Television Essay Example for Free

Television Essay Disadvantages of television: 1. Television is a sort of time-consuming thing Instead of spending time on meaningful activities, many people tend to watch TV all day long. They waste time in watching their favorite programs on TV. This habit distracts them from their work, study, relationships and so on. 2. Television is a health hazard to people, especially to children Spending too much time on watching television can cause many diseases such as refractive error of the eyes (especially nearsightedness), obesity, heart attack, spine disease, mental disorder, etc. According to a report of Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia, which was published on Circle magazine, people who watch TV for more than 4 hour a day have a higher risk (80%) of dying from heart disease compared with those who watch less than two hours. In addition, sitting in front of TV for a long time without doing any exercise, and eating unhealthy food (snack, pizza, chip, etc) leads to obesity easily. Furthermore, radiation, X-rays, electronic beam, and other rays generated from TV have bad influence on users’ health, especially their eyes. 3. Television also broadcasts some inappropriate programs Even though many programs provide useful things for people, there are still some which have bad influence on their psychology, especially children and teenagers. More and more violent and â€Å"hot† scenes have appeared on TV. Children and teenagers, who have not completely developed awareness and psychology yet, tend to imitate characters’ behaviors on TV. So, that is not a good idea to let children and teenagers watch these things. 4. Television helps spread false advertisements Not all advertisements appearing on TV are reliable. Many companies are willing to pay a large amount of money to have their products been be popular on TV, even low-quality products. As you can see, the people in ads are always attractive: women are always very beautiful and sexy; men are always handsome and manly; and they always love a particular product which seems very good. Therefore, customers (usually housewives) will be attracted by these ads and desire to own it; they are likely to spend money on those products. disadvantage of television** The television has a lot of advantages, but like all scientific inventions, while it provides a lot of entertainment and knowledge to us it also has some disadvantages. The main disadvantage of television is that by providing indoor entertainment to people it has decreased the level of social interaction between people. It has especially adversely affected family ties, because while in earlier years when there was no television, children and parents spent more quality time together, now they are just glued in front of the television and dont give a lot of time to each other. It can also influence kids in a bad way if they watch the programs full of violence and crime, but then that can be monitored by the parents and they can see to it that they do not watch anything that influences them negatively. As I see it, the major disadvantage of television is that it has weakened family bonds. *** It can cause you to gain weight Its pretty intuitive that spending the evening parked in front of the T.V. doesnt burn a lot deal of calories. In fact, sitting quietly in front of the television set burns a paltry 68 calories per hour. Not exactly a formula for good health and fitness. Combine that with the high calorie snacks most people consume while watching that suspenseful television sit-com and you can see how watching T.V. can quickly pack on the pounds. One smart move not many people make is to exercise while they watch television. If more people parked an exercise bike in front of the T.V. instead of a recliner, the world would be a healthier place. ***It wastes time Television watchers should keep a log of the hours they choose to sit in front of the boob tube. After they experience the shock of realizing how much time theyve wasted, they could then make a list of ways to use that time more productively. Some suggestions might be: spend time with family, friends, and pets; start a part-time business; meditate or pray; play a sport; or pick up a hobby. They just might discover theres more to life than whats happening on the latest reality show. You can bet when people come to the end of their life they dont regret not having watched more T.V. 5.Watching TV has become bad habbits of human being. We require some kind of etiquate to educate the human beings for watching TV execessively without getting the advantages of the same. We have lost all our old heritage to socialise the environment. Watching TV does not involve the person participation actively. In sub-conscious mind we just go on watching the subject without involving our active mind. We are also loosing the social activities as well as outdoor activities which gives boosting effect on human mind. We should generate awareness among the people about the disadvantage of watching the TV. Although this great invention of science has played major role in human life to give more comfort as well as information human requires for his developement but in my view disadvantages has also played vital role to destroy of old age heritage which in fact scientifically proven that outdoor as social activities gives metal and physical satisfaction. As we are well our that our encestors have develope sense of visualising the events happening at far distant places. This has happend because human has practiced his body in such a that they can see adn visualise the thing before the events take place. But TV may not give this opportunity to develope the human mind. Watching TV has become habbit and some time we do not prefer to visit relatives and friends house and also do not prefer to be visited by them. We would like to generate the awareness in the human being to visulaise this drawback in order to avoid untoward incident to happen in futre and repent on this activity at later date. We must develope and generate a group who can devote the time to make people aware about the outcome of this activity. *..* It Can Cause You To Gain Weight It’s pretty intuitive that spending the evening parked in front of the T.V. doesn’t burn a lot deal of calories. In fact, sitting quietly in front of the television set burns a paltry 68 calories per hour. Not exactly a formula for good health and fitness. Combine that with the high calorie snacks most people consume while watching that suspenseful television sit-com and you can see how watching T.V. can quickly pack on the pounds. One smart move not many people make is to exercise while they watch television. If more people parked an exercise bike in front of the T.V. instead of a recliner, the world would be a healthier place. *..* It Wastes Time Television watchers should keep a log of the hours they choose to sit in front of the â€Å"boob tube†. After they experience the shock of realizing how much time they’ve wasted, they could then make a list of ways to use that time more productively. Some suggestions might be: spend time with family, friends, and pets; start a part-time business; meditate or pray; play a sport; or pick up a hobby. They just might discover there’s more to life than what’s happening on the latest reality show. You can bet when people come to the end of their life they don’t regret not having watched more T.V. *..* It Makes You Dumber To be assured of this, all you have to do is tune in to some of the popular reality shows to witness the dumbing down of America. A study conducted in 2005 and published in the Archives of Adolescent and Pediatric Medicine showed that kids who had their own television set scored lower on mathematics tests. Several other studies have supported this premise. It’s important to set a good example for the kids of today by encouraging them to read and engage in the arts rather than park themselves in front of the television set. *..* It Promotes Passivity Television allows its audiences to live vicariously through the situations and lives of fictional characters. It’s far easier for a television viewer to experience the thrill of a television character’s success than it is to go out and create success on their own terms. This is particularly detrimental to children and teenagers who need to develop a strong sense of self and a purpose in life. Television encourages passivity. There’s no doubt that television view does have its benefits if carefully selected programs are viewed. It’s a way to stay informed about what’s happening in the world. Plus, there are variety of channels that offer educational programming where you learn new skills ranging from cooking to crafts. The trick is to not let television overtake your life or the life of your family to the exclusion of other more important activities. Let television be a treat rather than a daily ritual. CHILDREN from disadvantaged families watch more television than children from higher socio-economic backgrounds, research has found. The joint study by the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the University of New England also found that a third of Australian children aged over two are spending more than the recommended two hours a day watching TV. AIFS researcher Dr Ben Edwards said while childrens television watching was low in the first year, by two to three years of age, television occupied a significant portion of a childs time, particularly for those from lower socio-economic families. At critical ages for child development, when children are under three years old, the more disadvantaged the childs background, the more likely it was that they would watch television for more than two hours, he said.By the time children were aged between four and five, the proportion of children from disadvantaged backgrounds watching more than three hours of television a day was more than double that of children from advantaged backgrounds. The research also found that children from higher socio-economic backgrounds spent more time reading. Among the most disadvantaged families, 41-47 per cent of children were not read to at all, compared with only 15-22 per cent of children in the most advantaged families. Dr Edwards said the findings could help explain the means through which social advantage is transmitted across generations because, he argues, longer TV viewing can encroach on other learning and developmental opportunities such as reading and imaginative play. Four years ago, Carmel and Jesper Nielsen, from Prahran, began restricting their childrens TV viewing to weekends only. Their children now watch about six hours of TV a week. Computer games are limited to two hours a week. Basically, we felt it was displacing that creative and imaginative play as well as physical activity and, just as importantly, when they were watching TV there was very little family interaction, Ms Nielsen said. She said while it was initially difficult to reduce their childrens TV viewing, they are now just as happy to play with their toys or play sport outside.

