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Rosenzweig's Ramblings April 2009: Chemical Engineers Crow
Chemical Processing's Editor-in-Chief, Mark Rosenzweig, feels that anything that raises the public's awareness of chemical engineers' positive role deserves applause. After all, far too few people appreciate contributions that members of the profession already have made to improve life and the environment or the potential impact of chemical engineers in addressing today's pressing problems. Getting such a message out broadly and effectively, of course, makes us feel good about our career choice.12/13/2010
Rosenzweig's Ramblings August 2009: Make the Most of Your Summer Reading
Chemical Processing's Editor-in-Chief notes that few of us can fully escape work even when on vacation. Sure, time off should allow us to unwind and forget about issues at the plant or office. However, it's only natural during quiet moments to turn to thinking about the job. Indeed, today's tough economy makes it even harder to completely disconnect.12/13/2010
Rosenzweig's Ramblings July 2009: Getting the Right Total Isn't Easy
Chemical Processing's Editor-in-Chief has fond memories of his prized 1967 Wolseley 18/85 sedan. Those memories prompt Mark to discuss how Chemical Processing's Readers' Choice Awards account for numerous current and retired brands.12/13/2010
Rosenzweig's Ramblings June 2009: Succession Planning: Avoid a Dumb Move
Chemical Processing's Editor-in-Chief, Mark Rosenzweig, wants us to admit that not all old hands hold incredible insights. Longevity by itself doesn't necessarily lead to learning. Just because someone has been doing a job for ages doesn't mean that person is expert at it. Too many people strive to do just enough to get by, rather than to excel. Others lose their edge because they don't improve their capabilities or keep up to date with technology. Unfortunately, veteran engineers and operators suffer such failings12/13/2010
Rosenzweig's Ramblings May 2009: Have You Heard the One about the Chemical Engineer?
Chemical Processing's Editor-in-Chief, Mark Rosenzweig, feels there's really nothing funny about our image as technocrats. Designing or operating a chemical plant is serious business. After all, mistakes can lead to dire consequences. Maybe that explains why chemical engineers aren't known for their sense of humor. But there certainly are a lot of good one-liners out there!12/13/2010
Rosenzweig's Ramblings September 2009: Call It "Dereliction of Duty"
Chemical Processing's Editor-in-Chief thinks that chemical companies too often don't exercise enough care when deactivating units. Dismantling or demolition can make a site safe -- usually at a hefty tab, though, even more so when environmental remediation is needed. Abandonment certainly is far cheaper, presuming substantial legal and regulatory costs don't eventually arise.12/13/2010
Product-Focus Series: A Box 4 U
Reporting from the 2009 Chem Show, Senior Digital Editor Traci Purdum learns what makes a blast-resistant module blast resistant and why a chemical-processing facility would benefit from having these modules on site.12/02/2009
Product-Focus Series: Brooks Instrument
Reporting from the 2009 Chem Show, Senior Digital Editor Traci Purdum discusses recent acquisitions, product upgrades and lean initiatives with Brooks Instrument.12/02/2009
Combustible Explosion Risks & Prevention
Since 1980, there have been hundreds of combustible-dust-related fires and explosions responsible for plant equipment damage, downtime and unfortunately in some cases, employee deaths. How do you know if your processing facility is at risk for explosions and what can you do to prevent them?
Traci Purdum, Chemical Processing's senior digital editor, talks in-depth with Fike, providers of fire and explosion protection, and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) about potential combustible explosion hazards, safety requirements and best practices for mitigating the risks. Watch this video now and hear about:
Identifying combustible explosion hazards in your plant
Options for dealing with potential hazards
NFPA codes, standards and processing plant safety requirements
Best practices for reducing combustible explosion risk levels at your processing facility
You will also learn about explosion venting requirements, screening and explosability testing.10/20/2009
Rosenzweig's Ramblings January 2009 : How Should Industry Tackle Threats?
New report promotes inherently safer technology for hazardous facilities.04/09/2009
Rosenzweig's Ramblings February 2009: Convince A Child To Explore Engineering
American kids need more awareness of engineering careers -- and a better education.04/09/2009
Rosenzweig's Ramblings March 2009: Spend Slack Time Smartly
You finally may have a chance to focus on a variety of worthwhile projects.04/09/2009
Give An Enduring Gift | Rosenzweig's Ramblings December 2008
Donating time and expertise can transform the lives of people in the developing world.02/24/2009
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Lee Smith is a Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute. Smith has led an impressive career in writing and publishing. He has worked at a number of journals, magazines and publishers, including the Hudson Review, the Ecco Press, Atheneum, Grand Street, GQ, and Talk Magazine. He is a senior editor at the Weekly Standard. He was also editor-in-chief of the Voice Literary Supplement, the Village Voice's national monthly literary magazine.
Smith has been a guest on radio and television, including Fox News, and National Public Radio. He is a prolific writer, contributing articles on Arab and Islamic affairs to, among other publications, the New York Times, the New Republic, the Weekly Standard, Slate.com, the Boston Globe, and Wired. His book on Arab societies, The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations, was published by Doubleday in January 2010.
Smith has a B.A. from George Washington University, where he received awards in English and Latin. He received the Sage Graduate School Fellowship at Cornell University, and studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo and Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut. He knows Spanish, Arabic, French, and Latin.


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Yesterday my youngest daughter's high school hosted an invitational dance tournament. Since we were the hosts, my wife and I both worked the tournament. I was part of the security detail and for four hours wore a black T-shirt that said "SECURITY" in big white letters–a first for me. The home team swept the tournament, happily.
Last night, at my son's invitation, we watched the epic fourth battle between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez at a boxing gym in Minneapolis. It was a fun evening, featuring a giant screen, excellent Mexican food, and a crowd of local boxers, trainers and fight fans. The three preliminary bouts were rather listless and all went the distance, but the main event was a thriller.
The action was furious from the opening bell. Generally, Pacquiao carried the action and landed most of the punches, but in the third, Marquez caught him with a looping right that Manny never saw coming and that sent him to the canvas. Pacquiao rebounded from that decking with a furious flurry in the following rounds; he knocked Marquez down in the fifth and broke his nose. Marquez hung on as the fighters went toe to toe for the remainder of the round, which one observer termed "one of the wildest rounds in the history of the fight game." Several rounds, including the fifth, finished to cheers and applause from our crowd at the gym.
Pacquiao wanted to finish Marquez in the sixth. He dominated the round and had Marquez in trouble in a corner as the final seconds ticked down. Then, just five seconds before the bell, Pacquiao stepped into another right hand from nowhere that he never saw, as Marquez delivered one of the most devastating punches in modern boxing history. Pacquiao went down like a sack of flour. The question at ringside was not whether he would get up before the count expired, it was whether he would get up, period. In one of those horrible, yet riveting scenes that boxing sometimes provides, the cameras showed Manny's wife Jinkee trying hysterically to make her way to the ring and being restrained by Manny's retinue.
Speculation this morning centers on whether we will see a fifth Pacquiao-Marquez bout. Maybe. I'm not so sure we will ever see Manny in the ring again, and the long-awaited Mayweather-Pacquiao match has surely gone up in smoke. But it was a great fight with a stunning conclusion, a reminder that, to revise Hemingway, the sports other than boxing are just games.
The evening even had a political twist: Mitt and Ann Romney were at ringside. The television broadcast showed Mitt shaking hands with Pacquiao in Manny's dressing room before the fight. For what it's worth–nothing, at this point–Mitt got a generally favorable reaction from last night's fight crowd.
Snow is coming down heavily this morning, so we will have a white Christmas here in Minnesota. This afternoon it's off to the shooting range with Mitch Berg and his brother, then it will be time to decorate the Christmas tree.


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Stuart Bradley needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 156 designs submitted by 34 freelance designers.
Combat Sports Australia
Combat Sports Australia is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia that will be hosting full contact fighting events. The events will be extremely exciting and action packed with not just fights but other entertainment like sword fighting demonstrations, live rap music, break dancing, shaolin kung fu demonstrations, japanese drummers and other martial art related entertainment. Our company aims to be similar to the industry leader in America, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Other similar companies include Strikeforce, Pride and Elite XC.
Unlike most other MMA companies we will be mainly promoting 8 man eliminator tournaments where fighters will have to fight multiple times in the one night. Therefore out of the 8 initial fighters by the end of the night there will only be one winner. The tournaments will also be Open Weight therefore fighters of any size, big or small will be allowed to enter. There will be no weight classes so smaller fighters will have to rely upon speed, endurance and skill to try and overcome their larger opponents. Also any fighting style will be allowed and these different styles will be highlighted to the audience so they will see interesting match ups like a Kung Fu fighter vs a Sumo Wrestler for example. These ideas are inspired by movies like Bloodsport and The Quest.
80 percent of the audience is male and approximately 56 percent of fans are aged 18-34. We are located on the Gold Coast which is very much a city built on tourism. Most of the tourists come from Japan. Since the Japanese have a culture greatly orientated around martial arts this is definitely a market we will be trying to target. Also we will be having a lot of Maori, Samoan and other Polynesian fighters so we will be targetting these markets as well. We will also be targetting fans of bodybuilding and fitness. Also we will target fans of other fighting sports like boxing and pro wrestling.
Design #27 is the general layout I want. Combat is the main focus, then Sports then Australia. My logo must be easily recognisable as being about Mixed Martial Arts Fights. This is best achieved by having 1 or 2 MMA gloves in the logo. Also a blood effect can be used but not too much blood as this looks unprofessional. It is very important that the words Combat Sports Australia are very clear and easy to read. Therefore simple fonts are good but I do like the fonts I have in my current logo attached (Logo.pdf).
Only use black, white, red, chrome/silver and perhaps a fire, lightning or plasma ball effect. I really like 3d metallic and special effects but be very carefull that it doesn't make the logo unclear or difficult to read. Perhaps if you have some kind of fire effect keep it around the logo but not covering any words.
