#Copycat January 2012 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

winterscaptain · 4 years ago

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figure it out.

Aaron Hotchner x Gender Neutral Reader a joyful future fic

a/n: this has been in my wips for literal months as i’ve done my best to get it just right for yall. i hope you enjoy it, and tell me what you think! There’s an addendum to this one, and i’m already working on it, but we’ll see a few more things before that’s ready :)

words: 3.5k warnings: sex mention, sex implication, language

summary: “love is like a backache. it doesn’t show up on an x-ray, but you know it’s there.” - george burns. au!january 2012.

masterlist | a joyful future masterlist | ajf faq | requests closed!

You roll over in bed when your alarm goes off, but you don’t get very far. Aaron throws an arm over you and pulls you back to him with a grumble.

You huff a laugh and wiggle up against him. It’s all a tease and you both know it - there isn’t any time to get up to anything fun before work, but it’s far too entertaining to rile him up.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish.” His voice escapes his lips between your shoulder blades and you can feel his smile.

“Oh, trust me, babe. I can finish.”

He hums, his smile breaking out into something real. “I noticed.”

+++

When the two of you finally make it out of bed (surprisingly still on time), you grab one of Aaron’s scarves and a hat on your way out. It’s your turn to drop Jack at school today on your way into the office, and the task serves two purposes.

The first? It’s nice to spend time with Jack, just the two of you, when it’s your turn and you’re not on a case. It’s the same for Aaron, who always leaves a little earlier so he and Jack can sit down somewhere and have breakfast together.

The second is pure logistics. You two can’t show up to work in the same car at the same time, so a convenient excuse to separate and stagger your arrivals is welcome.

“Really?”

Aaron’s question stops you at the threshold and you look over your shoulder “What?”

“My hat? My scarf?”

It’s almost too tempting to cave when he’s looking at you like that - his tie hanging around his neck, shirt untucked, arms crossed, and playful frown hiding a smile.

“Yeah. It’s warm and it’s here and we’re late.”

Jack squints up at you and says, “We’re not late.”

“You’re not late.”

The observations come within split seconds of each other and you laugh.

“Fine. Not late, but warm. And you have more hats.” You scamper back into the house to plant a kiss on his lips, smoothing the hair at his temples.

Jack’s laughter is the underscore to your next quip. “You’re very handsome and I’m sure you’re very smart so you can figure it out.”

“Yeah, Dad,” Jack chirps. “Figure it out.”

He has nothing to say to your retreating forms as he catches a glimpse of your smile through the crack in the closing door.

+++

Emily and Spencer are away at a conference-book-signing thing, so it’s just the five of you and Penelope this morning. You’d normally figure that would be Rossi’s purview, but apparently -

“My book-signing days have been put on hold indefinitely in favor of -”

“ - He’s back.” Garcia interrupts, tossing case files at all of you. The conversation is cut short and you suppress a smile. “The Marin headlands last night.”

You can see Aaron’s lips pull as well.

It’s the little things.

Penelope gestures with the notes and crime scene photos appear on the screen. “David Atley and Nicole Puli, both 24, both grad students at Berkeley, shot multiple times in their vehicle-- wait for it--” She clicks again and a familiar sigil appears.

“The Zodiac?” Morgan’s shock is almost sardonic in its delivery.

Rossi snorts. “No way.”

“Come on,” Derek says, amused, while JJ chimes in as well.

“It's gotta be the 2.0 version.”

While neither of you speak, you share a glance with Aaron. You’re kidding.

He only raises his eyebrows for a split second and shrugs.

There’s some part of you a little paranoid that you’re the most obvious couple to exist in the history of the universe. Sure, the team has been teasing you about your friendship for years, the will-the-won’t-they of it all, but now that it’s real you’re almost terrified that they know everything.

Thus, the overcompensation has been wretched. You and Aaron barely look at each other in the field if you can help it (which you usually can’t) and he tends to put you with Derek more often than not.

In truth, the others have noticed, but are far too interested in the spectacle to say anything. Emily’s almost certain the two of you have slept together, and Dave may or may not have suggested the possibility of a secret marriage during your period of suspension.

However far-fetched and ridiculous their theories, they know you two well enough to know that something happened. The tension is gone.

Derek almost finds himself missing the tension. There hasn’t been much to tease you about lately in its absence.

“Yeah, you would think so, except for the crazy similarities in the MO.” Penelope clicks through the photos as she talks.

“I'm talking same victimology, same geography. And,” she adds. “Two souvenirs were left at the crime scene.” She clicks once more and stands back for the full effect.

“He left a photo?” Rossi asks.

She hums in the affirmative. “Local police say that is Marcia Miller. She was found near Napa in 1971. Strongly suspected that she was a victim of the Zodiac, but police never confirmed it and they didn't publicize the case.”

Morgan’s still squinting at the screen. “So the Zodiac took this photo at the killing and then saved it all these years?”

“The Zodiac's last confirmed victim was the cabdriver Paul Stine,” Dave notes devolving into a conversation about The Zodiac, his timeline, his signature.

It’s nothing new - The Zodiac Killer’s case details are common knowledge in your line of work, nevermind the sheer number of copycats that try their hand at the highly-ritualistic murders before inevitably getting arrested.

There’s a reason this guy hasn’t been caught in forty years.

After a few minutes of bouncing between you all, Hotch pushes back from the table and stands. “Have Reid and Prentiss meet us in San Francisco. Wheels up in 30.”

He heads straight to his office to collect his things and you swing in by the tips of your fingers for just a second. “You wanna call Jess or do you want me to?”

In the middle of throwing files in his briefcase, he doesn’t look up when he answers. “Can you, please? I was supposed to meet with Strauss this afternoon and need to stop by her office before wheels up.”

You smile at him, tapping the door frame twice. “You got it.”

+++

It’s boots on the ground right away when you land in San Francisco. You drive to the crime scene with Aaron in the passenger seat beside you and JJ in the back. The radio’s on, and you sing under your breath, tapping your fingers on the steering wheel as you make your way up to the crime scene.

Before you get to the local FBI agents, JJ catches you by the sleeve. “It’s nice to have music in the car again.”

You just smile at her. Aaron looks a little puzzled.

The three of you wipe the looks off your faces by the time you get to Agent Lynn.

+++

“What did JJ mean?” Aaron asks you.

The two of you are alone for the time being, posted up in the conference room with the old Zodiac case files. You look up. “Hmm?”

“What did she mean when she mentioned the music earlier?”

“Oh.” A little flush of embarrassment shoots down your gut. “Derek pointed out to me last summer that I didn’t play any music in the car.”

...while you were gone is the thing you don’t say, but he knows that’s what you mean.

“I didn’t really notice.” You shrug to cover your fib. “I guess I’ve reacquainted myself with the radio in the last couple of weeks.”

Aaron hums, returning to his work. Something’s off, but you’re sure it’ll come up later.

+++

“You don’t think it’s really him, do you?” You ask, unbuttoning your shirt and throwing your pajamas on.

Surprisingly, this case seems to be one of those that allows for sleep at regular hours. For that, you’re grateful. It’s much harder to find time to wind down with Aaron at the end of the day when you’re all forced to sleep in shifts.

Aaron shakes his head, “No, I think Reid’s right. We’re looking at a particularly sophisticated copycat.”

“Isn’t that kind of worse?” Hopping up on your bed, you curl up and look at him over your nose - a clear invitation to join you.

With a huff down his nose and a little smile, he flops down beside you and props his chin on his arms over your belly. “Could be. Luckily, we have Reid.”

You almost think he’s going to say something else, but he gets that pensive look on his face again.

“What?”

With a sigh, he says, “I’m just thinking about what JJ said.”

“Oh, Aaron -”

He doesn’t let you finish. It’s probably a good thing. You didn’t know what you wanted to say anyway.

“I knew how hard it was on me, but I’m realizing more and more how hard it was on you, too.” He shakes his head. “I feel ...I don’t know. I feel like I should have known better… or something.”

Winding your fingers in his hair, you sit in silence for a moment. He doesn’t have anything more to say and eventually he crawls up your body and settles in under your arm, his head on your chest and legs wound between yours.

Sometimes, you’ve found, he likes to feel small.

“You’re safe and you’re home. That’s what matters.” You kiss the top of his head. “And I love you.”

He hums, arcing into your touch and wrapping an arm around your waist. “I love you.”

+++

You spend much of the next day chasing Spencer around the city, keeping notes handy (for yourself, not for him - he doesn't need them) and reporting back on his discoveries to the team like some kind of overwrought and hyper-trained secretary.

Stepping off to the side, you answer a call from Aaron.

“Hit your limit yet?”

You look over at Spencer, who’s flipping through a newspaper like a man on a mission. “It’s actually kind of entertaining.”

And that’s actually true. Watching Spencer push the limits of his intelligence is always a treat - it happens so rarely you almost forget how much you enjoy it every time.

He huffs into the phone. “Hang in there. We’ll all meet back at the precinct once Reid’s done -”

“Doing magic?”

“Exactly. Keep me posted.” There’s a pause. It’s an odd little habit you two developed in the field to leave space for the words you can’t say in front of the others.

I love you.

“Me too.”

+++

You’re almost asleep when a sliver of yellow light shoots across your room, promptly disappearing as the door to the hallway closes.

He pads across the room and slips under the covers. “Hi.”

A little smile crosses your face as you roll over to face him. “Hi.”

Before you can say anything else, his hands are on you and he’s half on top of you as he captures your lips.

Needless to say, the lack of sleep is worth it.

+++

Emily, long after she and Aaron are the only ones left in the precinct conference room, squints as she notices something right under his collar.

He’s already loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his dress shirt, no longer standing on ceremony now that all the local police have retired and the rest of the team gone up to their hotel rooms. There’s not much to do, but the compulsion to get ahead for tomorrow is one neither one of them can shake.

What Aaron failed to remember when executing his wardrobe adjustment was the rather...spirited romp in your room the night prior. The little purple swatches painted on his skin just under the line of his collar stood out stark against the crisp lines of his dress shirt.

Fortunately for you, there was no way in hell the rest of the team would find anything he left on you last night.

Emily reaches into her purse and pulls out a tube of concealer and a powder compact. Though he’s more olive-toned than she is, it’ll be good enough in a pinch. “Hey, Hotch.”

He looks at her over his nose, his eyes tired.

“You might want this for tomorrow morning.” She pushes the crisis control kit across the table to him, but he only frowns and deepens his squint.

By way of explanation, she reaches across the table and presses the tip of her finger into one of the visible bruises in the hollow of his throat. He flinches, freezes, and then immediately drops his head into his hands.

It’s easy to say Emily is amused in the extreme. “Those look...really fresh.”

He shakes his head, insisting as he picks up a file at random, “They’re from before we left.”

It’s only because it’s Emily that he’s even humoring this conversation.

“No they’re not.” She sticks her tongue firmly in her cheek. “These ones are though.” She points at yellowing marks on his collarbone and he smacks her hands away.

“And I know what fresh hickies look like, Hotch. Those are fresh fresh. Like, last night fresh. And we’ve been here for four days.” She frowns, tracking back through the day. “When on earth would you have time to -”

A series of images flash through her head, random wayward connections flashing together in an alarmingly clear picture.

You, avoiding her at the office back in September with quickly-covered marks painted across your neck.

You, flirting with Sean and having way too much fun doing it, looking over his shoulder at ...someone else.

Hotch, in a perpetually good mood (for him, anyway, and despite looking ill-slept) for the last five months.

The way the mistletoe kiss at Dave’s Christmas party looked way too easy, too familiar.

And now, the obvious indicators that Hotch is not only getting it, he’s getting it good.

If he got those last night…

Wait.

Their hotel rooms are right next to …

Oh my God.

Hotch watches the realization flash across Emily’s face, and he knows you’re both busted. Instead of losing her shit like he expected, Emily just leans back in her chair - smug.

“So. Are you still Not the Boyfriend, or has there been an update?”

He sighs.

The corner of her mouth tips up. “How long?”

“For which part? The not-boyfriend part, the boyfriend part, or this part?” He gestures vaguely to the space behind his tie, and Emily snorts.

“Just spill it.”

Holding up a finger, he pulls his phone out of his pocket, dialing the first number on his speed dial.

You’re hardly asleep, sitting up in bed waiting for him with a case file in your lap, when you get the call. You’re not sure who’s listening, so a “Hey, Hotch. What’s up?” will have to do.

“Emily knows.”

You straighten. “How?”

“Doesn’t matter. She knows.”

There’s a scramble, and suddenly Emily’s on the other end of the phone. “He’s got very questionable and very fresh bruises just under his collar. Care to explain?”

There’s another shuffle.

“Ignore her,” Aaron says. With a hand pressed to your forehead, you understand the question implicit in his phone call.

“Just tell her. It’s basically her fault, anyways. If she hadn’t ditched it then we’d have our heads up our asses for another five years.”

“Alright,” then, after a second of realizing you don’t sound sleepy at all, “Go to bed.”

“I’m in bed.”

He rolls his eyes. Emily can only look on with amusement, gleeful in the extreme. “You know that’s not what I mean. Go to sleep.”

“Alright, alright. Fine.” You reluctantly close the casefile and put him on speaker so he can hear the light click off. “I’m going to sleep.” Then, “I love you. Come up soon.”

“Okay.” He shoots a glance at Emily. Because he’ll never hear the end of it anyway, more ammo won’t hurt at this point. “I love you too. Now, really. Go to slee -”

You hang up on him. He double-takes at his phone for a moment before shoving it back in his pocket.

