Paradise News

Tag: General News

  • Ex-CBN Deputy Governor, Kingsley Moghalu, Faults Bawa’s Detention, Release Without Explanation

    A former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu, has faulted the prolonged detention and sudden release of Abdulrasheed Bawa, a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission by the Department of State Services without charging him to court, or offering explanation on why he was detained in the first place.

    Recall THE WHISTLER reported that on 14th June, 2023 Bawa was suspended from office by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Abdulkarim Chukkol was appointed to act in his capacity as chairman.

    The DSS had immediately picked Bawa for questioning at the DSS headquarters at about 9:pm on the same day he was suspended.

    The DSS Spokesman, Peter Afunanya confirmed the arrest in a statement saying: “The Department of State Services (DSS) has invited Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).”

    Meanwhile, during the time of arrest and the entire period the embattled ex-Chairman remained in custody, DSS didn’t state why he was taken into custody, although there was a clamour for his removal from office by civil society organisations, raising allegations on his inability to obey court orders among other corruption allegations.

    However, a lawsuit was filed at the Federal High Court, Lagos, by a lawyer, Nkereuwem Anana, seeking an order for the immediate release of the embattled EFCC Chair from custody.

    The lawyer is also seeking for the sum of N100 million to be paid by the federal government to Bawa, in compensation for what he termed “unlawful and continuous” detention by the DSS.

    Recently, on 25th October, 2023 DSS finally freed the embattled Bawa after about four months of staying in custody. Sources privy to the development revealed that the ex-EFCC boss refused to hire a legal representative despite his confinement.

    Shortly after his release, the spokesman of the DSS confirmed the release in a terse statement giving no reasons for the release. “DSS confirms release of former EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, a few hours ago (today 25th October, 2023),” it said.

    Reacting to this, the former Deputy Governor of CBN, Moghalu who served between 2009 – 2014 expressed his disappointment over the whole thing.

    He said: “I was therefore disappointed and sad when Bawa was removed, arrested and detained for several months without charges or trial. To the extent he has now been released, we have no knowledge of why he was arrested in the first place, or if he was guilty or innocent of any allegation against him.

    “But it should not happen in a country that claims to respect the rule of law that a citizen can be held for so long without any real or clear charges. That’s impunity. Nigeria’s institutions have been destroyed, and what we see is impunity all over. Bad.”



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  • Fact Check: Haaretz rebuts claims about its reporting on Israeli casualties

    A viral Oct. 28 social media post claimed that “Israel lied to justify genocide,” and cited Israeli newspaper Haaretz as evidence. 

    “Haaretz investigation reveals discrepancies in Israel’s reporting on October 7th death toll,” said a screenshot of a headline shared on Instagram as the first in a carousel of slides. 

    The second slide said a Haaretz investigation “confirmed that the actual number of casualties from the events on Oct. 7” is 900. 

    This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)  

    (Screenshot from Instagram.)

    Searching for the headline from the Instagram post turned up an Oct. 28 article on eHalal.io, the website for eHalal Group, a company that describes itself as Washington, D.C.-based and “dedicated to providing a range of services and solutions centered around the concept of halal.” Halal, in Arabic, means lawful or permitted and refers to what’s sanctioned under Islamic law. 

    The eHalal Group article did not link to any Haaretz stories.   

    Others made the same claim. Jackson Hinkle, a pro-Russia and pro-Trump social media personality, claimed in an Oct. 28 X post that Haaretz’s reporting “exposed” that Israeli officials had inflated the Oct. 7 death toll when it was actually around 900. 

    Haaretz reshared Hinkle’s post on X and wrote: “This post contains blatant lies about the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7. It has absolutely no basis in Haaretz’s reporting, then or since.” 

    Haaretz is a Tel Aviv, Israel-based daily newspaper. Its website says it was founded by Zionist immigrants and has a “a broadly liberal outlook both on domestic issues and on international affairs.”

    PolitiFact found no evidence that Haaretz revealed “discrepancies” in Israel’s reporting of the death toll, as the claim says. We contacted Haaretz for comment but received no reply. 

