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Excerpt CH-1:
A Stain of Breath
"Where's the body?" Eliza Jekyll skidded to a stop in a swish of gray skirts, clutching her doctor's bag expectantly. The framer's shop was cluttered, oil paintings everywhere, rolled up or stretched on wooden struts, ready to take gilded edging. Behind a curtain, stacks of paint pots, tools, and sawn-up bits of wood hunkered out of sight. Old chandeliers flickered, shedding bright golden light, and through the broad windows glared a sullen, fog-bound yellow sun.
"Sorry to disappoint." Inspector Harley Griffin of the Metropolitan Police, her close friend and the only man on the force who believed in her. Impeccably dressed as always, dark hair neatly combed.
Dismayed, Eliza stared at the wooden array he indicated. "But that's an empty framing rack, not a corpse. Surely you require no crime scene physician for that."
Hippocrates, her clockwork pet, jigged on hinged legs, his square brass head bobbing. "Human remains," he chirped. "Information please."
"Chief Inspector Reeve insisted, I'm afraid." A heavy lick of irony on Griffin's tone.
Eliza poked up her spectacles. "Thinks he's funny, does he? A dozen murders a night, the city crawling with bloodthirsty anarchists, and he's got the finest detective in London investigating a petty theft."
Griffin tugged his mustaches. "To be fair, it's faintly intriguing. The villain filched several artworks on Saturday night—"
She snorted. "And now it's Monday. The scene contaminated. An even more irritating waste of my time."
"—from under the noses of four security guards," continued Griffin, imperturbable. "Locks intact, no alarm raised."
"Impressive. What does Reeve want me to do about it? Test for incompetence?"
"Don't get smart with me, missy." Chief Inspector Reeve waddled up, chewing on a cigar. His ugly brown suit looked unkempt. "You're late. Putting your face on?"
"My apologies, sir. Looking this pretty takes such a long time."
Her sarcasm hit Reeve's glaring aura of chauvinist pig and bounced off. "Quite right, too. Put some color in your cheeks. All that unladylike science makes you peaky."
Behind him, Griffin rolled his eyes. But Eliza barely noticed, possessed of an all-too-familiar itch to claw Reeve's skin off. But it wasn't her urge. It was Lizzie's. The shadowy self inside her, thrashing to break free.
I'll put YOUR face on, you sniggering little prat, whispered Lizzie, her disembodied voice threading craftily through Eliza's blood like hot wire. Eliza's skin tightened. That restless throbbing in her veins augured trouble. This wasn't supposed to happen without her elixir.
Suddenly her plain, inoffensive dress itched like fire ants. Her guts burned as if she'd swallowed poison, Lizzie's presence contorting her body into unnatural shapes, like an improperly fitted corset . . .
"Eh?" She blinked, and the framer's shop sprang back into focus. "What did you say?"
Reeve puffed cigar smoke, rocking on his heels. "I said, police work isn't all murders and mayhem. You're always complaining no one but Griffin takes you seriously. Well, here's a case. Want it or not?"
Eliza swallowed a Lizzie-like urge to slam Reeve's nose back into his brain. She needed this job. When she and Harley caught the gruesome killer labeled the Chopper, she'd imagined her career would take off. But when Harley's wife passed, newly promoted Chief Inspector Reeve had sidelined him out of pretended sympathy whenever he could. And medicine—especially crime scene medicine—was a man's world.
Her work at Bethlem Asylum had dried up, too. Understandably, given that the surgeon-in-charge who'd employed her was dead, and the Chopper had turned out to be an asylum orderly—and one of her closest friends. Not to mention the trifling matter of Razor Jack, a lunatic killer whom she'd caught and put in Bethlem. He'd taken advantage of the mayhem to escape.
In short, she needed all the work she could get. Even petty larcenies, instead of cases that mattered. "I merely remark that my expertise is hardly—"
"Burglary beneath your attention, is it? Some louse-ridden scumbucket with his greasy fingers all over Her Majesty's new portrait, and you don't care?"
"I see." Eliza glanced at Griffin, who raised apologetic eyebrows. That explained Reeve's attendance: ingratiating himself with the Palace. No one had seen the Mad Queen in public for years. People whispered that she'd died of cholera, been starved by her wicked advisers, or bewitched by sorcerous spies for the terrifying new French Republic.
"The artist brought it in for framing. Not the kind of thing a villain can sell, is it? Ergo, not a simple theft." Reeve stuck a thumb into scarlet braces. "Her Majesty could have a crazed admirer. It could be Froggie agents, stirring up trouble! But you've better things to do, have you?"
Aye, whispered Lizzie. Come 'ere and I'll show 'em to you.
"I didn't mean . . ."
Reeve grinned. "Not so smart as you think you are. Griffin, take off. You're not needed here. Lads, make way for the good lady doctor."
Hit him. Lizzie slithered into Eliza's throat like a serpent, choking her. No one at the Met gives a flying arsepoke about some "lady doctor" and her hysterical fancies. Tell the woman-hating little bastard to go screw himself. Better still: I'll tell him to go screw himself. Just let me at him . . .
Eliza spluttered. "But this is Harley's case—"
"You heard the Chief Inspector," cut in Griffin loudly, "let Dr. Jekyll through."
Hippocrates snuffled hopefully at the floor, his little brass head shining. "Remains. Samples. Does not compute."
Harley was better at swallowing his pride than she. This had to be borne. "Never mind, Hipp. Let's proceed. Take a recording, please." She pulled on a pair of white cotton gloves, trying to stay calm. "Wooden frame on trestle legs, about seven feet by three. A set of pegs where the canvas has been removed."
Behind her, Reeve sniggered. "Congratulations. Never would've figured that for myself."
Eliza shot him a baleful glare. "You called me, Chief Inspector. It wouldn't be because your reputation rests on solving this quickly, would it? Will you let me work, or shall I return to my embroidery?"
"Embroidery," chirped Hipp, muffled beneath her skirts. "Irrelevant. Logic failure."
Shall I return to my embroidery? mocked Lizzie. Shall I break your pox-ridden nose with my forehead? Shall I grab your tiny balls and squeeze until your face turns black?
"Carry on, if you must," muttered Reeve. "I've witnesses to examine." And he strutted away.
The urge to carry out Lizzie's creative revenge burned all too fresh and real.
Wouldn't be the nicest pair of trousers we've ever shoved our hand down, agreed Lizzie, not that you're any help in that department.
"Shut up," hissed Eliza, fiddling with the empty pegs. "I'm trying to work."
Fine. You work away. I'll just sit over here and think of creative ways to rip his nuts off.
"If it makes you happy." Eliza grinned around clenched teeth. "Just leave me alone. You're embarrassing me!"
Don't get your petticoats in a twist, grumbled Lizzie. I'm helping, ain't I? Just you wait.
"Doctor, are you quite well?" Griffin eyed her strangely. He didn't know about Lizzie, not exactly. But he was a good detective, smart and observant. One day, he'd figure it out.
Eliza flushed. Talking to herself again. Her skin felt stretched too thin, like overstressed rubber. "Of course. It's nothing. Right, is he gone? Tell me what we've got."
Griffin nodded towards a fat man who slunk anxiously in a corner. "The owner claims he left a pile of rolled-up canvases in that corner, ready to be framed and varnished. Twenty-odd works missing. Commissions from five or six artists, but naturally we care only for the Queen's. Painted by . . ." Griffin consulted his neatly written notebook. "Some court artist named Wyn Patten."
"Never heard of him. Any forced entry?"
"No visible damage. And no keys missing. Could be an inside job, of course. These things often are."
Not if they can't fence it, put in Lizzie stoutly. What'd be the point o' that? See, I can be clever, too, you uppity tart.
Eliza forced a polite smile. "But wouldn't that imply the stolen goods are worth something?"
Griffin nodded. "Reeve's right about that, at least. All just portraits and landscapes, according to the framer, but given that he's by appointment to the Palace, he caters to high-profile artists. Too easily identifiable as stolen. What use filching art you can't sell?"
"Hmm. Any witnesses, or is Reeve just making it look as if he's investigating?"
"All the staff had gone home on Saturday night, with Sunday off. Just rented watchmen, law-abiding citizens one and all. Nothing unusual occurred, no one left his post, no one saw a thing."
Eliza adjusted her optical's leather straps. She'd built it herself, modified from her late father's designs. The array of lenses and spectrics detected all manner of substances, from stupefying drugs and poisons to bloodstains and more ethereal traces. Such things could get you dragged from your bed in the dead of night, to answer uncivil questions in the Royal's electrified dungeons at the Tower.
But none of Henry Jekyll's dabblings had been things one chatted about at tea parties. As a girl, she'd been fascinated by his dusty laboratory, bold young men in shirtsleeves and their illicit experiments, tinkering with light and air and the substance of life itself. Sparking copper coils in vacuum-sealed flasks, dripping galvanic batteries wired to twitching specimens in jars of preserving fluid. Equations on the blackboard, arcane formulae, the forbidden mathematics of magnetism and energy chalked next to Latin abbreviations and lists of intricate symbols. Not to mention outlawed alchemical elixirs and the search for eternity.
She slotted a heavy magnifying lens over her spectacles. "Nothing's damaged, no oil fragments in the pegs. This art was not snatched. Our man took his time, confident he'd remain undisturbed. And . . . hold on, there's a handprint on the adjoining wallpaper."
Griffin coughed. "Pity this isn't the Paris Sûreté," he whispered. "I hear they're collecting copies of convicted felons' handprints for comparison."
"Alongside their severed heads? Away with your treasonous Republican sympathies, Inspector." She peered at the faint smudge. "Coal dust, or iron. Smallish hands, perhaps a youngster. And . . . I say." She glanced left and right, and swiftly flipped in a new multi-colored lens. "How extraordinary—"
"You're extraordinary." The whisper sparkled in her ear.