Edwin Muirs Poem The Horses Essay -- Horses Edwin Muir Essays

Edwin Muir's Poem "The Horses" "The Horses" is a poem by Edwin Muir. It tells the story of a world ravaged by nuclear war, where the few survivors live hopelessly in a desolate reality. Their outlook is changed by the arrival of the horses, a relic of the past which lets them rediscover humanity's bond with nature. "The Horses", as well as being a very beautiful and moving poem, has an important message to convey. The poet uses various methods to illustrate this. Throughout the poem, there are many biblical references. The nuclear war is described as a "seven days war", which is an allusion to Genesis, the creation and destruction of the world in seven days. This idea is furthered by the use of the phrases "our fathers' land" and "our fathers' time". The word 'covenant' has connotations of the 'Arc of Covenant', the Israelites sacred vow to God. And later in the poem, the horses are described as appearing from their own 'Eden', another biblical reference. This illustrates the importance of the poem's subject matter, by introducing a parallel to the Bible. It bears a resemblance to when God flooded the world, to wipe out all sin and allow the few on Noah's Ark to rebuild a new, better world. This poem also shows the totality of nuclear war. Although there are survivors, the ammount of death and destruction is immense. It takes so little time to destroy the world, in a way a punishment for mankind's vanity and arrogance. Technology, for so long thought to be a d...

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 1~2

For Jim Darling, Flip Nicklin, and Meagan Jones: extraordinary people who do extraordinary work Fluke (flook) 1. A stroke of good luck 2. A chance occurrence; an accident 3. A barb or barbed head, as on a harpoon 4. Either of the two horizontally flattened divisions of the tail of a whale PART ONE The Song An ocean without its unnamed monsters would be like a completely dreamless sleep. – JOHN STEINBECK The scientific method is nothing more than a system of rules to keep us from lying to each other. – KEN NORRIS CHAPTER ONE Big and Wet Next Question? Amy called the whale punkin. He was fifty feet long, wider than a city bus, and weighed eighty thousand pounds. One well-placed slap of his great tail would reduce the boat to fiberglass splinters and its occupants to red stains drifting in the blue Hawaiian waters. Amy leaned over the side of the boat and lowered the hydrophone down on the whale. â€Å"Good morning, punkin,† she said. Nathan Quinn shook his head and tried not to upchuck from the cuteness of it, of her, while surreptitiously sneaking a look at her bottom and feeling a little sleazy about it. Science can be complex. Nate was a scientist. Amy was a scientist, too, but she looked fantastic in a pair of khaki hiking shorts, scientifically speaking. Below, the whale sang on, the boat vibrated with each note. The stainless rail at the bow began to buzz. Nate could feel the deeper notes resonate in his rib cage. The whale was into a section of the song they called the  «green » themes, a long series of whoops that sounded like an ambulance driving through pudding. A less trained listener might have thought that the whale was rejoicing, celebrating, shouting howdy to the world to let everyone and everything know that he was alive and feeling good, but Nate was a trained listener, perhaps the most trained listener in the world, and to his expert ears the whale was saying – Well, he had no idea what in the hell the whale was saying, did he? That's why they were out there floating in that sapphire channel off Maui in a small speedboat, sloshing their breakfasts around at seven in the morning: No one knew why the humpbacks sang. Nate had been listening to them, observing them, photographing them, and poking them with stick s for twenty-five years, and he still had no idea why, exactly, they sang. â€Å"He's into his ribbits,† Amy said, identifying a section of the whale's song that usually came right before the animal was about to surface. The scientific term for this noise was  «ribbits » because that's what they sounded like. Science can be simple. Nate peeked over the side and looked at the whale that was suspended head down in the water about fifty feet below them. His flukes and pectoral fins were white and described a crystal-blue chevron in the deep blue water. So still was the great beast that he might have been floating in space, the last beacon of some long-dead space-traveling race – except that he was making croaky noises that would have sounded more appropriate coming out of a two-inch tree frog than the archaic remnant of a superrace. Nate smiled. He liked ribbits. The whale flicked his tail once and shot out of Nate's field of vision. â€Å"He's coming up,† Nate said. Amy tore off her headphones and picked up the motorized Nikon with the three-hundred-millimeter lens. Nate quickly pulled up the hydrophone, allowing the wet cord to spool into a coil at his feet, then turned to the console and started the engine. Then they waited. There was a blast of air from behind them and they both spun around to see the column of water vapor hanging in the air, but it was far, perhaps three hundred meters behind them – too far away to be their whale. That was the problem with the channel between Maui and Lanai where they worked: There were so many whales that you often had a hard time distinguishing the one you were studying from the hundreds of others. The abundance of animals was a both a blessing and a curse. â€Å"That our guy?† Amy asked. All the singers were guys. As far as they knew anyway. The DNA tests had proven that. â€Å"Nope.† There was another blow to their left, this one much closer. Nate could see the white flukes or blades of his tail under the water, even from a hundred meters away. Amy hit the stop button on her watch. Nate pushed the throttle forward and they were off. Amy braced a knee against the console to steady herself, keeping the camera pointed toward the whale as the boat bounced along. He would blow three, maybe four times, then fluke and dive. Amy had to be ready when the whale dove to get a clear shot of his flukes so he could be identified and cataloged. When they were within thirty yards of the whale, Nate backed the throttle down and held them in position. The whale blew again, and they were close enough to catch some of the mist. There was none of the dead fish and massive morning-mouth smell that they would have encountered in Alaska. Humpbacks didn't feed while they were in Hawaii. The whale fluked and Amy fired off two quick frames with the Nikon. â€Å"Good boy,† Amy said to the whale. She hit the lap timer button on her watch. Nate cut the engine and the speedboat settled into the gentle swell. He threw the hydrophone overboard, then hit the record button on the recorder that was bungee-corded to the console. Amy set the camera on the seat in front of the console, then snatched their notebook out of a waterproof pouch. â€Å"He's right on sixteen minutes,† Amy said, checking the time and recording it in the notebook. She wrote the time and the frame numbers of the film she had just shot. Nate read her the footage number off the recorder, then the longitude and latitude from the portable GPS (global positioning system) device. She put down the notebook, and they listened. They weren't right on top of the whale as they had been before, but they could hear him singing through the recorder's speaker. Nate put on the headphones and sat back to listen. That's how field research was. Moments of frantic activity followed by long periods of waiting. (Nate's first ex-wife had once commented that their sex life could be described in exactly the same way, but that was after they had separated, and she was just being snotty.) Actually, the wait here in Maui wasn't bad – ten, fifteen minutes at a throw. When he'd been studying right whales in the North Atlantic, Nate had sometimes waited weeks before he found a whale to study. Usually he liked to use the downtime (literally, the time the whale was down) to think about how he should've gotten a real job, one where you made real money and had weekends off, or at least gotten into a branch of the field where the results of his work were more palpable, like sinking whaling ships – a pirate. You know, security. Today Nate was actively trying not to watch Amy put on sunscreen. Amy was a snowflake in the land of the tanned. Most whale researchers spent a great deal of time outdoors, at sea. They were, for the most part, an intrepid, outdoorsy bunch who wore wind- and sunburn like battle scars, and there were few who didn't sport a semipermanent sunglasses raccoon tan and sun-bleached hair or a scaly bald spot. Amy, on the other hand, had milk-white skin and straight, short black hair so dark that the highlights appeared blue in the Hawaiian sun. She was wearing maroon lipstick, which was so wildly inappropriate and out of character for this setting that it approached the comical and made her seem like the goth geek of the Pacific, which was, in fact, one of the reasons her presence so disturbed Nate. (He reasoned: A well-formed bottom hanging in space is just a well-formed bottom, but you hook up a well-formed bottom to a whip-smart woman and apply a dash of the awkward and what you've got yo urself is†¦ well, trouble.) Nate did not watch her rub the SPF50 on her legs, over her ankles and feet. He did not watch her strip to her bikini top and apply the sunscreen over her chest and shoulders. (Tropical sun can fry you even through a shirt.) Nate especially did not notice when she grabbed his hand, squirted lotion into it, then turned, indicating that he should apply it to her back, which he did – not noticing anything about her in the process. Professional courtesy. He was working. He was a scientist. He was listening to the song of Megaptera novaeangliae (â€Å"big wings of New England,† a scientist had named the whale, thus proving that scientists drink), and he was not intrigued by her intriguing bottom because he had encountered and analyzed similar data in the past. According to Nate's analysis, research assistants with intriguing bottoms turned into wives 66.666 percent of the time, and wives turned into ex-wives exactly 100 percent of the time – plus or minus 5 percent factored for post-divorce comfort sex.) â€Å"Want me to do you?