    In the attack’s early hours, Haaretz reported that “at least 250 Israelis were killed and over 1,600 were wounded throughout the day.” On Oct. 10, Haaretz reported that “over 900 Israelis have been killed since the initial Hamas attack.” By Oct. 11, the newspaper reported that at least 1,200 Israelis had been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

    An Oct. 17 Haaretz report examined what was then known about the attack. In that story, Haaretz reported that in the first hours of the war, Hamas “had overcome barriers Israel built on the border, murdering more than 1,300 people and taking at least 199 hostages.” 

    Those reported casualties were similar to figures other news outlets reported: 

    • The Associated Press reported that 1,300 Israelis were killed.

    • NBC News reported that 1,300 Israelis were killed, including 265 soldiers.

    • The Guardian reported that as of Oct. 13, 1,300 Israel residents had been killed, including almost 250 soldiers. Most of the dead were killed when Hamas attacked on Oct. 7. 

    • The Washington Post reported that 1,400 people were killed in Hamas’ attack and 229 were taken hostage.

    When searching Haaretz’s site for the 900 figure, we found a page titled “Israel’s Dead: The Names of Those Killed in Hamas Attacks, Massacres and the Israel-Hamas War.”

    The page lists more than 900 “officially confirmed names of Israel’s dead” from the attack on Oct. 7 “and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war.” But that page also said more than 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed and said the list would be “continuously updated.” 

    Our ruling

    An Instagram post claimed that a “Haaretz investigation reveals discrepancies in Israel’s reporting on October 7th death toll.”

    Haaretz posted on X that the claims about its reporting are “blatant lies.”

    Haaretz and other news organizations have consistently reported that during the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas killed around 1,300 Israeli residents.

    We rate these claims False.

    PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.



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  • A new era of vaccines leaves old questions about prices unanswered – Paradise Post

    Elisabeth Rosenthal | (TNS) KFF Health News

    The world is entering a new era of vaccines. Following the success of COVID-19 mRNA shots, scientists have a far greater capacity to tailor shots to a virus’s structure, putting a host of new vaccines on the horizon.

    The most recent arrivals — as anyone on the airwaves or social media knows — are several new immunizations against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

    These shots are welcome since RSV can be dangerous, even deadly, in the very old and very young. But the shots are also expensive — about $300 for those directed at adults, and up to $1,000 for one of the shots, a monoclonal antibody rather than a traditional vaccine, intended for babies. Many older vaccines cost pennies.

    So their advent is forcing the United States to face anew questions it has long sidestepped: How much should an immunization that will possibly be given — maybe yearly — to millions of Americans cost to be truly valuable? Also, given the U.S. is one of two countries that permit direct advertising to consumers: How can we ensure the shots get into the arms of people who will truly benefit and not be given, at great expense, to those who will not?

    Already, ads on televisions and social media show active retirees playing pickleball or going to art galleries whose lives are “cut short by RSV.” This explains the lines for the shot at my local pharmacy.

    But indiscriminate use of expensive shots could strain both public and private insurers’ already tight budgets.

    Other developed countries have deliberate strategies for deciding which vulnerable groups need a particular vaccine and how much to pay for it. The U.S. does not, and as specialized vaccines proliferate, public programs and private insurers will need to grapple with how to use and finance shots that can be hugely beneficial for some but will waste precious health dollars if taken by all.

    A seasonal viral illness, RSV can cause hospitalization or, in rare cases, death in babies and in people age 75 or older, as well as those with serious underlying medical conditions such as heart disease or cancer. For most people who get RSV, it plays out as a cold; you’ve likely had RSV without knowing it.

    But RSV puts about 2% of babies under age 1 in the hospital and kills between 100 and 300 of those under 6 months, because their immune systems are immature and their airways too narrow to tolerate the inflammation. Merely having a bad case of RSV in young childhood increases the risk of long-term asthma.

    That’s why Barney Graham, the scientist who spent decades at the government’s National Institutes for Health perfecting the basic science that led to the current shots, said: “The most obvious use is in infants,” not adults.