He’s met with Emily’s surprisingly moved eyes. “You’re...okay.”

What she means is, You’re happy.

He knows.

He nods. “I’m okay.”

She puts her files down and leans forward, resting her elbows on the table and lacing her fingers. “Tell me.”

So, he does.

He tells her about the way you stuck to him like glue through the divorce, the way you wiggled your way into Haley’s heart, captured the love of his son, and earned the trust of his entire family.

He tells her what Haley said in the hospital, the tenacious care you showed his unyielding and unwilling ass when he was healing, the way your grief soothed his in the wake of Haley’s loss.

He tells her about the moments of euphoria in the years of want and doubt and fear.

He tells Emily about the day she died, how there was nothing more painful than that necessary lie. He tells her how easy it was to lie to the others, how it ripped him in half to lie to you.

He tells her about the day he left for Pakistan, about the fight the night before, the kiss he pressed to your cheek on the tarmac, the endless, wretched nights missing you in the desert.

He tells her about the fight when he finally came home, skims over the following days, jumps and meanders around to Christmas, to moving in, to the bliss that now seems to follow him wherever he goes.

Emily watches the smile that plays at his mouth when he talks about you, the softness in his eyes as recalls the look on your face and the words you said and the way you are with Jack. There’s a kind of peace in him that she’s never really seen before.

Maybe, she imagines, it was there before she met him (the second time). Maybe this peace existed with Haley. Maybe this is the most she’s ever heard him speak at once. Maybe it makes her smile.

Maybe this peace is what his love looks like.

If that’s the case, she thinks, you are very lucky indeed.

It could have been hours, it could have been minutes, but at some point he stops talking.

“Hotch?”

He looks over at her, the softness lingering in his eyes.

“I’m really happy for you.”

His lips twitch. “Thanks.”

“And you know it’s my God-given right to tell everyone else once this case is over, right?”

+++

You actually are asleep by the time Aaron gets back to the hotel. He leans against the wall in the dark with his hands in his pockets, enjoying the peace before the inevitable shitshow.

He crosses the room and crouches at your side, running the back of his fingers over your cheek. You stir, sleepy noises leaving your throat as your eyes crack open.

“Aaron?”

“Yeah. Just me.”

You smile a little and close your eyes again. “How’d she take it?”

“Remarkably well.” He kisses your forehead. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“No,” you whine, drawn-out and slurred. “Don’t leave. Stay. I set an alarm.”

With a resigned sigh, he strips and slides into bed behind you, wrapping you in his arms and holding you close.

+++

You and Aaron sit on proverbial pins and needles for the rest of the case, but Emily keeps her word. The only indication of her knowledge came the morning after her chat with Aaron, when she pulled you to her and hugged you so tight you could hardly breathe.

She seizes her moment on the plane, about halfway home.

“Derek, you owe me fifty bucks.”

She hardly looks up from her book as she speaks.

He takes off his headphones and wrinkles his brow. “What?”

She repeats herself, slower, as if she was speaking to a child. “You. Owe. Me. Fifty. Bucks.”

“...Why?”

Emily finally looks up from her book to pointedly stare at you and Aaron, seated next to each other and sharing a bag of Goldfish you stole from Jack’s snack drawer. You’re both reading from the same file, absently reaching for crackers as you go along.

Derek’s confusion continues to smother his face until it finally clicks in.

He steals a page from Reid’s notebook and balls it up, tossing it across the plane and breaking your concentration. You look up, only a little startled, to find a face-splitting grin blinding you across the cabin.

Derek’s small ruckus has drawn the attention of the rest of the team - well, all except JJ, who’s fast asleep on the couch.

There seems to be a collective sigh of relief as money exchanges hands. You’re not quite sure what the bet was, but Emily seems to have won handily.

Aaron takes your hand under the table, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It doesn’t.

Everyone simply returns to their tasks, little smiles on their faces.

+++

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gaylorswiftvibes · 5 years ago

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I am caffeinated and quarantined and ready to lay out all of my thoughts as to why Taylor has yet to come out, the obstacles that will have to be addressed before she comes out, and therefore create a timeline as to when she will come out and what that will look like. I don’t know about all of you, but I find myself constantly questioning why this is all happening. Why has Taylor not come out yet? Why does she purposefully leave so many clues if she doesn't want to come out yet? Does she enjoy making us feel insane like the sick masochist that she is? Why has it felt like she’s about to come out several times but then she backtracks? What’s complicating this process? How long will we have to wait? Over the years, Taylor has enjoyed watching other people attempt to piece together the story about her love life and understand who and what she writes about. However, when she comes out I do think she will want to set the record straight (ha) in as many ways as possible without damaging her reputation or the reputation of anyone with whom she has had any sort of relationship. However, before she can come out, she will need to be in an optimal situation with her masters, the best timing possible for maximum impact and best optics, and Karlie's reputation/life to not be destroyed in the process.

This MANIFESTO of a blog post does presume several things.

Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss are both either bi or gay and both desire to come out publicly at some point.

They had a relationship.

They are likely still together. If not, they are still friends who care about the wellbeing of the other person and they are also in communication about koincidences.

If they are together, they purposefully made their relationship private to protect both of them (mainly Karlie) and have more control over their public narratives after kissgate and significant public speculation that their "friendship" was something more.

Karlie's relationship with JK is fake. Their marriage is not legal and there is likely a contract that provides prescriptive guidance for how she publicly portrays and discusses their relationship. This contract was likely made to provide Karlie with career opportunities and to provide JK with a beard- I do not believe that it is directly financial but it could be as well.

It’s clear that Taylor first started wanting to come out after she had already reached incredible success. It is unclear how this timeline occurred. Was she already out to herself and her family before her career even began? Did she originally intend to remain publicly closeted for her entire career? Did she go through a period of denial about her sexuality? I think the closest thing to answers we have to questions like these are clues within her music. I do believe her motifs of blue, darkness, shade, and secrecy mainly lead back to being closeted while her motifs of gold, sun, daylight, and public affection reference being out and proud. Interpret what you will from her writing and the timeline of her albums. To me, this does point to Taylor originally wanting to remain intensely closeted (hence beards and their massive publicity and the potential for some of those relationships to have been “real”, although this is a conversation for another day), later on wanting to remain quite secretive about her relationships with women, and most recently yearning to not be secretive any longer. It seems like her music points to wanting to come out- so why hasn’t it happened yet?

She knows that coming out is going to generate attention and sales. It would make the most sense that she wants to own her masters at the same time that she comes out. This is a major factor of why we're still waiting and will likely be waiting until the rerecordings come out or she makes a deal to get ownership of the masters. The clues along the way are a way to maintain some level of authenticity, to create buzz, and to create The Story that will undoubtedly one day be highly scrutinized and publicized. I do believe that The Story (as I will be referring to it) has been in the works for quite some time and that Taylor does plan to shed light on it at the time that she comes out. The Story will include as much truth as possible about her relationships. After Miss Americana came out and Lana Wilson insinuated that there is more of her story to tell, I do think it is possible that she will release another documentary alongside her coming out. However, this is pure speculation and an extremely biased view as I personally believe that would be very sexy and cool of her.

Part of this marketing scheme does come off as distasteful, but I do think it's less about her wanting more money and more about her wanting SB to not profit off of this or have any control or say in the message that she wants to communicate. Ultimately, a large piece of this unknown timeline will be revealed before or in November 2020. If they haven't made a deal for Taylor’s ownership by then, I assume she will publicly reveal if she is rerecording and potentially begin to promote her rerecordings. Worth noting, it is my belief that if there is follow through with the rerecordings that they will be copycat records intended to sound as identical as possible. I am hopeful for the "original" versions to come to light one day (I want her midnights and she never loved me deserve premium recordings), but I don't think it would make much financial sense to release these instead of the copycats (we can hope for alongside, but it doesn't seem too likely). At the end of the day, the masters situation will resolve one way or another by the rerecording date.

We should also generally be aware of timing. Taylor is going to want to create maximum distance between her and any direct negativity before she comes out along with any other major events (pandemics, elections, big news stories, etc.). This is definitely the point I will harp on the least, but something to keep in mind if something happens that harms her public image down the line (please god not again). I’ve considered that she may want to keep her coming out to “use” when she starts to get less popular or when society stops “tolerating her being successful”, but I don’t think that will happen anytime soon. I do believe that it will coincide with an album release just because that would be sickening.

This is not to say that once the optimal situation for her masters is obtained, Taylor has no other reason to not come out. It doesn't matter whether she and Karlie are currently still together, The Story includes Karlie in an undeniable way since it is clear that they were in a relationship for a few years at the minimum. I really don't think Taylor would want to come out without being able to address their relationship. However, the narrative would completely depend on if they are still together or not. If they are no longer together, that may be more incentive to consider a possibility of her coming out without addressing Karlie. Since I personally believe they are still together, I will be addressing the potential narratives for Karlie from that perspective.

One option to consider beforehand is the storyline that Karlie and Taylor were close friends but never together. They each have their own relationships that eventually end for unrelated reasons (meaning eventual JK divorce and oatmilk disappearance), then they rekindle their "friendship" and "start" a relationship around the time that Taylor comes out. I don't like this idea because it, in essence, defeats the purpose of The Story. If this is the time to come clean, be vulnerable, be honest, this is a significant lie to keep. And at the end of the day, the truth is in Taylor's discography. The albums point to a secret relationship, not just pining for a friend or whatever that storyline is.

The way I see it, once The Story is laid out, the two major narrative avenues are decided by claiming whether the Karlie JK relationship was real or not. If the choice is made to support its legitimacy, they could spin this relationship in a number of ways.

They could choose to portray it as on again off again. This would leave a partial timeline open for a relationship with Taylor. They could cite infinite believable reasons for the JK relationship being this way (K*shner/Tr*mp family issues, distance issues, typical relationship issues, etc.). This narrative allows Karlie to not be portrayed as a cheater, JK to not be portrayed as a horrible person that would put a vulnerable 19-year-old at the start of her career in a long-term bearding contract, allows JK’s sexuality to not be questioned, and allows their relationship’s authenticity to go unquestioned. I do think this is the most likely narrative if it is chosen to portray Karlie and JK’s relationship as legitimate even after it ends. After all, Karlie has already stated publicly that they have “been through a lot together” and that “it hasn’t been easy” and they met it 2012 when it was “a different world” (WWHL, January 2020). They could also take the tangential route that they were not exclusive at the beginning of their relationship, but I am not sure when it was definitively publicly confirmed that they were together; although it is confirmed that they met in 2012, they could emphasize that they were friends at first or not exclusive. They were interacting with each other online on a routine basis by 2013. This included them liking each other’s posts, posting pictures of one another, posting the same picture, or posting in the same location (many of these have been proven to be latergrams and don’t seem like natural relationship posting, but that’s beside the point). In June 2015, Karlie posted a photo of them together with a caption wishing him a happy birthday and thanking him for “three years of love and laughs”. However, there was still speculation in the comments at the time over whether they were a couple or close friends. Their engagement was announced in 2018, so there is potential to create a storyline in which JK and Karlie were just friends since 2012, Taylor and Karlie dated, then JK and Karlie dated and married, JK and Karlie divorced, and then Taylor and Karlie got back together. I don’t think this is likely but I think it is worth considering since in hindsight the announcement of their relationship seems to have been kept purposefully vague, specifically when it comes to timeline. Maybe that was intended to keep their maximum options open when considering their likely eventual separation narrative.

They could choose to portray Karlie as someone who cheated on her relationship with JK with Taylor. I do not think this is a likely option as it would damage Karlie’s reputation, although they could attempt to make a sympathetic appeal. Karlie has been "with" JK since she was 19, and I don't think they would purposefully promote the narrative that she cheated on the man that she later married. As I am racking my brain for all possible options, I suppose they could make an appeal that they had an open or polyamorous relationship, but that would be low-key insane considering their largely girl-next-door personas. But hey, you cannot say that I am not thorough and thinking outside the bun.

They could choose the narrative that their relationship was partially authentic and partially inauthentic. They could use the storyline that they “fell out of love” (ha) but chose to remain close friends and not go public with their break up. This is highly unlikely because their “marriage” occurred after her and Taylor were so publicly close. There is also no clear motive for doing this other than bearding so it does call into question JK’s sexuality.

They could also choose to reveal the JK Karlie relationship as fake. However, this would put JK in a difficult position and it’s almost unimaginable that he would be okay with it. I think there is an extremely unlikely possibility that he would want to publicly come out and create some sort of best-friends-mutually-bearding-without-any-contract-narrative.

So, what are the other options? Well, she could tell (what I believe to be) the truth. She signed a contract in order to boost her modeling career, her marriage wasn't legally legitimate, and they never had an actual relationship. It certainly makes her choices and The Story make sense, but it would have endless ramifications. We have no way of knowing what the contract terms look like. It makes JK look like a terrible person, it puts his sexuality into question, and it makes Karlie look inauthentic (even though she has done a great job of mostly separating him from her public persona). I would genuinely not want to make an enemy out of a Kushner for fear of the safety of myself and my loved ones. It's a scary thing to make an enemy of someone who has so much power that they are virtually above the law. However, if there's anything we learned from the sale of the masters or the call, it's that publicity and public perception changes the options that are on the table. If Karlie and Taylor come out with the full (what I believe to be) truth, the world might see them in the way that most of us see them. Karlie was young, and was taken advantage of, and trapped into something she did not want. They were both struggling with and deciding if/how/when to come out publicly. Taylor was dealing with intense public scrutiny and the sale of her masters. They had no options to be honest about their relationship publicly. This option makes everything known, including their fear of the revenge JK and others might take against them, financially or otherwise. This results in anything they do in revenge receiving public backlash. If we're being honest here, this is my favorite narrative option purely because it's not a narrative; it's the truth. At the end of the day, we all love Taylor and her music and therefore want to know her and understand her on a deeper level. We all want the BRILLIANCE of her closeted writing to be properly admired for what it is. I think we all also want Taylor to feel loved and understood for who she truly is and what she's truly been through. Part of this is going to happen through being as honest as possible.