I can't have a logo where the picture or emblem is off to one side as is the case with my current logo.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Lushtrip.com is a travel portal designed as one stop solution for all the travel arrangements. Managed by the experts, this travel portal simply eliminates all the worries and lets you plan a worry free vacation within seconds. Loaded with packages, Lushtrip.com is perfect to book air-tickets also. Be it honeymoon packages or a spiritual holidays, Lushtrip.com lets you plan vacation in your own way. This is the reason, we offer you unlimited options, so that you can book holiday package that suits your requirements.
Online ticket booking is just one of the facilities that are appreciated by our clients across the globe. Engaged in providing cheap flight tickets, Lushtrip.com serves you with domestic flight tickets as well as international flight tickets. Actively observing the market offers and special deals, our experts never miss a chance to grab the offers, which in turn helps them to cater you with the best possible at the minimum price.
So, no matter what the requirement is, if it is related to travel industry, you will get the solution at Lushtrip.com and that too without burning a hole in your pockets. Even if you are looking for a tailor-made holiday package, our experts will be happy to serve you. The only thing you need to take care is book flight tickets and holiday packages as you see and that too because everything at Lushtrip.com is available on first come, first serve basis. So, grab the offer before it slips away!!!


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CNN Presents: Gerry-Rigged
Aired November 20, 2011 - 20:06 ET
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT (on camera): This is Independence Hall, the birthplace of our American form of government. And for us, the starting point for our journey into why so often that government is failing us now. I've been asked to do a report on gerrymandering. What do you think about gerrymandering? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think gerrymandering is a great guy. GRIFFIN (voice-over): These are people lined up to see the Liberty Bell. (On camera): What do you think about gerrymandering? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't really know him. GRIFFIN: How about you? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. GRIFFIN: Do you know anything about gerrymandering? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never heard of him. (LAUGHTER) GRIFFIN: It's actually the way politicians draw up congressional districts into weird-looking shapes so they can protect their own seats. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. GRIFFIN (voice-over): We brought along these inkblot cards as examples. (On camera): What does this look like to you? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like California coastline? GRIFFIN: Just tell me what's the first thing that comes to mind. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, a skyline. GRIFFIN: And how about this one? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haven't a clue. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A dragon. (LAUGHTER) GRIFFIN: A dragon? Very good. Do you know these are U.S. congressional voting districts? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was going to say that. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what we were going to say next. (LAUGHTER) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were going to say that next. GRIFFIN: Right after dragon. We call this Gerry-rigged. It's the way politicians in both parties draw congressional district lines to protect their own seats. By packing them with the voters they want. Not what you might want. Some examples in the hour ahead. (Voice-over): A narrow grassy strip drawn by Democrats as the connecting point for one gerrymandered district in Illinois. In North Carolina, Republicans use the width of this river to help design a district crammed mainly with black voters. In California, it was a citizen's commission, which used this narrow sandy beach to tie together parts of another district. Republicans and Democrats alike have been drawing weird districts like this going back some 200 years. (On camera): The results, when both parties can create safe seats for politicians, voters have less influence over what happens in Washington. When you ask, why Congress is so badly gridlocked, so unwilling to compromise, gerrymandering is one of the answers. (Voice-over): In Chicago, squeezed between two freeways this narrow strip is needed to connect two halves of a gerrymandered district to keep it continuous as is required. (On camera): This is the way Congress gets around the contiguous rule because there's obviously nobody living here. I mean, unless they're homeless people, I guess. Anybody here? Any congressional voters out there? This is Illinois' 4th District. Stand it on end and what does it look like? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ear muffs? GRIFFIN: Luis Gutierrez has been the congressman here for almost 20 years. REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ (D), ILLINOIS: There's one part and another part, and you stay protected. And you stay together. GRIFFIN: The district was drawn to give Hispanics a seat in Congress. GUTIERREZ: Shouldn't the Congress of the United States be a reflection of the city of Chicago? GRIFFIN: Gutierrez ticks off what he says is an Irish district, a Polish district, a Jewish district. Three black districts. This is the map for those Chicago districts, all held by Democrats with irregular lines. Odd connecting points. Back in the earmuff strip. (On camera): Here comes a tractor. He's leaving the 7th. He is in the 4th congressional district right now. He's going through the 4th congressional district and he has entered the 5th congressional district. GUTIERREZ: The problem is that the history of the city of Chicago hasn't been circles, right? Or squares. You know what they've been? They've been black, they've been Latino, they've been white. GRIFFIN: And the congressman is actually right. Having grown up in Chicago, that's the way it was. It's a racially divided city, divided almost by streets. You can cross through a viaduct and the color of people just changes like that. It's always been that way. Black neighborhood. Hispanic neighborhood. (Voice-over): In his pass panic district, Gutierrez is usually re- elected with 75 percent of the vote or more. For other Democrats around him, it can be as high as 85 percent. Mary Shafsma of the League of Women Voters. MARY SHAFSMA, THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS: This is my district. And they -- and they say that. This is my district. GRIFFIN (on camera): Consider this. In the last decade, 78 percent of all the seats in the House did not change party hands, not even once. That's nearly four out of five congressmen in safe seats year after year after year. (Voice-over): David Wasserman is the "Cook Political Report's" redistricting expert. DAVID WASSERMAN, COOK POLITICAL REPORT: Well, we currently rate less than 20 races as tossup. GRIFFIN: Only 20 swing races next year out of 435 seats in the House. WASSERMAN: Americans really are between the ideological 40-yard lines but the districts aren't and that's part of the reason Congress is so polarized. GRIFFIN: A result of district lines drawn to protect incumbents in both parties. WASSERMAN: In general elections it's almost rigged. GRIFFIN: Every 10 years after each census, Congress is redistricted as our population grows and shifts. That is what is going on now all across the country. Even in states with the same number of seats as before. These are the states, which will gain seats. These states will lose. Republicans control the process in red states. Democrats in blue. The rest are nonpartisan or divided control. In Illinois, Democrats pushed through their new map over a holiday weekend. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican. REP. DENNIS HASTERT, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Basically, there's five new Republican freshmen. A lot of those people are going to be wiped out in this map. GRIFFIN: This fading billboard is about all that remains of freshman Adam Kinzinger's district. These farmlands were redrawn into Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s majority black south side Chicago district. That includes Kinzinger's home in small town Manteno, Illinois. To run for re-election next year, Kinzinger will have to move somewhere else. Hastert is helping lead a GOP lawsuit in federal court to try to overturn the Democratic map. One fourth of the people in Chicago's Cook County are Latino now and Hastert's lawsuit says they deserve two seats. Not just the one Gutierrez has for himself. HASTERT: That hasn't been done to preserve the territories of some Democrat congressmen that are already there. GRIFFIN: But the nation's highest court has already said, no more political complaints. JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: This case is the biggest Supreme Court case that no one has ever heard of. GRIFFIN: CNN legal expert Jeffrey Toobin. TOOBIN: Basically what the Supreme Court said was, if you Democrats and you Republicans want to go out there and fight about redistricting, we are not going to get involved. That is not the place of the courts. We will get involved if race is being abused in that process. But if it's just politics, we're staying out of it. Redistricting is a partisan enterprise. Always has been. And we're just not going to get involved. GRIFFIN: This is Marblehead, Massachusetts, where gerrymandering was born. The namesake of this man but mispronounced. It should be -- WAYNE BUTLER, TOWN HISTORIAN: Gerry with a hard G. GRIFFIN: As governor two centuries ago, Gerry drew weird districts like this with the state legislature. Town historian Wayne Butler. BUTLER: It has a head like a dragon and has two claws. Marblehead is the bottom claw. GRIFFIN: Here in Chicago, you'd think they'd know all about gerrymandering. Not necessarily so. Outside Wrigley Field, during a Cubs game. We ran in to this peanut vendor. (On camera): Ever heard of gerrymandering? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. What is he running for? GRIFFIN: What's he running for? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. GRIFFIN: Nothing right now. That's you? Gerrymandering? (LAUGHTER) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that you, Mr. Gerrymandering? GRIFFIN: No, man. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. GRIFFIN: Have fun. Take it easy. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. NARRATOR: Coming up, jamming black voters together to whitewash other districts. SEN. DAN BLUE (D), NORTH CAROLINA: It's just a concerted effort to ghetto-ize the black vote in North Carolina. NARRATOR: A deepening racial divide in the politics of the south. Next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) GRIFFIN (voice-over): In small town Mt. Airy, North Carolina, businessman Bruce Springthorpe use his company's computer system to redistrict the people of his state. I don't know what party they're part of, I don't know what age they are, how much money they make, whether they're black or white or Hispanic, or Native American. It just draws the lines. GRIFFIN: No squiggly lines here. SPRINGTHORPE: The trick is to get as compact as possible. In other words, you want ideally a square. GRIFFIN: What happens if two incumbents wind up in the same district? SPRINGTHORPE: Let them fight it out. GRIFFIN (on camera): Beg your pardon? SPRINGTHORPE: Let them fight it out. (LAUGHTER) GRIFFIN (voice-over): Springthorpe submitted his congressional map at this public hearing. And was ignored. This year, Republicans won control of the North Carolina legislature for the first time since right after the Civil War. They hired a GOP expert from Washington to draw their map. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All in favor say aye. GRIFFIN: And rammed it through on a party line vote. (On camera): Remember that grassy area between the two expressways up in Chicago? Well, this is another one of those weird redistricting designs that screams gerrymandering. Behind me is the Cape Fear River here in North Carolina. And just upstream is a connecting point no wider than this river. The water here is the only link to the second half of the district, farther downstream. Politicians used it to cram in as many blacks as possible in to just a few congressional districts. Keeping the rest of the districts mostly white and predictably Republican. Democrat David Price is the incumbent here. REP. DAVID PRICE (D), NORTH CAROLINA: They're even splitting precincts to include the black population in one district and purge them from another. I think that's atrocious. GRIFFIN (voice-over): Ask him what his new 4th district looks like -- PRICE: The district resembles Vietnam some say. Others say Italy but it's -- GRIFFIN (on camera): A boot? (LAUGHTER) PRICE: The boot. GRIFFIN (voice-over): This is the actual shape of the new district. The southern half was extended down to Fayetteville to bring in another 100,000 voters, most of them black, most of them Democrat. By design, Republicans crammed almost half of all the African-American voters in North Carolina in to just three of the state's 13 congressional districts. Resegregation is the word the NAACP and others are using. State Senator Dan Blue. BLUE: It's just a concerted effort to ghetto-ize the black vote in North Carolina. GRIFFIN (on camera): Is this just power politics or is this racism? BLUE: It's racism and it weakens the country. GRIFFIN (voice-over): There is a racial divide today in the politics of the south. Ninety-five percent of all registered Republicans in North Carolina are white, 96 percent of all registered blacks are Democrats. In the five Deep South cotton belt states, from South Carolina over to Louisiana, there are only nine Democratic congressmen left. Only one of them is white. He's from Savannah, Georgia, and Republican redistricting in that state has just taken his home city away from him. WASSERMAN: It's possible there won't be a single white Democrat remaining from the Deep South by 2013. GRIFFIN: The brutal police beatings of these Civil Rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It guarantees blacks an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. But when blacks are jammed in to districts of their own, Republicans benefit. WASSERMAN: Well, redistricting has helped whitewash a lot of the districts surrounding African-American majority seats. GRIFFIN: Democrats in North Carolina now have seven seats in Congress, Republicans six. Next year, the GOP could win as many as 10 seats. State Senator Bob Rucho led this redistricting victory. (On camera): Aren't you guys just really stacking the deck for the next 10 years to make these secure Republican seats? SEN. BOB RUCHO (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Well, not really. GRIFFIN (voice-over): He says Democrats could be competitive. RUCHO: They have a chance of winning every one of those 10 elections. GRIFFIN (on camera): From the outside, this looks like pure political grab. And the Republicans of this state using the Voting Rights Act to justify the redrawing of the map. RUCHO: I don't agree with your premise, on your question. Because we are not using the Voting Rights Act to do anything. We're following the law. GRIFFIN (voice-over): Black incumbents hold two of the districts packed with blacks. The third such Democrat seat is that of David Price. Thought to be safe until now. On Halloween weekend, a neighborhood party in this confederate cemetery in Raleigh. A mermaid out of water. A tortoise and a hare. And Democrat Congressman Brad Miller -- REP. BRAD MILLER (D), NORTH CAROLINA: How are you doing? GRIFFIN: -- munching and mingling with constituents. Ten years ago, when Miller helped draw the lines the state gained a seat. Miller ran for it and won. This year, with the GOP in control, roughly 100,000 voters, many of them black, were moved out of this side of Raleigh and made it part of Price's district. Along with Miller's own home. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to have us a primary? MILLER: We might. We might. GRIFFIN (on camera): If you look at this very cynically, the strategy is put you two against each other and one kills the other one off? MILLER: Sure. GRIFFIN (voice-over): A race certain to be closer than the contest between the tortoise and the hare leading Republicans to relish one bit of Bruce Springthorpe's philosophy. SPRINGTHORPE: Let them fight it out. (LAUGHTER) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NARRATOR: Just ahead, reform takes root in California. KATHY FUNG, COMMON CAUSE: You can't draw lines to favor parties, incumbents or any candidate. NARRATOR: But is it working? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought we were finally going to put an end to the gerrymandered districts of the past. (END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) GRIFFIN (voice-over): As in so many other states, even here in sunny, free-spirit California, voters had become disenchanted. Year after year, election after election, locked in congressional district lines meant the same old politicians were being elected the same old way. FUNG: I hate to say that your vote doesn't count. GRIFFIN: Kathy Fung of California's Common Cause. FUNG: I think for the large part congressional elections in California were already rigged to have a certain outcome. GRIFFIN (on camera): So your vote really didn't count. FUNG: In terms of determining the final outcome, it didn't count. GRIFFIN (voice-over): In fact, the 2001 map kept so many incumbents safe only one of California's 53 congressional seats changed party hands in the past decade. FUNG: It just really opened my eyes to how wrong that old process was. GRIFFIN: So California set out to change things and voters did. Passing two amendments which essentially took the power to draw lines out of the hands of the politicians and put it in to the hands of the public. And Independent Citizens Commission. Dr. Mike Ward, a political novice, was among the 14 members. DR. MIKE WARD, INDEPENDENT CITIZENS COMMISSION: I saw it as an opportunity to change the entire landscape of California politics. GRIFFIN: Fung helped lead the voter drive for reform. FUNG: We specifically wrote in rules that you can't draw lines that will favor parties, incumbents or any candidate. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doesn't that clearly provides favoritism to the incumbent. GRIFFIN: The Citizens Commission held dozens of hearings around the state. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The valley needs to be kept together. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sixty-forty makes common for elections. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These maps should be rejected. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep the (INAUDIBLE) together. FUNG: They really sat and listened to thousands of people coming and talking about where their communities were, where the neighborhoods were. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought we were finally going to put an end to the gerrymandered districts of the past. FUNG: The rooms were packed. You couldn't get in. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for your time and consideration. GRIFFIN: Did it work? Mike Ward says a quick walk on this beach at the very end of the Los Angeles airport runway will show you it did not. WARD: This is a great example of exactly why the commission was created to prevent. In 2001, California had what was a -- 200-mile long district known as the "Ribbon of Shame." GRIFFIN (on camera): Look at. I mean, where are we? We're -- this is a -- this is somebody's congressional district. It's just a strip of sand. (Voice-over): The narrow strip is needed to connect upper and lower halves of this district. WARD: This strip of sand, I would call it a high tide district that's only there when the tide is low. GRIFFIN: Party politics were would give way to social politics. In San Francisco and elsewhere, gay and lesbian communities were suddenly being protected and kept intact by the Citizens Commission. PAUL MITCHELL, DEMOCRAT CONSULTANT: In here is where a lot of the gay commission is. GRIFFIN: Which Democratic political consultant Paul Mitchell thinks is good. MITCHELL: It would draw lines to try to protect the voting power of the gay and lesbian community. This is the first time anybody has done this nationally and it was a huge impact. GRIFFIN: Race and ethnicity mattered even more. When the commission posted its final congressional maps like the one for this district, each map specified the percentage of Latinos and blacks and Asian Americans living there. Latinos whose population in California is exploding gained and could win nine of California's seats next year. And even though the black population in Los Angeles County is shrinking, the three traditionally black districts did remain although reshaped. The commission said it wanted to protect minority interests in part to comply with the Voting Rights Act. (On camera): At the end of the day, wasn't the commission just the commission individual members afraid of being accused of being racist? MATT REXROAD, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Absolutely. And you know, that's really funny because that is a big part of this process. They were worried about being accused of being racist. They chose political expediency over the true reading of the Voting Rights Act. GRIFFIN (voice-over): The commission denies race or fear of being a racist was a part of any decision. When the final map emerged, Mike Ward was one of two members of the commission to vote against it. WARD: There's no question that partisanship and special interests had a special seat at the table and that was reflected in the maps. GRIFFIN: Even so, redistricting expert David Wasserman says as many as 15 of California 53 incumbents could be in real trouble this coming election. WASSERMAN: Fifteen out of 53 doesn't sound like a lot but compared to most states it's an avalanche. GRIFFIN: Perhaps a dozen districts could remain competitive through this next decade, a success for California by that measure. FUNG: For the first time we're going to have congressional races where when you look at the ballot, you're going to have some interesting choices and your vote might actually make a lot of difference. GRIFFIN: If there is one perfect example of how power has been taken out of the hands of politicians it is in the newly-formed district in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. Howard Berman has been in Congress 29 years. Brad Sherman, 15. They have held a simmering disdain for each other separated by the carefully-drawn lines that one once accused the other of drawing to stab him in the back. Now these two nearly identical Democrats are squaring off in a fight to the finish. MITCHELL: For most normal people you can't really even tell the difference between the voting record and the style of Howard Berman versus Brad Sherman. GRIFFIN (on camera): Well, the only difference is Berman apparently stabbed Sherman in the back. REXROAD: It's one had the knife and one received it. (LAUGHTER) REXROAD: One had the knife, one now has it. One had the knife and had it taken away. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NARRATOR: Next, these two titans on a collision course. MITCHELL: This is going to be the most expensive congressional race this country's ever seen. (END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) GRIFFIN (voice-over): At this Beverley Hills hotel, a fund-raiser asking $5,000 a person for this congressman. CNN was barred from attending. And his press secretary had us banned from this outside area. