront ol’
busincss thinking on blogs in thc l7K. onc of thc company‘s l'otindcrs and dircctors. Kcnny Penman (who is himscll‘ l'rom lidinburgh). has hired (‘iordoii bccausc ol'. rathcr than dcspitc. his blogging. ‘I hcard about Joe
whcn thc ncws camc otit about his sacking. I saw his blog and whilc I think it‘s probably ill-adyiscd. in front oi a potcntial audicncc of 4in to refer to your cmploycrs as bastards [(iordon rcl‘crrcd to his prcyiotis cmploycrs on a ntiinbcr of occasions as ‘Bastardstonc‘s’l. I couldn‘t rcally scc a problem with it.
‘Wc ol'tcn have a problem finding cmployccs who liayc thc spccialist knowlcdgc about scicncc fiction and comics btit who also rcalisc that they hayc a job and that thcy hayc to turn up in the morning. .loc will bc an assct to Us and I think he dcscrycs anothcr chanccf says Pcninan. llc confirmed that (iordon would bc frcc to contintic his blog and may cycn be invited to cdit onc on bchall' ol' l'orbiddcn Planct itscll'.
Following a sci‘ics of high prolilc sackings at (iooglc. Microsoft and others. Iargc companics in thc ['8 now have blogging policics. l‘orbiddcn Planct lntcrnational. which cmploys over 100 pcoplc. docsn‘t. (iordon startcd work at lidinburgh's Forbiddcn Planet on Valcntinc‘s Day.
YES MEN PLAN 68 PROTEST I The high profile actitists behind the Yss Men fll()‘.’l(}. '.'.’lll(jll fCC(:l‘.’(:(l its Scottish premiere at the Glasgow World Film FOSll‘.£tl last .veek have declared an interest in linking up With Scottish activists to .vork on protests for the (38 conference to be held in June at Gleneagles. As their film reveals. the Yes Men have employed what they call ‘identity correction as a tactic.
Their highest profile spoof was when one of them. And, Bichlbauii‘i. appeared on BBC News 21. claiming to be a spokesman of Dow Chemicals iwhich took ox er Union Carbidei. and made a full apology for the Bhopal disaster. One of the Yes Men's members. Mike Bonannc. is lrxrng in Dundee until August. When asked whether he was planning to infiltrate the GB conference. Bonanno said: ‘lt's not so much a Question of .nfiltrating waiting to be incited'
Together with the Camcorder Guerillas. a Glasgow-based collectixe of independent. radical filmmakers. Benannc and Bicnibaurn are runnirrg masterclass at the Glasgos. Media Access Centre on 22 February. 200
So the government's banned the painkiller Co- proxamol. Time to face some harsh facts about
DRUGS
Number of people who used cocaine in the UK in 2003 640,000
Number of anti-depressant pills taken in Britain each year 823m
Number of peOple in Scotland using heroin or methadone and classified as ‘problem drug users‘ 51 ,582
Estimated number of problem drug users in Aberdeen 2,810
Number of people in Aberdeen who had been unemployed for more than 12 months in 2003 194
Number of deaths in Glasgow, in the summer of 2000, due to the injection of heroin infected with a deadly bacteria. Clostridium novyi 23
Annual number of deaths caused in Britain as a direct result of taking prescription drugs 71
Number of children prescribed Ritalin in 2002 254,000
Number of child deaths from taking Ritalin between 1990 and 2000 186
Prescription drugs banned by Britain’s drug watchdog in the last five years after reports of deaths and harm caused as a result of taking them 14
Amount invested in UK pharmaceutical research and development in 2002 113.2!)
' 7' Vet/5: l/ldf 222'", THE LIST 7