† Amy asked, holding out her preferred sunscreen-slathering hand. You just don't go there, thought Nate, not even in a joke. One incorrect response to a line like that and you could lose your university position, if you had one, which Nate didn't, but still†¦ You don't even think about it. â€Å"No thanks, this shirt has UV protection woven in,† he said, thinking about what it would be like to have Amy do him. Amy looked suspiciously at his faded WE LIKE WHALES CONFERENCE 89 T-shirt and wiped the remaining sunscreen on her leg. † ‘Kay,† she said. â€Å"You know, I sure wish I could figure out why these guys sing,† Nate said, the hummingbird of his mind having tasted all the flowers in the garden to return to that one plastic daisy that would just not give up the nectar. â€Å"No kidding?† Amy said, deadpan, smiling. â€Å"But if you figure it out, what would we do tomorrow?† â€Å"Show off,† Nate said, grinning. â€Å"I'd be typing all day, analyzing research, matching photographs, filing song tapes –  » â€Å"Bringing us doughnuts,† Nate added, trying to help. Amy continued, counting down the list on her fingers, â€Å"- picking up blank tapes, washing down the trucks and the boats, running to the photo lab – ; â€Å"Not so fast,† Nate interrupted. â€Å"What, you're going to deprive me the joy of running to the photo lab while you bask in scientific glory?† â€Å"No, you can still go to the photo lab, but Clay hired a guy to wash the trucks and boats.† A delicate hand went to her forehead as she swooned, the southern belle in hiking shorts, taken with the vapors. â€Å"If I faint and fall overboard, don't let me drown.† â€Å"You know, Amy,† Nate said as he undressed the crossbow, â€Å"I don't know how it was at Boston doing survey, but in behavior, research assistants are only supposed to bitch about the humiliating grunt work and lowly status to other research assistants. It was that way when I was doing it, it was that way going back centuries, it has always been that way. Darwin himself had someone on the Beagle to file dead birds and sort index cards.† â€Å"He did not. I've never read anything about that.† â€Å"Of course you didn't. Nobody writes about research assistants.† Nate grinned again, celebration for a small victory. He realized he wasn't working up to standards on managing this research assistant. His partner, Clay, had hired her almost two weeks ago, and by now he should have had her terrorized. Instead she was working him like a Starbucks froth slave. â€Å"Ten minutes,† Amy said, checking the timer on her watch. â€Å"You going to shoot him?† â€Å"Unless you want to?† Nate notched the arrow into the crossbow. He tucked the windbreaker they used to  «dress » the crossbow under the console. It was very politically incorrect to carry a weapon for shooting whales through the crowded Lahaina harbor, so they carried it inside the windbreaker, making it appear that they had a jacket on a hanger. Amy shook her head violently. â€Å"I'll drive the boat.† â€Å"You should learn to do it.† â€Å"I'll drive the boat,† Amy said. â€Å"No one drives the boat.† No one but Nate drove the boat. Granted, the Constantly Baffled was only a twenty-three-foot Mako speedboat, and an agile four-year-old could pilot it on a calm day like today. Still, no one else drove the boat. It was a man thing, being inherently uncomfortable with the thought of a woman operating a boat or a television remote control. â€Å"Up sounds,† Nate said. They had a recording of the full sixteen-minute cycle of the song now – all the way through twice, in fact. He stopped the recorder and pulled up the hydrophone, then started the engine. â€Å"There,† Amy said, pointing to the white fins and flukes moving under the water. The whale blew only twenty yards off the bow. Nate buried the throttle. Amy was wrenched off her feet and just caught herself on the railing next to the wheel console as the boat shot forward. Nate pulled up on the right side of the whale, no more than ten yards away as the whale came up for the second time. He steadied the wheel with his hip, pulled up the crossbow, and fired. The bolt bounced off the whale's rubbery back, the hollow surgical steel arrowhead taking out a cookie-cutter plug of skin and blubber the size of a pencil eraser before the wide plastic tip stopped the penetration. The whale lifted his tail out of the water and snapped it in the air, making a sound like a giant knuckle cracking as the massive tail muscles contracted. â€Å"He's pissed,† Nate said. â€Å"Let's go for a measurement.† â€Å"Now?† Amy questioned. Normally they would wait for another dive cycle. Obviously Nate thought that because of their taking the skin sample the whale might start traveling. They could lose him before getting a measurement. â€Å"Now. I'll shoot, you work the rangefinder.† Nate backed off the throttle a bit, so he would be able to catch the entire tail fluke in the camera frame when the whale dove. Amy grabbed the laser rangefinder, which looked very much like a pair of binoculars made for a cyclops. By taking a distance measurement from the animal's tail with the rangefinder and comparing the size of the tail in the frame of the picture, they could measure the relative size of the entire animal. Nate had come up with an algorithm that, so far, gave them the length of a whale with 98 percent accuracy. Just a few years ago they would've had to have been in an aircraft to measure the length of a whale. â€Å"Ready,† Amy said. The whale blew and arched its back into a high hump as he readied for the dive (the reason whalers had named them humpbacks in the first place). Amy fixed the rangefinder on the whale's back; Nate trained the camera's telephoto on the same spot, and the autofocus motors made tiny adjustments with the movement of the boat. The whale fluked, raising its tail high in the air, and there, instead of the distinct pattern of black-and-white markings by which all humpbacks were identified, were – spelled out in foot-high black letters across the white – the words BITE ME! Nate hit the shutter button. Shocked, he fell into the captain's chair, pulling back the throttle as he slumped. He let the Nikon sag in his lap. â€Å"Holy shit!† Nate said. â€Å"Did you see that?† â€Å"See what? I got seventy-three feet,† Amy said, pulling down the rangefinder. â€Å"Probably seventy-six from where you are. What were your frame numbers?† She was reaching for the notebook as she looked back at Nate. â€Å"Are you okay?† â€Å"Fine. Frame twenty-six, but I missed it,† he lied. His mind was shuffling though a huge stack of index cards, searching a million article abstracts he had read to find some explanation for what he'd just seen. It couldn't possibly have been real. The film would show it. â€Å"You didn't see any unusual markings when you did the ID photo?† â€Å"No, did you?† â€Å"No, never mind.† â€Å"Don't sweat it, Nate. We'll get it next time he comes up,† Amy said. â€Å"Let's go in.† â€Å"You don't want to try again for a measurement?† To make the data sample complete, they needed an ID photo, a recording of at least a full cycle of the song, a skin sample for DNA and toxin figures, and a measurement. The morning was wasted without the measurement. â€Å"Let's go back to Lahaina,† Nate said, staring down at the camera in his lap. â€Å"You drive.† CHAPTER TWO Maui No Ka Oi (Maui Is the Best) At first it was that old trickster Maui who cast his fishing line from his canoe and pulled the islands up from the bottom of the sea. When he was done fishing, he looked at those islands he had pulled up, and smack in the middle of the chain was one that was made up of two big volcanoes, sitting there together like the friendly, lopsided bosoms of the sea. Between them was a deep valley that Maui thought looked very much like cleavage, which he very much liked. And so, to that bumpy-bits island Maui gave his name, and its nickname became â€Å"The Cleavage Island,† which it stayed until some missionaries came along and renamed it â€Å"The Valley Island† (because if there's anything missionaries do well, it's seek out and destroy fun). Then Maui landed his canoe at a calm little beach on the west coast of his new island and said to himself, â€Å"I could do with a few cocktails and some nookie. I shall go into Lahaina and get some.