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My guess is hotel security once they find out may ask you to leave. GRIFFIN: But a local reporter was allowed inside. He took these photos. The dinner raised $1.6 million. REP. HOWARD BERMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: I'm not going to lose because I am underresourced. So I'm going to raise the money that I needed to win. GRIFFIN: He is Howard Berman, almost 30 years in Washington, an icon known as Hollywood's congressman. BERMAN: Today we open part two of the hearing. GRIFFIN: Now redistricted in to a race against fellow incumbent and fellow Democrat Brad Sherman. REP. BRAD SHERMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Today for the votes is because I'm the best looking candidate. GRIFFIN: In a winner-take-all, loser-go-home battle to the end. Reporter Jonah Lowenfeld has covered both for the "Jewish Journal." (On camera): Do they shake hands? Do they talk to each other? JONAH LOWENFELD, JEWISH JOURNAL: I know that they have co-sponsored a couple of bills together just in recent -- in the recent past. GRIFFIN: But those are just two names on a piece of paper. When you've ever met them when they're in the same room together. LOWENFELD: It's a big room. GRIFFIN (voice-over): It's not a big room any longer. WASSERMAN: This is one of those "Clashes of the Titans" that political pundits like us love to see and incumbents hate. GRIFFIN: Until now, Berman and Sherman had separate districts in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley even though their houses are only three miles apart. When the new maps came out, Berman found his home placed in what is mostly Sherman's district. SHERMAN: Howard and I have talked about this and he's suggested that I move to the Ventura County seat. The fact is, he lives an equal distance from that seat as I do. GRIFFIN (on camera): Congressman Sherman tells me that you asked him to run in Ventura County. BERMAN: No. It's out of context. We had -- he called me when the maps came out. And we had one conversation. The problem is, our suggestion of what the other guy should do is not something the other guy is buying into. So this race may be inevitable. GRIFFIN (voice-over): The chilly relationship goes back at least 10 years, to the last redistricting in California when Brad Sherman says Howard Berman and his Democratic strategist brother Michael drew their own congressional district lines stabbing him in the back. SHERMAN: I -- I don't know if I used those exact words. I think there's -- GRIFFIN (on camera): I think those were your words. SHERMAN: There's a reporter who thinks they heard it that way. Let's put it like this. I don't think that Michael Berman took my interest into account. GRIFFIN: Did the Berman brothers seek to get rid of you? SHERMAN: They strongly fought for a plan in which I would have had a very big disadvantage, I'm sure that Michael Berman loves his brother more than he loves me. GRIFFIN: Sherman told me that 10 years ago you and your brother drew up those districts and try to carve him out of his seat? True? BERMAN: Absolutely not. His recollections are designed to put other people off guard but have no relationship to reality. GRIFFIN (voice-over): In reality they both got what they wanted and stayed safe for 10 years, but not any longer. This year the new California commission redrew the lines to convert much of Berman's current district into a majority Latino district. L.A. City Councilman Tony Cardes is already running for that seat. TONY CARDES, LA CITY COUNCILMAN: We've never had somebody who's a Latino American actually get elected to Congress from that community. But that community is over 70 percent Latino by population. GRIFFIN: So the result, Berman versus Sherman. Not just the names are similar. (On camera): You're a Democrat. He's a Democrat. SHERMAN: Right. GRIFFIN: You are Jewish. He's Jewish. And you vote the same. What's the difference? SHERMAN: You want a congressman where you know that if you have a problem with the federal government you can tap him on the shoulder and tell him good-bye. That accessibility is probably the single most important thing. GRIFFIN (voice-over): In a race between two almost identical politicians, the bumper stickers aren't going to be so clear. (On camera): He's been in Congress pretty long. You have been in Congress a real long time, and both somewhat effective. Where are you going to be able to get the message across that I'm even better than him? BERMAN: It's your last point. Both somewhat effective. If you want to get down to what we have accomplished in Congress, there's really no comparison. GRIFFIN: And no end to this fight. The reform movement in California did not stop with redistricting. Voters made another change. Next year there will be one super primary for everybody. Republicans, Democrats and independents. And the top two vote-getters will square of again in the main election in November. WASSERMAN: It may create situations where you have a Republican and a Republican on the November ballot or a Democrat and a Democrat. GRIFFIN (voice-over): Everyone is expecting the bitter primary race between Berman and Sherman will be a rematch come November. REXROAD: Latino districts were drawn. GRIFFIN: Republican strategist Max Rexroad can't wait. REXROAD: The best part about it for me is that I get to watch a blood bath in June and then I get to watch them go at it again in November. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NARRATOR: When we continue, just how far will incumbents go to try to stay in Congress? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, Seattle. (END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) GRIFFIN (voice-over): Paul Matheson is jogging a thousand miles across Pennsylvania and back. (On camera): Have you had any scary moments out here? PAUL MATHESON: An hour ago on the other side of the guardrail, I looked over and there were three black bears. GRIFFIN: Really? (Voice-over): Matheson is trying to rally support for a change in his state's redistricting system. MATHESON: Political boundaries are drawn or redrawn by the elected officials themselves and then simply as a conflict of interest. GRIFFIN: What's missing here is any evidence of public concern. (On camera): I mean, shouldn't we, Paul, have thousands of people behind us right now if that were the case? MATHESON: Yes. Yes. I mean, yes. GRIFFIN (voice-over): Instead, it's a long and lonely road. MATHESON: But you're right. It's not a -- you know, "burn them at the stake" sort of urgency. GRIFFIN: In Florida, Deirdre MacNab says reform took three quarters of a century. DEIRDRE MACNAB, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS: We've had this cancer in our state of gerrymandering for decades and the League of Women Voters has worked on this issue for 72 years. GRIFFIN: In 2010, Florida, just like California, did change its state's constitution. Three million people voted for an amendment demanding that no district be drawn to protect a sitting politician or get rid of one. Politicians refused to retreat. These two Congress members on the left not only campaigned against the change but then went to court to try to overturn what the voters did. Remember the dragon district? The lady who represents it is Democrat Corrine Brown joined in the lawsuit by Republican Mario Diaz-Balart, a Hispanic and an African-American, both with what are considered safe seats. When their lawsuit was thrown out of court by a federal judge this fall, they quickly filed an appeal. REP. MARIO DIAZ-BALART (R), FLORIDA: We think that it might reach all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. GRIFFIN (on camera): Aren't you both just really protecting your seats? DIAZ-BALART: No. Absolutely not. GRIFFIN: Did I see two congressional politicians in super secure seats. DIAZ-BALART: Right. GRIFFIN: Super secure seats. You haven't even been contested -- (CROSSTALK) DIAZ-BALART: No. Well, last -- REP. CORRINE BROWN (D), FLORIDA: No, no. That is not true. GRIFFIN: Trying to save your seats. BROWN: I'm sorry. You need to go back and do your research, sir. GRIFFIN (voice-over): We did. Brown had no opponent on the November ballot in 2004, 2006 or 2008. BROWN: It is not about me. It is about making sure that we continue to have minority representation in Florida. GRIFFIN: Both of them portray this as a racial and ethnic issue. DIAZ-BALART: Among the effects would be irreparable harm to the federal electoral system including the ability of minorities to elect candidates of their choice. GRIFFIN: We read what he said to Dale Landry of the Florida NAACP. DALE LANDRY, NAACP FLORIDA: We disagree with that. GRIFFIN (on camera): He's wrong? LANDRY: He's wrong. GRIFFIN (voice-over): In fact, the new amendment requires that minority rights be protected. LANDRY: It helps ensure that minority voters get to elect or have the opportunity to elect folk that they want to be placed in office. GRIFFIN: But the Florida legislature has joined the resistance, led by Speaker Dean Cannon, lawyers for the lower House, are taking part in the appeal. (On camera): You are willing to spend taxpayer dollars essentially fighting a taxpayer supported amendment. REP. DEAN CANNON (R), FLORIDA HOUSE SPEAKER: No. We're spending taxpayer dollars to get clarity on a rule of federal and state constitutional law. GRIFFIN (voice-over): Cannon's argument? The U.S. Constitution gives the state legislature alone the responsibility for redistricting. An argument already rejected by the federal judge. Spending public money this way has raised public eyebrows. MACNAB: People have been outraged about it. Absolutely outraged, as well they should be. GRIFFIN: How far will incumbents go to try to keep a seat in Congress? Well, it's 2,019 miles from Cleveland to Seattle. REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: Hello, Seattle. GRIFFIN: Dennis Kucinich flew there fearing he might be drawn out of his seat in Ohio. (On camera): You made several trips -- I think five trips to Seattle and seem to flirt with the idea about running for Congress in Washington state. KUCINICH: Well, I receive many invitations to speak there and I've been going out there for years and to many places in the country. GRIFFIN (voice-over): The eight-term congressman speaking at Seattle's pro-marijuana Hempfest last spring. KUCINICH: Seattle, you shook the world once. Can you shake it again? I ask you. GRIFFIN: This was not a campaign appearance. He says. (On camera): When you were told your district in Ohio would be wiped out you weren't even considering a race in Washington state, considering a district in Washington state? KUCINICH: I have people asking me from a number of different states if I -- if I would consider running but I made no commitment anywhere. GRIFFIN (voice-over): In the end, the new Ohio map put Kucinich in the same district with another Democrat incumbent. He decided to stay home and run against her. KUCINICH: Thank you. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NARRATOR: Still to come -- the state fair in Iowa. And the rare duel between Democrat and Republican incumbents. WASSERMAN: You put a gun to my head I couldn't tell you who's going to win. NARRATOR: Can Iowa's nonpartisan new districting system be a model for the nation? (END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) GRIFFIN (voice-over): Hog calling. Horseshoes. Hamburger on the hoof. This is the Iowa state fair. A million visitors every year to the midway and the farm exhibits. On sale at auction, the champion steers, hogs, other livestock. In all, these teenagers will walk away with more than a quarter million dollars. But this is a pittance of what one of the closest congressional races in the country will cost here next year. REP. TOM LATHAM (R), IOWA: Anybody need some more iced tea? GRIFFIN: Meet Republican incumbent Tom Latham working a farm lunch tent at the state fair. LATHAM: I'm Congressman Tom Latham. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. LATHAM: Good to see you folks. Good to see you. GRIFFIN: Elsewhere at a farmers market, Democrat incumbent Leonard Boswell. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congressman. REP. LEONARD BOSWELL (D), IOWA: Hey, how are you doing? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great. How are you? You're on my list to re- elect, man. BOSWELL: Hey, I'm glad to be on your list. GRIFFIN: Two congressmen from opposing parties facing each other in a race too close to call. The result of a nonpartisan redistricting system in Iowa. Free of politics. (On camera): And if the voting patterns are the same, it's 1 percent either way. LATHAM: Right. GRIFFIN: Is that what you're hearing? LATHAM: That's toss-up district. Oh, sure. GRIFFIN (voice-over): Des Moines has half the voters here. It's Boswell's base and they lean Democratic. But the rest of this district in southwest Iowa is mostly rural and Republican. Small town America. The birthplace of both John Wayne and Johnny Carson. Right now it is the only race like this in the nation. Republican and Democrat incumbents in a duel to the end. WASSERMAN: You put a gun to my head I couldn't tell you who's going to win. GRIFFIN (on camera): A normal election year is you get so few seats switching party hands. LATHAM: Right. GRIFFIN: This is going to be one of those races. This is going to be the race, money pouring in from both sides. Will this be the most expensive race you have been involved in? LATHAM: I -- it probably will. GRIFFIN: How much will the winner or the close loser have to raise in this case? LATHAM: I don't know. GRIFFIN: We've heard $3.5 million aside? LATHAM: It's possible. GRIFFIN (voice-over): Together, $7 million. WASSERRMAN: At some point voters would just say give me the money because $7 million can buy a lot in Des Moines, Iowa. BOSWELL: Hello and how are you doing? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good. GRIFFIN: For Boswell, it will mean raising twice what he spent to survive a hard fight a year ago. (On camera): This next race -- you spent $1.5 million I think in the last race. In next race -- BOSWELL: It's going to cost more. Yes. GRIFFIN: Even tighter. BOSWELL: Yes. GRIFFIN: Costing you even more and because seats in Congress rarely turn red to D or D to red, this is going to be one of those seats -- BOSWELL: Yes? GRIFFIN: -- where both sides are going to be jumping all over this. BOSWELL: Well, probably so. GRIFFIN: And are you not envious of those guys sitting in their gerrymandered districts so safe? BOSWELL: I couldn't tell you that I wouldn't appreciate it not being so tough. GRIFFIN (voice-over): These are the men who made it so tough. (On camera): And you literally have a secret location that you use? GARY RUDICIL, LEGISLATION SERVICES AGENCY: Well, I don't know how secret it is. GRIFFIN (voice-over): If not secret, at least behind locked doors. Not even the janitor is allowed in. RUDICIL: The legislators, they all know that we're off limits. GRIFFIN: Gary Rudicil is the computer specialist who draws Iowa's congressional maps. He's a nonpartisan staffer for the legislature. Politicians do not get to see the maps until the very end and then it's an up or down vote. No changes allowed. That's the law here. Iowa lost one seat in this last census. This is the old map with five seats for the past decade. Now the new map with four. The lines look regular, rare for any state. But the congressmen were left scrambling in a game of musical chairs. RUDICIL: In Iowa, it's understood that incumbent protection is not the name of the game. GRIFFIN: Four congressmen wound up stuck together in new districts. Which parties are they in? RUDICIL: That I do not know. GRIFFIN (on camera): And Gary, the fact that you didn't know that is interesting because you really don't care. RUDICIL: No. That's correct. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are those all done? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. GRIFFIN (voice-over): One of those congressmen was Tom Latham. His district combined with that of another Republican incumbent, so Latham moved one county south to take on Boswell instead. (On camera): Do you like the system that they have in Iowa? LATHAM: I do. Because -- and I honestly believe that if we had more like it around the country, that I think we would get away from some of this really partisan stuff and I think if you sit in a very safe district, a lot of times it's people ignoring the public will. They don't have to listen because they can do whatever they want to and vote however they want to. And not be held accountable for it. GRIFFIN (voice-over): Voters in Iowa do want to be heard. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need somebody that will watch our money like it's their own. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The rich are not paying their fair share. GRIFFIN: Leonard Boswell is holding a weekend meeting in an ice cream parlor. BOSWELL: The squeeze on the middle class, the working class is just -- is bigger and bigger and bigger. GRIFFIN: This looks like democracy as it was meant to be, people who know their congressmen can speak their mind and will have a real choice come next year. So can this system solve the nation's problems with gerrymandering? (On camera): Before you think Iowa has all the answers for the rest of us, remember this state is mostly flat. Largely square. And let's be honest. Iowa is overwhelmingly white. (Voice-over): In a state with only 3 percent African-American population, there are no minority districts to be drawn or manipulated. No oddities of geography to divide people. It's neither a red or blue state. Just plain vanilla. Here the governor stands in line for lunch at the state fair like anyone else. This is the fifth term for Terry Branstad. He's been around since Iowa began non-partisan redistricting three decades ago. (On camera): I mean, let's face it, in other states most people in Congress don't have to worry about getting re-elected. They're almost guaranteed by the districts that are drawn. GOV. TERRY BRANSTAD (R), IOWA: I don't think that's a healthy situation. I think if you have a competitive situation, you're likely to have a more conscientious congressman that recognizes that they're accountable to aware and a lot of people are concerned that today the Congress has lost touch with reality, our nation is plowed in to this deep debt and they just seem to be out of touch with the real world. GRIFFIN: Outside Iowa, as long as politics continues to dominate redistricting, Congress will keep on running. Much like a merry-go- round. But once an incumbent gets on, most of them never have to get off. At the Iowa state fair, Drew Griffin, reporting.


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Breaking Dawn - FAQ *SPOILER*
Frequently Asked Questions: Breaking DawnJag publicerar dessa FAQ på engelska, eftersom Stephenie förklarar bäst själv.
These are the most popular questions that I got while on tour. This page is thick with explicit spoilers, so I would recommend not reading this if you have not yet read the book but are still planning to.
What does the cover mean?
Breaking Dawn's cover is a metaphor for Bella's progression throughout the entire saga. She began as the weakest (at least physically, when compared to vampires and werewolves) player on the board: the pawn. She ended as the strongest: the queen. In the end, it's Bella that brings about the win for the Cullens.
What does the title mean?
The title Breaking Dawn is a reference to the beginning of Bella's vampire life.
What does the Book I prologue refer to?
These are Bella's thoughts about Renesmee, during the time when her life was in serious danger from the pregnancy.
Why the big build-up for a fight that didn't happen?
I'm not the kind of person who writes a Hamlet ending. If the fight had happened, it would have ended with 90% of the combatants, Cullen and Volturi alike, destroyed. There was simply no other outcome once the fight got started, given the abilities and numbers of the opposing sides. Because I would never finish Bella's story on such a downer—Everybody dies!—I knew that the real battle would be mental. It was a game of maneuvering, with the champion winning not by destroying the other side, but by being able to walk away. This was another reason I liked the chess metaphor on the cover—it really fit the feel of that final game. I put a clue into the manuscript as well. Alice tore a page from The Merchant of Venice because the end of Breaking Dawn was going to be somewhat similar: bloodshed appears inevitable, doom approaches, and then the power is reversed and the game is won by some clever verbal strategies; no blood is shed, and the romantic pairings all have a happily ever after.
What was the other book besides Midsummer Night's Dream that you said influenced Breaking Dawn?
As noted above, it was The Merchant of Venice.
What happened to Marcus's wife?
Once upon a time, a fairly young vampire (he had only been a vampire for a decade and a half) named Aro changed his young sister Didyme, who had just reached adulthood, into a vampire in order to add her to his growing coven. Aro always wanted power, and because he himself had a potent mind-reading gift, he hoped his biological sister would also be gifted in a way that would help him rise in the vampire world. It turned out that Didyme did have a gift; she carried with her an aura of happiness that affected everyone who came near her. Though it wasn't exactly what he had hoped for, Aro pondered the best ways he could use this gift. Meanwhile, Aro's most trusted partner, Marcus, fell in love with Didyme. This was not unusual; given the way she made people feel, lots of people fell in love with Didyme. The difference was that this time, Didyme fell in love herself. The two of them were tremendously happy. So happy, in fact that, after a while, they no longer cared that much about Aro's plans for domination. After a few centuries, Didyme and Marcus discussed going their own way. Of course, Aro was well aware of their intentions. He was not happy about it, but he pretended to give his blessing. Then he waited for an opportunity to act, and when he knew he would never be found out, he murdered his sister. After all, Marcus's gift was much more useful to him than hers had been. This is not to say that Aro did not truly love his sister; it's just that a key part of his personality is the ability to destroy even what he loves in order to further his ambitions. Marcus never found out that Aro was responsible for Didyme's death. He became an empty man. Aro used Chelsea's gift to keep Marcus loyal to the Volturi, though not even Chelsea's gift could make Marcus show any enthusiasm for it.
How different is Breaking Dawn from Forever Dawn? What changed, what stayed the same, and why? Will you ever post extras from Forever Dawn?
The basic story is the same. Bella and Edward get married and go to Isle Esme for their honeymoon. Bella gets pregnant with Renesmee. The birth just about kills Bella, but Edward makes her a vampire in time. Jacob imprints on Renesmee. Alice has a vision of the Volturi coming to destroy the Cullens with the "immortal child" as their excuse. Alice bails. Bella's shielding abilities turn the tide in the Cullen's favor, along with Alice bringing home another half-vampire to prove that Nessie isn't a danger.
The things that are different:
- Jacob and Bella are not nearly so close. None of the events of New Moon or Eclipse exist; Edward never leaves, so Bella and Jacob never bond. Jacob's feelings for Bella remain at crush level.
- Due in part to Jacob being a smaller character, the werewolf pack is only sketchily developed. It exists as a whole, but there isn't much information about the individuals. Most of the wolves do not have names.
- The entire story is written in Bella's perspective. Because of this, there is a lot more emphasis on the pregnancy phase.
- Jacob isn't there at the delivery, naturally, so he imprints on Renesmee a few weeks later when Bella is visiting Charlie.
- With no New Moon or Eclipse, Victoria and Laurent are both still alive. Laurent stays happily with Irina and sides with the Cullens in the confrontation with the Volturi. It is Victoria rather than Irina who informs on the Cullens to the Volturi. She creates a new friend, Riley, to make the actual accusation. She doesn't want Aro to know about her agenda—or the fact that the baby is only half-vampire, of which she is aware.
- The wolves kill Victoria. She is the only casualty at the final confrontation.
- The last chapter ends the same way, but there is an epilogue. It involves Max (J. Jenk's assistant). Bella's initial interaction with him is a little bit longer and, feeling she owes him a favor, she gives him her number and tells him she will help him out in return if he ever needs a favor of his own. Max gets himself into some trouble, and Bella gets to play Superman.
I may post some extras someday if I ever have time to go back through the Forever Dawn manuscript—it's just as long as Breaking Dawn. There are a couple of things that family members told me they particularly missed, so I would start there.