There is also the issue of oatmilk. Since she has literally never confirmed that they are actually dating (other than the sarcastic “she asked my boyfriend”, and the NME kiss (?)), she could take the route that they were always just friends. From this, should could take credit for the purposeful bearding, say that she just let it happen and let the media interpret their friendship that way and it didn’t bother her, or blame the media for spreading misinformation (which would be annoying because she clearly encouraged it). She could also break them up and legitimize their relationship, but that obviously takes away from the authenticity of her music and story. Either way, I feel like getting rid of oatmilk will be the easiest part of this process.

IN CONCLUSION, there are still many important issues to consider when we wonder why Taylor hasn’t come out yet and we shouldn’t use our impatience as reasoning to say that she is not gay. I believe that all of these issues would have to align or resolve in some way before she comes out. With any luck, it will be with TS8. However, the major wild card to consider is Karlie’s relationship with JK. We truly have no idea what this contract looks like, especially after the predicted end date last year was acknowledged by Karlie (instagram freedom post, seven long years tweet) and then still continued. We can hope that the public separation has been outlined in her renewal or that she would be safe in an exposé process, but nothing is certain. Ultimately, we all want the both of them to be happy and feel loved and appreciated for who they truly are, and to have control over the narrative they want.

Fuckin hell this is way too long but feel free to DM me with any questions because I clearly have too much time on my hands!! Peace and blessings

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lacrimosafrance · 4 years ago

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Le coffret des 30 ans du groupe est disponible sur la boutique officielle. Comptez quand même 115.99€ sans les frais de port. Vous pouvez vous le précommander en cliquant ici pour une sortie prévue le 11 décembre 2020.

Voici le contenu de ce coffret :

CD "Live 2015" (Playing time: 74:51 Min.) 01. „Seele in Not“ ("Clamor" 1990/„Angst“ 1991) 02. „Tränen der Sehnsucht“ („Einsamkeit“ 1992) 03. „Crucifixio“ („Satura“ 1993) 04. „Schakal“ („Inferno“ 1995) 05. „Not every pain hurts“ („Stille“ 1997) 06. „Alleine zu zweit” (“Elodia�� 1999) 07. „Liebesspiel“ („Fassade“ 2001) 08. „Durch Nacht und Flut“ („Echos“ 2003) 09. „Kelch der Liebe“ („Lichtgestalt“ 2005) 10. „A.U.S.“ (Sehnsucht“ 2009) 11. „Rote Sinfonie“ („Revolution“ 2012“) 12. „Kaleidoskop“ („Hoffnung“ 2015) CD "Cover Up" (Playing time: 75:43 Min.) 01. LORD OF THE LOST “Bresso” 02. BLACK MOON SECRET “Satura” 03. YENZ LEONHARDT “Schakal” 04. LOVE LIKE BLOOD “Copycat” 05. CANTERRA “No blind eyes can see” 06. ATROCTIY “Siehst Du mich im Licht?” 07. GLEIS 8 „Ich verlasse heut‘ Dein Herz“ 08. JP feat. ISABEL SOARES „Senses“ 09. LORD OF THE LOST “Malina” 10. MONO INC. “Lichtgestalt” (2005) 11. SEMBLANT “If the world stood still a day” (2012) 12. EVIL MASQUERADE “Revolution” (2012) 13. LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE “The unknown colour” (2015) 14. KARTAGON “After the storm” (2017) 15. LORD OF THE LOST „Black wedding day“ (2017) CD "Versionen" (Playing time: 72:18 Min.) 01. Reissende Blicke (Piano Demo from March 2nd 1991) 02. Der Geschmack der Schmerzen (Piano Demo from January 15th 1992) 03. Versuchung (Demo Version from March 10th 1993) 04. Diener eines Geistes (Rehearsal Room from November 9th 1993) 05. Der letzte Hilfeschrei (Live in Hamburg from November 17th 1993) 06. Seele in Not (Live in Hamburg from November 17th 1993) 07. Schakal (Keyboard Demo from April 22nd 1994) 08. Alles Lüge (Live and Unplugged in Lübeck from January 13th 1996) 09. Mein zweites Herz (Club Mix from September 28th 1996) 10. Einsamkeit (Piano Version from May 15th 2020) 11. Schakal (Piano Version from June 18th 2020) 12. Weil Du Hilfe brauchst (Version for the Anniversary Concert on August 28th 2020) LACRIMOSA "Calendrier 2021" 30x30cm, 13 Pages plus la couverture LACRIMOSA "Drapeau" 90x150cm, 100% Polyester LACRIMOSA "Jeu de mémoire" 27 paires soit 54 Cartes, 57x57mm LACRIMOSA "Autocollant chrome" 90x90x0,08mm

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samuel-ha · 3 years ago

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Copycat Club: January 2012

#Copycat January 2012

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kpopmultifan · 6 years ago

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DISCOGRAPHY: AFTER SCHOOL/ORANGE CARAMEL (2009-2015)

AFTER SCHOOL (2009-2015 - Hiatus) Agency: Pledis Entertainment Members: Kahi (2009-2012) Bekah (2009-2011) Jungah (2009-2016) Soyoung (2009) Jooyeon (2009-2015) Uee (2009-2017; joined post debut) Raina (2009-Present; joined post debut) Nana (2009-Present; joined post debut) Lizzy (2010-2018) E-Young (2011-Present) Kaeun (2012-Present) Sub-Units: Orange Caramel (Lizzy, Raina, & Nana) AS Red (Kahi, Jungah, Uee, & Nana) AS Blue (Jooyeon, Raina, Lizzy, & E-Young)

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NEW SCHOOLGIRLS (Debut Single Album) Title Track: Ah Release Date: January 15, 2009 Track List: 1. Play Girlz 2. Ah 3. Bad Bastard 4. Ah (Instrumental) [iTunes/Apple Music]

DIVA (1st Digital Single) [MV] Release Date: April 9, 2009 [iTunes/Apple Music]

BECAUSE OF YOU (2nd Single Album) Title Track: Because of You [MV] Release Date: November 25, 2009 Track List: 1. Because of You [MV] 2. When I Fall 3. Diva 4. Because of You (Instrumental) [iTunes/Apple Music]

BECAUSE OF YOU (Remix) (Digital Single) Release Date: January 21, 2010 [iTunes/Apple Music]

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BANG! (3rd Single Album) Title Track: Bang! Release Date: March 25, 2010 Track List: 1. Let’s Do It 2. Bang! 3. With U 4. Bang (Instrumental) [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL - THE FIRST MINI-ALBUM (Unit-Debut Mini-Album) Title Track: Magic Girl [MV] Release Date: June 21, 2010 Track List: 1. Magic Girl [MV] 2. Love Does Not Wait (Raina Solo) 3. Magic Girl (Instrumental) 4. Love Does Not Wait (Instrumental)

ORANGE CARAMEL - THE SECOND MINI-ALBUM (2nd Mini-Album) Title Track: Aing [MV] Release Date: November 18, 2010 Track List: 1. Aing [MV] 2. One Love 3. Still... (Raina Solo) 4. Standing Here 5. Aing (Instrumental)

HAPPY PLEDIS 1ST ALBUM (Special Charity Album) Title Track: Love Love Love [MV] Release Date: December 7, 2010 Track List: 1. Love Love Love [MV] 2. Someone is You 3. Love Love Love (Instrumental) 4. Someone is You (Instrumental)

ORANGE CARAMEL - BANGKOK CITY (1st Single Album) [MV] Release Date: March 31, 2011

VIRGIN (1st Album) Title Track: Shampoo [MV] Release Date: April 29, 2011 Track List: 1. Let’s Step Up [MV] 2. Shampoo [MV] 3. Virgin 4. Bang! (2011 New Recording) 5. Play Ur Love [MV] 6. Dream (feat. Yoonjo of HELLOVENUS) 7. Because of You (2011 New Recording) 8. Depend on Time (Raina Solo) 9. Are You Doing Okay? (aka Nothing to Complain Of) 10. Funky Man (Nana vs Lizzy) (feat. Kyungmin) 11. My Bell (Jungah Solo) 12. When I Fall (2011 New Recording) 13. Shampoo (Radio Edit) [iTunes/Apple Music]

AFTER SCHOOL RED (4th Single Album) Title Track: Night into the Sky [MV] Release Date: July 20, 2011 Track List: 1. Night into the Sky [MV] 2. Hollywood [iTunes/Apple Music]

AFTER SCHOOL BLUE (4th Single Album) Title Track: Wonder Boy [MV] Release Date: July 20, 2011 Track List: 1. Wonder Boy [MV] 2. Lady [iTunes/Apple Music]

BANG! (Japanese Debut Single) Release Date: August 17, 2011 Track List: 1. Bang! (Japanese Version) [MV] 2. Super Sexy [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL - SHANGHAI ROMANCE (2nd Single Album) Title Track: Shanghai Romance [MV] Release Date: October 13, 2011 Track List: 1. Shanghai Romance [MV] 2. Close Your Eyes 3. The Day You Went Away [iTunes/Apple Music]

DIVA (2nd Japanese Single) Release Date: November 23, 2011 Track List: 1. Diva (Japanese Version) [MV] 2. Ready to Love [iTunes/Apple Music]

RAMBLING GIRLS/BECAUSE OF YOU (3rd Japanese Single) Release Date: January 25, 2012 Track List: 1. Rambling Girls [MV] 2. Because of You (Japanese Version) [iTunes/Apple Music]

PLAYGIRLZ (1st Japanese Album) Release Date: March 14, 2012 Track List: 1. Rip Off 2. Rambling Girls [MV] 3. Broken Heart (feat. Jungah, Raina, Nana, & E-Young) 4. Diva (Japanese Version) [MV] 5. Just in Time 6. Shampoo (Japanese Version) 7. Because of You (Japanese Version) 8. Gimme Love 9. Miss Futuristic (feat. Kahi, Juyeon, Uee, & Lizzy) 10. Bang! (Japanese Version) [MV] 11. Tell Me [iTunes/Apple Music]

LADY LUCK/DILLY DALLY (4th Japanese Single) Release Date: June 13, 2012 Track List: 1. Lady Luck [MV] 2. Dilly Dally 3. Slow Love [iTunes/Apple Music]

FLASHBACK (5th Maxi-Single Album) Title Track: Flashback [MV] Release Date: June 20, 2012 Track List: 1. Rip Off 2. Flashback [MV] 3. Eyeline 4. Watch 5. Timeless [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL - YASASHII AKUMA (Debut Japanese Single) Release Date: September 5, 2012 Track List: 1. Yasashii Akuma [MV] 2. Mahou Shoujyo (Magic Girl - Japanese Version) [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL - LIPSTICK (1st Album) Title Track: Lipstick [MV] Release Date: September 12, 2012 Track List: 1. Bubble Bath 2. Milkshake 3. Lipstick [MV] 4. Aing [MV] 5. Magic Girl [MV] 6. Superwoman 7. One Love 8. Shanghai Romance [MV] 9. Dream of Clara 10. Close Your Eyes [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL - LIPSTICK (DJ Remix) (Remix Digital Single) Release Date: October 23, 2012 Track List: 1. Lipstick (DJ Vodge Diper Remix) 2. Lipstick (DJ Hanmin Remix) [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL - LIPSTICK/LAMU NO LOVE SONG (2nd Japanese Single) Release Date: December 12, 2012 Track List: 1. Lipstick (Japanese Version) [MV] 2. Lamu no Love Song [MV] 3. Milshake (Japanese Version) [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL x NU’EST - DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW IN HIGH HEELS (Special Holiday Digital Single) [MV] Release Date: December 13, 2012 [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL - COOKIES, CREAM, & MINT (Japanese Digital Single) [MV] Release Date: February 13, 2013 [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL - ORANGE CARAMEL (1st Japanese Album) Release Date: March 13, 2013 [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL x 10cm - HUG SONG (Digital Single) Re;Code Episode IV Release Date: May 10, 2013 [iTunes/Apple Music]

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FIRST LOVE (6th Maxi-Single Album) Title Track: First Love Release Date: June 13, 2013 Track List: 1. 8 Hot Girl 2. First Love [MV] 3. Dressing Room 4. Time’s Up 5. Love Beat 6. Make Up & Tears (Jungha x Raina) [iTunes/Apple Music]

HEAVEN (5th Japanese Single) Release Date: September 25, 2013 Track List: 1. Heaven [MV] 2. Crazy Driver [iTunes/Apple Music]

SHH (6th Japanese Single) Release Date: January 29, 2014 Track List: 1. Shh [MV] 2. Rock It [iTunes/Apple Music]

WEEK (Special Brave Bros. 10th Anniversary Digital Single) Release Date: February 20, 2014 [iTunes/Apple Music]

youtube

ORANGE CARAMEL - CATALLENA (3rd Single Album) Title Track: Catallena Release Date: March 12, 2014 Track List: 1. Catallena [MV] 2. So Sorry 3. Cry [iTunes/Apple Music]