† Well, time passed and some whalers came to the island, bringing steel tools and syphilis and other wonders from the West, and before anyone knew what was happening, they, too, were thinking that they wouldn't mind a few cocktails and a measure of nookie. So rather than sail back around the Horn to Nantucket to hoist noggins of grog and the skirts of the odd Hester, Millicent, or Prudence (so fast the dear woman would think she'd fallen down a chimney and landed on a zucchini), they pulled into Lahaina, drawn by the drunken sex magic of old Maui. They didn't come to Maui for the whales, they came for the party. And so Lahaina became a whaling town. The irony of it was that even though the humpbacks had starting coming to birth their calves and sing their songs only a few years earlier, and in those days the Hawaiian channels were teeming with the big-winged singers, it was not for the humpbacks that the whalers came. Humpbacks, like their other rorqual brothers – the streamlined blue, fin, sei, minke, and Bryde's whales – were just too fast to catch in sailing ships and man-powered whaling boats. No, the whalers came to Lahaina to rest and recreate along their way to Japanese waters where they hunted the great sperm whale, who would literally float there like a big, dumb log while you rowed up to it and stuck a harpoon in its head. It would take the advent of steamships and the decimation of the big, floaty-fat right whales (so named because they did float when dead and therefore were the  «right » whales to kill) before the hunters would turn their harpoons on the hum pbacks. Following the whalers came the missionaries, the sugar farmers, the Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, and Portuguese who all worked the sugar plantations, and Mark Twain. Mark Twain went home. Everyone else stayed. In the meantime, King Kamehameha I united the islands through the clever application of firearms against wooden spears and moved Hawaii's capital to Lahaina. Sometime after that Amy came cruising into the Lahaina harbor at the wheel of a twenty-three-foot Mako speedboat with a tall, stunned-looking Ph.D. sprawled across the bow seat. The radio chirped. Amy picked it up and keyed the mike. â€Å"Go ahead, Clay.† â€Å"Something wrong?† Clay Demodocus was obviously in the harbor and could see them coming in. It wasn't even eight in the morning. He was probably still preparing his boat to go out. â€Å"I'm not sure. Nate just decided to call it a day. I'll ask him why.† To Nate she said, â€Å"Clay wants to know why.† â€Å"Anomalous data,† Nate said. â€Å"Anomalous data,† Amy repeated into the radio. There was a pause. Then Clay said, â€Å"Uh, right, understood. That stuff gets into everything.† The harbor at Lahaina is not large. Only a hundred or so vessels can dock behind her breakwater. Most are sizable, fifty- to seventy-foot cruisers and catamarans, boats full of sunscreen-basted tourists out on the water for anything from dinner cruises to sport fishing to snorkeling at the half-sunken crater of Molokini to, of course, whale watching. Jet-skiing, parasailing, and waterskiing were all banned from December until April, while the humpbacks were in these waters, so many of the smaller boats that would normally be used to terrorize marine life in the name of recreation were leased by whale researchers for the season. On any given winter morning down at the harbor at Lahaina, you couldn't throw a coconut without conking a Ph.D. in cetacean biology (and you stood a good chance of winging two Masters of Science working on dissertations with the rebound). Clay Demodocus was engaged in a bit of research liars poker with a Ph.D. and a naval officer when Amy backed the Mako into the slip they shared with three tender zodiacs from sailing yachts anchored outside the breakwater, a thirty-two-foot motor-sailor, and the Maui Whale Research Foundation's other boat (Clay's boat), the Always Confused, a brand-new twenty-two-foot Grady White Fisherman, center console. (Slips were hard to come by in Lahaina, and circumstances this season had dictated that the Maui Whale Research Foundation – Nate and Clay – perform a nautical dog pile with six other small craft every day. You do what you have to do if you want to poke whales.) â€Å"Shame,† Clay said as Amy threw him the stern line. â€Å"Nice calm day, too.† â€Å"We got everything but a measurement on one singer,† Amy said. The scientist and the naval officer on the dock behind Clay nodded as if they understood completely. Clifford Hyland, a grizzled, gray-haired whale researcher from Iowa stood next to the young, razor-creased, snowy-white-uniformed Captain L. J. Tarwater, who was there to see that Hyland spent the navy's money appropriately. Hyland looked a little embarrassed at the whole thing and wouldn't make eye contact with Amy or Nate. Money was money, and a researcher took it where he could get it, but navy money, it was so†¦ so nasty. â€Å"Morning Amy,† said Tarwater, dazzling a perfectly even, perfectly white smile. He was lean and dark and frighteningly efficient-looking. Next to him, Clay and the scientists looked as if they'd been run through the dryer with a bag of lava rock. â€Å"Good morning, Captain. Morning Cliff.† â€Å"Hey, Amy,† Cliff Hyland said. â€Å"Hey, Nate.† Nathan Quinn shook off his confusion like a retriever who had just heard his name uttered in context with food. â€Å"What? What? Oh, hi, Cliff. What?† Hyland and Quinn had both been part of a group of thirteen scientists who had first come to Lahaina in the seventies (â€Å"The Killer Elite,† Clay still called them, as they had all gone on to distinguish themselves as leaders in their fields). Actually, the original intention hadn't been for them to be a group, but they nevertheless became one early on when they all realized that the only way they could afford to stay on the island was if they pooled their resources and lived together. So for years thirteen of them – and sometimes more if they could afford assistants, wives, or girlfriends – lived every season in a two-bedroom house they rented in Lahaina. Hyland understood Quinn's tendency to submerge himself in his research to the point of oblivion, so he wasn't surprised that once again the rangy researcher had spaced out. â€Å"Anomalous data, huh?† Cliff asked, figuring that was what had sent Nate into the ozone. â€Å"Uh, nothing I can be sure of. I mean, actually, the recorder isn't working right. Something dragging. Probably just needs to be cleaned.† And everyone, including Amy, looked at Quinn for a moment as if to say, Well, you lying satchel of walrus spit, that is the weakest story I've ever heard, and you're not fooling anyone. â€Å"Shame,† Clay said. â€Å"Nice day to miss out on the water. Maybe you can get back with the other recorder and get out again before the wind comes up.† Clay knew something was up with Nate, but he also trusted his judgment enough not to press it. Nate would tell him when he thought he should know. â€Å"Speaking of that,† Hyland said, â€Å"we'd better get going.† He headed down the dock toward his own boat. Tarwater stared at Nate just long enough to convey disgust before turning on his heel and marching after Hyland. When they were gone, Amy said, â€Å"Tarwater is a creep.† â€Å"He's all right. He's got a job to do is all,† Clay said. â€Å"What's with the recorder?† â€Å"The recorder is fine,† Nate said. â€Å"Then what gives? It's a perfect day.† Clay liked to state the obvious when it was positive. It was sunny, calm, with no wind, and the underwater visibility was two hundred feet. It was a perfect day to research whales. Nate started handing waterproof cases of equipment to Clay. â€Å"I don't know. I may have seen something out there, Clay. I have to think about it and see the pictures. I'm going to drop some film off at the lab, then go back to Papa Lani and write up some research until the film's ready.† Clay flinched, just a tad. It was Amy's job to drop off film and write up research. â€Å"Okay. How 'bout you, kiddo?† Clay said to Amy. â€Å"My new guy doesn't look like he's going to show, and I need someone topside while I'm under.† Amy looked to Nate for some kind of approval, but when he simply kept unloading cases without a reaction, she just shrugged. â€Å"Sure, I'd love to.† Clay suddenly became self-conscious and shuffled in his flip-flops, looking for a second more like a five-year-old kid than a barrel-chested, fifty-year-old man. â€Å"By calling you ‘kiddo' I didn't mean to dimmish you by age or anything, you know.† â€Å"I know,† Amy said. â€Å"And I wasn't making any sort of comment on your competency either.† â€Å"I understand, Clay.† Clay cleared his throat unnecessarily. â€Å"Okay,† he said. â€Å"Okay,† Amy said. She grabbed two Pelican cases full of equipment, stepped up onto the dock, and started schlepping the stuff to the parking area so it could be loaded into Nate's pickup. Over her shoulder she said, â€Å"You guys both so need to get laid.† â€Å"I think that's reverse harassment,† Clay said to Nate. â€Å"I may be having hallucinations,† said Nate. â€Å"No, she really said that,† Clay said. After Quinn had left, Amy climbed into the Always Confused and began untying the stern line. She glanced over her shoulder to look at the forty-foot cabin cruiser where Captain Tarwater posed on the bow looking like an advertisement for a particularly rigid laundry detergent – Bumstick Go-Be-Bright, perhaps. â€Å"Clay, you ever heard of a uniformed naval officer accompanying a researcher into the field before?† Clay looked up from doing a battery check on the GPS. â€Å"Not unless the researcher was working from a navy vessel. Once I was along on a destroyer for a study on the effects of high explosives on resident populations of southern sea lions in the Falkland Islands. They wanted to see what would happen if you set off a ten-thousand-pound charge in proximity to a sea lion colony. There was a uniformed officer in charge of that.† Amy cast the line back to the dock and turned to face Clay. â€Å"What was the effect?† â€Å"Well, it blew them the fuck up, didn't it? I mean, that's a lot of explosives.† â€Å"They let you film that for National Science?† â€Å"Just stills,† Clay said. â€Å"I don't think they anticipated it going the way it did. I got some great shots of it raining seal meat.† Clay started the engine. â€Å"Yuck.† Amy untied the bumpers and pulled them into the boat. â€Å"But you've never seen a uniformed officer working here? Before now, I mean.