Radical Yemeni cleric believed unhurt in airstrike

By GottaLaff

Whenever a report comes out that says, "cleric believed to be killed in airstrike" I discount it. Here's one more reason why:

A U.S.-born radical cleric is alive and well following reports he may have been killed in a Yemeni airstrike against suspected al-Qaida hideouts, friends and relatives said Friday.

The government said it targeted a meeting of high-level al-Qaida operatives in Thursday's airstrike in the remote Shabwa region. It claimed at least 30 militants were killed, possibly including Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric who has been linked to the shooter in last month's attack at the Fort Hood military base in the U.S.

Oops. Missed. And by that I mean the early reporting, not the airstrike.

People close to al-Alwaki said it is unlikely the cleric would be sitting through a field meeting convened by fighters, considering he saw his role as a scholar and one that gives religious advises and rulings.

The cleric's brother, who only agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, said he also received assurances that his older sibling is still alive.

A tribal chief in Shabwa, who only used his alias Abu Mohammed, said he was informed that Anwar al-Alwaki was alive and is unharmed.

Hold the Eulogies, Ted Kennedy Says

By GottaLaff

Feb 9, 2009

I have never been more happy to update a post:

He considers unnecessary what his son Representative Patrick J. Kennedy of Rhode Island calls “the premature eulogizing,” or what Mr. Biden terms “a bordering on an obituary,” that has accompanied his life in recent months.

“Obviously I’ve been touched and grateful,” Mr. Kennedy said in a phone interview Friday from the rented home in Miami where he has spent most of the winter. “Beyond that, I don’t really plan to go away soon.”

Friends who have seen Mr. Kennedy describe him as driven and focused on work as he recuperates in Florida. He sometimes gets angry watching C-Span, pores over memorandums and briefing papers, and speed-dials staff members and colleagues (sometimes from his sailboat, the Mya). He speaks frequently — and often on his trademark issue, overhauling the nation’s health care system — to President Obama; Mr. Biden; the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel; and checks up on the Senate “chatter” with lawmakers.

Between chemotherapy treatments, physical therapy sessions and naps, Mr. Kennedy has been lobbying the White House on possible nominees for secretary of health and human services. (He has heard good things about the leading candidate, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, though he does not know her well and has been pressing for other candidates.)

While his office said he planned to return to Washington in a few weeks, Mr. Kennedy has been orchestrating efforts from afar, setting the foundation for legislation on what he calls “the cause of my life.”

“What has been essential to his recovery and motivation has been setting goals,” said Dr. Lawrence C. Horowitz, a former Kennedy staff member who has been overseeing his care. The first goal the senator set after cancer surgery in June was to speak at the Democratic National Convention (he did, despite painful kidney stones); then he resolved to attend Mr. Obama’s inauguration (he did, though he had a seizure afterward).

“Now, his goal is to play a central role in health care reform,” Dr. Horowitz said. “That’s what keeps him going.” [...]

Mr. Kennedy describes the Senate as a “chemical place,” meaning that reading the chemistry between members is critical to understanding how an issue or a vote will play out. Removed from it, he has been frustrated, fellow Democrats say.

“When he’s not here, things don’t happen the same way,” Mr. Dodd said. [...]

Dr. Horowitz said, “He is doing very well, considering that he has a serious disease.” He added that the “unanimous consensus” of Mr. Kennedy’s team of doctors is that “his disease is totally under control.” [...]

After the swearing-in, Mr. Kennedy repaired to the Capitol for a Congressional luncheon, where he mingled with colleagues and ate a meal of pheasant and seafood stew. Before dessert, he was rushed to a hospital after a seizure. The next day, Mr. Kennedy called Mr. Biden to check up on his 15-year-old granddaughter, who had witnessed the incident.

“I’m sorry if I upset your granddaughter,” the vice president recalled him saying. Mr. Kennedy also sent Mr. Biden’s 91-year-old mother flowers (he told her she looked wonderful at the inauguration).

Stories of such gestures from Mr. Kennedy have abounded. [...]

“I got elected to Congress in 1972 running against the Kennedys,” said former Senator Trent Lott, the onetime Republican leader. “Forget liberal, conservative, moderate, whatever,” he said of Mr. Kennedy. “He’s a damn nice guy.”

Tears.

There is so much more. Go here to read it all.