    That’s also why European countries trying to figure out how best to use these vaccines without breaking the bank focused first on babies and determining a sensible price. Though more of the very old may die of RSV, the years of life lost are much greater for the very young. (Babies can get the monoclonal antibody shot or gain protection through a traditional vaccine given to the mother near the end of pregnancy, conferring immunity through the womb.)

    A consortium of European experts led by Philippe Beutels, a professor in health economics at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, calculated that the shots would only be “worth it” in terms of the lives saved and hospitalizations averted in infants if the price were under about $80, he said in a phone interview. That’s because almost all babies make it through RSV with supportive care.

    The calculation will be used by countries such as Belgium, England, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands to negotiate a set price for the two infant shots, followed by decisions on which version should be offered, depending partly on which is more affordable.

    They have not yet considered how to distribute the vaccines to adults — considered less pressing — because studies show that RSV rarely causes severe disease in adults who live outside of care settings, such as a nursing home.

    Why did the United States and Europe approach the problem from opposite directions?

    In the U.S., there was a financial incentive: Roughly 3.7 million babies are born each year, while there are about 75 million Americans age 60 and older — the group for whom the two adult vaccines were approved. And about half of children get their vaccines through the Vaccines for Children program, which negotiates discounted prices.

    Also, babies can get vaccinated only by their clinicians. Adults can walk into pharmacies for vaccinations, and pharmacies are only too happy to have the business.

    But which older adults truly benefit from the shot? The two manufacturers of the adult vaccines, GSK and Pfizer, conducted their studies presented to the FDA for approval in a population of generally healthy people 60 and older, so that’s the group to whom they may be marketed. And marketed they are, even though the studies didn’t show the shots staved off hospitalization or death in people ages 60 to 75.

    That led to what some have called a “narrow” endorsement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for people 60 to 75: Patients in that age range could get the shot after “shared clinical decision-making” with a health provider.

    It is likely that because of this fuzzy recommendation, some Americans 60 and over with commercial insurance are finding that their insurers won’t cover it. Under Obamacare, insurers are generally required to cover at no cost vaccines that are recommended by the ACIP; however, if a provider recommends vaccination, then it must be covered by insurance.

    (In late September, the ACIP recommended immunization of all babies with either the antibody or the maternal vaccine. Insurers have a year to commence coverage and many have been dragging their feet because of the high price.)

    There are better and more equitable ways to steer the shots into the arms of those who need it, rather than simply administering it to those who have the “right” insurance or, swayed by advertising, can pay. For example, insurers, including Medicare, could be required to cover only those ages 60 to 75 who have a prescription from a doctor, indicating shared decision-making has occurred.

    Finally, during the pandemic emergency, the federal government purchased all COVID-19 vaccines in bulk at a negotiated price, initially below $20 a shot, and distributed them nationally. If, to protect public health, we want vaccines to get into the arms of all who benefit, that’s a more cohesive strategy than the patchwork one used now.

    Vaccines are miraculous, and it’s great news that they now exist to prevent serious illness and death from RSV. But using such novel vaccines wisely — directing them to the people who need them at a price they can afford — will be key. Otherwise, the cost to the health system, and to patients, could undermine this big medical win.

    ___

    (KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs of KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.)

    ©2023 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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  • ‘I Remain Living Faith Church Member’ — Isaac Oyedepo Denies Severing Ties With Father

    The second son of Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Pastor Isaac Oyedepo, has said he remains a steadfast member of Living Faith Church Worldwide.

    His statement is coming days after he was said to have resigned from the church.

    The reported resignation was announced Wednesday by Church Gist, a platform owned by Pastor Leke Beecroft, one of the long-term pastoral assistants at the LFC Headquarters in Ota.

    Church Gist said Isaac was planning to commence a new church ministry.

    But in a statement published on his official Facebook page, Isaac did not confirm or deny that he was starting his own ministry.

    Rather, he stated that no external statements had been authorized or verified by him and that his relationship with his father, family, and LFC was intact.

    “I must state that there are no complications in my relationship with my beloved family, and my beloved dad (Bishop David Oyedepo), who have stood by and supported me over the years; nor are there any in my commitment to my church-turned-home, Living Faith Church (also known as Winners Chapel International).

    “I remain a steadfast member of Living Faith Church, dedicated to service in the Body of Christ.