Startled, she teetered backwards. Strong hands steadied her, into a familiar gunflash scent of steel and thunder. Hippocrates jittered, dancing a clumsy jig.
Inwardly, Eliza groaned. Oh, bother.
I lied, whispered Lizzie with a grin. I ain't leaving this one alone.__________________________________
Viola Carr was born in Australia, but wandered into darkest London one foggy October evening and never found her way out. She now devours countless history books and dictates fantastical novels by gaslight, accompanied by classical music and the snoring of her slumbering cat. She loves history, and pops down to London's many historical sites whenever she gets the chance. She likes steampunk, and thought it would be cool to investigate wacky crimes with crazy gadgets…just so long as her heroine was the creator of said wacky gadgets: a tinkerer, edgy, with a dash of mad scientist.
Find Viola and her books
The Devious Dr. Jekyll
Electric Empire #2
Amazon BN
Dr. Eliza Jekyll, heroine of the electrifying The Diabolical Miss Hyde—an edgy steampunk retelling of the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—investigates a bizarre murder case in an alternate Victorian London while battling her treacherous secret half: Lizzie Hyde.
Solving the infamous Chopper case has helped crime scene physician Dr. Eliza Jekyll establish her fledgling career in the chauvinistic world of Victorian law enforcement. But the scrutiny that comes with her newfound fame is unwelcome for a woman with a diabolical secret. And there is the mercurial Royal Society agent and wolf man Remy Lafayette. Does he want to marry her, eat her, or burn her at the stake? Though Eliza is uncertain about Remy, her dark and jealous shadow self, Lizzie, wants to steal the magnetic and persistent agent, and usurp Eliza's life.
It's impossible to push Remy away when he tempts her with the one thing she can't resist: a bizarre crime. The search for a bloodthirsty ritual torturer dubbed the Pentacle Killer draws them into a terrifying world of spies, art thieves, and evil alchemy, where the price of immortality is madness?or damnation—and only Lizzie's dark ingenuity can help Eliza survive.
As Eliza and Remy race to thwart a foul conspiracy involving the sorcerous French, they must also overcome a sinister enemy who is all too close: the vengeful Lizzie, determined to dispose of Eliza for good.
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subset: commoncrawl


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(written from a Production point of view)
Aboard a runabout, Picard, Data, La Forge, and Troi encounter time distortions; they also discover the Enterprise, frozen in time while in battle with a Romulan warbird – and seconds away from destruction.
Commander Riker is sitting on one of the biobeds in sickbay with two deep cuts on his forehead. As Dr. Crusher scans the cuts with a medical tricorder, she says that this is not just a scratch and that it serves him right for playing parrises squares like he was twenty-one. She warns that next time he injures himself, he might break his neck which she may not be able to treat as easily.
Riker tells her that he wasn't playing parrises squares, however. Dr. Crusher then guesses that he was injured in one of Worf's calisthenics programs, but again she is wrong. Riker tells her that it was, in fact, Spot who injured him – Riker had promised to feed Data's cat while he was away (even though he hates cats) and was attacked while setting down the food. Because of this, Riker suggests that Dr. Crusher feed Spot instead, and the doctor says she'd be happy to (because she loves cats). Riker is then called to the bridge by Lieutenant Worf on the intercom. As Riker leaves sickbay for the bridge, he tosses Crusher a hand phaser, half-joking that she'd need it to feed Spot.
As Riker enters the bridge, Worf informs him that they have picked up a distress call on the long range sensors. It is from a Romulan vessel claiming that they have suffered a total engine failure, falling power levels, and failing life support. Although there are signs that the distress call is a trap, Federation policy is to give the benefit of the doubt in these situations. Since the USS Enterprise-D won't rendezvous with Captain Picard's runabout for another thirteen hours, Riker orders a course to meet with the Romulan ship. As a precaution, he orders the shields raised and issues a red alert.
- "Captain's log, stardate 46944.2. Commander Data, Mr. La Forge, Counselor Troi, and I are en route to the Enterprise, after attending a three-day conference on the psychological effects of long-term deep space assignments."
Captain Picard and Lieutenant Commanders Data, La Forge, and Counselor Troi are aboard a runabout heading back to rendezvous with the Enterprise. Data turns helm control of the runabout over to the computer and joins Picard, La Forge, and Troi in the aft section of the runabout, who are all sitting at a table finishing their lunches and discussing their thoughts about the conference. Troi talks about a Ktarian scientist, a Dr. Mizan, who wanted her to join him in "empirical research" on interspecies reproduction. Other than her encounter with Dr. Mizan, Troi was horribly bored at the conference, as there was little opportunity for those attending a seminar to give their views. The lecturer, Professor Wagner, was the only one with freedom to speak.
Picard's experiences were no better – he attended the physiognomy workshop where the lecturer, Dr. Vassbinder, spent an hour giving a dissertation on the ionization effect of warp nacelles, until he realized that the topic was supposed to be psychology. As with Troi, nobody could tell the instructor of his mistake, as he never gave anyone the opportunity to speak, as he himself spoke in incredibly long, unbroken sentences moving from topic to topic. La Forge, on the other hand, enjoyed his time at the warp energy symposium where he was able to physically touch a plasma field. Halfway through speaking, he, Data, and Picard freeze for no apparent reason. Troi is surprised by the sudden stop in the others' movements, but in a matter of seconds, they resume as if nothing had happened. La Forge notices that Troi is somewhat shaken by something and asks her if something is wrong. She isn't sure.
Act One[]
While La Forge scans Picard and the counselor with a medical tricorder, Troi recalls what has happened, but she can't explain the event. La Forge's tricorder scans turn up inconclusive. If something did happen to them, no residual traces were left. Also, Data's memory showed no pause at the time when he froze. Furthermore, since Data's internal chronometer and the computer are perfectly synchronized, there appears to be no temporal discrepancy, but La Forge suggests running a ship-wide diagnostic to see if there was anything that they missed. Data agrees and goes with La Forge to the runabout cockpit. Picard asks Troi to describe exactly what happened when they appeared to freeze. She does so, adding that she was probably just tired and imagining things. In the blink of an eye, however, she too is now frozen and surrounded by all three officers. Troi jumps up in surprise, notices La Forge scanning her and asks what happened. Data explains that she appeared to be motionless for just over three minutes – much like she had described the other three previously. La Forge then finds something unusual on the tricorder – the two scans of Troi were taken twenty-three minutes apart, but, according to her rate of cellular decay, she has only aged twenty minutes. Picard asks what could account for the discrepancy, but La Forge does not know. He states that it was as if time stopped for three minutes for the counselor. The captain is unwilling to take any more risks. He orders Data to contact the Enterprise, telling Riker to come to the rendezvous point as soon as possible to scan the anomalies. La Forge leaves to check the sensor logs. Data reports that the Enterprise is not answering the hail because the flagship is beyond sensor range; Picard orders an increase in speed to reach the rendezvous coordinates more quickly.
While Data and La Forge are piloting the runabout, Data reads that there is an engine failure which makes the ship violently jolt and veer to the right. The starboard warp nacelle has just stopped, so Data restores attitude control and brings the runabout to a stop. La Forge is surprised to report that the starboard antimatter pod has been completely drained, since there is no leak and all of the other engine systems are fully operational. Data believes that he has an explanation for the sudden depletion of fuel – the plasma conversion sensor says that the starboard engine has apparently been in continuous operation for forty-seven days – far longer than the crew had been away for the conference. Since this is something that should have been impossible, La Forge checks the sensor while Picard goes into the crew cabin to check the fuel consumption logs at a console.
While in the cabin, the captain notices something unusual: the fruit in the bowl on the table (which was fresh minutes ago) is now rotten. He innocently reaches with his right hand to touch it, but before he can he screams in agony and pulls his hand immediately away. The three other officers run in to the cabin, reacting to the captain's yell. Picard sits in a chair holding his shaking right hand which has long fingernails that appear to have been growing for several weeks. Troi scans his hand with a tricorder and says that the metabolism in his hand has increased by nearly fifty times. The pain in his hand soon subsides. Data looks at the fruit and performs a scan with his tricorder. The android reports that there is a temporal disturbance, roughly spherical in shape, that intersects with the table. Time within this disturbance passes fifty times more quickly than normal. The disturbance reaches out to seventeen meters in space – covering the starboard nacelle, explaining why the runabout's supply of antimatter was drained so quickly. A final look at the fruit shows that it has completely disintegrated into dust.
Picard orders La Forge to try and pilot the runabout away from the disturbance. He and Data manage to do so, but they are soon stopped by another disturbance that has appeared directly behind them. La Forge reads his console and calls the captain in. The sensors show that the runabout is surrounded by dozens of disturbances of different sizes where time appears to be passing at different rates – almost as if the space-time continuum had been shattered into fragments. The fragmentation effect increases along the course of the rendezvous coordinates with the Enterprise. There is a somewhat ominous pause before Picard asks if they can navigate around the fragments. They can, but only at half impulse power. They set a course to the rendezvous coordinates.
The runabout arrives at the rendezvous coordinates, but there is no sign of the Enterprise. La Forge reads a faint, possibly metallic, signature with negligible power levels. The runabout makes its way to the signature, but the fragmentation effect increases, so the runabout must slow further to compensate. They look though the front window and the moment turns to shock – the Enterprise and a Romulan warbird appear to be in the midst of a battle. Furthermore, the warbird seems to have fired at the Enterprise but the disruptor beam is frozen in mid-blast.