DRESS TO KILL (2nd Japanese Album) Title Track: Ms. Independent Release Date: March 19, 2014 Track List: 1. Dress Code - Theme of “Dress to Kill” 2. Dress to Kill 3. Ms. Independant 4. Triangle 5. Crazy Driver 6. Shh [MV] 7. Yes No Yes 8. Heaven [MV] 9. In the Moonlight 10. Rock It! 11. Spotlight 12. Killing Eyes - End of “Dress to Kill” [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL - ABING ABING (Promotional Digital Single) [MV] Release Date: May 20, 2014 [iTunes/Apple Music]

ORANGE CARAMEL - MY COPYCAT (4th Single Album) Title Track: My Copycat [MV] Release Date: August 18, 2014 Track List: 1. My Copycat [MV] 2. The Gangnam Avenue [MV] [iTunes/Apple Music]

youtube

BEST (Japanese Best Album) Title Track: Shine [MV] Release Date: March 18, 2015 Track List: 1. Bang! (Japanese Version) 2. Diva (Japanese Version) 3. Rambling Girls 4. Because of You (Japanese Version) 5. Just in Time 6. Lady Luck 7. Dilly Dally 8. Slow Love 9. Heaven 10. Shh 11. Ms.Independant 12. Shine 13. Bang! (Alternate Version) 14. Diva (Alternate Version) 15. Because of You (Alternate Version) [iTunes/Apple Music]

#discography #after school #orange caramel #after school: discography #orange caramel: discography

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criminalminds-lol · 6 years ago

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Copycat (Part 1) [Reader x Spencer Reid]

Quantico, Virginia - November 11th 2013

“Annabelle Daniels, 17, was abducted while jogging in Quinton, New Jersey, on September 10th, 2011. Her body was found in Quinton on January 4th, 2012. Loren Hobbs, 19, was taken a week later, on January 11th, 2012, also while jogging, this time in East Windsor, New Jersey. Her body was found in East Windsor on April 21st. On the 27th, Cassandra Gibson, 18, was abducted from Eagleswood Township and her body was found on September 1st. A week later, September 8th, Addison Hunt, 17, was abducted after she went out for a run in East Rutherford and her body was recovered on November 4th. On November 11th, Sophie Peck, 19, went missing, also while running, this time from Aberdeen. Her body was found on March 6th. A week later, on March 13th, Tracey Cole, 17, was abducted from Independence Township, and her body was found on June 30th. On July 6th, our most recent victim, Haley Putnam, 18, went out for a jog in Quinton, New Jersey. Her body was found two days ago, November 9th. The police hadn’t previously connected the murders because they were in different precincts. When they sent us the file it only contained Annabelle Daniels and Haley Putnam, but it seemed odd that a serial killer would go dormant for that long, so I talked to Garcia and she found the five other murders. All of the girls were found in dumpsters behind grocery stores in the same county that they went missing in, all wrapped in a white sheet. Local authorities already checked for DNA, but they came up empty. All of the girls were within the same age, height, and weight range, and they all had long brown hair. When they were found there were ligature marks on their wrists and ankles and large gashes on their inner thighs which were presumably made by a regular kitchen knife. There was evidence of repeated sexual assault on all of the victims, but there was no semen left behind. When the bodies were found, there was no blood on the sheet, so they had to have been dead when he wrapped them in it, and there was no blood on the bodies either. Police are assuming that he washed the bodies before dumping them.”

“Forensic countermeasure?” Derek asked.

J.J. nodded. “It looks that way. It keeps the blood from getting in his vehicle or on him. Local authorities believe that the bodies were dumped late at night or early morning, because they were found when employees went to take out the trash.”

“This unsub is extremely organized. He manages to kidnap these girls in public parks in the middle of the day and then keep them hidden for months before he dumps them in public places. He knows what he’s doing. He has spent years perfecting his skills. Have Garcia look for any bodies that were found exactly one week before Annabelle Daniels was taken. Keep going back from there, and see if you can find anything. The MO and signature don’t need to match, necessarily. He’s been evolving, and for all we know there may be more victims that we haven’t found yet. We need to get there soon. Wheels up in 30,” Hotch told the team.

Everyone nodded, leaving the conference room to grab their go bags.

Quinton, New Jersey - November 11th, 2013

“Detective Alayna Welch?” J.J. asked as she walked in to see a woman standing, waiting at the elevator. The rest of the team followed behind her. “I’m Agent Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone?”

Detective Welch nodded. “Of course. Thank you for coming.”

“These are SSAs Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, and Doctors Spencer Reid and Alex Blake.”

“Thank you all for coming. I wish we had met under better circumstances. If you’d like to follow me I’ll take you to the rest of the detectives. Once we realized all of the crimes were connected I had the lead detectives on all of the cases come down here to meet with you. Since two of the kidnappings occurred in Quinton, we figured you’d have the most to look at here. The rest of the abduction and dump sites are all fairly close. An hour drive at most.”

Detective Welch lead the team into a room where a few other detectives sat. There was already a board set up on one side with information about each of the victims and another board with a map.

“Detective Brad Keys, East Windsor; Detective Alecia Garner, Eagleswood Township, Detective Roland Westcott, East Rutherford; Detective Tom Donaldson, Aberdeen; and Detective Brody Waller, Independence Township. They’ve come down to help to whatever extent you need them.” She gestured to each person as she spoke.

“I thought I was living in a peaceful state, or at least a peaceful town. Everybody thinks it can’t happen to them, but then it does. I used to be the lead detective at the NYPD, but I left because I hated the violent homicides. I came here for a fresh start six months ago, and two months in I was investigating the death of Tracey Cole,” Detective Waller said, looking up at Hotch. “I hope you can help us catch this son of a bitch.”

"We’re here to do just that.” Hotch turned to Reid, nodding towards the map. “I want you to get started on a geographical profile. Seven abduction sites, seven dump sites. We need to narrow down where we believe he might work or live and, if we have to, get other police departments involved. Morgan, I want you and Alex to visit the morgue and look at the bodies, see if there was anything that was missed. Rossi, you and I will go to the dump site of the most recent body. It’s been over two years since the first murder, so the other crime scenes are probably contaminated at this point.” Hotch turned his attention to the detectives in front of him. “Since there are so many bodies, we have been able to profile a few things already. First, this unsub is extremely organized. He keeps these women for months at a time and brutally tortures them, so it is likely that he lives somewhere secluded or he has a secondary location where he keeps them. Somewhere that nobody is going to hear them scream. His level of organization suggests that he plans the abductions months in advance.”

Reid nodded. “It’s likely that he frequents parks around the state and looks for women who fit his type. He probably comes back for days or even weeks in a row to figure out their routine. He might sit at these parks, just watching, for hours at a time. Once he chooses a victim and learns their schedule, that is likely when he kills he previous victim and moves on to the next one.”

“Until Haley Putnam, he always struck in different jurisdictions. The fact that he came back to Quinton tells us that it either has meaning to him, or that he is devolving. Possibly both,” Morgan explained.

“Lastly, a killer this good at what he does has probably had some practice. We believe that Annabelle Daniels was not his first victim. We have our technical analyst looking through VICAP for a woman whose body was found exactly one week before Annabelle Daniels was abducted. Although the signature of slashing the inner thighs is an important part of his murders now, it is likely that he evolved to that level of violence. It is possible that prior to her he had kidnapped and murdered other women,” Hotch explained

J.J. nodded looking around the room. “Please, keep what we have just told you to yourselves. Having so many different offices involved greatly increases the chances of this leaking to the media. It is in our best interest to keep this information under wraps. Currently, this case is not in the media, and we’d like to keep it that way. It is important that you keep the fact that we are here quiet, and that we tell the media that we are investigating the death of Haley Putnam as a single homicide. An unsub this organized could relocate if he thinks that we are onto him. Our best chance of catching him relies on him believing that we have no idea the murders are connected.”

Quinton, New Jersey - November 16th, 2013

“Hotch!” J.J. rushed into the room with a photograph in her hand. “Emilia Rakes, 18, from Oakland. She left home at six o'clock to go for a jog before school. Her mom says she does it every morning. Usually, she’s back by seven to get ready for school, but her mom says that she still hasn’t come home. It fits the timeline. He just took his tenth victim, including the first two that Garcia found.” She sighed.

Reid looked up, glancing at the picture. “Oakland?” he asked.

J.J. nodded, confused.

“Well, that changes the whole geographical profile. It narrows down the area.” He walked over to the map, drawing a dot on Oakland with a red marker. “Under the assumption that the unsub works a normal nine-to-five job which he lives within thirty minutes of, he would have to have abducted her between six and seven AM, giving him an hour and a half at the most between Oakland and his own home. If you include Oakland in the geographical profile, the only area that overlaps between all ten of the abduction sites and the nine dump sites as a possibility is Ridgewood, New Jersey,” he explained.

“Get that information to Garcia. Look at men between the ages of 40 and 45 in Ridgewood who have had prior arrests for rape,” he ordered.

“I’ve got one hundred and seventeen names, Reid, you’re going to have to do better than that!” Garcia told him. “Okay, um... Only men who have a normal nine-to-five job,” he told her.

“Well, that narrows it down a bit. Thirty six. Anything else?”

“It’s pretty likely that the unsub owns multiple properties,” Reid added.

“Okay. That’s it. Three names. Joss Church owns a house in Ridgewood where it seems he lives with his wife and three kids, and he also owns an apartment in Oradell which it seems like he rents out. Um... Oil Savege was convicted of statutory rape in 1990. He was twenty years old and his girlfriend was seventeen. Her parents pressed charges.”

“It’s highly doubtful the charge would have been statutory rape, especially with a girlfriend. What’s the last name?”

“Oh... Oh God. Brody Taylor, 41, owns a house in Ridgewood where he lives with his wife, Linda, and daughter, Y/N, and an old car repair shop that has been shut down for years. He inherited it from his father, Jared Taylor, when he died in... December of 2010, one month before the first girl was abducted. And... he was charged with aggravated battery and attempted rape in 1992. Apparently he attempted to rape a 19 year old girl who... oh god... was out on a jog in the park.” She sounded terrified, as she usually did when looking at the god-awful things that came with this job.

“Garcia, I need-”

“Home address and the address for the repair shop have already been sent to you and the rest of the team.”

(Y/N)’s POV

I was in the kitchen making lunch when I heard the knock on the door. When I opened it, I saw a man and a woman standing in front of me.

“Ma’am? I’m Dr. Alex Blake with the FBI, and this is Dr. Spencer Reid, we’re looking for Brody Taylor.”

“He uh... He’s not home right now. He’s at work. My mother is too. Can I help you? FBI?” I was confused, to say the least. What was going on? Why were the FBI knocking on the door and asking to speak to my father?

“We’re investigating a series of homicides. Ten women over the past three years. We’d like to speak with you if that’s alright?” the man asked.

I nodded apprehensively, opening the door further to let them in.

“Wh-why do you think I would know something about these murders? Why do you think my dad knows something?” I was confused. I had heard about a girl who had gone missing in Oakland recently, and a girl that they found dead in Quinton, but beyond that I hadn’t heard anything. Ten murders? All connected? Wouldn’t people have said something about that by now?

“Right now we just want to talk to your father. We think he might have some information about the man who may have hurt these women.” The woman sounded condescending, like she thought that I couldn’t understand what was going on, or like I couldn’t handle the truth. For some reason, I felt like she was lying.

“You don’t think he did this?” I looked at the man she had introduced as Dr. Reid, hoping he would be honest with me.

“We don’t know right now. All we know is that a lot of people have been hurt, and there’s a girl who’s missing right now, and all we want to do is help her. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”

He didn’t say it outright, but I knew. They suspected him of this. At first, I didn’t believe it, but then I thought back. Over the last three years? After my grandfather died, he had become more distant. I had always thought that it was just because losing his dad was hard on him; they had never been close, I don’t really know why I had thought that, but I guess it was easier to believe than the alternative: this.

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psitrend · 12 years ago

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21 crazy buildings in China

New Post has been published on https://china-underground.com/2012/11/20/21-crazy-buildings-in-china/

21 crazy buildings in China

Chinese website 163.com compiled a gallery of the 21 craziest buildings built in recent decades in China.

In recent years, cities’ urban development become a hot topic because these constructions are related to a large amount of money. Many times, mainly because constructors and local authorities distinguish these buildings from classic skyscrapers, they present whimsical shapes, which also lead to an increase in construction costs.

In this gallery, there are public buildings, Chinese private companies buildings, and also copycats of famous western architectural designs.

The weirdest buildings in China

Shenyang Finance and Trade Development Zone, and in particular the building of Fangyuan Mansion. This building with a cylindrical shape was designed like a coin because the owners work with money. On 10th January 2012, CNN classified the structure in the top ten of the ugliest buildings in the world. The building was designed by renowned Taiwanese architect CY Lee designer of the Taipei 101 Tower. CNN reported that Fangyuan Mansion tries to merge Eastern and Western styles, but this merger has not a harmonious appearance.

Cuiping Wuliangye, Yibin city, Sichuan Province, a company’s factory that produces liquor has a building shaped like a bottle.

Yiling, District of Yichang City, in Hubei Province, the offices of a local group is located in a building shaped like a bottle.

On 15 December 2009, in Hebei, Yanjiao, was opened the most shocking hotel: the Hotel of the Emperor, with the appearance of three gods. The structure of 41.6 meters in height has been designed in 2001. The hotel is classified as “the largest pictographic building” and therefore entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the best project, the largest in the world which is both a sculpture and a building.

Many Chinese Internet users have expressed their disapproval of “the East Gateway of Suzhou” structure still under construction.

The list included also Taihu Pearl – China Huzhou Sheraton Haikou Resort.

