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Blue Lives Matter

Ta-Nehisi Coates The Atlantic
Talking about "police reform" obscures the task. Today's policies are, at the very least, the product of democratic will.

The Demise of Dr. Oz

Peter Janiszewski Public Library of Science
After some suave marketers used clips from Oz's TV show to sell bogus products, he faced a grilling from a panel of U.S. senators about his weight loss product claims. Oz then invited his Twitter audience, "What is your biggest question for me? Reply with #OzsInbox." Unfortunately for Oz, this strategy backfired. Horrendously. Immediately after Oz asked the question, Twitter gave Dr. Oz a hilarious slap across the face.

Pete Seeger -- Waist Deep in the Big Muddy

For a biographical account of America in song, look to Pete Seeger (1919-2014). This song of Pete's is the one he chose to sing on national TV in 1968, ending his more than decade-long blacklist, and showing that he hadn't made peace with war and injustice.

Handel's Messiah: A Random Act of Culture

The Opera Company of Philadelphia Chorus, together with singers from a cross section of community groups, infiltrate a department store as shoppers and burst into a pop-up rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's "Messiah," in one of 1,000 Random Acts of Culture. Watch the performers, delighted children, spontaneous videographers, and the entire public within earshot together "create culture."

Hong Kong: Ode to Joy Flashmob

The Hong Kong Festival Orchestra gives a flashmob performance of Beethoven's Ode to Joy in 2013. A spiritual prelude to Occupy Hong Kong and the Democracy Encampments? 

Friday Nite Videos -- Singing Out 2014

Portside
Hong Kong Ode to Joy Flash Mob. Stevie Wonder: 'Hard Time Mississippi.' Handel's Messiah: A Random Act of Culture. Pete Seeger -- Waist Deep in the Big Muddy. Mary Poppins Really Needs a Raise.

New York Times Editorial: Prosecute Torturers and Their Bosses

The Editorial Board, New York Times The New York Times
The New York Times editorial - in the paper of record - demanded that those responsible for the vicious torture policies be brought to trial. Any credible investigation should include former Vice President Dick Cheney; Mr. Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington; the former CIA director George Tenet; and John Yoo and Jay Bybee, the Office of Legal Counsel lawyers who drafted what became known as the torture memos. There are many more names that could be considered.