Act Two[]
Both the Enterprise and the Romulan warbird have been caught in another one of the temporal fragments and all of the fragments converge at this particular point in space, so it is likely that this is the center of the disturbances. Picard orders a scan for life signs, but Data finds that sensors cannot penetrate the subspace field and he is unable to scan inside of either vessel. The Enterprise has taken some damage to its saucer section and port nacelle from disruptor fire but the Romulan warbird appears to have suffered no damage, suggesting that it decloaked and opened fire before the Enterprise could respond with their weapons. There is also a second energy beam, coming from the Enterprise's navigational deflector. It is impossible to tell what the beam is for from a mere visual inspection but it is aimed at the engineering section of the warbird. The crew of the runabout cannot work out what has happened between the two ships from their current location and Picard suggests transporting over to the Enterprise but Data advises against it as each time that they were exposed to one of the temporal fragments, they were integrated into its time frame; if they were to beam over to the Enterprise, they, too, would become frozen in time and unable to work out the situation.
Picard thinks to himself of a way to be unfrozen and asks La Forge if using a subspace isolation field similar to the one the crew used on Devidia II (TNG: "Time's Arrow") would protect them from the effects of the temporal fragments. La Forge replies in the positive but they would need a very sensitive phase discriminator to modulate such a force field. Data points out that the subspace emitters in the emergency transporter armbands could be modified to produce the desired effect as they contain a type 7 phase discriminator, which is sensitive enough. However, for the crew to be able to interact with the environment on board the Enterprise the field would have to be restricted to an almost skin-tight fit. La Forge and Data begin their modifications to the armbands and La Forge also channels communications through the subspace relays in them so they can remain in continuous communication. Picard, Data and Troi wear armbands while La Forge remains on the runabout where he'll monitor them. As he activates the field, Troi falls (and Data promptly catches her from behind) feeling dizzy due to the small pocket of time being placed around them. La Forge beams the three directly to the bridge of the Enterprise.
The three officers materialize on the Enterprise's bridge and Picard is disturbed by what he sees. Three Romulans are present, all armed with disuptors and one sitting at the conn. The bridge has sustained moderate damage and Commander Riker has been knocked to the deck with a Romulan standing over him. Although none of the consoles function, objects in the time frame can be moved and the console at Ops reads that there is a massive power surge coming from main engineering. Picard moves to tactical and reads from the console that security teams have been dispatched to both transporter room three and sickbay. Picard tells Data to go to main engineering to determine the cause of the power surge and for Troi to go to sickbay while he will go to transporter room three. Picard orders La Forge to transport the three of them to their respective destinations but he advises against it due to the enormous amount of power drain imposed both by the transporters and the subspace fields. Picard understands and the three go to their destinations through the Jefferies tubes.
Troi makes her way to sickbay and finds several Romulans and medical and security staff all looking at a central point, and when she turns to see the center of attention, she is horrified to see that Dr. Crusher has been hit by a disruptor blast at point blank range; should the time frame return to normal, there is no way that she can survive. Troi runs out in shock but after she exits the room, a Romulan woman blinks and looks around, somewhat relieved that she was not spotted.
Act Three[]
Captain Picard walks into transporter room three and sees three Romulans on the transporter pad, all unarmed. He then walks over to the transporter console, being manned by Worf, and Troi walks in, still stunned by Dr. Crusher's imminent death. Picard tells Troi that Worf just beamed three Romulans over and another three to sickbay but he is confused as to why Romulans are being beamed aboard in the middle of a battle and why the Romulans are unarmed. Troi interrupts the captain and informs him of what she has just seen in sickbay before Data calls Picard asking that he and Troi come to engineering immediately – it is urgent.
As Picard and Troi arrive in engineering, Picard asks what the problem is. Data replies saying that he has found the cause of the power surge – a warp core breach is in progress. The core breach is at its flash point (a large, motionless cloud has formed from the warp core) but it is also expanding slowly at an infinitesimal rate. Data can detect this, as the cloud is within the limits of his visual detection threshold. Picard is confused and thought that time was suspended but Data has determined that time is moving but at an almost immeasurably slow rate and that they failed to realize this because their first conclusion was merely based on the observations of the crew, but a warp core breach moves at a substantially faster rate than any other event on the ship.
Data then says that based on the rate of the cloud's expansion that it will destroy the Enterprise in nine hours and seventeen minutes. With concern for his ship, Picard asks what can be done to stop the breach but unfortunately it is no longer a matter of stopping the breach as it has already occurred and the fact that it is moving so slowly changes nothing.
Picard studies the breach in astonishment while Troi asks Data what caused it. Data does not know but the consoles in engineering reveal that the Enterprise was performing a power transfer to the Romulan warbird at the moment that time started to slow down. Troi wonders why the Enterprise would be sending power to the Romulans and Data suggests going over to the Romulan ship to find out, but Picard suddenly bursts into laughter and Data and Troi turn to see what he finds so amusing. The captain has just drawn a smiley face in the cloud but he stops laughing and falls back in to the wall with the viewport behind him – something is very wrong. Data and Troi rush over to him and Picard says that he feels dizzy and starts laughing again but as Data reaches for him, Picard pulls away and panics uncontrollably. Troi calls La Forge to beam them back to the runabout immediately.
Back on the runabout, La Forge checks Picard's armband with his scanner and finds that the captain wasn't completely protected from the effects of the other time frame. Data believes what Picard experienced was similar to deep sea divers who experience nitrogen narcosis, but temporal narcosis in this case. As nothing more can be done to give better protection from the time frame, La Forge suggests limiting the time they spend on each trip and always staying together. The next course of action is to find out why the Enterprise was transferring power over to the Romulan warbird. Picard wants to begin the search in the engine room of the warbird and asks for Troi's input, as she spent several days on a Romulan warbird previously. (TNG: "Face Of The Enemy") He then feels dizzy again prompting Troi to suggest that he stay on board the runabout and have La Forge go instead. Picard reluctantly agrees but allows them to go for no more than ten minutes.
When Data, La Forge, and Troi materialize in the Romulan engine room, Troi points La Forge over to a power utilization monitor that he'd find of use, then she and Data walk over to another monitor where Data finds something peculiar – the crew is not at battle stations but rather at evacuation alert. La Forge calls them over and tells them that there is an energy feedback in the power transfer beam and that it was probably what overloaded the warp engines of the Enterprise, causing the warp core breach. Data considers that the Romulans caused the feedback to destroy the Enterprise but La Forge does not believe so – the console suggests that they were trying to stop the power transfer. Troi realizes that the more they learn, the less that the situation looks like a Romulan attack. La Forge suggests looking at their engine power output but Data says that the engine core is completely inactive – something that should be impossible as the Romulans use an artificial quantum singularity as the power source on D'deridex-class vessels; once it has been activated, it cannot be shut down.
La Forge opens the hatch of the engine core for a closer look. He looks inside and believes that he has found the cause of the problem. There is a vortex within the singularity with several dark spots inside it. As Data scans the vortex with a tricorder, he reveals that it is a focused aperture in the space-time continuum.
Its energy signature matches that of the temporal fragments that they encountered previously but it is more than a million times more intense and it is likely to be the origin of the temporal fragmentation. The dark spots within the aperture produce complex bio-electric patterns, possibly those of a life form, but before Data can make further observations the aperture fluctuates. As it fluctuates, the time frame returns to normal, the Romulan officers speak and walk between stations, and pay no attention to the Starfleet officers. But one Romulan runs in and notices the trio. He wonders who they are and what's going on before cautiously hiding in a corner.
As the time returns to normal speed, Picard sees from the runabout's viewport the Enterprise explode from the warp core breach. Suddenly, time reverses and the Enterprise comes back together fully intact. Back on the Romulan warbird, the Romulan officers' actions are going in reverse then they stop at the exact same point before the aperture fluctuated.
Act Four[]
Moments later, the three officers are speaking to Captain Picard through the com and Data believes that the emissions from his tricorder caused the activation of the aperture and advises against any further exposure. He adds that the Romulans were trying to eject their engine core. Troi adds that there was some sort of energy feedback and La Forge believes that they were trying to stop the feedback in any way they could. La Forge goes to read one of the engineering consoles to try to determine what was happening on the bridge but he notices something unusual. He quickly realizes that a Romulan (the same Romulan who noticed them when time briefly returned to normal) is in a space that was empty before, but when he asks Data if he was always there, the Romulan suddenly attacks La Forge and they both fall backwards onto the floor. Data and Troi run over to La Forge who is now dying from neural shock but there is too little time to take him back to the runabout to treat him. Troi removes his armband to slow down the neural shock and integrate La Forge into the timeframe, so they can possibly save him later. She asks Data if the Romulan is alive, but after scanning him Data says that he is alive, but he is not sure that the man is a Romulan, as he is getting unusual readings from his bio-scan.
On board the runabout, Picard, Data, and Troi are standing around one of the beds in the cabin, on which the "Romulan" alien is lying unconscious. Data's scan of the alien show that his cellular structure does not conform to any known species and that his bio-electric patterns are in a state of temporal flux. He doubts that the alien is native to their time continuum. Picard asks to see Data's readings of the organic matter that he found inside the aperture. Picard and Data look at a bio-spectral analysis of the aperture on the monitor and find that the bio-electric patterns of the organic matter are similar to those of the alien on the bed but they are much less complex and that the cellular structures of the organic matter are in a state of cellular mitosis – it may be an embryo.