Exterior design of the building Linda Hai Square with the shape of fish wasn’t appreciated; located on Dongsi ring.

Sanya, Hainan Island. “Phoenix Island Real Estate” sells apartments t an average price of 90,000 RMB per square meter.

Nanjing, Yuhua. The government building is similar to the Capitol in Washington DC.

A Wenling People’s Court Building is similar to the White House.

The second ring road east of Changsha, Hunan Province, the customs office resembles the U.S. Capitol.

In Fujian, Fuqing was built in Lin Yi Park an “Eiffel Tower” tower renamed Tiancheng.

In Jiangsu province, Funing County, Seongnam, in the park White Swan has created a cottage reminiscent of Sydney Opera House Swan Harbor.

Shandong Rizhao water tower is called “Sail of the Century”.

Chongqing, Guotai Art Center, Center of Bashu Culture Art, which will be completed later this year. CFP

Henan province, Yichuan, netizens have reported that the project of the north gate of the city looks like a belt.

Beijing Olympic Park watchtower, still under construction, consists of five independent towers with different heights: the main tower reaches a height of 244.35 meters. Many have compared the structure of five big “pins.”

Located in the south-east of Beijing, on the fourth road ring, Zhuoen Sen Oriental.

Chongqing

Again in Chongqing. Netizens think that a recent construction project look-alike a zip pullover.

Fushun Shen Fu New Town “Circle of Life” is the new panoramic structure, with a diameter of 157 meters, 50 floors, with installed 12,000 LED lights, 3,000 tons of steel, cost a billion dollars. The project on the web has gained a first place among buildings more ridiculous. The local government has responded that this project will make it a distinctive architectural landscape.

backlink > inhabitat , acidcow , izismile , netasite.net (Japan)

Via EDIFICI STRANI

#ArchitectureInChina, #Beijing, #BeijingOlympicParkWatchtower, #ChinaBuildingPictures, #CrazyBuildingDesigns, #CrazyBuildings, #CuipingWuliangye, #CYLee, #EastGatewayOfSuzhou, #FangyuanMansion, #FushunShenFuNewTown, #Hainan, #Hubei, #Images, #LindaHaiSquare, #PhoenixIslandRealEstate, #SailOfTheCentury, #Sanya, #ShenfuNewTown, #Shenyang, #Suzhou, #Yanjiao, #Yibin, #YichangPeninsula, #Yiling

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patriotsnet · 3 years ago

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When Was The Last Time Republicans Won Pennsylvania

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/when-was-the-last-time-republicans-won-pennsylvania/

When Was The Last Time Republicans Won Pennsylvania

Why Republicans Lose Pennsylvania

PA A.G. Draws ‘Bright Line’ On GOP Election Misinformation

When the Republican Party last carried the state, it did so on the backs of massive support from suburban Philadelphia. In the City of Brotherly Love, Bush I managed to snag a third of the county vote . With 20-plus margins in Montgomery, Chester, Delaware, and Bucks, why in heavens was the state a two-point squeaker?

Because metropolitan Pittsburgh was union blue. Westmoreland County went to Dukakis by 11 points, Washington by almost 25 points, Allegheny by 20, and so on. The margin Dukakis had out of the Western third of the state was greater than the margin he enjoyed in Philly.

It seems almost inconceivable now. President Clinton and candidates Al Gore and John Kerry would go on to secure the western Pennsylvania vote, albeit by smaller margins as the years went on. Even President Obama managed to barely carry the metro area in 2008. He lost ita first for a Democrat since 1972to Mitt Romney in 2012. However, he no longer needed it: he had the Collar.

Thanks to a blend of suburban moderate rejection of conservative candidates, wildly successful voter drives by Democrats, and the lack of incentives for county party offices to pump out a presidential-level effort, the four counties mentioned with 20-plus margins in 1988 have trended Democratic for the last 30 years.

Nah.

Dozens Of Gop State Lawmakers Wanted Pas Electoral Votes Overturned Two Reflect On Their Decision

Sam Dunklau Recent StoriesSam Dunklau is the Capitol Bureau Chief for WITF. He previously covered Illinois state government for NPR member station WUIS in Springfield, IL.Since 2015, Sam has been floating around the radio airwaves as a reporter, disc jockey, and station manager. He grew up in the small midwestern town of Paw Paw, Illinois and is a proud graduate of Augustana College.

– Republican state lawmakers are mulling changes to Pennsylvanias election law this session. They say that effort is aimed at improving the process for the states upcoming contests.

But many of them backed efforts to cast doubt on and overturn the election results even though no evidence of fraud or irregularities existed that could have affected the outcome, according to multiple federal and state officials and judges across the country.

Of 76 lawmakers WITF contacted either directly or through press offices to ask why they backed actions that could have disenfranchised millions of Pennsylvanians, two responded.

One, Rep. Doyle Heffley , said he still thinks something went wrong in Pennsylvania. The other, Rep. Paul Schemel , is now wondering whether what he believes are legitimate procedural questions in Pennsylvania were mistakenly conflated with former President Donald Trumps false claim that the election was rigged or stolen.

Ive Spent A Lot Of Time In Introspection

Rep. Paul Schemel has served in the state House since 2015. He said hes been reflecting a lot about the past few months, including why he signed the objection letter.

In my own introspection, I think, What were my own sort of words and comments that I used from the day of the election forward, and when is speech insightful and when is speech inciting?’ Schemel said.

Schemel said he doesnt believe state lawmakers contributed to the environment that led to Jan. 6. He said he told a number of constituents who called him alleging voter fraud that without proof, their claims wouldnt hold up.

I think to myself, Are there things that I could have said that could have made that point clearer? he said. But I would have never, never in my mind, imagined that we would have individuals in our country that would do the irresponsible things that occurred on January 6th.

via Jennifer Fitch / Pa. House GOP

Rep. Paul Schemel attends a House State Government committee hearing on Jan. 28, 2021

But state lawmakers were complaining about procedural problems they said led to an invalid election results, when independent authorities concluded there was no evidence to support that. Even U.S. Senator Pat Toomey, one of Pennsylvanias most prominent Republicans, acknowledged invalidating the states votes over those complaints was out of line.

But Schemel acknowledged, for better or worse, the states electoral process is fair and voters should trust it.

Attacking The Right To Vote

Conservatives have long used state legislatures to launder increasingly radical, often anti-democratic policies and positions into the Republican mainstream.

During Barack Obamas presidency, Arizona Republicans passed an anti-immigration bill that served as a model for other conservative legislatures. Five states passed copycat versions of Arizonas S.B. 1070, which imposed draconian ID requirements on immigrants and mandated racial profiling of anyone who might look illegal, after its original approval in 2010. The Supreme Court eventually struck down most of the law, but it helped turn hard-line anti-immigration rhetoric into a GOP litmus test well before Trump descended a golden escalator and launched his presidential campaign with a fascistic diatribe against immigrants.

Voting rights fared even worse. In 2011, Wisconsins Republican Legislature approved voter identification legislation that helped launch a nationwide assault on voting rights. Between 2010 and 2019, 25 states the vast majority with Republican-controlled legislatures, and many eager to move after a conservative U.S. Supreme Court majority gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013 passed bills that placed new restrictions on voting.

So far this year, Pennsylvania lawmakers have introduced 14 pieces of legislation meant to limit voting rights, more than in any other state.

Allocation Of State Electoral Votes

As defined by the U.S. Constitution, each state is assigned a number of electoral votes as follows:

One electoral vote for each member in the house of representatives , plus,

One electoral vote for each senator.

Based on this system of assigning electoral ballots, the allocation of electoral votes for the upcoming 2020 election can be seen in the table below.

This system ensures that every state will have at least three electoral votes, and currently, California has the most electoral ballots at 55. The twenty-third amendment to the Constitution entitled the District of Columbia to cast electoral votes equal to the least populous state to allow the district’s residents to participate in Presidential elections.

The Right Moves Farther Right

Not all Republicans in Pennsylvania are on board with the partys radical turn. State Sen. Gene Yaw decried his partys efforts to overturn the election results in December, and later, in an interview with a local news station, chastised members of his caucus who want to go to war.

Do I like the fact that the candidate I supported lost NO, Yaw wrote in his December statement. Nevertheless, our system requires that, as a citizen, I respect the laws of this state and country.

Kenyatta believes there are at least 20 Republicans in the Pennsylvania state House who oppose the conspiracy-driven pushes to roll back voting rights. Together with Democrats, they could form a majority that says enough is enough and puts an end to the madness around the election and voting rights, Kenyatta said.

But unfortunately, he added, the folks who are the most rabid and out of control have been allowed to run roughshod over everybody else.

That fierce battle for control of the Republican Party between dedicated anti-democratic forces, and everyone else is playing out at almost every level of government. The right wing of the party has attempted to flex its muscle against any Republicans who have dared to buck them since the Capitol riot.

Scores of Republican voters, meanwhile, reregistered as independents after the Capitol riot, meaning that in states with closed primaries, like Pennsylvania, the primary electorate may only further radicalize.

What Is The Electoral College

The electoral college is a body of electors established by the United States Constitution . It is convened every four years for the sole purpose of electing the President and Vice President of the United States.

The United States is a democratic republic, meaning that in general, each state elects or appoints officials that represent the state’s residents at the federal level. This form of governance is also used to elect presidents through an electoral college where each state is allocated electoral votes cast by electors who represent the state.

Republicans Win Fewer Votes But More Seats Than Democrats

Republicans controlled the post2010 redistricting process in the four states, and drew new lines that helped the GOP win the bulk of the House delegation in each. Republicans captured 13 of 18 seats in Pennsylvania, 12 of 16 in Ohio, nine of 14 in Michigan, and five of eight in Wisconsin. Added together, that was 39 seats for the Republicans and 17 seats for the Democrats in the four proObama states.

The key to GOP congressional success was to cluster the Democratic vote into a handful of districts, while spreading out the Republican vote elsewhere. In Pennsylvania, for example, Republicans won nine of their 13 House seats with less than 60% of the vote, while Democrats carried three of their five with more than 75%.

One of the latter was the Philadelphiabased 2nd District, where 356,386 votes for Congress were tallied. Not only was it the highest number of ballots cast in any district in the state, but Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah won 318,176 of the votes. It was the largest number received by any House candidate in the country in 2012, Democrat or Republican. If some of these Democratic votes had been unclustered and distributed to other districts nearby, the party might have won a couple more seats in the Philadelphia area alone.

The Closest House Races of 2012

NARROW DEMOCRATIC WINNERS

Threatening Primaries Trump Supporters Make One Last Pitch For Pa Republicans To Block Election Results

President Trump Reportedly Says PA Democrat Won Because He’s ‘Like Trump’ | The Last Word | MSNBC

Supporters of President Donald Trump circled the Pennsylvania Capitol for, potentially, the last time Monday in hopes of shaking the uninterested Republican-controlled state Legislature into stopping the commonwealth from giving its 20 electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden.

Republicans in the House and Senate have been saying since before the election they have no mechanism to change the presidential outcome.

While GOP leadership talked of auditing the election, such a proposal was shot down by lawmakers on a legislative research committee. Also, neither House or Senate Republicans issued any subpoenas to compel testimony before legislators on voting irregularities.

Seeing their tepid approach, Mondays rally-goers, about 100 in all, put their state legislators on notice that they would remember in 2022.

I will make it my personal mission to see to it that every one of these people who stand against us right now get primaried by a credible challenger, said Bobby Lawrence, a Franklin County GOP committee person and organizer of Mondays protest.

Lawrence said such an effort could succeed if it harnessed enthusiasm for Trump. While Trump lost Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes, he still won 400,000 more votes than he won in 2016 in an election with record turnout.

Lawrence argued Mondays rally was not for Trump, but a bipartisan effort for election integrity. He wrote off attendees wearing Trump gear and waving Trump signs as part of a separate effort.

Donald Trump Tries To Reverse Republican Fortunes In Pennsylvania

PITTSBURGH Once again, Pennsylvania Republicans are hopeful headed into a presidential election though their optimism has gone unrewarded for more than a quarter century.

Donald Trump is the latest Republican trying to take Pennsylvania which the party hasn’t claimed since George H.W. Bush in 1988 believing that anxiety about the economy and “bad trade deals” will flip the Keystone State into the GOP column.

“You got wiped out, folks,” Trump told a cheering crowd at the airport in Pittsburgh over the weekend, the heart of steel-and-coal country. “I hate to tell you, but you got wiped out.”

Trump will likely do well with blue-collar workers in western Pennsylvania, analysts said, but faces challenges with voters in eastern Pennsylvania, such as the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia suburbs.

“He does much worse with college whites, especially college educated white women,” said Varad Mehta, an independent scholar who lives in Bucks County, Pa.., and is studying the election. “And there are a lot of them in the Philadelphia suburbs.”

Trump also hopes his emphasis on trade, immigration, and blue-collar voters will help him in Midwest states like Ohio no Republican has won a presidential election without the Buckeye State and Michigan, which, like Pennsylvania, has gone Democratic in the last six presidential elections.

“She’s not winning Pennsylvania, let me tell you,” Trump said.

Things Are Looking Up For The Gop

Republican fortunes brightened notably in the western third of the state, and this has been happening for far longer than President Obama has been on the scene. One of the frequent assumptions I encounter is that the white, blue-collar Democrats that still dominate the region are voting on race now but will pounce on a Clinton. Yet Republicans have made incredible gains, and enjoyed a nice swing in voter registration out there beyond just these last six years.