Why the name Renesmee?
Well, I couldn't call her Jennifer or Ashley. What do you name the most unique baby in the world? I looked through a lot of baby name websites. Eventually I realized that there was no human name that was going to work for me, so I surrendered to necessity and made up my own. I don't approve of such shenanigans in real life, I don't even believe in getting creative with spellings for real kids! But this was fantasy, and no human name fit, so I did the best I could. I named Renesmee so long ago—Fall 2003—that the name now sounds really natural to me. It wasn't until people started mentioning it that I remembered, "Oh, yeah, it is a weird name, isn't it?"
What's the deal with "shapeshifters"?
What is the definition of a werewolf? Is it a man who changes into a wolf? Or is it a man who, once infected by a werewolf bite, changes into a wolf during a full moon? If you go with the basic description, then the Quileutes are werewolves. It's not a distinction that really matters on a normal day. During the standoff with the Volturi (not a normal day), Edward sees that Caius is going to use the treaty with the werewolves as an excuse to attack. He's aware of the distinction between these wolves and the more traditional kind, and though it's only a technicality, he is able to use it to deflect the attack. Technically, the Volturi aren't at war with these wolves and Edward stresses the word "shapeshifter" in order to make the distinction clearer to the witnesses. The Quileutes weren't aware of the existence of a different species of werewolves, but Carlisle and Edward were. There was a hint about this at the end of Eclipse when Edward says to Victoria (referring to Seth), "Is he really so much like the monster James tracked across Siberia?"
What happened to Leah?
Leah is currently pretty satisfied with life. She's free from Sam's pack, which is a very happy thing for her. She's the "beta" in Jacob's pack, which she can't help but be a little smug about around her pack brothers (its kind of a big deal in wolf terms). Jacob has become the reliable friend that she's been needing for quite some time, and he's a real comfort to her, though they conceal their fondness for each other with constant bickering. She has absolutely no romantic interest in Jacob, and the whole Nessie thing only bothers her in that it ties her to the vampires.
What happened to Sam's father?
Sam's father disappeared when Sam was very young. He wasn't a great person, and the stress of providing for a family was too much for him, so he skipped out. This is one of the reasons that Sam is mature beyond his years. He picked up a lot of the slack.
Is Billy actually Ephraim?
No, Billy is not Ephraim. Billy is Ephraim's grandson.
Who is Embry's father?
I don't know who Embry's father is. I'm aware that this lack of knowledge is annoying to some people. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to explain myself in more detail—that's one of the drawbacks of interviews. You don't know what you will be asked, you don't have much time to come up with an answer, and if you give an answer that is too long, they cut it down into a form that doesn't make sense. So you have to think on your feet and speak in sound bites. I'm not great at either.
I'm going to try to explain what it means when I say that I don't know something, or that a character hasn't revealed some part of himself to me. Those statements are both shorthand answers for a long and complicated explanation that doesn't work for a sound bite or a stage presentation. No two people write the same way, so I don't know if this will make sense to anyone else.
When I write a story, I start out with infinite possibilities. As I describe any character or plot point, I make those characteristics finite. For example, once I decide Bella is a brunette, all of her blonde and redhead possibilities disappear. Once I decide Bella lives in Washington, all the other places she might have lived are gone. There's this huge universe of options that I slowly whittle down into a more focused reality. Until I need to know a certain fact about the character, all the possibilities stay open out there in that universe of possibilities. If I set something in concrete prematurely, it could be a stumbling block later, so I try to keep an open mind about details until they become necessary to the story. If I explore a character too early, that can lock me into a situation that might be difficult to work with later.
So, I haven't explored the three main options for Embry's father this deeply yet. Someday, if it becomes necessary to a story, I'll comb through each character, look at his history and his present, and see which option makes the most sense. I'll more fully sketch out the internal workings of Billy, Quil Sr., and Samuel Sr. and see whose character supports this backstory best. That's what I mean when I say that the characters haven't told me yet. I haven't dug into them deeply enough to see if this information rings true with who the character is.
Someday, if I continue with the Twilight universe, maybe it will become necessary for me to know who Embry's dad is. I'm not to that point, and I don't want to just give a glib, "Oh it's ___________" kind of answer, because I might regret it later.
Vampires and pregnancy: when did that idea occur to you? How does that work?
The first seed (no pun intended) was planted when I did Bella's computer research in chapter seven of Twilight. Bella reads about several real vampire legends—the Danag, Estrie, Upier, etc. In the novel, I only mentioned a few of the many legends I read through. One that I didn't mention at this point was the entry on the Incubus. The unique feature about that legend was that the incubus could father children. Hmmm, I said, and I filed that kernel of an idea away for later. When I decided to write the first sequel to Twilight (Forever Dawn), I knew it was going to revolve around a hybrid baby from the outset.
When my editor and I decided to go back and really develop Bella's last year of high school, I did so with the knowledge that it was all going to end up with the events in Breaking Dawn. Everything I wrote was pointed in that direction.
I was always very careful when I answered the "Can vampires have babies?" question, because I didn't want to say anything incorrect, but I also didn't want to make the future super-obvious. I focused my answers on the female half of the equation—female vampires cannot have children because their bodies no longer change in any aspect. There is no changing cycle to begin with, and their bodies couldn't expand to fit a growing child, either. I purposely evaded answering the question, "Can a male vampire get a human female pregnant?" to preserve a tiny bit of surprise in the last book. There were many statements on this subject purported to have come from me, but I never made those comments because, obviously, I knew where this was going.
Now, on to the "how is this possible?" question. First of all, of course it's not possible. None of this story is possible. It's a fantasy story about creatures that don't actually exist. Within the context of the fantasy, however, this is how it works:
Vampires are physically similar enough to their human origins to pass as humans under some circumstances (like cloudy days). There are many basic differences. They appear to have skin like ours, albeit very fair skin. The skin serves the same general purpose of protecting the body. However, the cells that make up their skin are not pliant like our cells, they are hard and reflective like crystal. A fluid similar to the venom in their mouths works as a lubricant between the cells, which makes movement possible (note: this fluid is very flammable). A fluid similar to the same venom lubricates their eyes so that their eyes can move easily in their sockets. (However, they don't produce tears because tears exist to protect the eye from damage, and nothing is going to be able to scratch a vampire's eye.) The lubricant-venom in the eyes and skin is not able to infect a human the way saliva-venom can. Similarly, throughout the vampire's body are many versions of venom-based fluids that retain a marked resemblance to the fluid that was replaced, and function in much the same way and toward the same purpose. Though there is no venom replacement that works precisely like blood, many of the functions of blood are carried on in some form. Also, the nervous system runs in a slightly different but heightened way. Some involuntary reactions, like breathing, continue (in that specific example because vampires use the scents in the air much more than we do, rather than out of a need for oxygen). Other involuntary reactions, like blinking, don't exist because there is no purpose for them. The normal reactions of arousal are still present in vampires, made possible by venom-related fluids that cause tissues to react similarly as they do to an influx of blood. Like with vampire skin—which looks similar to human skin and has the same basic function—fluids closely related to seminal fluids still exist in male vampires, which carry genetic information and are capable of bonding with a human ovum. This was not a known fact in the vampire world (outside of Joham's personal experimenting) before Nessie, because it's nearly impossible for a vampire to be that near a human and not kill her.
I didn't get into all of these details at my signings because it's a long, complicated mouthful. Also, it's hard to be clearly heard with all the screaming. Mostly, though, I waited to do this in writing because I have an immature, Homer Simpson-like tendency to giggle when I say the words "seminal fluids" in public.
Why did you decide to end the saga?
The Twilight Saga is really Bella's story, and this was the natural place for her story to wind up. She overcame the major obstacles in her path and fought her way to the place she wanted to be. I suppose I could try to prolong her story unnaturally, but it wouldn't be interesting enough to keep me writing. Stories need conflict, and the conflicts that are Bella-centric are resolved.
How do you feel about the Breaking Dawn controversy?
It makes me sad, of course, but I was expecting it. The negative was more than I was braced for, but that was because the book sold a lot more copies than I expected. It was bigger than I thought it would be on both the positive and the negative sides.
It's inevitable that the bigger your audience gets, the bigger the group who doesn't like what they're reading will be. Because no book is a good book for everyone. Every individual has their own personal taste and experience, and that's why there are such a great variety of books on the shelves. There are lots of very popular books that I don't enjoy at all. Conversely, there are books that I adore that no one else seems to care about. The surprise to me is that so many people do like my books. I wrote them for a very specific audience of one, and so there was no guarantee that any other person on the planet besides me would enjoy them.
When I publish a book, I know that it's not going to be right for every person who picks it up. With Breaking Dawn, the expectation was so huge and so intense that I knew the negative reaction was going to be especially bad this time. In the end, it's just a book. No book—or album, or movie, or tv show, or any other kind of entertainment—can answer to that level of expectation. Oh, it might do it for some people, it might be exactly what they were looking for. But there's always going to be another group who was looking for
something else.
It's a hard thing to have people unhappy with you, but there's nothing I can do. Either Breaking Dawn entertains you or it doesn't. If I could go back in time, knowing everything I know right now, and write the whole series again, I would write exactly the same story. (The writing would be better, though—practice makes perfect.) This is the story I wanted to write, and I love Breaking Dawn. It's everything I wanted in the last novel of my saga. People's reactions don't change that.
I've heard you say that you think Breaking Dawn should be two movies. Why? Also, that it
might be impossible to film. What does that mean?
If Breaking Dawn were ever made into a movie, it's hard to imagine it fitting into ninety minutes. The book is just so long! I can't imagine how to distill it—if I could, the book would be shorter. But maybe a screenwriter can see a way to do it and still cover the crucial plot points.