The alien awakens and Picard asks him who he is. The alien struggles to speak, saying that he assumed the body of the Romulan in order to survive in this time continuum. He explains that he had come to save their young that are trapped inside the artificial "gravity well" and that they are dying – the alien is referring to the Romulan engine core. When his body starts to phase, Data scans him finding that his molecular structure is destabilizing. Picard asks how the alien's young became trapped inside the singularity. The alien replies that they needed a natural quantum singularity to incubate their young. They used the Romulan singularity, which is artificial, hoping that it would suffice but it failed. Troi, Picard, and Data soon piece together the puzzle – when the alien young were nested in the singularity, it shut down so the Romulans sent out a distress call and the Enterprise responded, finding the Romulan ship suffering from an apparent engine failure and then began a power transfer. However, when the power transfer beam made contact with the alien "nest", it disrupted the space-time continuum and threatened the lives of the young, forcing the alien to attack the Enterprise to stop the power transfer. The alien reveals that there is another individual like him but before he can give any further information, he disappears completely. Picard, Data, and Troi are now on their own to find the other alien.
Act Five[]
Data reports that the destruction of the Enterprise is just over seven hours away. Picard asks him if the entire warp core can be beamed into space. He is told it would require surrounding the core with a subspace isolation field, something that the runabout cannot do. Picard then mentions that the tricorder emissions caused time to go forward and then backward and asks if the opposite effect can be achieved with time going backward then forward. Troi catches onto the idea and suggests running time back to a point before the core breach and preventing the power transfer so that when time rolls forward again, the core breach will never happen. Data believes that it is possible to put the theory into practice by re-modulating the delta-band emissions of his tricorder to produce the desired effect. Picard gives the go-ahead, knowing that timing will be critical since there will be very little time to prevent the power transfer.
- "Captain's log, supplemental. After placing the modified tricorder on the Romulan ship, we have returned to the Enterprise."
The three officers are in position – Data is in main engineering standing by the engineering console, Picard is on the bridge by the aft science station, and Troi is in sickbay with her phaser drawn and aimed at the Romulan firing at Dr. Crusher. Unknown to Troi, the "Romulan" woman (the second alien) who was looking around earlier is absent from sickbay. Data has placed his modified tricorder in front of the aperture on the Romulan vessel and activates it via a PADD. There is another flash of light and time moves backwards. The disruptor blast that hit Dr. Crusher has now reversed and backed into the disruptor's emitter. The cloud from the warp core breach has disappeared, and Data reports that the breach has been reversed. He stands poised at the master systems display table to prevent the power transfer. The second alien walks in (unaffected by the time frame) and attacks Data. They both fall to the floor just before time returns to normal, going forward. Just as Data awakens, an ensign initiates the power transfer. Data attempts to shut down the transfer, but it is too late to do so. He instructs the computer to raise a level-3 containment field around the warp core.
The Romulan warbird fires its disruptors at the Enterprise to try to stop the power transfer. On the bridge, the conn station explodes in the helmsman's face and a Romulan officer quickly takes over for him before Riker is knocked over and a Romulan officer helps him back to his feet. Riker is surprised to see the Captain, but there is no time for Picard to explain how he got back. He orders Riker to continue evacuating the Romulan ship and to beam La Forge (who is still in the Romulan engine room) directly to sickbay. In sickbay, Troi pulls Dr. Crusher out of the way just as the Romulan fires his disruptor, aiming her phaser at him, but Dr. Crusher tells Troi that he wasn't firing at her. The Romulan officer explains that he was shooting at an alien who had taken Romulan form and the doctor got in the way. Picard asks Data for a report and Data reports that he was attacked by the other alien and that he was unable to prevent the power transfer, so a core breach is again imminent. The Enterprise cannot move to stop the power transfer because the feedback from the beam would destroy the ship but Picard quickly gets an idea – he has Riker patch him through to remotely control the navigation of the runabout. He navigates the runabout between the Enterprise and the Romulan ship, interrupting the beam and destroying the runabout in the process. As the runabout explodes, both the second alien and the Romulan warbird disappear. Severing the power transfer has prevented the warp core breach and restored the space-time continuum to normal.
- "Captain's log, stardate 46945.3. We successfully evacuated the crew of the Romulan ship. We're on course to the Neutral Zone to bring them home."
Some time later, Riker arrives at Data's quarters (feeling slightly nervous about Spot) with a PADD telling him that he has worked out new shift rotation schedules and that he wants Data to tell the department heads of the new personnel assignments. Data is performing an experiment to try to understand how Humans perceive time after hearing how some say that time passes quickly in one instance and slowly in another although he knows that, in reality, the passage of time remains fixed. Riker says that the Human perception of time differs from person to person and that it varies according to the situation and one's mood. Data has boiled the same water in a kettle 62 times, sometimes watching the kettle intently and other times ignoring it. The water boiled at exactly the same time in each instance. He feels that he is incapable of perceiving time differently from his internal chronometer. However, Riker suggests that Data deactivate his internal chronometer and see if his perception of time differs, as Humans themselves do not have internal chronometers. Data thanks Riker for his suggestion. Riker leaves, jokingly warning Data, "Just don't be late for your shift!" Data ponders Riker's advice when suddenly the water in the kettle begins to boil, intriguing Data.
Memorable quotes[]
"I mean, this is not just a scrape, this is a very deep cut."
- - Crusher, on the scratch marks on Riker's forehead
"[…] you've gotta stop playing parrises squares as if you're twenty-one years old. One of these days you're gonna fall and break your neck, and I'm not gonna be able to heal that as easily."
"I wasn't playing parrises squares."
"Worf's calisthenic program?"
"I give up, what was it?"
"I was trying to feed Spot!"
- - Dr. Crusher and Riker, about Riker's "injury"
"I hate cats."
"I love cats. You know, you just gotta know how to handle them."
- - Riker and Crusher
"You'll need this."
- - Riker, to Dr. Crusher on taking care of Spot, throwing her a phaser
"He gathered 200 scientists from all over the Federation and all he did was put us to sleep."
"I have a memory record of the entire lecture, counselor. I can repeat the portions you missed if you…"
"No, thank you Data."
- - Troi, on Wagner's lecture and Data
"Hello, Diane… I understand you're an empath. I'm a very… (winks unsubtly) sensitive man myself. I'm doing a thesis on interspecies mating rituals… Would you care to join me in some "empirical research"?"
- - Deanna Troi, imitating Dr. Mizan
"He just kept talking in one long incredibly unbroken sentence moving from topic to topic so that no-one had a chance to interrupt; it was really quite hypnotic."
- - Picard, on Dr. Vassbinder • Listen to this quote file info
"Counselor? Is there something wrong?"
"I'm not sure…"
- - La Forge, to Troi when he unfreezes after he came into contact with a temporal fragment
"It's going to take a little time to explain, Number One."
- - Picard, to Riker
"I think this is gonna work. But… it's gonna take some time."
"Well, Mister La Forge… It would seem that time is something that we have plenty of."
- - La Forge and Picard
"Excuse me, Mr. Worf."
- - The always proper Picard, to the time-frozen Klingon when examining the transporter console
"Come in."
(Riker looks around thoroughly) "Where's that cat of yours?"
"Spot is sleeping, sir. Why do you ask?"
"No reason."
- - Data and Riker
"Troi to La Forge, get us out of here now!"
- -Troi, to La Forge (as Picard panics loudly in the background)
Background information[]
Production history[]
Story and script[]
- The plot for this episode was based upon a story by Mark Gehred-O'Connell, who pitched the one-sentence concept of a "ship trapped in time like amber". (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 251; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 102)
- Gehred-O'Connell commented: "In my original idea, neither ship was the Enterprise. My story involved the Enterprise coming across two other ships in this situation and having to diffuse it because it endangered the whole sector. But when I pitched the story, Brannon blurted out, 'Oh no, one of those ships has to be the Enterprise!' The minute I started in, I could tell the wheels were already turning in his mind". Gehred-O'Connell was unable to work any further on the script as the episode was rushed into production when another script was jettisoned. (The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine issue 10)
- Brannon Braga developed the pitch after another story was scrapped. He sought to out-do his previous "Cause And Effect" by providing an even more unusual time-travel story. He noted, "This is 'Cause & Effect' times ten. Time is not only looping, it's moving backwards, accelerating and stopping and moving backwards." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 280) Elsewhere, he added, "I wanted to do this as 'man against nature,' or 'man against time'. What The Abyss was to deep-sea diving, this would be to 'deep-time diving'." Consequently, an early title for the episode was "Deep Time". (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 251)
- The names of two of the conference speakers are in-jokes – Wagner was named after a one-time date of Braga, while Vassbinder was named after one of his high-school teachers. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 251)
- From the outset, it was known that this episode would be extremely complex to produce. Braga remarked, "As I was writing it, I was thinking there's no way." Jeri Taylor recalled, "It was absolutely bizarre. It's full of opticals and complicated sequences. Do you do split screen? Do you do blue screen? Do you do anthromorphic [sic] lenses?" (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 280)
- The challenge was given to director Adam Nimoy (son of Leonard Nimoy), who had previously directed "Rascals". Rick Berman recalled, "My feeling was that nobody should be asked to be judged on a work that was so unusual in terms of having to come in and direct these kids. I basically said I would like to give him another shot to work with adults." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 280)
- David Livingston stated, "I think this is the longest optical memo we have ever had. It [was] over six pages long. Adam was very specific about what he wanted and I knew he was going to do great on it. He's got good genes." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 280)
- Nimoy endeavored to bring to life what he referred to as the "eerie ambience" of the teleplay. His favorite moments of the show were the frozen-time reaction and reveal shots aboard the runabout, which Nimoy said were inspired by German impressionistic films such as The Hands of Orlac(1924). (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 251)
- Nimoy observed, "It was very different. I relied a lot on the special effects guys in an attempt to keep what I thought was the drama of the scene and deal with the restrictions that special effects put on you in terms of what you can do with the actors while also using those effects to maximum dramatic capacity to make it work with the scene. It's a whole different mindset. I'm learning a lot from these guys." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 280)
- This episode features a runabout, a type of spacecraft that was more commonly seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The name of the runabout in this episode was never revealed, however. It is simply known as the Enterprise-D runabout, although reused footage from DS9 gives the ship the USS Rio Grande's registry (NCC-72452). The interior aft set was built on the budget of The Next Generation to help its sister show; ironically, it was never shown on DS9, although the rear windows were seen in the alternate timeline in "The Visitor" and the whole set was redressed for a room on the USS Prometheus in "Second Sight". Set designer Richard James and set decorator Jim Mees noted that while the cockpit had been created over seven weeks, they had only nine days to design and build the set, requiring the crew to work around the clock. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 251)
- During this episode, Captain Picard references events seen in the TNG episodes "Time's Arrow" and "Time's Arrow, Part II", when a subspace force field was used on Devidia II, and the episode "Face Of The Enemy", when Counselor Troi was aboard a Romulan warbird for several days.