† â€Å"Nowhere else,† Clay said. He pulled down the gear lever. There was a thump, and the boat began to creep forward. Amy pushed them away from the surrounding boats with a padded boat hook. â€Å"What do you think they're doing?† â€Å"I was trying to find out this morning when you guys came in. They loaded an awfully big case before you got here. I asked what it was, and Tarwater got all sketchy. Cliff said it was some acoustics stuff.† â€Å"Directional array?† Amy asked. Researchers sometimes towed large arrays of hydrophones that could, unlike a single hydrophone, detect the direction from which sound was traveling. â€Å"Could be,† Clay said. â€Å"Except they don't have a winch on their boat. â€Å"A wench? What are you trying to say, Clay?† Amy feigned being offended. â€Å"Are you calling me a wench?† Clay grinned at her. â€Å"Amy, I am old and have a girlfriend, and therefore I am immune to your hotness. Please cease your useless attempts to make me uncomfortable.† â€Å"Let's follow them.† â€Å"They've been working on the lee side of Lanai. I don't want to take the Confused past the wind line.† â€Å"So you were trying to find out what they're up to?† â€Å"I fished. No bites. Cliff's not going to say anything with Tarwater standing there.† â€Å"So let's follow them.† â€Å"We actually may get some work done today. It's a good day, after all, and we might not get a dozen windless days all season here. We can't afford to lose a day, Amy. Which reminds me, what's up with Nate? Not like him to blow off a good field day.† â€Å"You know, he's nuts,† Amy said, as if it were understood. â€Å"Too much time thinking about whales.† â€Å"Oh, right. I forgot.† As they motored out of the harbor, Clay waved to a group of researchers who had gathered at the fuel station to buy coffee. Twenty universities and a dozen foundations were represented in that group. Clay was single-handedly responsible for making the scientists who worked out of Lahaina into a social community. He knew them all, and he couldn't help it – he liked people who worked with whales – and he just liked it when people got along. He'd started weekly meetings and presentations of papers at the Pacific Whale Sanctuary building in Kihei, which brought all the scientists together to socialize, trade information, and, for some, to try to weasel some useful data out of someone without the burden of field research. Amy waved to the group, too, as she dug into one of the orange Pelican waterproof cases. â€Å"Come on, Clay, let's follow Tarwater and see what he's up to.† She pulled a huge pair of twenty-power binoculars out of the case and showed them to Clay. â€Å"We can watch from a distance.† â€Å"You might want to go up in the bow and look for whales, Amy.† â€Å"Whales? They're big and wet. What else do you need to know?† â€Å"You scientists never cease to amaze me,† Clay said. â€Å"Come hold the wheel while I get a pencil to write that down.† â€Å"Let's follow Tarwater.†

I Am Writing The Entire Thing - 1553 Words

I’m writing you this letter and I want you to read the entire thing. I figured that I should write this instead of tell you because I’d probably forget things if I was talking and we would probably end up arguing. I feel like lately all of our conversations are very aggressive and not actually conversations. Also, I feel like whenever I try to really express what I’m feeling and you don’t agree with it, you shut me down. I don’t know if you realize that you do it, but you do and it hurts and makes me feel like I can’t say everything that I need to. For one, I am very sorry that I lied to you about going to Taylor’s and told you I was at work. It really really won’t happen again. I didn’t tell you sorry the other night or even right after because I was upset and the apology would not have been sincere. I didn’t want to just say sorry to say it, I wanted to mean it and it be genuine. I am also sorry for shutting you out. 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What Hornfels Is and How It Forms

Dickens Life Reflected In The Character Of Pip - 945 Words

Both Miss Havisham and Magwitch are two key characters who shape Pip’s life and dreams. Pip himself is a young boy whose story reflects that of Charles Dickens, the author. When Dickens was twelve his father was imprisoned for debt, much like Magwitch- the father-figure in Pip’s life who was also a convict. Dickens was then sent to work at a boot-blacking factory where his mother forced him to work even after his father was released. Similarly, neither Mrs Joe nor Miss Havisham (the mother-figures) treated Pip well. Later, Dickens fell in love with Maria Beadnell but she rejected him- she is reflected in Estella who cruelly rejected Pip for much time. In 1875, the forty-five year old Dickens fell in love with eighteen year old Ellen Ternan†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœWitch’ is also a part of his name which caused him to be eyed with apprehension; witchcraft being a major sin and feared in the churches of the time. Dickens created a feeling of hostility b y the reader towards the character in the beginning just by using his name. The fact that he is first introduced in the graveyard is also a link with death. Later he walks among the brambles and nettles ‘as if he was eluding the hands of the dead people†¦pull him in.’ This makes it sound as though he rightfully belongs there or as if he is a member of the living dead. In actuality, this quote may be indicating the severity of his physical condition- further inducing pity on him from the reader. However, it may also remind the reader that he is a convict with a price on his life. Pip imagines he is a pirate come to life from the gibbet and is walking back to hook himself up again. This again reinforces the idea he is of the living dead and is another link to death. The reader by the end of the chapter is torn between pity for the convict and a sense of foreboding. Dickens creates an unexpected twist when the character turns out to be decent, honest and even likeable . The impression is given that he purposely defeated the superstitions and the ideas imposed on people by the church and may be evidence that Dickens disapproved of the power the church and social class had over people. He may have even induced the idea of social reform in many, being a popular author, throughShow MoreRelated Effectiveness of the Opening Chapter to Great Expectations Essay1084 Words   |  5 PagesCharles Dickens ?Great Expectations? was written during the 19th century, published in weekly installments in a magazine. The novel is based around Pip, the opportunities he is presented with and the difficulties he has to face. In the first chapter we are introduced to Pip, and Magwitch, an escaped convict. The theme of crime and punishment immediately draws us in. 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Bilateral Trade Between Eu and Western Balkan Free Essays

The paper focuses on the bilateral trade between Western Balkans countries and the EU and enfaces on agreements, regularity of the trade, scope and analysis of the trade flow. It also explains which are the Western Balkans countries, economical characteristics, contractual connection with the EU. It is consisted of three parts. We will write a custom essay sample on Bilateral Trade Between Eu and Western Balkan or any similar topic only for you Order Now In first part is explained the definition of the Western Balkan countries, out bilateral trade exchange between the EU and Western Balkans as a common region. Second part analyses agreements between the EU and Western Balkans countries regarding trade and EU perspective.Finally, third part focuses on the key indicators and trade balance of each country of the region with the EU. 2. WESTERN BALKANS IN GENERAL Western Balkans is a region in Europe which includes Albania and states of Former Yugoslavia without Slovenia. Those countries are Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo (as defined as UNMIK 1244), Republic of Macedonia and Albania. The surface of this region is approximately 265. 000 square kilometers and total population within is 24 million inhabitants.Historical background of those states is that all of them had socialistically government. Albania was self-isolated state and under iron curtain after Second World War. It was also a member of Warsaw pact until Sino-Soviet split (worsening relations between Soviet Union and PR China). On the other hand, Yugoslavia had unique socialist model in the world called â€Å"self-management†, which had limited openness to the western countries. All countries had turnout to capitalist system in the nineties, with high inflation, high rate of corruption, suffering economies and higher unemployment rate.After wars in Yugoslavia were established five new countries: Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Macedonia and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Republic of Macedonia had a name dispute of Greece (which is part of European Union) and has provisional name of FYROM in official EU documents. FR Yugoslavia was transformed in 2003 into State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Montenegro left this union in 2006 and Republic of Serbia became formal successor of the State Union. Kosovo declared unilaterally independence in 2008, and the EU officially sees it as a separate economic region.Candidate statuses for accession in the EU have Croatia and Republic of Macedonia, while other countries are considered as potential candidates. All those countries are members of CEFTA. 3. ECONOMIC INDICATORS IN GENERAL According to International Monetary Fund rapport of 2008, GDP per capita in those states is varying between 1. 167,00â‚ ¬ in Kosovo UNMIK and 10. 