This was happening from 1988 through 2004, with Bush improving in 2004 on his 2000 numbers, and his 2000 numbers improving on his fathers numbers in 1992. It may have accelerated under the current president, but the trend has been there for some time. As mentioned earlier, President Obama became the first Democrat in decades to lose the Pittsburgh media market outright. The state is no longer Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Kentucky in-between, as James Carville once summed it.

Local Republican efforts and the presence of third-party groups like Americans for Prosperity has paid off quite well in the west, and with similar demographics in northeastern Pennsylvania , there is still room to grow with this particular group. This is hardly enough to carry the state, of course: Pittsburgh is slowly aging, its population declining compared to the sustained growth in the states eastern third. More would be needed to offset the gamma-ray burst of Democratic votes emanating from Philadelphia.

Current Leadership Of Key Offices

One year of a Democratic trifecta Twelve years of Republican trifectasScroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year

Who Runs the States Report Background Main Page Part One: State Partisanship Partisanship Results Infographic Part Two: State Quality of Life Index Part Three: Overlaying Results Part 1 Executive Summary State Partisanship Analysis Partisan Control of Governorships Partisan Control of State Legislatures Partisan Control of State Senates Partisan Control of State Houses State Government Trifectas Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns Methodology Appendix A Appendix B Part 2 Executive Summary State Quality of Life Index About the Index Overall Rankings Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half Individual Indicators Methodology Appendices Part 3 Introduction Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index Rankings Description of the data Trends and correlations Methodology Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions Appendices State Reports

The Secret Is Unregistered Voters

So is there a path to winning the Keystone? As I said before, yes. The secret lies not with the current number of registered voters, where Democrats dwarf Republicans by a cool million, but in the number of citizens of voting age not registered. Finding them and goading them into registering wont be easy, but they arent a rare breed: per current registration figures provided by the Department of State, and the Census estimate of current voting-age population, there are more than 1.6 million such untapped voters residing here. Heck, some of them may have already registered once before, but it lapsed.

Attesting to the sheer power of that Democratic voter drive that started a decade ago, only 14 percent of them reside in Philadelphia or Allegheny County. A clear majority, 62 percent to 38 percent, of this untapped mass resides in counties that went to Romney. I broke down the numbers and converted it into a simple diagram, where the counties have been re-sized according to how big a share of the untapped vote they account for:

Pennsylvania Voters Are Not Just Demographically Democratic

The GOPs ostensible demographic edge in Pennsylvania is blunted in another way. The states population may be 83 percent white, but it does not vote that way. In each of the last three elections , the Republican nominee has underperformed his national share of the white vote in Pennsylvania. In 2004, George W. Bush took 58 percent of the white vote to John Kerrys 41 percent. But in Pennsylvania those figures were 54 percent and 45 percent, respectively, making the white vote in Pennsylvania eight points more Democratic.

In 2008, white Pennsylvanians were 13 points more Democratic than the nation . In 2012, they were five points more Democratic . Polling indicates this trend will continue this year. Trumps lead with white voters is 24 points in the recent ABC News/Washington Post and Fox News polls. This would be an expansion of Romneys 20-point advantage with white voters in 2012. Yet according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll, Trump leads white Pennsylvanians by only 11 points.

Pennsylvania Casts 20 Electoral College Votes For Biden

President-elect Joe Biden speaks Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del.

Pennsylvanias 20 Electoral College members cast their votes Monday for president-elect Joe Biden.

Similar votes are happening around the country. Despite President Donald Trumps many attempts to overturn the election results through the courts, the final electoral college vote will make official a result that has been clear since November: Biden won the electoral college, as well as the popular vote.

I hope you can see me smiling behind this mask, said Democratic Party Chair Nancy Mills, after the vote was officially tallied. She noted she was the first woman to preside over an electoral college vote in Pa.

This years meeting of the Electoral College looked a little different from usual.

The electors congregated in an auditorium in Harrisburg, not far from the state Capitol.

They typically meet on the state House floor, but the Capitol is restricting public access due to the pandemic. Several lawmakers who attended in-person sessions at the Capitol in recent weeks tested positive for coronavirus.

Pennsylvanias electoral college representatives were chosen by the commonwealths Democratic Party. They include elected officials from all levels of government, such as Attorney General Josh Shapiro and House Democratic Whip Jordan Harris, along with labor leaders and local Democratic organizers.

As expected, all voted this year for Biden.

Why Trump Wont Win Pennsylvania

Every four years, the Republican Party willingly undergoes a kind of ritual humiliation: it tries to win the state of Pennsylvania in the presidential election. No doubt you have seen film of this unrequited courtship, but in case you havent, voilà.2012 offered more of the same, as Pennsylvania yanked the football away again, confirming its reputation as a White Whale of American politics.

Not everyone believes the GOP should abandon the chase. As early as 2013, astute observers were urging the GOP to invest more instead of fewer resources in the Keystone State. Pennsylvania, wrote Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report, represents the biggest promise . . . for Republicans in 2016. Last July, G. Terry Madonna and Michael Young, two of the most authoritative commentators on Pennsylvania politics, published an op-ed claiming the GOP could win Pennsylvania in 2016.

While hardly a consensus, by the start of this cycle the idea that the GOP could win Pennsylvania had become more than a passing fancy. The GOP really does have a good shot to win Pennsylvania. Or at least it did, until voters nominated a candidate who may keep Pennsylvania spurning Republican presidential nominees for another two decades.

Donald Trump Flipped Rust Belt States By Boosting Rural Vote; Hillary Clinton Couldn’t Make Up The Difference

Malcolm Kenyatta To Republicans Challenging Election: Join Me In Reality | The Last Word | MSNBC

Rust Belt electon results

This map shows to the wide degree Donald Trump improved on Mitt Romney’s performance across the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tuesday’s election has put the national spotlight on three reliably blue states where Donald Trump flipped counties in his favor to secure an Electoral College win.

Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin had gone decades voting for Democrat presidential candidates and pre-election polling pegged them for Hillary Clinton in 2016. The last time a Republican carried Michigan and Pennsylvania was in 1988, and Wisconsin last in 1984.

But on Tuesday, the three “blue firewall” states tipped toward Trump.

In these three Rust Belt states, plus Ohio, Trump turned out voters from rural counties, improved on Republican Mitt Romney’s 2012 percentage of the vote in most counties and closed the gap in or won Democratic-leaning counties, according to a cleveland.com analysis of unofficial election results.

Trump over performed

In Wisconsin, Trump flipped the margin from the Romney-Obama race by 20 percentage points or more in 32 counties. Statewide, he gained nearly 8 points on Romney’s 2012 performance. Wisconsin’s rural southwestern counties, with small minority populations, went for Obama in 2012 but swung to Trump by 20 points or more.

Lackawanna County, where Clinton’s father and Joe Biden hail from, went to Obama by a margin of 27 points. Trump closed the gap to only 3.4 points.

Why Are Some Republicans Doing This

It’s not exactly Donald Trump’s last stand – he may never stop questioning the validity of the 2020 presidential election – but the congressional counting of Electoral College votes is the last major procedural hurdle between Joe Biden and his inauguration.

It is a hurdle Biden, with help of Democrats and some Republicans, is sure to clear.

It is also the last chance for the president’s supporters in Congress to demonstrate fealty to their man while he still holds office.

As such, the day’s events could shed light on the breadth of support the president still enjoys.

Already, there are signs that his backing may not be as strong as even recent predictions suggested.

If Republicans fall short of 100 votes in the House and the Senate can’t muster much more than the dozen senators who have already announced their intention to object, it could indicate a party sharply divided over its future. Does it involve unquestioning loyalty to Trump or one where his power is receding?

No matter the outcome, that such a remarkable, unprecedented attempt to reject the results of a democratic election could become a political litmus test will not easily be forgotten by many.

Pennsylvania Democrats Pick Up Victories 2 Years After Trump Wins State

Nov. 6, 2018

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. Pennsylvania voters, who went for President Trump two years ago, swerved in the other direction Tuesday, handing Democrats key victories and swelling the partys share of the states House delegation.

Democratic women crashed the all-male congressional delegation, winning four House seats in the Philadelphia suburbs, according to The Associated Press.

Three of the Democratic candidates Mary Gay Scanlon, a lawyer; Chrissy Houlahan, an Air Force veteran; and Susan Wild, a former solicitor in Allentown, Pa. flipped seats previously held by Republicans, an achievement aided by a new map of House districts drawn this year to eliminate a Republican gerrymander. Additionally, Madeleine Dean, a state representative, won a seat vacated by a Democratic man.

In western Pennsylvania, a fifth Democrat, Representative Conor Lamb, who faced an incumbent Republican representative in a new district, also won his race. Democrats netted three flipped seats, because Guy Reschenthaler, a Republican running in Mr. Lambs vacated district, also won his race.

Democrats were all but preordained to net the two suburban Republican seats won by Ms. Scanlon and Ms. Houlahan because of the redistricting. Ms. Wilds victory in the Seventh District, which includes the Lehigh Valley, was a bit of icing on the cake, as the state contributed to Democrats new House majority.

0 notes

xtruss · 3 years ago

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Dread at 30,000 Ft: Inside the Increasingly Violent World of US Flight Attendants

— Francesca Street, CNN

(CNN) — Working as a flight attendant previously afforded Mitra Amirzadeh the freedom to explore the world -- taking her from her home in Florida to destinations including Kenya, France and Spain.

As the pandemic spread, the perks of Amirzadeh's job diminished. Now restricted to domestic US flights, her work involves navigating not only the fear of catching Covid-19, but also the recent uptick in disruptive passengers.

"I'm dealing with a lot of babysitting, which I never counted on doing," Amirzadeh, who works for a low-cost US airline, tells CNN Travel. "The actual children on board behave better than the grown adults do."

This summer, unruly passenger behavior seems to have reached new heights. In one incident, a passenger punched a Southwest flight attendant and knocked out two of their teeth. Video also circulated of a passenger getting taped to their seat after they reportedly punched and groped Frontier Airlines flight crew.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it has issued more than $1 million in fines to unruly airline passengers so far in 2021.

US flight attendants tell CNN Travel say the stress of the situation is taking its toll,

Susannah Carr, who works for a major US airline, says unruly incidents used to be "the exception, not the rule." Now they're "frequent."

"I come in expecting to get push back. I come in expecting to have a passenger that could potentially get violent," she says.

Amirzadeh says flight attendants across US airlines are just "over it."

Allie Malis, a flight attendant for American Airlines, says air crew are "exhausted -- physically and emotionally."

"We've gone through worrying about our health and safety, worrying about our jobs -- now [we are] worrying about our safety in a different way."

The Rise of Air Rage

There seems to be a rise in unruly passengers on board US airplanes. Pictured here: airplanes at Miami International Airport in August 2021. Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

Pre-pandemic, the issue of unruly passengers was becoming increasingly omnipresent — data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) suggested incidents rose from 2012 to 2015, while whole conferences were dedicated to the problem.

This increase was often linked to cabins getting fuller, with increased security checks and processes adding to tension.

In 2019, Malis, who is also the government affairs representative at the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, a union representing American Airlines air crew, spoke to CNN Travel about the decrease of personal seat space. She said her union believed it is "strongly correlated and in a large part to blame" for the rise in incidents.

Alcohol is also an often cited contributing factor -- travelers drink at the airport and board the plane without crew realizing how inebriated they are. When it all kicks off at 30,000 feet, it's too late.

That said, it has always been hard to get an exact handle on whether passengers have actually become more unruly. Not every airline that's part of IATA submits data, and not every airline records every instance of unruly behavior, while separate FAA data recorded oscillating numbers of investigated incidents between 1995 and 2019.

There have been suggestions that incidents just started to feel more ubiquitous in recent years because social media means videos of badly behaved passengers spread like wildfire.

But while FAA data might show fluctuating figures for much of the past 20 years, in 2021, incidents seem to have skyrocketed. In 2019, 146 investigations were initiated by the FAA. So far in 2021 that number is 727.

Covid-19 seems to have exacerbated an already existing issue to an unprecedented degree, at least in the US.

Amirzadeh recalls the silent flights of spring 2020. People were too fearful to even look at other passengers or air crew, she says, let alone cause conflict.

By summer 2020, travel had recommenced and reports of in-flight disruptions were back. Masks -- not yet mandated by the FAA, but enforced by some airlines -- were becoming a sore topic among some travelers.

In recent months, unruly behavior has reached new heights.

"It just seems like every next incident is getting a little bit more extreme, things you just would have never imagined last year," says Malis.

"As a flight attendant, it's really hard to imagine yourself being in a position that requires duct taping a passenger to their seats for the safety of everyone else on the plane, yet this is something that has happened numerous times in the last few months."

Malis says she feels like incidents have been on a steady rise since the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. It also involved disruptive behavior on planes and led to the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) International -- which represents American flight attendants at 17 airlines — stating rioters should not be allowed on flights home.

"I think the insurrection was kind of an eye-opening experience," Malis says. "What do you do when you have multiple incidents happening on the plane at the same time with only four crew members?"

“I come in expecting to get pushback. I come in expecting to have a passenger that could potentially get violent.” — Susannah Carr, flight attendant

A survey by the AFA released in July of this year found that, of the 5,000 flight attendants surveyed, 85% said they'd dealt with unruly passengers in 2021.

Disruptive passengers had used sexist, racist and/or homophobic language, according to 61%, while 17% said they'd been victim of a physical attack this year.

"I thought I had seen or done or heard at all," says Amirzadeh, who has flown for six years and previously worked in customer service.

"But as I've learned the past 18 months, that is definitely not the case, I am seeing, hearing and doing things I never thought in my life I would ever be doing."

