Chase wanted to perform from a very early age. She began singing and dancing in her hometown at events and shows. One of the things that made her want to perform was watching videos of "Barney & Friends" when she was four years old. "I wanted to be like them, the kids on the video," she later said. Her father then entered her in a Little Miss America Pageant where Chase won the national vocal competition. After this, Chase was then signed by an agent who worked mainly in commercials. At the age of 7, she was in a Campbells Soup advertisement. In 1998, she got a starring role as a child member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in a musical theater production called "Utah!".
Chase's first movie role came in 1998 when she did the lead role as the voice of a Hawaiian girl, Lilo Pelekai, in the Disney animated movie, "Lilo & Stitch". Chase won an Annie Award for this in 2003. She went on to star in the Disney Channel television series based on the movie. In 2001, Chase did the role as the voice of the lead character, Chihiro Ogino, a 10 year old Japanese girl, in the American version of the animated Japanese movie, "Spirited Away". The movie won the 2002 Best Animated Feature Oscar.
In 2002, Chase played Samara Morgan in "The Ring". Chase was awarded the 2003 Best Villain award at the MTV Movie Awards. She beat out Mike Myers, Colin Farrell, Willem Dafoe and Daniel Day-Lewis. In the sequel to "The Ring", "The Ring Two" (2005), Chase was listed as playing Samara Morgan again. This was because they used parts of the first movie. Kelly Stables did all of the new scenes for Samara.
Chase's main other major movie and television credits between 2000-2005 were "Donnie Darko" (2001) as Donnie's younger sister, Samantha, and "Oliver Beene" (2003-2004), as Oliver's friend Joyce. Other credits include, "The Rats" (2002), "Carolina" (2003), "R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse" (2003) in which she plays a flying ghost called Annabel, and "Beethoven's 5th" (2003). She also made guest appearances in "Touched By An Angel", "Charmed", "ER", "Family Law", and "The Practice".
In 2007, Chase was in the HBO drama series "Big Love". The series is about an FLDS polygamist, played by Bill Paxton, and his relationship with his 3 wives. Chase plays Rhonda Volmer, a girl who was going to be a child wife of a prophet, Roman Grant, who is played by Harry Dean Stanton. While making a second season of "Big Love", Chase also worked on a new animation series called "Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures". "Leroy & Stitch" (2006), a sequel to "Lilo & Stitch", has also been released.
In 1999, she joined a small band as lead singer. The band has been the opening act for Reba McEntire. She was picked by Steven Spielberg to sing "God Bless America" in "A.I.". This part was removed from the final version of the movie. She also sang "Holly Jolly Christmas" for the "School's Out! Christmas" album and "Tossin & Turnin" in the "Oliver Beene" episode "Oliver & Others". She also sings in many scenes in "Big Love".
Eurofighter Typhoon
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a jet fighter aircraft made by EADS, BAE Systems and Alenia Aeronautica with Eurofighter GmbH. It first flew in 1994 and was introduced in 2003. It uses canards, which makes it agile. and a delta wing. It is called the "Eurofighter" because it was made by European countries, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain.
The countries that designed the Typhoon use it. Austria and Saudi Arabia have also ordered it.
The Typhoon is 11 meters (36 feet) wide, 15 meters (49 feet) long, and 5.3 metres (17 ft) tall. It is 9,750 kilograms (21,494 lb) with nothing in it, and can weigh up to 21,000 kilograms (46,300 lb) with things in it. It has two EJ200 engines, which can each make 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms) of thrust, and can go 2,125 kilometres per hour (1,320 mph). It carries a 27mm Mauser cannon, and several missiles and bombs.
Courts of Germany
The judiciary, that is, the judges and Courts of Germany are independent. They are not controlled by the Federal Government or the State Governments. There are laws which say what sort of cases the courts can hear and pass judgment on, and what type of punishment a court can give. But no law or minister can say that a person is guilty. Only the courts can do this.
Courts give protection to ordinary people from bad governments, they are also protected from bad governments themselves.
Germany has had free courts for longer than it has been a democracy, although under the Nazis many judges ignored the law and did what the Nazi Party wanted. This is why they were tried at the Nuremberg Judges Trial
Germany is a "Rechtsstaat". That means it is a government based on law. All citizens are guaranteed to be equal, and government decisions can be challenged in court.
No law or minister can say that a person, or group of people is guilty.
Federal law sets out the structure of the judiciary. Running courts is up to the Länder. The Länder ("States of Germany") are run the lower levels of the court system; only the highest courts are paid for by the federal government.
This federal-Land split means that the Federation (that is, the Federal Government) can make sure laws are enforced equally throughout the country, because it says what courts must be set up. The Länder administer the courts, and this stops the federal government from being able to order the courts to do things, or to appoint the judges. This helps keep the courts independent.
Germany has a system of Roman law. This is different from the United States and England which use the common law.
In a common law system courts rely on "precedents" (what was decided in similar cases earlier) . In Germany, courts look to a comprehensive system of legal codes. The codes set out legal principles or basic ideas, and have to decide each case by comparing the facts of the case to those principles, not to what another judges decided earlier.
Because the legal codes are very important and complicated, judges must be very well trained.
Judges are not chosen from practicing lawyers, as in the UK and USA. Instead being a judge is a separate career
At the end of their legal education at university, all law students must pass a state examination before they can continue on to an apprenticeship that provides them with broad training in the legal profession over two years. They then must pass a second state examination that qualifies them to practice law. After the second exam a person must choose either to be a lawyer or to be a judge.
Those who choose to be a judge start working at courts immediately. However they are on "probation" (a temporary training period) for up to four years before being appointed as judges for lifetime.
Germany has three types of courts.
The are four levels of ordinary courts:
Specialized courts deal with administrative, labor, social, fiscal, and patent law.
The is a Federal Patents Court in Munich adjudicates disputes relating to industrial property rights. Patents are a federal issue, so now state courts have been set up.
Each Land has a state constitutional court. These courts are administratively and financially independent from any other government body. For instance, a Land constitutional court can write its own budget and hire or fire employees.
These courts hear cases where the constitution and the rights it gives are in question.
For example, a criminal case might be appealed from the Bundesgerichtshof if a persons human rights are involved.
The Federal Constitutional Court, the "Bundesverfassungsgericht", can check that the way other courts look at the law to make sure they do not forget these basic rights. Sometimes the Federal Constitutional Court has overturned the decisions of other federal courts.
The "Bundesverfassungsgericht" protects people's rights under the constitution in another way. It is the only court that can ban a political party, if it is acting or says it will act against the constitution.