PFT: Jets have explored ex-Raiders QB Russell

AP

We mentioned earlier today that 49ers wide receiver Randy Moss declared himself the best wideout in the history of the game.

You?ll likely see much more about him in the coming days, in many outlets, because he was so open and forthcoming and illuminating about many topics during his appearance at Media Day.

When Moss is on, he?s extremely interesting, he just chooses not to be on often.

But among the gems today was a candid admission that he didn?t particularly care for the way the 49ers used him this year.

In the past, it could have been a Keyshawn-level ?Just Give Me the Damn Ball? routine, but Moss said it so matter-of-factly it was easy to miss.

?I don?t like my role; I don?t,? he said. ?I like to be out there playing football. One thing that I?ve always had to really understand was being a decoy. It was put to me, Coach Dennis Green just said, ?Even though the football is not in your hand, you?re still out there dictating how the defense is playing the offense.? It took me awhile to really understand where he was coming from. Later on and now in my career, I understand that my presence out on the field, I don?t always have to touch the ball to be able to help the offense score touchdowns.

?Like I said, I don?t really like that, but it?s something that I?m used to. I have to grow to understand and grow to like it. I?ve always been a team player. I?ve never been about self. Anything that is going to push our team to victory and hopefully win a Super Bowl, I?m willing to do.?

No, that was Moss, who hasn?t always been accused to giving freely of himself for the greater good.

But 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman said Moss had been nothing but professional.

?He?s been great,? Roman said. ?I think he?s a great team player, and a mentor for all the guys, really.?

His love of competition has never been in doubt. Moss joked about past arguments, even fights, he?s had with coaches and players. But his role with the 49ers, as much as he might not like it, remains a valuable one, as Roman insisted Moss could still ?get behind a defense in a hurry.?

?When I hear people talk about how talented I am and how easy I make it look, I can honestly tell you people that it?s very hard work,? Moss said. ?I work out five times a week. I put the work in and for me to be able to go out there and have results it something I am proud of. It?s not always the individual results that I?m proud of. For me to be able to talk to a Michael Crabtree or talk to a Frank Gore or Percy Harvin and for them to go out there and have a good game that week, that?s something I can be proud of. That?s just me giving back to the NFL.

?I?ve always said, I don?t like what the NFL does for me because I?m very blessed. My family is blessed. I?ve always been the type of person to know what I can do to make the League better. At this point in my career, if I?m able to be vocal, to share a little knowledge and also to go out there and play, if that?s what it takes to win a championship, then I?m willing to do that. I?ve always been that way.?

Maybe so, but he hasn?t been quite the way he was Tuesday too often, or the perception of his career would likely be very different.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/28/jets-have-explored-jamarcus-russell/related/

Republican National Convention

Firebrand cleric raises fear of "soft coup" in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - To Pakistan's ruling party, a firebrand cleric camped outside parliament with thousands of protesters is looking more and more like the harbinger of their worst fear: a plan by the military to engineer a "soft coup".

In their eyes, Muhammad Tahirul Qadri seems like the perfect candidate for such a mission. A practiced orator who has electrified crowds with his anti-corruption rhetoric, the doctor of Islamic law leapt into action to back the last power grab by the army in 1999.

The aim this time, some politicians suspect, is to use Qadri to bring down the current administration and provide a pretext for the army to hand pick a caretaker cabinet.

"What we are seeing is dangerous and evidence that unconstitutional third forces are up to their tricks again," said Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a politician who has been a frequent critic of the army's record of interfering in politics.

The military has denied any link to Qadri, and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has built up a reputation for standing more aloof from politics than predecessors who have not hesitated to dismiss civilian governments. Pakistan has been ruled by the military for more than half of its 65 years as an independent nation.

Critics note, furthermore, that the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which has a long record of confrontation with the military, has often been quick to portray itself as a victim of bullying by the military to distract attention from its shortcomings.

But the timing of Qadri's return from six years of living in Canada, just a few months before elections are due, and his role in supporting a 1999 coup by former army chief Pervez Musharraf have nonetheless rung alarm bells.

Qadri, who led a convoy of buses carrying thousands of protesters into the capital, Islamabad, on Monday, has repeatedly demanded that the army should have a say in the formation of an interim administration that is due to oversee the run-up to elections in May.

"You meet army officers in the night; I'm asking that you consult with them on the caretaker set up under the sunlight," Qadri said in a speech on Tuesday in remarks clearly addressed to the government.

The PPP's fears over the potential for military meddling centre on the impending formation of a caretaker cabinet.

Pakistan passed a constitutional amendment last year that requires the government and opposition to agree on the composition of the temporary administration.

The amendment is designed to prevent any ruling party exploiting the advantages of incumbency to manipulate elections by using state power to skew the playing field.

The PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League, the main opposition party, have spent months negotiating a list of mutually acceptable names for the transitional cabinet, including a number of politicians noted for resisting military rule.

"The PPP has lost three generations of leaders fighting against dictatorships," said a senior member of the PPP. "You think we will give up now? We will take up this battle at all levels."

CONTEMPT

Military officers privately do little to conceal their contempt for the PPP, whose government has been unable to end militant violence, bring down sharp food price inflation or get the economy on track since it took power in March, 2008.

They are also dismissive of the Pakistan Muslim League.

One officer, speaking in a personal capacity, said the army had no desire to seize power but might be forced to play a role as mediator between political factions if the cleric's protests trigger a prolonged crisis.

"If this gets worse, then the army may have to intervene (as a moderator)," he told Reuters.

After years of suspicion and ill-will between the generals and the PPP-led coalition led by President Asif Ali Zardari, Qadri's protests have seemed to signal a shift in the political landscape, with unpredictable consequences.

"We can't say who is behind him. But all we know is that he can't pull this off without backing from someone," Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the veteran leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Pakistan's biggest religious party, said on television.

The political temperature soared even higher on Tuesday when Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in connection with a corruption case. Authorities have yet to carry out his instructions.

An aide to Ashraf said the military was behind this move as well, but the chief justice is known to be independent-minded.

If Qadri succeeds in bringing down the government, then a man whose name had faded from the limelight since he left Pakistan for Canada in 2006 will have sabotaged the PPP's bid to be the first civilian government to complete a full term.

That would undermine Pakistan's struggle to bury the legacy of decades of military dictatorship by building institutions strong enough to resolve the nuclear-armed country's multiple crises.

The military has a track record of picking interim administrations in past decades that have then overstepped their mandates by hounding the army's political opponents or manipulating elections.

Army officers in Bangladesh, which was part of Pakistan until it broke away in 1971, have used a similar approach to appoint a technocratic government to implement reforms.

But some commentators and Western diplomats argue that times have changed and the military has lost the appetite for embroiling itself in struggles with increasingly assertive political parties and a hyperactive media.

"The military has no interest in disrupting the path to elections: in fact their interest is the opposite, supporting the transfer of power from one elected government to another, which is a political milestone in Pakistan's history," said Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington.

Much will depend on whether Qadri has enough rhetorical firepower left to persuade his followers to maintain their protest, or whether the government decides to order the police to apply pressure to disperse them.

"There is nothing wrong with raising your concerns and protesting," said Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira. "But if you try to hold the capital hostage and disrupt the lives of its people, the law will take its course."

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy and Mubasher Bukhari; Editing by Michael Georgy, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/firebrand-cleric-raises-fear-soft-coup-pakistan-034852830.html

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NRA targets Obama kids in new Web site, ad (Americablog)

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Liver? I Hardly Know Her!

Emily Yoffe

Photograph by Teresa Castracane.

Emily Yoffe, aka Dear Prudence, is on Washingtonpost.com weekly to chat live with readers. An edited?transcript of the chat is below. (Sign up here?to get Dear Prudence delivered to your inbox each week. Read Prudie?s?Slate columns?here. Send questions to Prudence at prudence@slate.com.)

Q. Liver Transplant: My young niece requires a liver transplant. It turns out that her mom?my SIL?and my husband are a match. We've done a lot of research into it and I feel incredibly uneasy about my husband being a live donor, due to the various risks and impact on his health. My SIL has stated she "can't" donate because it means she can't breast-feed her 1-year-old son or look after the other two kids immediately after the operation. My husband has always been the type of person who gives more than he can, willingly and without thinking. So without any contemplation, he readily agreed. If my SIL wasn't a match either I would absolutely support him being a donor. But it seems that being a donor is too difficult and inconvenient for my SIL, yet she wants my husband to take all the risks. I told my SIL if she were to go through the operation I would take time off work to look after her and her children. Yet she stubbornly insists on my husband. Since I protested so strongly my husband says he will go ahead only if I agree, and now my SIL is extremely angry and hostile toward me. Am I a terrible person or is my SIL being selfish?

A: Making a decision about organ donation is not be something that should be done without thinking. Since your husband is contemplating this, he should sit down with an expert counselor who can outline the risks and the benefits?knowing one has saved a life has to be a pretty profound thing. Your sister-in-law should also get her own counselor who can lay out her risks and recovery process. Obviously, if she were to be the donor she would need an enormous amount of help caring for the children while she heals. But it sounds as if she has the family around to do it. (Weaning a 1-year-old is a trivial consideration in the context of what's a stake here.) You need to do some major backing off. Of course your husband's health is a concern for you, and a legitimate one. And yes it's fine if you feel he was pressured into this and you want him to give it deeper consideration. But ultimately you must recognize he is an adult and this is not your decision to make. I'm sure time is an issue here, but all of you need to cool off, step back, and agree that you will act like rational adults. Once your husband and sister talk to transplant advisers, your family should hire a social worker with expertise in this subject and all of you, calmly and generously, should air things out to help you make the best decision for your niece and the entire family.