375,00â‚ ¬ in Croatia. Highest level is below EU 15, but higher than in Romania and Bulgaria. Analyses show that this region has need for further economic and social cohesion with the EU.In 2003 it was predicted that the EU enlargement towards Western Balkans countries would not be significant, in terms of economic scale, as the nominal GDP and the GDP per capita are at relatively low levels. (World Bank (World Development Indicators)) The region has made strong progress, outpacing Central Europe in economic growth with an average GDP increase of more than 5% in 2005. The markedly strong economic development is expected to continue in the next several years. Inflation has largely been kept under control, and is expected to decline further in the immediate future.The region’s improving risk profile and economic outlook are also validated by the international credit ratings. As unemployment is still high, sustainable economic growth and job creation are the major challenges the region faces. 4. AGREEMENTS BETWEEN EU AND THE WESTERN BALKANS 4. 1 AGREEMENTS OF BILATERAL TRADE BEFORE STABILIZATION AND ASSOCIATION PROCESS Before the start of the stabilization and association process, and subsequent sign of stabilization and association agreements between the EU on one side and the Western Balkan states on the other, each country had separate agreements with EU, regarding the trade preferences.Albania has been benefiting from European Union’s General System of Preferences. Trade with Macedonia was governed by a cooperation agreement with the European Union concluded in 1998. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia were authorized to trade preferences under the first generation of Autonomous Trade Preferences introduced in 1997, which have been briefly applied to Serbia and Montenegro before they were revoked. (Council Regulation (EC) No 70/1997, amended by Regulations 2636/97 (for1998) and 2863/98 (for 1999), and Council Regulation (EC) 6/2000 (January-October 2000)) . 2 SAA – STABILISATION AND ASSOCIATION PROCESSES WITH THE COUNTRIES OF WB This process started by defining its main criteria by the General Affairs Council in April 1997. Two years later, in May 1999, the European Commission published a communication for the establishment of the stabilization and association process. Countries involved, precisely the Western Balkan countries, should meet the minimum standards as defined in order to start the stabilization and association agreement negotiations.Some of these criteria are: create real opportunities for displaced people and refugees to return to their places of origin, readmission of illegal immigrants, compliance with international peace agreements, rule of law, democracy and compliance with human and minority rights, free and fair elections, absence of discriminatory treatment, implementation of first economic reform steps (privatization, abolition of price controls), proven readiness to engage in good neighborly relations.Five countries that participate in the Stabilization and Association Process are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro. There are a lot of similarities among these five countries, but the main one is their mutual goal for EU membership. On the other hand, there are a lot of differences between them, in the pace of economic reforms and the possible timeframe for EU accession. The Stabilization and Association Process is the main current framework policy of the European Union for the Western Balkans.This Process has three major parts, one is the Stabilization and Association Agreements, second is the Autonomous Trade Measures and the last is the financial assistance (CARDS). (Report from the Commission Second Annual Report – Annex 1, COM (2003) 139 final) 4. 2. 1 STABILISATION AND ASSOCIATION AGREEMENTS Stabilization and association agreements (SAAs) are the main contractual form between the EU and each Western Balkan country. Stabilization and Association Agreements were preceded by the stabilization and association rocess. The SAAs agreements have very similar characteristics with the Europe Agreements even though with some distinctions. The SAA provides step by step establishment of free trade area with the EU, gradual alignment to EU legislation in a number of areas with an emphasis to the internal market rules; conclusion of bilateral agreements (mainly in the internal market areas) with neighboring countries and cooperation with the EU on issues such as justice, visa, border control, illegal immigration and others.Interim Agreements are signed simultaneously with the SAAs. They cover the trade-related parts of the SAAs and enter into force much faster, as they do not need to be ratified by the EU Member States. (Commission staff working paper SEC 128 final) * The SAA agreements with Croatia and Republic of Macedonia have been in force since April 2004 and February 2005 respectively * Albania has signed the agreement on 15. 10. 2007 and it is still under ratification * Montenegro signedthe SAA on 1 5. 10. 2007, it is under ratification.The Interim Agreement entered into force on 1. 1. 2008 * Serbia has signed the SAA on 29. 04. 2008. The Council of April 2008 decided that the ratification procedure will be launched and implementation of the Interim Agreement will start as soon as the Council decides that Serbia is fully cooperating with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) * Bosnia and Herzegovina has signed the SAA on 16. 6. 2008. The Interim Agreement entered into force on 01. 07. 2008 4. 2. 2 ATM – AUTONOMOUS TRADE PREFERENCESBy Regulation (EC) No 2007/2000 of 18 September 2000 which had revised Regulation (EC) No 2820/98, and repealed the Regulations (EC) No 1763/1999 and (EC) No 6/2000, the European Communities have allowed unique unlimited duty-free entrance to the EU market for nearly all products originating in the countries and territories benefiting from the Stabilization and Association Process. The Lisbon European Council of March 2000 specified that Stabilization and Association Agreements with Western Balkan countries, which include the establishment of Free Trade Areas â€Å"should be preceded by asymmetrical trade liberalization†.As part of the Stabilization and Association process the Council of Ministers adopted the Council Regulation 2007/2000, and then amended by Council Regulation (EC) 2563/2000, to increase the existing autonomous trade preferences, and provide autonomous trade liberalization for 95% of all their exports to EU. In the a greement of the Stabilization and Association Process, the granting of these exceptional trade preferences is subject to certain conditions.Namely, respect of the beneficiary countries and territories of fundamental principles of democracy and human rights, the readiness of the countries concerned to develop mutual economic relations and to engage in economic reforms and regional integration through trade. Privilege to the exceptional trade preferences is conditional on the recipient’s involvement in effective administrative cooperation with the Community in order to prevent any risk or deception. The preferences include:All products originating from the countries and territories concerned can be imported into the EU, duty and quota free. The only exceptions apply to the following: 1. Wine and certain fisheries products are subject to preferential tariff quotas 2. Sugar is subject to preferential tariff quotas (except for Croatia where this is currently being negotiated) 3. â€Å"Baby beef† only the specific import duty is eliminated– ad valorem duties of 20 % continue to apply 4. Quotas apply on imports of textile products originating in the customs territories of Montenegro and KosovoThe European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Council Regulation to extend until 2010 the autonomous trade preferences which the EU gives to the Western Balkans. The Council Regulation has been adopted without debate at the November 14-15 2005 Education, Youth and Culture Council in Brussels. Along with certain technical updates, the Regulation extends for another 5 years the autonomous trade preferences. For the five years in force, these trade preferences have been a key instrument for the revitalization of the Western Balkan economies by providing privileged access to the EU market.More stable economic development promotes political stability in the entire region. The preferences, which were originally adopted in 2000 for a period until the end of 2005, have contributed to an increase in the Western Balkans’ exports to the EU, thus meeting their goal so far. Indeed, between 2000 and 2004, imports from these countries into the EU have increased by approximately 8 % per annum. The greatest change compared to previous system established in 2000 was the almost complete liberalization of imports of agricultural products and the abolition of quotas for sensitive industrial products. Consul Regulation CONSLEG: 2000R2007 — 01/01/2003 and Integration of the Western Balkans in the Internal Market (Regional Research Paper under the Specific Grant Agreement RELEX I-2 190202 REG 4-14)) 4. 3 DIAGONAL CUMMULATION OF RULES OF ORIGIN Diagonal cummulation of rules of origin is a system that facilitates regional trade integration. It enables a country to process and export a product under preferential trade treatment to the EU by using materials originating in other countries of the region which can be considered as their own materials. First stage: EU/Western Balkans cummulation: Bilateral EU/Western Balkans cummulation, including Turkey for the products covered by the Customs Union, is now in force for Montenegro (as of 1. 1. 2008), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1. 7. 2008) and Macedonia (8. 11. 2008). It has also been agreed for Albania (19. 11. 2008) and Serbia (29. 4. 