- The latter case is used to explain Counselor Troi having knowledge about Romulan engines. However, it seems unlikely that Troi would have gained technical knowledge of Romulan engines. She was posing as a member of the Tal Shiar, and no part of her mission involved a Warbird's engine room.
- This episode featured the second and final use of emergency transporter armbands in TNG (the first was in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"). They would be later used in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Visionary".
- Dr. Vassbinder would later be referenced by Wesley Crusher in the episode "Journey's End", and by Chakotay in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Year of Hell, Part II" .
- This is the second time we see the Enterprise-D supplying a Romulan vessel with power via a power transfer beam. The first was in "The Next Phase". In both cases, an enemy deliberately induced feedback along the beam that almost resulted in the destruction of Enterprise.
- This is the third episode in which we see the Enterprise-D destroyed. The previous two occasions were also in episodes with temporal disturbances: "Time Squared" and "Cause And Effect".
- While discussing the freezing of time with Picard, Troi uses plexing, the Betazoid relaxation technique she had taught to Lt. Barclay in "Realm Of Fear".
Video and DVD releases[]
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 76, 10 January 1994
- As part of the TNG Season 6 DVD collection
Links and references[]
Also starring[]
- LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
- Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf
- Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
- Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
- Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data
Guest star[]
Uncredited co-stars[]
- Majel Barrett as Runabout and Enterprise-D computer voice
- Steve Blalock as Enterprise-D command ensign
- Steven Boz as Enterprise-D operations ensign
- Michael Braveheart as Martinez
- Ericka Bryce as Enterprise-D operations ensign
- Tracee Lee Cocco as Jae
- Debra Dilley as Romulan officer
- Elliot Durant III as Enterprise-D operations ensign
- Matt Goodrich as Romulan officer
- Kerry Hoyt as Enterprise-D operations ensign
- Kathy as Towles
- Lorine Mendell as Diana Giddings
- Michael Moorehead as Enterprise-D sciences ensign
- Teri Noel as Enterprise-D engineer
- Sissy Sessions as Enterprise-D operations ensign
- Leatrim Stang as Romulan officer
- Noriko Suzuki as Enterprise-D operations ensign
- Patricia Tallman as female alien
- Oliver Theess as Enterprise-D crewmember
- Mikki Val as Enterprise-D operations officer
- Guy Vardaman as Romulan officer
- Unknown performers as
Stunt doubles[]
- Irving Lewis as stunt double for LeVar Burton
- Tom Morga as stunt double for Michael Bofshever
- Brian J. Williams as stunt double for Brent Spiner
- David Keith Anderson – stand-in for LeVar Burton
- Debbie David – stand-in for Brent Spiner
- Debra Dilley – stand-in for Patricia Tallman
- Michael Echols – stand-in for Michael Dorn
- Nora Leonhardt – stand-in for Marina Sirtis
- Tim McCormack – stand-in for Brent Spiner
- Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden
- Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Jonathan Frakes and Michael Bofshever
- Dennis Tracy – stand-in for Patrick Stewart
47; acceleration; antimatter; antimatter pod; aphorism; artificial quantum singularity; automatic helm control; battle stations; being; bioelectric pattern; bioscan; biospectral analysis; black hole; boiling; boiling point; captain's log; cell; chronometer; conn; containment field; D'deridex-class; deep sea diver; deep space assignment; deflector array; delta band emission; department head; dermal regenerator; Devidia II; disruptor blast; distress call; dizziness; emergency transporter armband; empath; empirical research; energy pattern; Enterprise-D runabout; equilibrium; evacuation alert; Federation; flashpoint; fuel; fuel consumption log; fruit; gravity well; hull; internal chronometer; interspecies mating practices; interspecies mating rituals; Jefferies tube; kettle; Khazara, IRW; Klingon calisthenics program; Ktarian; lateral thruster; lecture hall; life support; long range sensor; main engineering; mating ritual; medical tricorder; memory record; meter; meters per second; mitosis; Mizan; navigational scan; nest; neural shock; nitrogen narcosis; number one; organic matter; parrises squares; phase discriminator (aka type 7 phase discriminator); phaser; phenomenon; phylobiology; phylobiology seminar attendees ; physiognomy; plasma conversion sensor; plasma field; plexing; power transfer beam; power utilization monitor; psychological conference; psychology; quantum singularity lifeform; Quantum singularity young; rapier; red alert; Romulan; Romulan disruptor pistol; Romulan Neutral Zone; runabout; security officer; sensor log; sensor range; shields; sickbay; space-time continuum; spherical; Spot; subspace; subspace emitter; subspace field; subspace force field; symposium; table; tea; temporal anomaly; temporal aperture; temporal distortion; temporal disturbance; temporal flux; temporal fragment; temporal narcosis; transporter room 3; tricorder; Vassbinder; violin; Wagner; warp core; warp core breach; warp energy; warp nacelle; workshop
External links[]
- "Timescape" at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- "Timescape" at Wikipedia
- "Timescape" at MissionLogPodcast.com
- "Timescape" script at Star Trek Minutiae
- "Timescape" at the Internet Movie Database
Featured revision (109707) • Diff to current • Blurb
Previous episode: "Second Chances" |
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 |
Next episode: "Descent" |


text:
RiderTec Urban Black&Black (RT-0163B&B)
Presentation of the Urban Black&Black
This sporty cut jacket is super comfortable. Many attentions have been paid to details to make this jacket as complete as possible, to answer your needs the best it can. The material used in its confection, named Cordura which a sort of Nylon, is waterproof and very tough when it comes to talk about abrasion of it. This make you feel protected, and in like a shell. This sensation is reinforced thanks to the protective elements included in the jacket. Finally light reflective elements of these vests permit you to be seen in the dark, one more security matters when your body is exposed to every road threats.
Press studs (2 per sleeve) and adjustable straps (at the end of the arm and at the waist) are disposed on the jacket so it can fit you as good as your skin does! The neoprene finishes at the collar and sleeves extremities helps making a wind and rain proof barrier so you remain dry while it's raining cats & dogs outside. The back part of this model shows itself is dedicated to motorcycling practice. Going down, lower than the front it prevents the plumber's smile induces by the position once riding its machine, so you never get cold from the spine!
On the inside, as for the leather range, there is a fully removable inner lining with two pockets included. In addition we can link a motorcycling pant thanks to the zipper made for it thus you have the perfect riding suit whatever the weather! And when the hottest days come, it is such a relief to feel some fresh air invading the jacket. Thanks to the VENTECH air holes technology you'll never get too hot, neither too cold though because the zips of these air holes are waterproof!
Technical specifications:
Vision 360° : pointez sur le blouson avec le curseur de la souris pour le faire tourner |
About the components of the Rider-Tec Urban:
Their material (Cordura) is a textile fiber particularly strong created by DuPont. It's main advantage is being ultra-resistant to the abrasion (4x times more than standard Nylon, 20x more than cotton) which is more than good when it comes to slide on the road.
The homologated protectors will be efficient in protecting the body and the skeleton when impacted / striking the floor. Built to resist to though impacts, these are the essential shell that will absorb the strength of a motorbikes crash.


text:
Harper to recognize Quebec as nation within Canada
Correction — November 29, 2006
There has been confusion if Harper is calling Quebec a nation or the people a nation. Editors offer this clarification:
Thursday, November 23, 2006
The Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, announced at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday that he will recognize Quebecois as a nation within Canada, despite a similar Bloc Quebecois' motion.
The separatist Bloc Quebecois (BQ) opposition party originally introduced the motion to recognize Quebec as a nation, without specifying in or out of Canada. But Harper said that he will only recognize the Quebecois as a nation within Canada.
Quebeckers know who they are, they know they've participated in the foundation, in the founding of Canada and its development and in its greatness. They know that they've protected their language and unique culture but they also promoted their values and interests within Canada.
The real question is straightforward: Do Quebeckers form a nation within a united Canada? The answer is yes.
Do Quebeckers form an independent nation from Canada? The answer is no and it will always be no!
I say to my federalist colleagues and I also say to the separatist side that we here will do what we must, what our forefathers have always done to preserve this country, Canada, strong, united independent and free.
The Bloc, led by Gilles Duceppe is, by tradition, dedicated to separating Quebec completely from Canada. This has never passed.
"I would say we're devoted to this country with its boundless potential and dedicated to building Canada which includes Quebec while the Bloc is dedicated to destroying Canada," interim Liberal leader Bill Graham in response to Harper's speech. "We are fundamentally opposed to breaking up of Canada ... On this point we must clearly and fundamentally disagree and fundamentally fight for the rights of Canada and the whole of Canada."
Mr. Duceppe opposed the prime minister's position on Quebec.