Q. Heard Domestic Violence Through the Walls: I live in an apartment complex with paper-thin walls. My university owns the complex, and upperclassmen live there. My neighbor and her boyfriend fight often?or, rather, he screams at her and she cries. I have never been comfortable with his treatment of her but lacked the push I needed to reach out and do something. Last night he yelled at her for talking to some guy, and I heard what sounded like three slaps. My neighbor started sobbing, and her boyfriend stormed out. I just ran into my neighbor, and she has a busted lip and a bruise across her cheekbone. I have no idea what to do. We don't know each other, and when I asked her if she was OK, she ignored me. I think she must realize I hear some of her boyfriend's screaming matches, but she probably doesn't know that I heard last night. What's my responsibility? I feel I must have some sort of obligation to help her. She might not trust me because to her I'm some strange guy.

A: The next time you hear them mid-fight call the police. In the meantime, report this to the dean of student affairs or the counseling office right away, while the cuts and bruises are fresh. You have more than enough evidence of assault. This boyfriend needs contact with the authorities, and this girlfriend needs help getting out.

Q. Psychic Matchmaker: I was never a huge believer in mysticism, but at a friend's urging, I have made three visits over the past few years to a tarot card reader who has been extraordinarily accurate. During the first two readings, she was very specific about dates and details and roughly 80 percent of her predictions came true. I just visited her again recently and one of the first things she mentioned was in regard to my love life. She mentioned a name and some details about this person and said he was interested in reuniting with me but would never initiate anything because he feared rejection. I knew immediately who she was talking about, and based on my experience with him, I think there is a good chance she could be right. I am interested in pursuing this possibility, but he lives out-of-state and I am not sure how to go about initiating contact with him. I'm used to being pursued and not the pursuer. I do have an email address and other contact information. I would leave the psychic story out, but what should I say? Do you think I'm crazy?

A: I don't believe in all this mumbo jumbo, except when I was regularly seeing psychics I did find one who predicted that within a short period?she said two days, two weeks, or two months?I would meet the man I would marry. I paid her and walked out thinking, "This is the worst psychic I've ever been to" (which is a pretty silly thought itself). Two weeks later my future husband and I went out on a blind date. Upon my marriage, I permanently retired from the psychic-visiting business. Let's put aside the fact that you're thinking of contacting this guy because of the prompting of a psychic. (And are you sure your friend hasn't supplied your psychic with some helpful details about your life?) Your shy guy who got away sounds like someone worth pursuing. When women get to a certain point?one of frustration?in their love lives, I think it's a good idea to reassess one's types and methods. Stepping out of your usual role of the pursued and initiating contact would be a useful exercise, no matter what comes of it. When you get in touch, definitely leave out the psychic story for now. All you need to say to him is that you wanted to wish him a happy new year and hear how he's doing.

Q. Bad Dog Denial: We recently moved back to a city we left several years ago. During that time two of our good friends got a cute dog that they love. She is a very sweet dog that loves to snuggle and give kisses. Now that we are back, we spend a lot of time with them so that our dog can play with theirs. My problem is their dog is so ill-behaved! She jumps up constantly and is overly aggressive in her play. It has gotten to the point when we go to a public place with their dog we get anxiety about whether or not it will pick a fight with someone's dog. We have tried hinting that she could use some more training, but they always blame it on the other dog. They never take responsibility for her. And they just adopted a second dog and seem to be letting the young one learn from their older one. We have started to limit our interactions with them and I feel it is ruining our relationship. Is there a nice way to say, "Hey, your dogs are cute and loveable, but act horribly and need training" without being offensive?

A: You're right that they have an out-of-control dog which is training the second dog to be just as dangerous and obnoxious. I don't understand why people just can't speak up about issues that if they remain unaddressed are going to ruin the relationship anyway. Just tell your friends you enjoy their company and their dogs are adorable, but their pooches need some behavior modification. Say that when you live with pets every day it's easy to lose perspective, but these wonderful animals will be happier, and going out with them with be less anxiety-filled, if a good trainer helps your friends be better owners.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=31ca0c63454b80e14c5cc84987844c38

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California meteorite reveals secrets thanks to crowdsourcing (+video)

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Recently published research describes a collection of meteorite pieces that landed in California in April. The study came about through a group effort dubbed "crowdsourcing" by the lead scientist.   

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/2uF_M25U_-Y/California-meteorite-reveals-secrets-thanks-to-crowdsourcing-video

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