When I said that Breaking Dawn might be impossible to film, it's because of Renesmee. You can do almost anything with CGI these days—realistic dragons and dinosaurs and endless amounts of nonexistent creatures that blend right in with the real elements. Some of them look so real you forget they're not. However, the one thing that I've never seen is a CGI human being who truly looks real. An actress can't play Renesmee, at least not when she's a few days old; she's the size of a baby, but her expressions are totally controlled and aware. She would have to be a construct, and CGI isn't quite there yet. Of course, they develop amazing new technologies everyday, and we've got a little time left.
Is Bella an anti-feminist heroine?
When I hear or read theories about Bella being an anti-feminist character, those theories
are usually predicated on her choices. In the beginning, she chooses romantic love over everything else. Eventually, she chooses to marry at an early age and then chooses to keep an unexpected and dangerous baby. I never meant for her fictional choices to be a model for anyone else's real life choices. She is a character in a story, nothing more or less. On top of that, this is not even realistic fiction, it's a fantasy with vampires and werewolves, so no one could ever make her exact choices. Bella chooses things differently than how I would do it if I were in her shoes, because she is a very different type of person than I am. Also, she's in a situation that none of us has ever been in, because she lives in a fantasy world. But do her choices make her a negative example of empowerment? For myself personally, I don't think so.
In my own opinion (key word), the foundation of feminism is this: being able to choose. The core of anti-feminism is, conversely, telling a woman she can't do something solely because she's a woman—taking any choice away from her specifically because of her gender. "You can't be an astronaut, because you're a woman. You can't be president because you're a woman. You can't run a company because you're a woman." All of those oppressive "can't"s.
One of the weird things about modern feminism is that some feminists seem to be putting their own limits on women's choices. That feels backward to me. It's as if you can't choose a family on your own terms and still be considered a strong woman. How is that empowering? Are there rules about if, when, and how we love or marry and if, when, and how we have kids? Are there jobs we can and can't have in order to be a "real" feminist? To me, those limitations seem anti-feminist in basic principle.
Do I think eighteen is a good age at which to get married? Personally—as in, for the person I was at eighteen—no. However, Bella is constrained by fantastic circumstances that I never had to deal with. The person she loves is physically seventeen, and he's not going to change. If she and he are going to be on a healthy relationship footing, she can't age too far beyond him. Also, marriage is re
ally an insignificant commitment compared to giving up your mortality, so it's funny to me that some people are hung up on one and not the other. Is eighteen too young to give up your mortality? For me, any age
is too young for that. For Bella, it was what she really wanted for her life, and it wasn't a phase she was going to grow out of. So I don't have issues with her choice. She's a strong person who goes after what she wants with persistence and determination.
What are you going to do next? Will you continue with the Twilight universe?
I think I need a break from vampires. At this exact point in time, I don't feel like I will go back to Forks. However, I also don't feel comfortable with telling people what I had planned for further novels. Maybe part of me is protecting those secrets because I'm not ready to leave my vampires behind. Or maybe it's just habit from five years of compulsory secrecy. I'm sure it will be a while before I figure out which one is the real reason. Things will probably be clearer after I've been away from the stories for a while.
I really enjoyed working on The Host, doing something totally different, and I'd like to have that experience again of starting a new world from scratch. I have several other stories that I've been waiting to work on. At this moment, I'm torn between two, but I'm planning to commit to one of them very soon.
Källa: Stepheniemeyer.com


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Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Albion deny Odemwingie is a done deal
Confusion surrounded the future of West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie on Thursday night as he arrived in London for talks with QPR, only for his club to deny giving him permission to do so.
Rangers boss Harry Redknapp earlier spoke of his interest in the wantaway Nigerian, and when the player was interviewed in London speaking of his excitement about a move, it looked as though a deal was on.
But West Brom reacted quickly by releasing a statement which read: "Albion have moved to clarify developments regarding Peter Odemwingie after the striker was filmed a short while ago arriving at Loftus Road. The club can confirm they have held further discussions with QPR today but those talks have so far proven fruitless and no agreement has been reached. Albion would also like to make clear that Peter has not been given permission to speak to QPR about a potential move."
Albion's words came just minutes after Sky Sports News interviewed the 31-year-old as he drove into London.
He has been critical of West Brom on Twitter over recent weeks but he gave a nod to that being in the past, saying: "It's fine. West Brom was my home but this is a new chapter. I love West Brom and always will.
"I am optimistic. A few good players have arrived here (at QPR) and I am happy with the trust Harry Redknapp has in me.
"The last few results have given us a chance to stay up. I don't think the owners will bring in so many players if they don't think it will happen.
"I hope West Brom are happy with what they will get and they hope to get players themselves."
While Odemwingie was in front of the cameras, Redknapp was giving an interview to London Call-In, during which he confirmed his interest in Odemwingie, Jermaine Jenas and Andros Townsend.
"Peter Odemwingie has pace, great movement," Redknapp said. "I like him and is a player that has always given us problems when I was at Tottenham I think if we can get Odemwingie he would be a great signing for us, but whether we can pull it off I am not sure."


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LITTLE ROCK — A federal judge on Friday gave preliminary approval to a proposed settlement that would end two decades of state payments toward desegregation efforts in Little Rock-area schools.
LITTLE ROCK — A federal judge on Friday gave preliminary approval to a proposed settlement that would end two decades of state payments toward desegregation efforts in Little Rock-area schools.
U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall accepted the settlement agreement after a hearing in which attorneys for the parties — the three school districts in Pulaski County, the state attorney general's office, the Joshua intervenors, who represent black students, and the Knight intervenors, who represent teachers and other school employees — asked the judge to approve the deal.
"The proposal shows what I believe to be hard bargaining by good and experienced lawyers," Marshall said after a 90-minute hearing. "It does not have any hallmark of collusion or any kind of inside dealing or special dealing."
With the initial approval of the settlement, notice of the proposed agreement will now be advertised to members of the classes represented by Joshua and Knight. Marshall said he will then conduct a fairness hearing Jan. 13-14 to hear any opposition to or support for the proposed settlement plan.
The judge said that after the fairness hearing he would issue a final ruling on the proposal.
Little Rock School District Attorney Chris Heller said later that he was pleased with the judge's decision.
"I'm looking forward to final approval," Heller said. "It's good to see all the school districts and the state and Joshua intervenors and the teachers all together pulling for kids, so I think it's a great day."
The state has paid the Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special school districts $1.2 billion since 1989 to bolster desegregation programs in a case that had its origins in the 1957 Central High integration crisis.
The pact, negotiated by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, would end state desegregation payments of nearly $70 million annually to the three districts after the 2017-18 school year and clear the way for creation of a new school district in Jacksonville. The districts would get another year of payments in 2018-19 to be used exclusively for school buildings.
The agreement includes stipulations that attorneys for the three school districts will receive $250,000 from the state, with any fees above that amount to be paid by the individual districts. It also asks the federal judge to approve $500,000 in fees for attorneys for the Joshua intervenors and $75,000 for other attorneys in the case.
Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, attorney for the Joshua intervenors, said during Friday's hearing that if the districts end up returning to segregated schools after the state's financial obligations are completed they can expect another lawsuit.
Walker said he and attorneys for the Pulaski County district are working on a separate agreement that would require the district to build facilities in the lower-income areas of the district and that the Little Rock school district must work to desegregate its magnet schools.
He noted that the Little Rock School Board voted this week to use it's fourth year state payment primary on facilities in poor areas of the district.
"While we may have a dispute about that, we will be back in court in the event that those facilities are not equalized," Walker said. "The school districts are on notice, and so is the state of Arkansas … that the court is always available for any new violations."
Walker also said he does not particularly like the section of the agreement that would let Jacksonville detach from the Pulaski County district and create its own district. He said he agreed to it because, if a new district is formed there, it would be "basically a desegregated area."
"Jacksonville is one of the few biracial areas in the Pulaski County Special School district," he said.
Rep. Mark Perry, D-Jacksonville, who attended Friday's hearing, said afterward he hopes the judge gives final approval to the plan in January and that Jacksonville residents could vote next year on whether they want to break away from the Pulaski County Special School district and form their own district.
"Hopefully mid next year at the latest," Perry said.


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Workshop #4 Sibiu
Sibiu, Une plaie non encore guérie, directed by Vlad Massaci
May 8th - June 8th 2014 | Teatrul National Radu Stanca/Sibiu
In may 2014, the Teatrul National Radu Stanca/Sibiu will entrust its workshop to the Romanian director, Vlad Massaci, inviting young French actors to work with him. A group of residents will help these young artists to find their way in the Romanian city of Sibiu.
Auditions in Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe/Paris end of march 2014.
Cast : Amine Adjina, Alexis Gilot, Vladimir Golicheff, Lucie Hannequin, Inga Koller, Hugo Malpeyre, Ninon Noiret.
Public presentation of the workshop in the Teatrul National Radu Stanca Sibiu (dates to be confirmed) and the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe/Paris on June 17th 2014 (more info here).


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It's that time again.....Time to come up with a unique and fun gift to thank your children's teachers. Well we have a LOT of really great things for you to purchase as a digital file or as a kit. The kits come with the supplies you need to create something memorable for teacher. They are super simple and easy to put together. Our digital files are something you just download and print. Take a look at all the things we've got going this year.
(KIT) These candy bar wrappers are brand new this year. You can choose from a black polkadot wrap or a red polkadot wrap or you can get some of each one. Fill a container full of these Hershey candy bars or top a present with one. Since we include a cellophane bag, you can consider it already "Gift Wrapped" Sooooo easy.
And now it is gift wrapped, complete with a To-From Tag. If you can glue then you can put these Teacher Appreciation gifts together. You can purchase the 1.55 oz Hershey bars at Costco
You can opt to have all red polkadot wraps, all black polkadot wraps or a mixture of the two. We bought our Hershey bars at Costco-36 for around $22.00. You can also find them in your local grocery store or Walmart in packs of 6 for around $3.99.
CLICK HERE for "Thanks Teacher, You're the Best" candy bar wraps
(KIT) This design is also new this year. There are five candy bar wraps in 5 different colors with 5 different messages. We filled a container we bought at Hobby Lobby and I think it looks so great. The container reminded me of a kids locker. They cab be purchased online or at the store.