"It isn't up to the prime minister to decide what Quebeckers will choose as an option," Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe said. "It's up to Quebeckers ... to decide what their future will be ... not as long as they remain within Canada that is supposedly united. They are not a nation as long as they are a country ...Never will I accept the only condition to be a nation is to recognize the right to remain in Canada. We are what we are, full stop."
The Conservatives have ten elected MPs in the province.
Related news
- Canadian House of Commons passes Quebecois nation motion, November 28 2006
- "Harper Beats Bloc At Own Game With Motion On Quebec" — CityNews, November 22, 2006
- Theophilos Argitis. "Harper Plans to Recognize Quebec 'Nation' Within Canada" — Bloomberg L.P., November 22, 2006
- "PM says Quebec 'nation in Canada'" — BBC News Online, November 22, 2006


text:
Most Indian workers, particularly new hires, struggle with communication. Soft skills have grown essential in recent years, leading organisations like Unbiasys to develop B2B and B2C programmes centred on communication skills in the workplace
New Delhi (India), October 04: Effective communication will become even more critical in the future when a good place to work has been looking for employees for more than a year. When teammates began working from home, misunderstandings increased as they naturally prioritised interactions and presentations, frequently to the point of 'Virtual fatigue'.
According to Akash Anand, founder of Unbiasys, communication is critical to the success of his company's operations. And this is particularly true in a virtual environment, where many vital players reside on different continents. Accountability for accomplishments necessitates superior communication skills at all organisational levels to successfully navigate cultural issues.
Because of this, communication needs a unique skill set in today's business, especially in a worldwide context:
● Rapid digitalisation
Digitalisation's fast advancement has changed many workplace conventions and processes. When workers began to work almost exclusively offsite, organisations needed to develop methods to streamline operations and communications. These advances increased the demand for communication skills last year 2020, and this trend is expected to continue.
● Flexible employing and alliances
Nowadays, businesses demand fast outcomes from their interactions with teammates and partners. Working with remote freelancers or a SaaS solution has altered the way alliances work. This reduces the tolerance for misunderstanding and unrealistic demands. And both employees and the company must be able to communicate clearly and effectively to adapt.
● Crossing time-zones and geographical boundaries
Today's recent start-ups and new companies employ global workers who work across time zones and countries. And small international teams need novel methods of communication skills in the workplace to maximise productivity.
● Good Communication skills become more preferable
Research on communication and leadership skills demonstrates an increase in the number of applicants for higher-paying jobs. Not all leaders are born with exceptional communication skills. A leader may develop the ability to listen to and connect with their team effectively and requires constant practice. Practical communication skills in the workplace require time to build or gain on the job. They need time to cultivate, polish, and hone.
Advantages of improving workplace communication
Unbiasys provides an easy method to improve workplace communication and get more done, likewise –
● Increases participation and teamwork
It facilitates organisations in recognising the communication styles of their employees and encouraging cross-departmental collaboration. Communication between teammates and departments aids in the discovery of areas where collaboration could be beneficial. Knowing how to maximise teammates' abilities and build a strong bonding are all things that knowledgeable leadership can do.
● Caters to public relations and brand developments
A greater knowledge of clients' and customers' requirements would allow professionals to effectively serve them. Good diverse stakeholder communications strengthen the organization's overall image and reputation. This improves the company's capacity to recruit top people, its end result, and it's throughout the expansion. Furthermore, unambiguous communication skills in the workplace improve connections including all stakeholders and help manage the agenda.
● Less conflict and more trust
Mainly all professional disputes stem from misinterpretation, misconceptions, or a sense of being ignored. Effective communication enables everyone to communicate their requirements and desires better and become more aware of their teammates' requirements. So there's less room for misunderstanding to escalate into bigger problems. It thus affects teamwork, service quality, and cross-functional initiatives. Good communication fosters a trustworthy and productive work atmosphere that fosters cooperation and inventiveness.
Unbiasys assists individuals and organisations in becoming more effective communicators.
Unbiasys helps organisations and people in developing their ability to communicate effectively with a broader audience. Their communicative skill-sets enable you to build a good reputation for your company while being confident and outspoken. Unbiasys provides the highest quality personal, leadership, and team development training. Learn how to engage consumers in your business by entertaining them while being authoritative. Even if most of your conversations are directed at yourself, there are simple techniques to engage others.
The focus remains on communication as a means of enhancing job performance through highly customised training. Additionally, Unbiasys has invested in the game and has confidence in its ability to make a quantifiable impact by directly linking the price of the programme to the expected learning outcomes.
Even if you're unsure where to begin, it's worthwhile to attempt something new if you want to communicate effectively.
To be influential, you must communicate well!
It's really the future of work that is continuously evolving and has a significant effect on our current activities. With companies committing to the long-term viability of faraway or blended conceptual frameworks, new routes and methods to communications will also need to be developed. Additionally, effective communication will provide the groundwork for smooth cooperation in dynamic work teams.
Effective communication will be critical to ensuring seamless collaboration in the post-Covid age. Communication develops into a social and professional ability that determines the future of employment.
Communication skills will be a result including both human talent and organisational capacity while deciding upon the longevity of the future workforce. Akash Anand, the founder of Unbiasys, has benefited over 1000 people so far, succinctly summarised at his endnote as to how companies must prioritise communication skills at the workplace: "Communication skills are those strong core characteristics that influence the effect of all spheres of human activity. So, the show must go on!"


text:
More taxes, same number of cops
"We can no longer guarantee your safety."
It was a statement that angered residents of North Las Vegas last year when the city's police union put it up on billboards across the city.
The union — refusing to offer contract concessions adequate to balance the city's budget — was pressing the North Las Vegas City Council to raise property-tax rates to fund its members' salaries.
A month later, a Nevada Journal investigation into city records would reveal that nearly three out of four union members reside outside North Las Vegas city limits. In short, union members were demanding higher taxes on city residents to fund police paychecks, knowing that most union members would never have to pay the higher tax.
A key tactic in that fight was a threat of lawlessness, which many residents saw as an invitation for crime delivered by the police force itself.
And now a similar tactic is emerging from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Metro brass are lobbying the Nevada Legislature to authorize a second quarter-cent sales-tax hike in Clark County that would be dedicated to Metro coffers. In 2005, lawmakers authorized an initial quarter-cent "more cops" tax in Clark County to finance the hiring of additional police officers.
Just months after the 2005 tax hike was approved, Metro police officers struck a new union contract with the county wherein they secured a 21.8 percent across-the-board pay hike over four years. Recent audits have reported that Metro has mostly done a good job of sequestering the funds received through the "more cops" tax for use only on new hires — in a manner consistent with legislative intent. However, if not for the pay raise and other perks won by Metro's union, money to hire additional officers would already have been available. Despite the funds sequestered, the tax effectively financed a department-wide pay raise.
Now, Metro brass have dropped even the pretense that the second quarter-cent tax hike would be used to hire additional officers. They're asking for this new tax to go into the department's general fund, where it will help finance pay and benefits for current officers. Or, as Metro CFO Karen Keller tells it, "We need a combination of an additional quarter cent as well as the flexibility in how we can spend those funds."
Central to the department's newest tax-hike campaign is a video created by top Metro brass (at public expense) that's clearly designed to scare the public about what might happen if Metro doesn't get the tax it wants.
Even though the video says, "These financial facts are real. They are not scare tactics meant to alarm the public," it's clear that the video is, in fact, meant to scare the public. It features senior officers saying, "Will it be less safe [without the tax hike]? … The truth is … probably." Sheriff Doug Gillespie is also featured saying, "Should the community be concerned? Yes, they should be concerned."
The video claims that Metro faces a $45 million shortfall in its 2013 budget, with $457 million in revenues versus $502 million in expenses. It provides no context, however, for that purported shortfall. It does not mention, for instance, that 1,998 Metro employees took home more than $125,000 in pay and benefits in 2011 or that 852 of those employees topped $150,000 in compensation. That's according to official payroll records received by NPRI and available at TransparentNevada.com.
Not only do Metro's budgeted expenses include high labor costs buttressed by the first "more cops" tax, union officials negotiated some extraordinary perks for themselves on the public dime. Metro pays full-time salary and benefits to seven union executives to perform union work out of the union's two-story Summerlin office.
Even though the union is a private organization, Metro foots the bill for its personnel costs using public resources. Union officials even receive shift differential and dangerous duty pay, though they spend no time fighting crime. Those premium pay categories boost their pay by up to 12 percent.
Metro officials also neglect to mention how the Department's repeated civil rights violations and other offenses have added to its expenses in recent years. Since 2008 at least $6.5 million in payouts have been made to settle more than 150 individual cases. Indeed, given Metro's track record, it's a genuine question how much it really makes citizens "safer."
Years ago in Southern Nevada, it was a different "outfit" implying that citizens' safety might be at risk unless they bought "protection."
Nevadans should expect more from a legitimate police force.
True public safety shouldn't be sacrificed just to enrich government-employee unions.
Geoffrey Lawrence is deputy policy director at the Nevada Policy Research Institute. For more visit http://npri.org.


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Theory & Strategies for Full Employment
ARTICLE | October 3, 2010 | BY Ashok Natarajan
Ashok Natarajan
Table of Contents
- The Need for New Theory and Strategies
- Necessity of Full Employment
- New Theoretical Perspectives
- Available Tools for Full Employment
- Endnotes
1. The Need for New Theory and Strategies
From October 2009 to March 2010, the World Academy of Art & Science launched an e-conference on the Global Employment Challenge (GEC). The conference included video webcast presentations and formal papers by innovative thinkers combined with open discussion between Fellows of the Academy and invited guests. The GEC documented the dire need for new thinking and action to address the pressing problem of unemployment in the world today. The recent international financial crisis has thrown into stark relief serious deficiencies with prevailing theories that advocate macro-economic stimulus as the principal policy instrument available for creating new jobs. Applying conventional economic analysis, policies and public programs, the leading economies of the world have expended a few trillion dollars over the past year to offset the economic impact of financial collapse and stimulate employment generation through economic growth.