2008). Croatia has opted not to participate in the scheme. Second stage: inclusion of the Western Balkans in the Pan-Euro-Med scheme: * In 2007, the Euro-Mediterranean Trade Ministers endorsed the extension of the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean diagonal cummulation scheme to include the Western Balkan countries, as proposed by the Commission.They gave the Pan-Euro-Med working group a mandate to prepare technical amendments to the appropriate origin protocols. A preliminary draft proposal for such an extension was presented at the meeting of the Pan-Euro-Med working group in November 2007, to which the Western Balkan countries were invited as observers. The working group reached a consensus on the substance of the amendments. However, the Commission is looking for a way to take into account the impact of the specific problem with sugar and high-sugar-content products, which are currently excluded from the diagonal cummulation with the Western Balkans. Customs Information Paper (09)69) 4. 4 CEFTA 2006 (CENTRAL EUROPEAN FREE TRADE AREA) A new Central European Free Trade Agreement was signed in Brussels on 19. 12. 2006, clearly welcomed by the EU. The new CEFTA consolidates 32 bilateral free trade agreements in the Southern European Region into a single Regional Trade Agreement. Although the EU is not a party to this new Agreement, the European Commission has provided continuous political, technical and financial support, at every stage of the trade liberalization process in South Eastern Europe.The agreement creates a regional free trade area, based on the existing bilateral agreements which liberalize more than 90% of trade and almost all trade in industrial goods. The agreement consolidates and modernizes the region’s trade regulations and includes modern trade provisions on issues such as competition, government procurement and protection of intellectual property. It will provide convergence of relevant trade-related rules, notably with regard to industrial and sanitary-fit sanitary rules. The result is a simplified single system of rules that will make it easier to trade within the region.CEFTA will make the region more attractive as a consolidated market for foreign investment. CEFTA will, also, assist those that are not yet part of the WTO to prepare for membership – because the two processes are rooted in the same goals and rules of progressive liberalization and open trade. (Commission Staff Working Paper – EU regionally relevant activities in the Western Balkans 2008/09) 5. TRADE BALANCE BETWEEN WESTERN BALKANS AND THE EU In this analysis we will focus on bilateral trade of the EU and Western Balkans as a region. According to the Eurostat, Western Balkans has imports from the EU of 32. billion â‚ ¬ and exports towards the EU of 13. 9billion â‚ ¬. That makes negative trade balance of Western Balkans as region. If we compare date of previous three years, we may conclude that the imports, in general, rose at significantly bigger amount than the exports. The current trend is growth of deficit by approximately 2. 3% annually towards EU and 0. 4% to the world. Measured in relative amounts, exports maintained at same level of 0. 9% to the EU and 0. 2% to the world. (EuroStat, Statistical Regime 4) Figure 1. Trade in goods (EU27 with WB) Source: EuroStat, Statistical Regime 4However, in the further analyse may be concluded that the share of trade with present EU27 countries has fallen. In 2004 the EU27 share of total imports was 73%, while in 2008 it was 66. 3%. Also, the share of exports to EU27 has fallen from 70. 5% in 2004 to 66. 4% in 2005, and after that has risen staidly. That shows that the exports to ten newly joined EU states got complicated due to new trade barriers. It was expected that through substainable trade concesions approved by ATM and SAA, a positive trends in respect to the trade and current account balances should be expected.However, table 1 shows that trade balance deficits are even increasing through the period 2006-2008, from -9,262 to -12,643. (IMF (DoTS)) Table 1. WB trade with EU27 millions of euro, % Period| Imports| EU Share of total Imports (%)| Exports| EU Share of total Exports (%)| Balance| Trade| |   |   |   |   |   |   | 2004| 19,995| 73. 0| 7,877| 70. 5| -12,118 | 27,873| 2005| 19,196| 67. 9| 8,170| 66. 4| -11,025 | 27,366| 2006| 17,839| 66. 5| 8,577| 68. 9| -9,262 | 26,416| 2007| 19,635| 65. 5| 9,379| 67. 2| -10,256 | 29,015| 2008| 22,471| 66. | 9,827| 69. 8| -12,643 | 32,298| 2008Q1| 5,121| 65. 7| 2,371| 71. 8| -2,750 | 7,492| 2008Q2| 6,036| 67. 4| 2,529| 69. 8| -3,507 | 8,566| 2008Q3| 5,799| 64. 9| 2,605| 67. 6| -3,193 | 8,404| 2008Q4| 5,515| 67. 2| 2,322| 70. 2| -3,193 | 7,837| Source: IMF (DoTS) Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material are taking the biggest share of Western Balkans export to the EU with 4. 12million â‚ ¬ or 29. 6% (SITC 6), miscellaneous manufactured articles (SITC 8) have export value of 3million â‚ ¬ or 21. 6% and machinery and transport equipment have share of 19. 4% (SITC 7).Although there are some differences between Western Balkan countries, the common specificity is that exports from WB are mainly non sophisticated basic products, with high level of competition, low level of price and low level of revenues, lack of resources for marketing and advertising. On contrary, machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods classified chiefly by material and chemicals and related products with 35. 0%, 21. 1% and 12. 6% respectively, are dominant or the import side. Western Balkans mostly purchases sophisticated products and products with high quality and value. The main alternative is FDI, but as we will see further on, the level of FDI seems not to be sufficient to cover the need for new technologies, new know-how and managerial skills in WB. Structure of trade like this one, is the main reason for trade balance deficits. (Integration of the WB in the Internal Market) | | | | | | | | | | | Figure 2. EU27 imports from WB, by product grouping Source: EuroStat (Comext, Statistical Regime 4) Figure 3. EU27 exports to WB, product grouping Source: EuroStat (Comext, Statistical Regime 4)It is evident that Western Balkan countries are dependable and inferior to EU27 as its major import and export partner. In each product group, trade balance is positive for EU27, except for clothing with 587millions â‚ ¬ and iron and steel with 159millions â‚ ¬. Figure 4. EU27 trade with WB Source: EuroStat (Comext, Statistical Regime 4) Foreign direct investments into the region were 3. 4billion â‚ ¬ in 2005. Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro registered increasing inflows; the other countries booked slight declines compared to 2004. The cumulative FDI inflow in the region is near 15billion â‚ ¬ for five year period of 2001-2005.As the countries of the region rarely invest abroad, net FDI inflows also play a key role in financing foreign trade imbalances that stem from ongoing structural reforms and significant investment demand in the transition to free markets. (http://www. iiwb. org/level2/level2index. cfm? cid=1401;amp;pid=1401) 6. EU TRADE BY COUNTRY 6. 1 MACEDONIA When it comes to Macedonia, a country with a population of 2. 1millions of inhabitants, main economic indicators show that there is current GDP of 6. 5billions of â‚ ¬, GDP per capita of 3,166. 0â‚ ¬ and real GDP growth of 5. 0%. The rate of inflation is 8. 3% and current account balance is -13. % of GDP. (World Bank (WDI), IMF (WEO), DG Trade) GDP by sector is consisted from 57. 7% of services, 29. 3% of industry and 13. 0% of agriculture. (World Bank (World Development Indicator)) 6. 1. 1 Trade in goods between Macedonia and EU27 As figure 1 show, EU27 imports of goods from Macedonia differ, while exports are constantly increasing. EU27 mostly imports textile and clothing and agricultural products, while imports of transport equipment, machinery, chemicals and energy are insignificant. On the export side of goods dominates machinery, textile and clothing, transport equipment, chemicals and agricultural products. EuroStat, Statistical Regime 4) The general problem of Macedonian’s producers is the low level of implementation of EU standards and requirements (considerable in the food staff). That is the main reason why the access to EU market is limited. 6. 1. 2 Foreign Direct Investments in Macedonia According to the State statistical office data, the value of FDI in 2008 is 356. 4 million US$ and compared to the previous year is increased for 25. 6 million US$. (State Statistical Office of RM), from which more that 87% comes from the key source of Macedonia’s FDI, EU. National Bank of the RM, Statistics, FDI) Countries with biggest foreign direct investments in RM in 2008 are: Austria with 125. 1 million US$, Slovenia with 50. 8 million US$, United Kingdom with 30. 8 million US$ and Netherlands with 29. 1 million US$. FDI are dominant in the service sector with more than 55% (telecommunications and financial intermediaries), whereas in the output around 40% (oil refining, textile, food, marble, construction materials, metal production industry). (National Bank of RM, FDI report) The share of total EU27 imports in Macedonia is 0. 1%, while the Macedonian’s share of total EU27 exports is 0. %. Those percentages are held constant over the period 2004-2009. (EuroStat (Comext, Statistical Regime 4)) Consisted this way, Macedonia holds the 62nd place as major import partner and 54th place as major export partner to EU27. (EuroStat (Comext, Statistical Regime 4)) On contrary, when Macedonian’s trade is in question, EU27 stays considerable the biggest and most important trade partner with total exports of 78. 0% and total imports of 77. 1. (IMF (DoTS)) 6. 