Now it's Gift Wrapped!!!
CLICK HERE for these candy bar wrapers
(KIT) All teachers LOVE getting gift cards and we have a gift card holder here that makes it even more special. It's a great way to gift wrap a gift card. You can put who it is from on the white round tag if you like. Ships same or next day! (all our kits ship same or next day)
CLICK HERE for these gift card holders
(KIT) Do you know a teacher that is AWESOME! Then this Hershey candy bar wrapper is the one for them. You could also give this to others who do a lot of nice things for you, not just for teacher. It is so cute and so easy to put together. Everything is provided except for glue and the 1.55 oz Hershey bar. Definitely a unique gift!
Here's a close-up so you can see how pretty it is and how easy. The tag comes with the daisy already attached. All you do is tie the twine for the stems, adhere the flowers to the wrap, add the centers (with foam dots) and attach the tag. Super easy instructions are always included.
How about giving the teacher a report card for Teacher Appreciation. The report card is wrapped around a Hershey chocolate bar. She will LOVE it! One for each of the kid's teachers Even the jr high and senior high school kids could give these to their teachers.
How do your teachers stack up?
The #1 Teacher medal comes pre-made. All you do is glue and you're done! Slip it inside the clear cellophane bag that is included in kit, add the tag and now it's "gift wrapped" for the teacher. Easy for the kids to take to school. Such a simple but fun gift for teacher.
Click HERE for this candy bar wrap
Brand new this year is our "You're Awesome, Thanks for all you do" gift card holders. What a great gift for Teacher Appreciation. Teachers LOVE getting gift cards and now you can wrap one up in something that already looks like a gift. It's a kit that is soooooo simple to assemble.
If you can glue, tie a bow and use scissors, you're in!
This gift card holder would also be great for the following purposes:
Employee Recognition
Co-Workers gifts
Corporate Gifts
Teacher Appreciation
Recognition awards
Incentive awards
Office party gifts
Incentives for kids
Click HERE for this AWESOME gift card holder
Click HERE to see ALL of our Teacher Appreciation Designs including the ones above.
All our Kits Ship out Same or Next Day!


text: Do you know about PIN code? : Postal Index Number or Pincode is the numbering of the post office or post code system maintained by India Post and First introduced on Aug 15, 1972. A series of number grouped as per postal regions & postal circles defined by the India Post, required for sorting mails. The PINcode is 6 digits long. First digit reflects region, second digit the sub region, third digit the sorting district and last three digit refer to the delivery post office. India is devided into Nine PIN zones.


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Idaho Appellate Rule 36. Preparation of Briefs.
All briefs shall be prepared in accordance with the following requirements:
(a) Cover of Brief. The cover of all briefs shall state the title of the Supreme Court, the title of the action designated on the certificate of appeal, whether it is appellant's or respondent's brief, the name of the district court or administrative agency appealed from, the name of the trial judge or chairman presiding at the trial or hearing, and the names and addresses of all counsel of record showing for whom they appear. The information on the cover shall be substantially in the following form:
Click here for link.
(b) Color and Material of Cover. The cover of apellant's brief shall be light blue, the cover of respondent's brief shall be white, the cover of appellant's reply brief shall be tan or light brown, the color of cross-appellant's reply brief shall be light yellow, and the cover of any amicus curiae or intervenor's brief shall be light green. The color of respondent's/cross-appellant's brief,shall be white. The color of appellant's reply/cross-respondent's brief, shall be tan or light brown. The cover page must be sufficiently light in color to distinctly show the print. The cover of an appellate brief shall be 65 pound cover stock or heavier material, or a vinyl cover of equal weight, and shall not have a plastic or acetate cover.
(c) Printing of Briefs. All briefs shall be printed on unruled and untreated white paper 11 inches long by 8 1/2 inches wide. The original brief filed with the court shall be typed with black ribbon or produced by a computer or word processor type printer of letter quality. The type shall be no smaller than 12 point Times New Roman. All lines must be double-spaced, except for quotations which may be indented and single spaced. There shall be a margin of 1 1/2 inches at the top and at the bottom of each page, and 1 inch at each side of each page. The pages shall be numbered at the bottom and may be printed on both the front and back of each page. The brief must be bound on the left with comb binding only, except as provided by Rule 35(h) or upon permission granted by the court. Prisoners incarcerated or detained in a state prison or county jail may file documents under this rule that are legibly hand-printed in black ink, in whole or in part, that otherwise conform to the requirements of this rule.
(Adopted March 25, 1977, effective July 1, 1977; amended March 28, 1986, effective July 1, 1986; amended March 23, 1990, effective July 1, 1990; amended March 26, 1992, effective July 1, 1992; amended February 10, 1993, effective July 1, 1993; amended August 31, 1994, effective September 1, 1994; amended March 18, 1998, effective July 1, 1998; amended March 1, 2000, effective July 1, 2000; amendedJanuary 30, 2002, effective July 1, 2001.)
Chief Justice Roger S. Burdick
Justice Robyn M. Brody
Justice G. Richard Bevan
Justice John R. Stegner
Justice Gregory W. Moeller
Chief Judge David W. Gratton
Judge Molly J. Huskey
Judge Jessica M. Lorello
Judge Amanda K. Brailsford
Promoting Openness In The Courts
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The Kardashian sisters have come out swinging against two tabloids they say have done them wrong.
Kim, Khloe and Kourtney each took to their personal blogs to blast the mags, responding to this week's In Touch cover, which reads "Sisters In Crisis" above the headline "Humiliated By Their Men," and the latest Star cover, which reads "Kardashian Sisters: Tears Behind The Smiles" above the headline "Toxic Love."
"OMG! Have you guys seen the front pages of In Touch and Star today!? I can't believe they would make up this crap! Where do they get this stuff?," Kim wrote.
Khloe also took to her blog, to explain to her fans, what the fuss was all about.
"My sisters and I had a great laugh this morning. Star and InTouch Magazines decided to attack our relationships," she wrote. "Apparently I'm heading for divorce, Kim was dumped, and Kourt was duped. Duped?!? What do they even mean by that?? LOL. Wow, sad week for us Kardashian sisters, and how coincidental that this all happened at the same time! That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
Each of the women made their own attempt to shoot down the rumors.
"I want you guys to know these stories are completely fabricated. Kourtney is not haunted by Scott's past and Khloe and Lamar are not having problems, in fact he's flying to Miami to be with her and, to be honest, Reggie and I have never been happier," Kim wrote, referring to her beau, New Orleans Saints stars Reggie Bush. "I am in no rush to get married nor do I need to get married to be happy in my relationship. Reggie and I are perfectly fine!"
Khloe explained that she and Lamar are closer than ever.
"Lamar and I are obsessed and can barely be away from each other (he's actually flying to Miami tonight — we've spent a day apart and that's already too long haha)," she blogged.
And Kourtney urged her fans to steer clear from the mags.
"Just wanted you all to know that these stories are based on lies. My sisters and I are as close as always and happy in our relationships. If you want to read the ridiculous, fabricated stories, I have posted them… NO DO NOT BUY the magazines!!!" she wrote.
InTouch Weekly has posted a portion of its Kourtney story online, but has not addressed the Kardashian sisters' comments. Star has only posted its cover online, but did not respond online to the blog posts from the women.
Reps for Star and InTouch were not immediatley available for comment when contacted by Access Hollywood.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Keepin' Up With Kim Kardashian
PLAY IT NOW: New York Fashion Week: Kim Kardashian Debuts Her 360 Kardashians Bebe Line
PLAY IT NOW: Kim Kardashian: New Bebe Fashion Line Is 'Affordable' For Everyone
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Kim Kardashian - Kourtney Kardashian - Khloe Kardashian - Reality TV - TV


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Our adorable Jessie diaper covers are made with shiny PVC (or SlipperyPlastic) and feature nice 6 inch sides!
They have elasticated waist and leg openings, plus 4 press-stud poppers on each side of the panty for easy access!
They lined in soft satin, PVC or SlipperyPlastic, so if you choose not to wear a diaper underneath they still feel amazing against your bare skin!
They are also reversible! So you are able to use the press-stud poppers in exactly the same way! Two ABDL panties for the price of one!
Our popper panties are roomy enough for a double diapering, a must for every ABDL's wardrobe. We recommend ordering one size up if you want to wear them diapered.
A real treasure for your sissy adult baby wardrobe!
Now also available in SLUT-HOLE ANAL-SEX and COCK-HOLE versions! With a hole over the ass, surrounded by sweet lace - designed for great anal sex! Or choose the hole for the cock to poke through! Or choose BOTH holes for extra kink! See photos here!
These panties can also have a rear Zip!!
See photos of our rear Zip design!
You may wish to order one size larger than normal, if you want to wear padded diapers underneath.
Available in these sizes:
We can also make these panties in really big custom sizes! (store your Waist, Hips and Upper Thigh size in your Shop Account before ordering.


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Lamar Odom & Khloe Kardashian Have A Sex Swing Malfunction!
Caught On Tape: Khloe Kardashian & Lamar Odom Have a Sex Swing Malfunctio
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Modeling Christ is a ministry addressing the issues and needs of both participants in the modeling industry, and the world it influences. Rachel's unusual platform has given her the opportunity to make a difference for Christ to a plethora of audiences. As a popular conference speaker, she teaches Godly principles in modesty, purity, evangelism and embracing one's past.
Rachel's career has also led her in becoming a health and wellness coach using natural solutions. Her platform and expertise on the scriptural importance and significance of essential oil usage has taken her all over the country and she has been featured on the documentary "Ancient Secrets of Essential Oils." "Their fruit shall serve for food, and their LEAVES FOR MEDICINE (Ezekiel 47:12b).
She is the 2009 Mrs. North Carolina US and former Miss NC Teen USA.
Rachel is the author of Fashioned by Faith~An International Model Uncovers the Truth about Modesty and Style (Thomas Nelson, 2011).