In spite of this unprecedented expenditure, today a record high 212 million people are without jobs globally, according to official ILO figures.1 This figure grossly underestimates actual unemployment and underemployment worldwide, which leaves more than three billion people living on incomes of less than $2.50 a day and unable to meet even their minimum economic needs. Even in economically advanced nations, huge numbers of people — most especially youth — are unable to find remunerative employment. According to webcast presenter Randall Wray, the actual level of unemployment and underemployment in the USA is approximately 17.5% of the work force, representing some 25 million people.2 He foresaw nearly a year ago what has become much more apparent since then; namely, that it may take 5 to 10 years before unemployment levels in the USA return to pre-crisis levels. Similar conditions persist in most OECD countries. Real unemployment rates in many countries are at least twice the official figures, which do not account for those who have given up seeking work.
The financial crisis has aggravated the global employment problem, but the problem itself precedes and will persist long after the world economy recovers from the recent downturn. Even before the onset of the crisis, levels of unemployment were unconscionably high in many countries. In 2005, unemployment was 18% in Spain, Poland and East Germany, more than 15% in Croatia and Slovakia, and 30% to 95% throughout most of Africa. Especially troubling is the high youth unemployment rate, e.g. around 35% in Poland, Croatia and Slovakia, 30% in Italy and Greece, 20-25% in France and Spain. The reliance on massive public expenditure to stimulate job creation has not only proven inadequate, but also threatened the financial stability of countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal who thought they could afford it.
In spite of these bleak figures, the presentations and discussions that have taken place during the GEC indicate that long term trends support the view that full employment is an achievable goal and that other strategies do exist that are capable of generating full employment nationally and globally.3 In order to generate the confidence needed for widespread adoption, these alternative approaches require the support of theoretical backing and practical evidence. The GEC called for the formulation of new research to identify and document alternative approaches backed by valid theory for achieving the goal of full employment.
2. Necessity of Full Employment
One of the central themes that emerged from the GEC is the necessity of recognizing employment as a fundamental human right and the responsibility of governments to take all possible steps to achieve and maintain full employment. The right to employment is supported both by idealistic as well as practical considerations. In a world in which individual citizens are expected to provide for their own economic livelihood and that of their families, access to employment is an absolute necessity for physical survival and human welfare. Economy is a social organization created by human beings to meet human needs and human welfare. Any theory which purports to represent sound economics must provide a viable means for all members of society to acquire at least the minimum (why not the optimum?) level of purchasing power needed for survival, development and full enjoyment of their human potential. If economic systems based on current theory are unable to provide sufficient employment opportunities, it means either the prevailing theory or its application is deficient.
A few centuries ago that vast majority of the world's population lived on the land and eked out a subsistence level existence from their own physical labor. This is no longer the case. As Winston Nagan observed in his paper, society has become so structured and economy so specialized that today the vast majority of human beings are dependent on employment outside the home for their survival and welfare.4 Government policies, laws and regulations permeate virtually every aspect of modern economic and social life, effectively determining what types of activity can and cannot be carried out and thereby directly or indirectly determining the number and type of employment opportunities available to the population. Principles of justice necessitate that a government which interferes with economic activity in order to protect the rights of some must ensure conditions that support the basic economic rights of all its citizens. Guaranteeing the right to employment is not only just and necessary; it is also the only effective way to ensure that employment opportunities are available to all citizens. A firm commitment of governments to uphold this right will generate the political will required to achieve it.
3. New Theoretical Perspectives
The problem of unemployment poses a serious challenge to both economic theorists and policy-makers, because it calls into question the efficacy of the market-place as a means for achieving optimal human welfare. Today we face a situation in which high levels of unemployment coexist together with a high level of unmet social needs. Hundreds of millions of people want to work, but are unable to find employment opportunities. At the same time, billions more struggle to survive in dire poverty. There is something seriously amiss with a system that keeps people idle while essential work remains undone, which is akin to letting food rot while people are starving.
Identification of potential or proven employment generating strategies by itself may not be sufficient to bring about their rapid, widespread implementation around the world. Existing economic theory and conventional policy measures are deeply entrenched among academics and policy-makers. Therefore, it is necessary to re-examine the underlying theoretical framework that supports prevailing practices to show that it is both incomplete and insufficient to fully address the employment problem. In a report to the Club of Rome, Orio Giarini and Patrick Liedtke document the insufficiencies in current employment theory.5 It is equally necessary to evolve a more comprehensive theoretical framework that reflects the true role of various parameters in the generation of new employment opportunities.
One basic limitation with existing theory is that it continues to be based on the nation-state as the unit for economy and employment generation at a time when employment markets are becoming increasingly regional and global in nature. The phenomenal four-fold multiplication of world trade since 1990 has largely internationalized the labor market for manufacturing jobs. The rapid development of the internet is having a similar impact on employment in IT, business outsourcing, financial services, publishing and many other fields. Increasing corporate mobility is moving jobs to underutilized, lower priced labor markets. Combined with regional integration and demographic changes arising from an aging population in Europe, as well as large scale migration of technically qualified manpower from developing countries, these factors are reducing the capacity of national level theory and policy to effectively deal with an increasingly globalized issue.
Why can we not devise an economic system in which everyone that is willing to work and capable of productive activity is assured of an opportunity and means to do so? It is not as if all possible human wants are already being met and there is no further work to be done in the world. Since at least half the world's population is still living in poverty, there is obviously a great deal of work that is not getting done, work that can build houses, produce goods, provide services and raise all human beings to the level of the middle class. Even in the most economically advanced nations, there are a wide range of human needs and aspirations that are only poorly or partially fulfilled by the current system. Human beings everywhere want better healthcare, more and better education, improved housing and public infrastructure, etc. Why is society unable to meet all or a much larger portion of those needs when there are so many people willing and capable, but unable to find opportunities for gainful employment?
These questions point to a still more fundamental deficiency with current theory arising from the fact that it views economy in isolation from the society of which it is a part. At any point in time society taps only a tiny portion of its creative potential. Society evolves by developing new ideas, organizations, systems, needs and ways of life. Economic growth arises as a natural result of social development and social evolution. Society is a field for interaction between people. Social potential is created by forging new and more effective ways for people to interact. Four social institutions — language, roads, cities and money — formed the basis for the evolution of civilization over thousands of years. Today our capacity for constructive interaction has multiplied a thousand-fold, yet we have only begun to understand how to utilize that greater potential.
The strategies discussed above barely scratch the surface of the potential, much of which is too intangible to quantify but nonetheless very real and powerful. Can we truly assess the social potential created by the fact that 1.7 billion human beings are now connected over the Internet in a single social system that has the potential to deliver world-class education to everyone, or that 350 million of them participate in a single social networking system, Facebook? We need only imagine the constraints we would face if only 5 or 10% of humanity were accessible by roads, mail services or airlines. Imagine the difficulties we would encounter if the world today lacked English as a common language for communication or if it lacked a mechanism for converting money from one national currency into another. We have hardly begun to fathom the social potential generated by linking a very large portion of humanity to a single system for communication, commerce, education, employment, entertainment and other social interactions.6 A more comprehensive and integrated social theory of employment will provide the essential foundation for more comprehensive and effective practices. It is necessary to examine existing perspectives and seek to evolve a more inclusive theoretical framework that more effectively harnesses unutilized social potential to fulfill unmet social needs.
4. Available Tools for Full Employment
The GEC has explored a number of promising strategies that can be adopted individually or in combination to achieve full employment. Each of these strategies needs to be carefully evaluated to document their feasibility for application under a range of different economic conditions and in order to develop a set of best practices applicable at different levels in different parts of the world.
4.1 Job Guarantee Programs
Job guarantee programs range from the temporary Jefes project operated by Argentina to India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which presently guarantees 100 days of employment per year to more than 45 million families. Randall Wray and Rania Antonopolous presented compelling evidence to show that government-sponsored employment guarantee programs of this type are a viable option for addressing unemployment in a wide range of developed and developing countries.7,8 Wray also observed that the social costs of high unemployment in terms of loss of human capital, poverty, social isolation, crime, regional deterioration, health issues, family breakdown, school dropouts, social, political and economic instability, violence, ethnic hostility, and even terrorism far outweigh the cost of public jobs programs capable of generating full employment.
4.2 Complementary Currencies
At the height of the Great Depression, an experimental currency introduced in the town of Woergl, Austria wiped out 30% local unemployment in a short time. Today more than 2500 complementary or local currencies are being utilized by communities, NGOs and corporates around the world to compensate for the inadequacies of national money systems, often with remarkable effectiveness. As we write a plethora of non-national money systems are also gaining currency on the Internet. Yet, mainstream economic theory does not adequately account for the capacity of these supplementary systems to harness unutilized resources to provide for unmet social needs. Nor does it help us assess the ultimate potential for creating innovative monetary systems. Bernard Lietaer has described a variety of innovative currency programs that can be adopted by countries, states, regions, municipal governments, companies or NGOs to effectively supplement that role of national currencies.9 The GEC recommended a full examination of these programs to identify those best suited for widespread implementation at different levels and under different economic conditions.
