Tactical Peek
Tactical Peek's Journal
He Fought The Good Fight ... Published by digby, about Howard Klein
He Fought The Good Fight
Published by digby on December 29, 2025
It’s been a sad holiday season for many of us in this little corner of the political world. Our good friend Howie Klein passed away on Christmas eve after battling a long illness. He wrote about it philosophically on his seminal blog Down With Tyranny and being an extremely spiritual person, his insights into the journey were typically heartfelt and inspiring.
Howie had the most interesting life of anyone I’ve ever met. He was a world traveler — he’d been everywhere — and continued his gallivanting up until this year. Back in the 60s he was one of those itinerant hippies who traveled by bus through Afghanistan to India and beyond, also living in Europe for years working at a variety of different jobs. I’m pretty sure he’d been to every continent, some many times over.
Back in the states he was a member of the 70s NY music scene hanging out at CBGBs with the likes of Lou Reed and Patti Smith. Settling later on the west coast in San Francisco he was a DJ at the legendary college station KUSF, playing the new emerging music of the New Wave that was hopping in that city during the 1980s. (I used to listen to his show while I was in college there.) He eventually started his own indie record label called 415 which featured a number of great local bands like Romeo Void, Red Rockers, The Nuns, and Pearl Harbor and the Explosions. The label caught the attention of Warner Brothers where Howie eventually ended up becoming the president of the Reprise label.
Throughout all this he was a fierce progressive activist, always fighting for free speech, LGBTQ rights and the cause of civil rights and civil liberties. He served on the board of People for the American Way, testified before congress and always stood up for artistic freedom. At heart he was always a revolutionary.
I met Howie about 20 years ago as the budding Los Angeles blogging community was coming together. He and John Amato, David Dayen, Kevin Drum, Jane Hamsher and others met in the flesh at various venues and began what was to become a flourishing progressive blogging scene. At some point around 2006 we formed Blue America PAC, dedicated to helping progressive candidates.
more . . . https://digbysblog.net/2025/12/29/he-fought-the-good-fight/
(I knew he was one of the good ones, but only learned today how good.)
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/howie-klein-february-20-1948-december-24-2025
Too Hot To Handel: The Gopsel Messiah
"Gospel Messiah" was first performed in New York in 1993 and has since become a seasonal fixture at venues across the United States.The production was conceived by conductor Marin Alsop and arranged by Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson.
They set out to reimagine this 18th century masterpiece through jazz, soul, and gospel.
This marks its European premiere.
https://www.pbs.org/video/too-hot-to-handel-the-gospel-messiah-qkbzdr/
"HOLIDAY FILM IDEA: It's a Wonderful Life, but with an angel showing . . . "
Middle Age Riot
@middleageriot.bsky.social
·
HOLIDAY FILM IDEA: It's a Wonderful Life, but with an angel showing Donald Trump how much better off everyone would be if he had never been born.
Peter Arnett, Pulitzer-Winning War Correspondent, Dies at 91
Source: NYT
by Robert D. McFadden
Dec. 17, 2025, 10:37 p.m. ET
Peter Arnett, an intrepid Associated Press combat correspondent who won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Vietnam War and became one of the world’s best-known television reporters on the scene of wars and insurrections for 18 years with CNN, died on Wednesday in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 91.
Mr. Arnett’s daughter, Elsa, confirmed his death and said the cause was prostate cancer.
From Vietnam’s jungles to war-torn Iraq, where he interviewed President Saddam Hussein and was twice among the last Western TV broadcasters in Baghdad — as the Persian Gulf War began in 1991 and as an American-led coalition invaded in 2003 — Mr. Arnett broke news and rules, infuriated national leaders and inspired generations of journalists.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/world/peter-arnett-dead.html
Duke Ellington - Take The A Train (1964)
Lots of chat from Duke and also rare shot of Billy Strayhorn. This version of 'A-Train' features Ernie Shepard (aka. Sheppard) on vocals and bass.
"Dedication" - Andrew Hill, Kenny Dorham, Eric Dolphy, Joe Henderson, Richard Davis, Tony Williams
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_Departure_(Andrew_Hill_album)
The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek calls the album "a stellar date, essential for any representative jazz collection, and a record that, in the 21st century, still points the way to the future for jazz".[2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz gives the album a four-star rating plus a special "crown" accolade, and includes it as part of a selected "Core Collection."[4] . . . The sad aura of the piece was such that, after playing a section of said piece, Dorham teared up a bit.[6]
RIP Rob Reiner
The Swingin' Nutcracker by Shorty Rogers with his Sax Quintet & The Big Band (1960)
A3 Blue Reeds (Reed Flute Blues) 5:27
(under the video click More for track selection)
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