Flying During Covid-19

Masks are mandated by law in the US on federal property and on public transportation, including airplanes. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Many incidents are linked with mask non-compliance, which the flight attendants who spoke to CNN Travel say has been an issue throughout the pandemic.

Even though it's now FAA-mandated and federal law, the wearing of masks remain the cause of the majority of inflight issues. In a press release dated August 19, the FAA says it had received approximately 3,889 reports of unruly behavior by passengers since January 1. Of those reports, 2,867 were passengers refusing to comply with the mask mandate.

"In the beginning, I would sympathize and say, 'Hey, you know, I get it, it's hot, I'm hot. I'm wearing it too -- I need you to wear it too. Can we please work together?'" says Amirzadeh.

"But here we are, it's been a year and a half, you're wearing them everywhere. And we're not the only ones that are asking you to wear them -- every train station, every bus, every airline..."

Carr says she thinks the problem is that mask-wearing is sometimes viewed as a political issue in the United States.

"The mask issue was less about public health and it was more politicized in the beginning. And that is something we're still dealing with today," she says.

Amirzadeh says fraught mask-related interactions often come as a result of passengers removing their face covering to eat or drink, and then keeping it off. It's one of the reasons she thinks alcohol shouldn't be served on planes currently.

“It just seems like every next incident is getting a little bit more extreme, things you just would have never imagined last year” — Allie Malis, American Airlines flight attendant

Carr agrees and also questions the availability of to-go drinks at the airport.

Still, not serving alcohol can be the cause of issues too -- as Malis has found on board American Airlines, which continues to ban alcohol in its main cabins on board most flights.

"On some of my flights it's caused people to get upset, because they do want to feel like they have a right to have a drink -- but at the same time [...] if you're getting so upset because you can't have a drink right now, that's the exact reason we're kind of afraid to give you one, that kind of erratic behavior," says Malis.

For some passengers, travel may feel more stressful and anxiety-inducing in the age of Covid. Carr suggests this -- and the stresses we've all been under during the pandemic -- are a contributing factor to the rise in incidents.

"We've been isolated for the last 18-plus months," she says. "So I think some of the social graces have kind of been put on the back burner, as far as what's acceptable in public and on an airplane."

Malis wants passengers to realize that the stresses and anxieties they might be feeling about traveling in the age of Covid-19 are also shared by many crew, even if they seem like "a very accessible punching bag."

"We've been putting ourselves on the front line, and quarantining from our families," she says. "We're doing our job, we're not the reason your flight got canceled, we're not the reason you're frustrated."

The ubiquity of events on social media also leads Malis to suggest there could be a "copycat factor."

To reverse this, Amirzadeh says it's important for people to realize that the passengers who've gone viral are paying the price.

Dealing with Incidents

Flight attendants are getting self-defense training as the number of unruly passengers is on the rise. CNN's Pete Muntean reports.

Flight attendants are safety professionals trained in dealing with everything from a medical emergency to a potential terrorist incident.

"We're not here to serve you a Coke, we're here to save your life," is how Amirzadeh puts it.

But there's the concern, she says, that dealing with unruly passengers could prevent crew from dealing with other issues on board.

"We are the people that are going to give you CPR, we're the people that are going to give you the Heimlich maneuver, we are the people that are going to put out the fire. But we might miss those things if we're too busy arguing with someone else about putting their mask on."

Malis says dealing with unruly passengers is a team effort -- if a passenger seems to have taken against a particular flight attendant, another crew member stepping in could calm them down.

Carr says she keeps tabs on mask-wearing from the moment travelers step onto the plane, and will first offer a friendly reminder.

If someone continues not to comply, there are several warning steps culminating in the traveler getting handed a card stating that if they continue, they'll be reported to the airline and could lose travel privileges.

As Amirzadeh points out, a flight attendant can't force someone to wear a mask.

"But I can let him know that if he doesn't, then I hope that wherever we're landing is his final destination, because his return ticket's going to be canceled, we're going to file a report with the FAA, and you could face fines, and other legal ramifications."

Flight attendants are also able to take self defense classes organized via the Transportation Security Administration.

"I think more and more flight attendants need to start taking some self defense classes and need to be prepared to protect themselves and that's a sad thing," says Amirzadeh.

On January 13, 2021, the FAA signed an order directing a stricter legal enforcement policy against unruly airline passengers, promising a zero-tolerance campaign.

Any passenger who "assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crew members" could face fines of up to $35,000 and prison time.

The FAA also recently launched a public awareness campaign, which includes a video, as well as some social media memes.

The agency has also asked US airports to ensure law enforcement on the ground deals with reported inflight incidents, as well as consider issues associated with to-go alcohol.

The AFA flight attendant union is pressing for the zero tolerance policy to become permanent.

"It's also important that the Department of Justice is prosecuting some of these events," says Carr. "These unruly passenger events have been so egregious, flight attendants have been attacked, and injured [...] in situations like that, it's important that they're facing criminal prosecution and that's something that needs to be publicized as well."

Malis also suggests there should be further coordination between airlines to ensure passengers banned from one airline can't board other US carriers.

Carr and Amirzadeh are both members of the AFA flight attendant union, while Malis is involved in the American Airlines' union.

They say flight attendants have been sharing stories with their unions and their private networks -- across carriers -- providing support and solidarity.

The AFA union is offering employee assistance via therapy sessions.

"There are certainly flight attendants that definitely need a break physically, mentally, and emotionally. But right now, the staffing is not there to support any type of voluntary leave option," says Malis.

State of the Travel Industry

Some flight attendants are concerned travel could shut down again. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

After a difficult year of furlough and redundancies, flight attendants are concerned that the dual effect of Covid-19 and unruly passengers could see aviation grind to a halt again.

Carr says one of the joys of her job has always been supporting passengers on their travels -- whether they're heading on a long-dreamed-of vacation, traveling under difficult circumstances or anything in between.

"I love this industry and my coworkers and having the traveling public back is wonderful," she says. "But the pandemic is far from over. That is a reality. Covid-19 and the variants are still taking lives."

The last thing Carr and her colleagues want to see is travel stalling again.

"We are doing everything we can to keep passengers safe on board and keep travel going, but without the support of the traveling public -- without people taking those necessary steps to mitigate the spread, and help get a handle on this pandemic -- we could be facing travel closing again, which would be horrible."

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tidefated · 6 years ago

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Note; I get that this is a reblog and fill it out form but I actually? Hate that so I’m reposting but I was tagged by @oceanfoamed and here’s the original form for ya’ll <-- leaving Holmes’s commentary here

In general:

Real name: Skyler

Nicknames: Bun / Sky

Age: 22

Sexuality: *insert one of my usual schrodinger jokes here*

Prefered pronouns: He / They

Are you a morning person?: I can be, but it depends on how my life is rolling at the time. Lately I like to sleep in more than I like mornings.

When swimming, do you prefer to do it in the ocean, or in a lake?: Ok full disclosure? I am so goddamn landlocked I have seen the ocean twice in my life- well, 3 times, but the first I was too young to remember, I’m just aware I was there, and must have seen it. I’m so landlocked, that the nearest large bodies of water ( a terrifyingly polluted lake and a terrifyingly polluted river ) are each a two/two-and-a-half hour drive away. I have seen the river when driving over it, and the lake at a distance because we were told to stay off the beach and I was like... 11? My ability to swim is pretty pathetic- I’ve apparently got all the motions right, but I perpetually forget to actually breath when I bring my head out of the water- like my body just fucking refuses to do it. So uh- short answer, I guess, is I don’t have enough experience to have a preference, and either way it’s probably not smart to let me do it unsupervised.

On Tumblr:

Anyone you would like to meet in real life?: Now that Mani is on my side of the ocean, @seafaired is someone I hope to see before the year is out, if I can arrange travel expenses accordingly, also @apcgee promised to go to a Broadway show with me.

Anyone you have met in real life?: I spent like 2 months-ish living with @oceanfoamed, but otherwise not yet!

When did you first join? How old is your current account?: Uuh- I think I joined the RPC in like 2012? Idk we were all still using big gifs and formatting didn’t exist yet. This blog’s original form was made back in December/January 2017/2018, and was just remade ( better ) literally last month. So pretty shiny new.

Any peeves?: I mean basically all the stuff Holmes listed, but also whackadoodle formatting with lots of weird spacing and capitalized words and.. and... and... ugh guys people have?? Vision problems?? I am dyslexic fam you are not making my life any easier.

Unpopular opinion: TBH Malakh covered this really well in his version of this post, with the comment on purity culture, so uh. That. All of it. <-- that, but also throwing my own on here so as not to be a total copycat: You don’t have to write with a million people to be a successful RPer? Your worth is not measured by the number of your threads or partners. You can write with 100 people, you can write with 30 people, you can write with 5 people, you can write with 1 person, and you are still valid and worthy of respect as an RPer because this is about having fun not pressuring yourself beyond your comfort. That was a lesson hard learned for me & I feel it’s very important for everyone to remember.

Feelings:

Do you easily get jealous?: Jealous, no- insecure, sometimes. I’m very aware that no one is obligated to write with me or anyone else? No matter what? But there will be times I doubt myself when others come around and that is- fairly natural I think? So I may withdraw until I can isolate the source of my own insecurities and smush them, or reach out for a little reassurance.

Do you easily get angry?: Under very particular circumstances.

Are you easy to cheer up?: Sometimes? Sort of? Usually when I get upset I only experience the actual upset-ness for a short while, and go straight to numbness- how long that lasts is pretty dependent on how effectively I can distract myself- but there’s only so much another person can do to distract me.

What’s the most hurtful thing someone could do to you?: Why the hell would I tell the internet? Ok but no really continuing here why would this be on a meme why would anyone even ask this?? Like- 80% of the people on this hellsite have trust issues they won’t own up to so like what is the point lmfao??

What’s the most hurtful thing someone has done to you?: One time my cat came to lay next to me like the sweetie he is, except instead he trotted across my face and sat exactly 2.5 feet away. >:

Are you good at hiding your emotions?: Probably, considering I’m not sure what they are half the time.

What’s the very best way to cheer you up?: Change the topic or use animal gifs. <--- same. Usually I need time to emotionally separate myself from an issue so that I can revisit it later- dealing with it in the moment is almost never a good idea- so the best thing to do is get me buried in basically anything else.

Relationships:

Are you currently in a relationship?: Nah- did that whole commitment thing for a little over 3 years and it kinda wrecked me mentally, emotionally, and physically haha. I’m not wholly opposed to the idea of dating, but long-term relationships are pretty far off the radar atm.

Do you currently have a crush on someone?: Nope. I adore lots of people but my heart doesn’t do the squeezy-plunk for anybody.

If yes, might that someone be reading this?: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Do you kiss on the first date?: Errm... I know this seems to contradict the committed relationship thing mentioned above but.... I’ve never actually been on a date? That said, I don’t see the problem with doing so? I mean I’ve kissed people I’m not even attracted to bc we both decided to go ‘what the hell’, so it seems fine to me to kiss someone I am attracted to without a fuss.

Do you prefer going out, or staying home, when it comes to dates?: I had to think about this bc like Holmes I hate leaving my house but also the idea of inviting someone in to my house when I’m already out of my depth sounds like an awful idea cause it might destabilize my safe space.

Things:

Favorite drink: Water, some chai tea, frozen matcha, and lavender lattes specifically the way I make them at work.

Favorite food: Mmm any food that doesn’t make me sick is good food. Bonus points if I don’t have to cook it.

Most calming place?: Anywhere I can curl up and not be interrupted by humans while I dick around on my computer / anywhere I can sit in peace and quiet with a book and not be interrupted by humans or noises ( bonus points if lots of nature )

Most stressful place?: Anywhere that has more than (1) human I do not know intimately well. Any place with more than (4) people I know intimately well. <--- Holmes I feel called out

Most prized possession?: Laptop, as I cannot say my cats- but my Slytherin cloak from HP world cuts a close second, along with my vv old hardback copies of the HP books, which were gifts from my great grandmother when I was growing up.

Tag five people (if you want to):

✗ @apcgee

✗ Anyone who wants to do the thing should steal it like the pirates they are cause Holmes tagged all my other people or they’ve already done it.