4.3 Technological Innovation
For the past two centuries, technology has been a principal engine for economic growth and job creation. Most of the jobs in today's economy are based on technologies that did not exist 50 years ago. A vast majority of them, such as those in information technology, communications, financial services, medicine, aerospace, and consumer electronics are based largely on technology developed in the past 10 to 20 years. R&D is essential for development of new technologies, but technology dissemination and adaptation are equally important for converting new technologies into real jobs. Countless technologies already exist that are either unknown or remain unexploited due to lack of public awareness, proven potential or entrepreneurial initiative. In a report for the Club of Rome, Gunter Pauli has documented 100 proven, ecologically sustainable technologies that have the potential for creating 100 million new jobs within the next 10 years.10 The GEC identified the need to identify a broad range of commercially viable existing technologies that can be implemented under different conditions in different parts of the world.
4.4 Filling Skill Shortages
A shortage of skills is one of the principal reasons for high levels of unemployment. Numerous studies cited confirm that large scale unemployment co-exists alongside high levels of unfilled jobs in both industrialized and developing countries. An article in Wall Street Journal in 2007 revealed that there were 600,000 unfilled jobs in Germany, of which 40,000 were jobs for engineers and other skilled people. Another survey revealed that 80% of small firms in Germany find it very difficult to mobilize the skilled labor force that they require. Small manufacturers and building contractors in the USA are among those that report severe difficulty in recruiting skilled workers. A World Bank study of corporations in developing countries found that 50% of them suffered from a shortage of skilled workers. Even countries like India with enormous manpower and training infrastructure suffer from this problem. A mere 5% of India's workforce has received formal vocational training. Skills shortages prevail in a wide range of basic occupational categories such as plumbers, electricians, masons, carpenters, etc. Since in today's world economy jobs move to where skills are available, skill shortages in one place can often be exploited to create employment opportunities. The GEC highlighted the need to identify best practices and effective strategies for identifying and meeting skill shortages.
4.5 Organizational Innovation
The internet is not merely a technological innovation. It is also a social innovation, which has created the first truly global social system. Social innovations are almost as common as technological ones and equally productive of new employment opportunities. In the mid 1980s, the Government of India introduced an innovative system to increase access to the telephone system at a time when public investment could meet only 33% of demand. A single line of legislation — "If you operate a telephone booth you will earn 20 percent commission"— transformed long-distance telephony in India. Within a few years this unique program created about 600,000 self-employment opportunities and more than a million jobs. In the process, it helped extend telephone access to more than 98% of India's population. A comparative survey of social organizations and systems in different countries can identify hundreds or thousands of social innovations that can spur new job creation.
Organization provides the structural foundation for all economic activity. Markets, money, and banking are organizational innovations that have revolutionized economy and society over the past few centuries. A study conducted by The Mother's Service Society for the International Commission on Peace & Food in 1991 documented the potential for creating 100 million new employment opportunities in India within 10 years by adoption of modern agricultural technology combined with innovative production and marketing organizations.11 The strategy was formally adopted by the Government of India in 1992. We need to examine a range of organizational innovations that can be widely applied to create new employment and self-employment opportunities.
4.6 Entrepreneurship
In spite of the publicity given to the downsizing of many large corporations, the fact is that throughout the world, small and medium size businesses are the major source of new jobs. During the recent recession, total employment among Canada's small firms remained constant, whereas employment among large corporations declined 10%. In India, only about 5% of employment is in the private corporate sector. In the USA, small firms are responsible for 50% of all jobs and 64% of all new jobs created during the past 15 years, including 40% of high tech workers. That is why entrepreneurial and small business development programs and business incubators are so important.
While many countries encourage new business formation, far less attention is given to supporting small businesses after they have been established. Small businesses not only create the most new jobs, but they also destroy the most due to very high failure rates. The US economy creates about 600,000 new small firms each year, but it also loses almost an equal number due to closure and bankruptcy. Only 70% of new firms survive for two years or more and only 51% survive for five years. Many of these firms are started by individuals with little or no managerial training or experience. Unlike countries such as Netherlands, which require entrepreneurs to undergo formal training before starting a business, many small business owners in USA cannot even read a profit and loss statement. Similar conditions exist in developing countries such as India where new business failure rates are extremely high due to lack of entrepreneurial training. Organized training and counseling for such businessmen can considerably reduce business failures and losses. A set of global best practices is needed for the development of new businesses and prevention of business failures.
4.7 Comprehensive Strategies
These are just a few examples of areas in which untapped social potentials can become the source of new employment and self-employment opportunities on a very large scale. Any of these seven strategies listed above may be sufficient to dramatically reduce unemployment without reliance on the huge levels of government spending required by traditional macro-economic stimulus packages. Yet individual countries may find a combination of strategies the fastest, most cost effective way to achieve full employment. Therefore, the GEC concluded that there is need for the formulation of a comprehensive theory and set of best practices that can be implemented individually or in combination by countries at different levels of development.
It is time that we stopped thinking of economic stimulus programs, public investment and tax cuts as the principal means for creating new jobs. Society is a complex and vastly underutilized resource with a virtually unlimited appetite for new and better products and services. In an age when time, money, energy and other natural resources are considered so precious, it is a crime to neglect the most precious and underutilized of all our resources — human beings.
1 ILO, Global Employment Trends 2010.
2 Wray, Randall, "Full Employment Through Direct Job Creation", webcast presentation to the World Academy of Art & Science, November 10, 2009, http://www.worldacademy.org/files/Job%20Guarantee%20Wray%20presentation%....
3 Jacobs, Garry, "The Global Job Machine: Trends & Prospects", the World Academy of Art & Science e-conference on Global Employment Challenge, November 2, 2009, http://www.worldacademy.org/forum/global-job-machine.
4 Nagan, Winston, "Human Rights and Employment", the World Academy of Art & Science e-conference on Global Employment Challenge, October 1, 2009, http://www.worldacademy.org/forum/human-rights-and-employment-winston-nagan.
5 Giarini, Orio and Patrick Liedtke, The Employment Dilemma: The Future of Work, Club of Rome, 1997, p. 60-61. http://eng.newwelfare.org/2006/10/21/abstracts-from-the-employment-dilem...
6 Jacobs, Garry, "From Newtonian Economics to Full Employment", the World Academy of Art & Science e-conference on Global Employment Challenge, January 11, 2010, http://www.worldacademy.org/forum/newtonian-economics-full-employment.
7 Wray, Randall, "How to Implement True, Full Employment", the World Academy of Art & Science e-conference on Global Employment Challenge, November 14, 2009, http://www.worldacademy.org/forum/how-implement-true-full-employment-ran... and Full Employment and Employment Guarantees, webcast presentation to the World Academy of Art & Science, November 10, 2009, http://www.worldacademy.org/content/gec-webcasts#randall.
8 Antonopoulos, Rania, "Impact of Employment Guarantee Programmes on Gender Equality and Pro-Poor Economic Development", POLICY BRIEF, Case-Study on South Africa, January 2008, http://www.levy.org/pubs/UNDP-Levy/South_Africa/Policy_Brief_EPWP_South_... and Employment Guarantee Policies: Contributing to Pro-Poor Development, Promoting Gender Equality, webcast presentation to the World Academy of Art & Science, February 11, 2010, http://www.worldacademy.org/content/gec-webcasts#rania.
9 Lietaer, Bernard, Commercial Credit Circuit (C3): A Financial Innovation to Structurally Address Unemployment, published in collaboration with STRO, November 15, 2009, http://www.worldacademy.org/forum/commercial-credit-circuit-c3 and Innovative Strategies for Financing Full Employment, webcast presentation to the World Academy of Art & Science, November 20, 2009, http://www.worldacademy.org/content/gec-webcasts#bernard.
10 Pauli, Gunter, "The Blue Economy", the World Academy of Art & Science e-conference on Global Employment Challenge, November 14, 2009, http://www.worldacademy.org/files/The%20Blue%20Economy%20by%20Pauli%20in... and The Blue Economy: 10 years, 100 innovations, 100 million jobs, webcast presentation to the World Academy of Art & Science, November 14, 2009, http://www.worldacademy.org/content/gec-webcasts#gunter.
11 International Commission on Peace & Food, "Creating 100 Million Jobs in India", Study conducted by The Mother's Service Society in 1991, published in Uncommon Opportunities: Agenda for Peace & Equitable Development, Zed Books, London, 1994, p. 122. http://www.mssresearch.org/
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Excrement was found on the floor of the visitors' dressing room ahead of the second-leg clash between the fierce derby rivals last Monday.
In an email sent to season-ticket holders yesterday evening, Brighton chief executive Paul Barber confirmed the club had formally apologised to Palace and vowed to tighten security at the ground.
However, Barber said he could not comment on the suspension of manager Gus Poyet, assistant Mauricio Taricco and first-team coach Charlie Oatway - for matters unrelated to the dressing-room incident - following the Albion's 2-0 defeat.
"It's clearly been a challenging week for our club," wrote Barber.
"Defeat at home to our biggest rivals in a play-off semi-final; the suspension from work and pending investigation of three members of our staff; and the revelation of an unsavoury incident that took place in our visitors' dressing room last Monday.
"These events have led to some unwelcome headlines that we all would have preferred not to have been reading during the last week. Understandably, many supporters have asked me, both in person and in writing, about recent events - and, in particular, how and why they have happened. At this point, I'm unable to give you answers to all the questions you may have.
"What I can say to you is that every football club faces a variety of challenges at different points in its history. We are no exception and I can assure you that we will address each of these challenges as you would expect and want us to, namely, professionally and with as much as dignity as possible.
"We apologised to Crystal Palace as soon as the vandalism in their dressing room was discovered, and again more formally a few days after the match. As a result of what happened, please rest assured we have reviewed our internal procedures to guard against this ever happening again.
"On other matters, you will appreciate that I'm unable to comment further at this time."
(Edited by Ben Bloom)