Problem: Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942 - October 27, 2013) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist, singer and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground, with a solo career that spanned five decades. The Velvet Underground achieved little commercial success during their existence, but are now regarded as one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, and alternative music. After leaving the band in 1970, he released 20 solo studio albums.

In 1980, Reed married British designer Sylvia Morales. Morales inspired Reed to write several songs, particularly "Think It Over" from 1980's Growing Up in Public and "Heavenly Arms" from 1982's The Blue Mask. After Legendary Hearts (1983) and New Sensations (1984), Reed was sufficiently reestablished as a public figure to become spokesman for Honda motorcycles. In the early 1980s, Reed worked with guitarists including Chuck Hammer on Growing Up in Public, and Robert Quine on The Blue Mask and Legendary Hearts.  The New York Times observed in 1998 that in the 1970s, Reed had a distinctive persona: "Back then he was publicly gay, pretended to shoot heroin onstage, and cultivated a 'Dachau panda' look, with cropped peroxide hair and black circles painted under his eyes." The newspaper wrote that in 1980, "Reed renounced druggy theatrics, even swore off intoxicants themselves, and became openly heterosexual, openly married."  On September 22, 1985, Reed performed at the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois. He performed "Doin' the Things That We Want To", "I Love You, Suzanne", "New Sensations" and "Walk on the Wild Side" as his solo set, later playing bass for Roy Orbison during his set. In June 1986, Reed released Mistrial (co-produced with Fernando Saunders). To support the album, he released two music videos: "No Money Down" and "The Original Wrapper". In the same year, he joined Amnesty International's A Conspiracy of Hope short tour and was outspoken about New York City's political issues and personalities.  The 1989 album New York, which commented on crime, AIDS, Jesse Jackson, Kurt Waldheim and Pope John Paul II, became his second gold-certified work when it passed 500,000 sales in 1997. Reed was nominated for a Grammy Award for best male rock vocal performance for the album.

What was the blue mask?

Answer with quotes: from 1982's The Blue Mask.


Problem: Color Me Badd is an American contemporary R&B group that was formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The original members of the group were lead singer Bryan Abrams (born November 16, 1969), second tenor Mark Calderon (born September 27, 1970), second tenor Sam Watters (born July 23, 1970) and baritone Kevin Thornton (born June 17, 1969). They formed in 1985 and broke up in 1998 before reuniting in 2010, with various lineups since. As of 2016, they operate as a trio with Abrams, Calderon and Adam Emil.

Kevin Thornton left the group in October 1998 to pursue the ministry. He became a licensed minister, and has since served as an evangelist, youth pastor and worship leader at his home church, Without Walls Church, in Fort Worth, Texas. He operates Kevin Thornton Ministries in Texas. In 2008, he released a solo album, Conversions, blending contemporary hip-hop/rap with gospel and soul music.  Sam Watters pursued a career as a record producer, achieving success producing for Jessica Simpson, Celine Dion, Fantasia, Anastacia, Natasha Bedingfield, Kelly Clarkson, 98 Degrees, Blake Lewis, and others. Watters is a member of the production/songwriting team The Runaways, which also includes Rico Love, Wayne Wilkins, Ryan Tedder, and Louis Biancaniello. He married R&B singer and former American Idol contestant Tamyra Gray in 2006.  Mark Calderon worked with artists such as Stevie Brock, whose 2002 remake of "All 4 Love" reached number 1 on the Disney charts; and with IPV, who is signed with Wright Entertainment and had songs played on the television series House and Knight Rider. In 1992, Calderon married Lisa Smedley-Calderon, who was formerly Color Me Badd's fashion stylist.  In 2001, Bryan Abrams released a solo album entitled Welcome to Me. In 2007, he co-starred on the VH1 reality TV series Mission: Man Band, which also included former boy band members Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees, Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC and Rich Cronin of Lyte Funkie Ones, seeing if they could make it as a new group. The show was canceled after seven episodes. In 2007, after being approached by Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, Abrams co-wrote and recorded an appearance on the Insane Clown Posse song "Truth Dare", which was released on the compilations Psychopathics from Outer Space 3 (2007) and Featuring Freshness (2011). In 2010, Abrams wrote three songs for Kool & the Gang, singing lead on all three tracks.  On August 22, 2000, Giant Records released the compilation album The Best of Color Me Badd.

What else did they do ?

Answer with quotes: he co-starred on the VH1 reality TV series Mission: Man Band, which also included former boy band members Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees,


Problem: Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (Russian: Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaia, IPA: ['an:@ sjtjI'pan@vn@ p@ljIt'kofsk@j@]; Ukrainian: Ganna Stepanivna Politkovs'ka ['han:a ste'panjiuna poljit'kousjka]; nee Mazepa [ma'zepa]; 30 August 1958 - 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist, writer, and human rights activist who reported on political events in Russia, in particular, the Second Chechen War (1999-2005).

After Politkovskaya became widely known in the West, she was commissioned to write Putin's Russia (later subtitled Life in a Failing Democracy), a broader account of her views and experiences after former KGB lieutenant colonel Vladimir Putin became Boris Yeltsin's Prime Minister, and then succeeded him as President of Russia. This included Putin's pursuit of the Second Chechen War. In the book, she accused the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) of stifling all civil liberties in order to establish a Soviet-style dictatorship, but admitted:  [It] is we who are responsible for Putin's policies ... [s]ociety has shown limitless apathy ... [a]s the Chekists have become entrenched in power, we have let them see our fear, and thereby have only intensified their urge to treat us like cattle. The KGB respects only the strong. The weak it devours. We of all people ought to know that.  She also wrote:  We are hurtling back into a Soviet abyss, into an information vacuum that spells death from our own ignorance. All we have left is the internet, where information is still freely available. For the rest, if you want to go on working as a journalist, it's total servility to Putin. Otherwise, it can be death, the bullet, poison, or trial--whatever our special services, Putin's guard dogs, see fit.  "People often tell me that I am a pessimist, that I don't believe in the strength of the Russian people, that I am obsessive in my opposition to Putin and see nothing beyond that", she opens an essay titled "Am I Afraid?", finishing it--and the book--with the words "If anybody thinks they can take comfort from the 'optimistic' forecast, let them do so. It is certainly the easier way, but it is the death sentence for our grandchildren."

were there any other criticisms?

Answer with quotes:
the Chekists have become entrenched in power, we have let them see our fear, and thereby have only intensified their urge to treat us like cattle.