#OOC | ignore the man behind the curtain #munday | reality knocking

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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An Accidental Disclosure Exposes a $1 Billion Tax Fight With Bristol Myers Almost nine years ago, Bristol Myers Squibb filed paperwork in Ireland to create a new offshore subsidiary. By moving Bristol Myers’s profits through the subsidiary, the American drugmaker could substantially reduce its U.S. tax bill. Years later, the Internal Revenue Service got wind of the arrangement, which it condemned as an “abusive” tax shelter. The move by Bristol Myers, the I.R.S. concluded, would cheat the United States out of about $1.4 billion in taxes. That is a lot of money, even for a large company like Bristol Myers. But the dispute remained secret. The company, which denies wrongdoing, didn’t tell its investors that the U.S. government was claiming more than $1 billion in unpaid taxes. The I.R.S. didn’t make any public filings about it. And then, ever so briefly last spring, the dispute became public. It was an accident, and almost no one noticed. The episode provided a fleeting glimpse into something that is common but rarely seen up close and that the Biden administration hopes to discourage: multinational companies, with the help of elite law and accounting firms and with only belated scrutiny from the I.R.S., dodging billions of dollars in taxes. Then, in an instant, all traces of the fight — and of Bristol Myers’s allegedly abusive arrangement — vanished from public view. The Tax Shelter Like most big pharmaceutical companies, Bristol Myers, which is based in New York, reduces its U.S. taxes by holding patent rights to its most lucrative drugs in subsidiaries in countries with low tax rates. The result is that the company’s profits move from high-tax places like the United States to places like Ireland, which has a low corporate tax rate and makes it easy for companies to attribute profits to locales with no income taxes at all. The $2 trillion infrastructure plan that the White House unveiled on Wednesday proposed increasing the minimum overseas tax on multinational corporations, which would reduce the appeal of such arrangements. For the three years leading up to 2012, Bristol Myers’s tax rate was about 24 percent. The U.S. corporate income tax rate at the time was 35 percent. (It is now 21 percent.) The company wanted to pay even less. In 2012, it turned to PwC, the accounting, consulting and advisory firm, and a major law firm, White & Case, for help getting an elaborate tax-avoidance strategy off the ground. PwC had previously been Bristol Myers’s auditor, but it was dismissed in 2006 after an accounting scandal forced Bristol Myers to pay $150 million to the U.S. government. Now PwC, with a long history of setting up Irish tax shelters for multinational companies, returned to Bristol Myers’s good graces. The plan hinged on a tax write-off known as amortization. It lets companies deduct from their taxable income a portion of the cost of things, like the value of a patent, over a period of years. (For physical assets like office buildings, the process is known as depreciation.) In the United States, Bristol Myers held rights to patents on several drugs that it had already fully written off for tax purposes. In Ireland, a Bristol Myers subsidiary held rights to patents that it had not yet fully written off. That mismatch provided a lucrative opportunity. The company moved the patent rights from the U.S. and Irish subsidiaries into a new company. As the U.S. patents generated income, the Irish amortization deductions now helped offset U.S. taxes. When a company deploys a complicated new arrangement like this, it will generally seek the imprimatur of law and accounting firms. If they vouch for the maneuver’s legitimacy, that can protect the company from accusations that it deliberately broke the law. In fall 2012, after the new structure was set up, Bristol Myers asked PwC and White & Case to review the arrangement. Both firms provided the company with lengthy letters — each more than 100 pages — essentially signing off from a legal standpoint. “Bristol Myers Squibb is in compliance with all applicable tax rules and regulations,” said Megan Morin, a company spokeswoman. “We work with leading experts in this area and will continue to work cooperatively with the I.R.S. to resolve this matter.” Today in Business Updated April 2, 2021, 3:58 p.m. ET A spokeswoman for PwC declined to comment. White & Case lawyers and a spokeswoman did not respond to a list of questions. But there were ample signs that the I.R.S. would probably take a dim view of the arrangement. A few months earlier, a federal appeals court had sided with the agency after it challenged a similar maneuver by General Electric using an offshore subsidiary called Castle Harbour. The I.R.S. also contested comparable setups by Merck and Dow Chemical. The Bristol Myers arrangement “appears to be essentially a copycat shelter,” said Karen Burke, a tax law professor at the University of Florida. Since the I.R.S. was already fighting similar high-profile transactions, she said, “Bristol Myers’s behavior seems particularly aggressive and risky.” The next January, the company announced its 2012 results. Its tax rate had plunged from nearly 25 percent in 2011 to negative 7 percent. On a call with investors, executives fielded repeated questions about the drop in its tax rate. “Presumably, all drug companies try to optimize their legal entities to take their tax rate as low as they can, yet your rate is markedly lower than any of the other companies,” said Tim Anderson, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company. “So I’m wondering why your tax rate might be unique in that regard?” Charlie Bancroft, the company’s chief financial officer, wouldn’t say. The more than $1 billion in tax savings came at an opportune moment: Bristol Myers was in the midst of repurchasing $6 billion worth of its own shares, an effort to lift its stock price. By January 2013, it had spent $4.2 billion. The cash freed up by the tax maneuver was enough to cover most of the remainder. The Botched Redaction It is not clear when I.R.S. agents first learned about the arrangement. But by last spring, the I.R.S. chief counsel’s office had determined that it violated a provision of the tax law that targets abusive profit-shifting arrangements. In a 20-page legal analysis, the I.R.S. calculated that the offshore setup was likely to save Bristol Myers up to $1.38 billion in federal taxes. After a complex audit, the I.R.S. often circulates its analyses to agents nationwide in case they encounter similar situations. A redacted version of the report is also made public on the I.R.S. website, cleansed of basic information like the name of the company. But when the I.R.S. posted its Bristol Myers report last April, it was not properly redacted. With tools available on most laptops, the redacted portions could be made visible. The I.R.S. quickly removed the improperly redacted version from its website. But Tax Notes, a widely read trade publication, had also posted the document. When the I.R.S. provided a clean version, Tax Notes took down the original. An I.R.S. spokesman declined to comment. Cara Griffith, the chief executive of Tax Analysts, the publisher of Tax Notes, said the publication erred “on the side of not publishing confidential taxpayer information that was accidentally released through an error in redaction, unless it reaches a very high threshold of newsworthiness.” In the intervening hours, though, some tax practitioners had downloaded the original version from Tax Notes. One of them shared it with The New York Times, which viewed the document without the redactions. In addition to detailing the offshore structure, the I.R.S. report revealed the role of PwC and White & Case in reviewing the deal. While both firms assessed the arrangement’s compliance with various provisions of the tax law, neither firm offered an opinion on whether the deal violated the one portion of the tax law — an anti-abuse provision — that the I.R.S. later argued made the transaction invalid. Tax experts said they doubted the omission was inadvertent. The I.R.S. can impose penalties on companies that knowingly skirt the law. By not addressing the most problematic portion of the law, Bristol Myers’s advisers might have given the company plausible deniability. Both firms “appear to have carefully framed the issues so that they could write a clean opinion that potentially provided a penalty shield,” Professor Burke said. David Weisbach, a former Treasury Department official who helped write the regulations governing the tax-code provision that Bristol Myers is accused of violating, agreed. PwC and White & Case “are giving you 138 pages of legalese that doesn’t address the core issue in the transaction,” he said. “But you can show the I.R.S. you got this big fat opinion letter, so it must be fancy and good.” The current status of the tax dispute is not clear. Similar disputes have spent years winding through the I.R.S.’s appeals process before leading to settlements. Companies often agree to pay a small fraction of what the I.R.S. claims was owed. “There is a real chance that a matter like this could be settled for as little as 30 percent” of the amount in dispute, said Bryan Skarlatos, a tax lawyer at Kostelanetz & Fink. In that case, the allegedly abusive tax shelter would have saved Bristol Myers nearly $1 billion. Source link Orbem News #accidental #Billion #Bristol #Disclosure #Exposes #Fight #Myers #Tax

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augustlocksmithiayo785 · 5 years ago

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littleglitterbab · 5 years ago

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Let me take you on a journey. a dumb one.

Okay so I fell down the dumbest research rabbit hole, and I need someone to come with me.

So I've been getting more into sewing, and last week I was scrolling through Vogue Patterns website and I saw this pattern:

My brain upon seeing this awfully familiar outfit:

Join me on the dumb research journey I went on this week.

Before I start, I’d like it on the record that I 10000% do not support the orange teratoma or anyone associated with him. I just was really fascinated by this specific topic for and then fell down a rabbit hole of research. January 2016, the orange Cheeto was inaugurated and the less said about that the better- the only thing I’d like to note about the whole affair is that during the inauguration Melania Trump was wearing a rather stylish blue coat and dress combo, which was a custom Ralph Lauren outfit. Custom meaning it was created specifically for Melania, for this event. There was a whole lot of hullabaloo about who was going to dress Melania for the event, with many designers outright refusing (bless them). Ralph Lauren explained why he agreed to dress Melania, but honestly I don’t give a shit.

A year and a half later, Vogue Patterns released a pattern (V9266) in their fall collection that looks identical to the blue coat and jacket, down to the dart placement on the dress. It was even made in the same colour for the pattern photo. The lookbook for the 2017 fall collection was released in July 2017. Vogue Patterns is owned by the McCall Pattern Company, as of 2001.

Fashion, especially fast fashion, has a history of copycat fashion, due to the way American copyright laws are structured, but this whole thing got me thinking- what kind of history is there of this outside of the fast fashion world? Was this common prior to the rise of fast fashion? What about patterns? Is the pattern of the Ralph Lauren dress being published by Vogue a common occurrence, or is this just an unusual case? Did Ralph Lauren tell Vogue, go ahead publish my dress, or did Vogue just say fuck it and blatantly copy him? Tell me the truth, Vogue Patterns, I need to know!!

Buckle up y’all, it’s time for a very cursory history lesson on counterfeit fashion.

Jewelry counterfeiting can be traced back to the 1800s, and probably later, with sly counterfeiters passing off “paste” jewels (paste meaning made of a type of glass) as the real things. However, you can see the intrinsic value of precious and semi-precious stones, but the value of a design of clothing seems less evident. Obviously people have wanted to dress like rich/famous people since the dawn of time, but when did copying specific designers come about?

In the 1860s, Charles Worth began signing his labels on his dresses, arguably making this the first “designer label”. Worth’s garments were highly sought after and were also exceptionally expensive. So, people started to copy his work. Just the act of labeling his clothing made it easier to forge his work, since just the label itself could make you think the garment was from the house of Worth even if it didn’t look like any of his designs.

Jumping ahead a century, in the 1900s, employees of Bergdorf Goodman would travel each year to Paris to purchase samples of garments from designers to take back to New York so that they could reproduce them and sell them to customers. While this wasn’t a case of counterfeiting patterns, perhaps this is one of the branches that leads to it? It’s easy to imagine an employee sneaking out a pattern or sample to make copies independently of the licenced retailers at Bergdorf Goodman.

In that vein, Elizabeth Hawke, an American fashion designer, was employed at one point as a “covert sketcher” by a dressmaker known for making high-quality, illegal knockoffs of designer clothing in the early 1900s. (Someone make me a blockbuster movie about this woman please)

In the 1940s-1950s Christian Dior’s New Look was so incredibly popular and in demand that many counterfeits popped up across the globe- including ones made by American fashion designer Nettie Rosenstein. Interestingly enough, she modified Dior’s silhouette to make it more accessible to the average person, notably by reducing the yardage in one dress from 15 yards to 7 yards.

During this era, department store employees that attended Dior’s couture shows had to pay an entry fee, which also went towards the purchase of a sample as well as the license to copy it.

Decades later, the process of copying designs is a lot simpler and (tragically) doesn’t involve employing covert sketchers. Rather than needing to get a hold of the actual garments, fast fashion manufacturers have instant access to the latest collections once they’re published online. This means that the timeline from original on the runway to counterfeit in the mall can be as short as two weeks.

All of this is really interesting, and the copyright laws surrounding sewing patterns and designers are super whack, but this doesn’t answer my ultimate question of WHY DOES VOGUE PATTERN 9266 EXIST?!

The Melania Trump outfit isn’t the only occasion where pattern companies have released patterns for well known outfits. Simplicity and McCalls have both released many look-a-like patterns for costumes worn on Game of Thrones, The Addams Family, The Hobbit, and Mirror Mirror (you know… that Julia Roberts movie from 2012?? me neither).

Due to my own lack of knowledge on couture fashion, I wasn’t able to locate any other cases of designer looks being reproduced by pattern companies. So, like, they might exist? But as I am a fashion newb, I was unable to find any further examples.

What I did find is that some designers have collaborated with Vogue Patterns to release licensed sewing patterns. For example, Vogue released 11 patterns by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy between 1998 and 2002.

More importantly, I discovered that Ralph Lauren had done the same thing with Vogue Patterns in the past as well! I found photos of patterns from the 1970s to the 1990s. However, something to note about these patterns is that they were all very clearly labeled “Ralph Lauren” in all capital letters, which Vogue Pattern 9266 lacks.

So, conclusion? Tl;DR? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Vogue Patterns and Ralph Lauren have a history of collaboration, but V9266 doesn’t have the same labeling. Also, if Ralph Lauren had decided to give Vogue Patterns his pattern to license and distribute, why would it take a year and a half? Couldn’t he just like email them his notes or whatever? Conclusion: I have no fucking clue you guys. Someone with an actual background in this field needs to take over for me.

In conclusion, I think the blue dress/coat combo is really stylish and I’m super annoyed that it was worn by someone I want absolutely no association with because otherwise I’d be 100% down for making my own. Morals : 1 Fashion : 0

Sources:

http://www.sewcratic.com/learn/sewipedia/pattern-companies/vogue-pattern-company

https://mccall.com/v9266

https://www.today.com/style/melania-trump-s-inauguration-day-dress-designed-ralph-lauren-t107230

https://heavy.com/news/2017/01/melania-trump-blue-dress-coat-inauguration-inaugural-designer-ralph-lauren-style-photos-jackie-jacqueline-kennedy-who-designed-made-cost/

https://www.edelweisspatterns.com/blog/?p=6005

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTWWdLX1rAg

https://issuu.com/mccallpatterncompany/docs/vogue_patterns_fall_2017_lookbook

https://www.vox.com/2018/4/27/17281022/fashion-brands-knockoffs-copyright-stolen-designs-old-navy-zara-h-and-m

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Hawes#Fashion_career_in_Paris_(1925%E2%80%931928)

https://www.thecut.com/2014/11/new-fashion-exhibit-thats-all-about-knockoffs.html

https://blog.pattern-vault.com/cosplay-costuming/

https://blog.pattern-vault.com/alexander-mcqueen-series/

https://blog.pattern-vault.com/2018/09/07/ralph-lauren-50-years/

#fashion #fashion history #vogue patterns #v9266 #ralph lauren

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