2 CROATIA Croatia is a country with population of 4. 4milions of inhabitants, current GDP of 47. 1billions of â‚ ¬, GDP per capita of 10,625. â‚ ¬ and real GDP growth of 2. 4%. The rate of inflation is 6. 1% and current account balance is -9. 4% of GDP. (World Bank (WDI), IMF (WEO), DG Trade) Dominant creator of GDP is the service sector with 60. 9%, followed by industry with 31. 6% and agriculture with 7. 4%. (World Bank (World Development Indicator)) 6. 2. 1 Trade in goods between Croatia and EU27 Bout, imports and exports of goods increase through the years, as can be seen in the figure 2. EU27 merchandise variety of products from Croatia including machinery, agricultural products, chemicals, textile and clothing and transport equipment.Export of goods is consisted mostly of machinery, transport equipment and chemicals. (EuroStat, Statistical Regime 4) Although, in Croatia there was a progress in developing its legislative framework and strengthening its administrative capacity, still, special attention should be paid to the harmonization of food staff and food staff legislation. (www. western-balkans. info) 6. 2. 2 Trade in services between Croatia and EU27 In the area of trade in services, the situation is just slightly changing over the time (imports of services from Croatia in 2005 was 4. 4billions of â‚ ¬, 2006 was 4. billions of â‚ ¬ and 2007 was 4. 9billions of â‚ ¬, while exports of services in Croatia in 2005 was 1. 8billions of â‚ ¬, in 2006 was 2. 2billions of â‚ ¬ and in 2007 was 2. 3billions of â‚ ¬). The share of imports from Croatia in EU27 is only 1. 2% from the total imports, while the export in Croatia takes nearly 0. 5%. (EuroStat, NewCronos) 6. 2. 3 Foreign Direct Investments in Croatia Croatia has the foremost FDI from all the countries in the region with 45% of it. FDI from EU27 are constantly increasing, as it is shown in the figure 2 (8. 2billions â‚ ¬ in 2005, 12. 7billions â‚ ¬ in 2006 to 16. 5billions â‚ ¬ in 2007). EuroStat(NewChronos)) Dominant sectors of FDI are financial intermediaries, telecommunication, pharmaceuticals, petroleum and cement manufacturing. (www. iiwb. org) Croatia holds the 44th places as a major import EU27 partner with 0. 3% of the total EU27 imports. On the side of exports, Croatia is on the 22nd places with 1. 1% of the total exports. However, as in the case of the rest Western Balkan countries, EU27 is the biggest and most important trade partner. Croatia merchandise 65. 3% of the total goods and services from EU27, and sells 65. 8% of total goods and services to EU27. IMF (DoTS), EuroStat(Comext, Statistical Regime 4)) 6. 3 ALBANIA Albania is a country with a population of 3. 2millions of inhabitants. With a current GDP of 8. 8billions of â‚ ¬, GDP per capita of 2,769. 8â‚ ¬, inflation rate of 3. 4% and real growth of 6. 8%, the situation is getting better over the years. (World Bank (WDI), IMF (WEO), DG Trade) As in the rest of the WB, the main creator of GDP is the service sector with 55. 7%, and the rest is divided almost equally between industry and agriculture. (World Bank (World Development Indicator)) 6. 3. 1 Trade in goods between Albania and EU27Trade in goods between Albania and EU27 is slightly, but constantly increasing, as shown in the figure. However, the dominant products in EU27 imports are textile and clothing, and inconsiderable, energy and agricultural products. Exports of goods from EU27 to Albania are consisted of almost everything starting from machinery, agricultural products, textile and clothing, chemicals and transport equipment. (EuroStat, Statistical Regime 4) Moreover, Albanian’s exports are almost 90% natural resource intensive products, which is main obstacle to sustainable growth of exports. An Agenda for Trade and Growth, WB integration in the EU) In accordance with the Preferential Agreements for WB, there are certain exceptions for Albania: * â€Å"Imports into the Community of ‘baby-beef’ products defined originating in Albania do not benefit from a tariff concession† * â€Å"Imports of sugar products under heading Nos 1701 and 1 702 of the Combined Nomenclature originating in Albania are subject to the following annual duty-free tariff quotas:1 000 tonnes (net weight) for sugar products originating in Albania. † (WTO, Request for an extension.. . 6. 3. 2 Foreign Direct Investments in Albania In the FDI, Albania represents a unique case. The EU27 contribution to the overall FDI in Albania is 91%, but they come mainly from neighboring countries, where Italy and Greece are dominant with 48% and 43%, respectively. Less than 7% of total FDI is from the rest of EU27. The investments are made mostly in the commerce, industry and services with 60%, 17. 6% and 11. 5% respectively. (South-East Europe Review 1/2006) As it can be expected, Albania is not very important and competitive trading partner for EU27.It occupies only 0. 1% of total EU27 imports and 0. 2% of total EU27 exports. It takes the 79th place as a major import partner to EU27 and 59th place as a major export partner to EU27. On the other hand, EU27 is the dominant trade partner for Albania that covers 70. 3% of the total trade. Albania presents an extreme case where more than 53% of the trade to EU27 is directed to Italy and Greece. (IMF (DoTS), EuroStat(Comext, Statistical Regime 4)) 6. 4 MONTENEGRO When it comes to Montenegro, main economic indicators show that there is population of 0. millions of inhabitants, GDP is 3. 3 billions of â‚ ¬, GDP per capita 4. 877 â‚ ¬ and the real GDP growth is 7. 5%. The rate of inflation is 9. 0% and the current account balanced is -31. 0% of GDP. GDP by sector is consisted from 74. 6% of services, 17. 6% of industry and 7. 8 % of agriculture. (World Bank (World Development Indicator)) 6. 4. 1 Trade in goods between Montenegro and EU27 Figures show that exports of EU27 to Montenegro are increasing in last years. On this side, mostly dominates machinery and transport equipment, agriculture and other semi manufactures.What first comes to eyes is the fact that Montenegro highly imports machinery which is a good leading point to technology enrichment and development of production processes. Transport equipment also helps growth and development and its import share is quite high. On the import side, we see that Eu27 is not importing so much form Montenegro. Most of import goes on machinery, agricultural products and chemistry, while clothing and textile and transport equipment are really insignificant.Concerning the Preferential Agreements for WB, * â€Å"the customs duties applicable to imports into the Eu27 of ‘baby-beef’ products are reduced to 20% of the ad valorem duty and 20% of the specific duty as laid down in the Common Customs Tariff, with restrictions of scarce weight, what is said in the quota: 975 tones (carcase weight) for ‘baby-beef’ products originating in the customs territories of Montenegroâ€Å" * â€Å"imports of sugar products originating in Montenegro are also subject to the following annual duty-free tariff quota: 180 000 tones (net weight) for sugar products originating in the customs territories of Montenegroâ€Å" * â€Å"exemption from customs duties is limited to the Community annual quantities set out in regulation for textile products originating in Montenegroâ€Å" * â€Å"certain fishery products and wine, the customs duties applicable to imports into the Eu27 should be suspended during the periods, within the limits of the Eu27 tariff quotas and under the specific conditionsâ€Å" (WTO, Request for an extension†¦ ) 6. 4.2 Foreign Direct Investments in Montenegro Foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2008 reached $1. 23 billion, which was almost ten times higher than in 2004, and investment per capita in Montenegro is one of the highest in Europe. However, investment has slowed recently, in part as a result of the global economic crisis. According to preliminary data from the Montenegrin central bank, the amount of foreign investment in first quarter of 2009 was $279 million, which represents a decrease of 38% compared with the same period in 2008. In period from 2001 to September 2008, the most FDI in Montenegro were from Hungary 323,4 million Euros, Great Brittan 257,2 millions, Switzerland 227,4 millions, Caper 213,5 millions, Austria 199,2 millions , Slovenia 115,3 millions and Germany 112,7 millions of Euros. Central Bank of Montenegro) The share of total EU27 exports in Montenegro is 0. 1%, while the Montenegrin’s share of total EU27 imports is 0. 01%. (EuroStat (Comext, Statistical Regime 4)) Consisted this way, Montenegro holds the 86th place as major export partner and 109th place as major import partner to EU27. (EuroStat (Comext, Statistical Regime 4))6. 5 SERBIA Serbia has 7,4 millions of inhibitions, current GDP 34,0 billions of â‚ ¬ , 4. 611,0 â‚ ¬ GDP per capita, real GDP growth 5,4%, inflation rate 11,7%, and negative current account -17,3%. GDP by sector is consisted from 61. 8% of services, 25. 5% of industry and 12. 7% of agriculture. (World Bank (World Development Indicator)) 6. 5. Trade in goods between Serbia and EU27 Graph# shows that EU27 exports to Serbia have increased in the last three years and, as we can see imports also went up. European Union exports to Serbia consists mostly machinery, transport equipment and chemistry, while energy, import agricultural products and textiles and clothing comparing to the first group are insignificant. As we see on graph, the only one group of products that EU27 more import in, than export to Serbia are agricultural products. Trade balance for machinery goods is much higher than other, what is telling us that European Union is exporting much more than importing from Serbia. How to cite Bilateral Trade Between Eu and Western Balkan, Papers