    “I urge the general public to treat information not communicated by me, or from any of my social media platforms, with extreme caution.

    “There should be no further publication(s) on social media, electronic or print media, about any severance of my relationship with the Living Faith Church, or my family, without my express authorization, as it may be considered a breach to my privacy. Thank you so much for understanding,” Isaac Oyedepo wrote.

    THE WHISTLER reported that Pastor Isaac was announced in September as the national youth pastor of the Youth Alive Fellowship (YAF), the youth arm of the church.

    This website reported that the YAF announced this via its official Facebook page, adding the new youth pastor will take the youthful congregation to glorious heights.

    “On the behalf of the Youths of Living Faith Church Worldwide, we say a big welcome to our National Youth Pastor, Pastor Isaac Oyedepo as he takes the Youth Alive Fellowship to the next levels of glory,” YAF posted.

    Isaac took over from his predecessor, Pastor David Nwabueze, who has been transferred to LFC Nasarawa state.

    In a recent interview, Isaac said his purpose in life was “to reclaim a generation and to ensure that this generation sees the fire of God’s revival in our generation.”

    The mandate of LFC under which YAF operates (which he was leading before his reported resignation) is “to liberate the whole world from all oppression of the devil through the preaching of the Word of Faith.”

    Isaac was ordained as Living Faith Church pastor by American preacher Kenneth Copeland in May 2007.

    He has pastored the Winners Chapel International, South Africa, Maryland United States and Lokogoma, Abuja before he was redeployed to the headquarters, Canaanland Ota.

    He is married to Ayomitide Omogbadegun and they are blessed with children.

    Source

  • Fact Check: While Wisconsin did vote for Biden in the last election, it’s far from a blue state

    In 2016, Wisconsin helped to swing the presidential vote for Donald Trump, a Republican. And four years later, it helped swing the vote the other way, for Joe Biden, the Democrat. 

    Meanwhile, the state has a supermajority of Republicans in its state Legislature and a Democrat (Tony Evers) in the governor’s mansion.

    And in the U.S. Senate, the state has one Republican (Ron Johnson) and one Democrat (Tammy Baldwin).

    So, is the state red or blue?

    It’s an age-old question that will play out again in 2024, when Wisconsin is expected to be one of a handful of states that could decide the presidential outcome. So, with about a year before that election, we decided to come back to a claim we set aside earlier this year when we first came across it. 

    In a May 30, 2023 Politico article about Wisconsin’s political landscape, former Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, claimed his own 2010 win was an “exception” and that the state isn’t red or even purple, as many claim. 

    “Wisconsin has historically been,” Walker said, “and I think largely continues to be, a blue state.” 

    Let’s take a deeper look. 

    Wisconsin has a mix of Republican and Democratic leaders

    When we asked Walker about the claim, spokesperson Jim Dick replied with a screen shot of a listing of recent U.S. presidential results in Wisconsin, going back to the re-election of Ronald Reagan in 1984. 

    Reagan won that election in Wisconsin, but following him was a series of Democrats – Michael Dukakis (1988), Bill Clinton (1992 and 1996), Al Gore (2000), John Kerry (2004) and Barack Obama (2008 and 2012.) Then, of course, came Trump and then Biden.

    So yes, Wisconsin has voted for a lot of Democratic presidential candidates in the past four decades. 

    But that ignores a key factor – the tightness of the recent races. For instance, four of the last 6 races were decided by less than one percentage point.

    When we asked for more information, Dick doubled down on Walker’s claim. 

    “While some races have been close, every presidential election since Reagan has favored the Democrat except for one – and that was largely because Hillary Clinton literally ignored the state after she lost the primary,” Dick wrote, referring to 2016.

    “The advantage Democrats have in Wisconsin is that they have a large concentration of votes within the urban areas of the state. High turnout in those areas counter the other parts of the state that are strongly Republican, leaning Republican, or toss up. Legislative Republicans have done well in competitive districts which is why they have large margins (in) the state Legislature.” 

    Walker undermines his own statement here, describing what, essentially, is a purple Wisconsin. 

    Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Elections Research Center, said the situation in the state is not as black and white  … er, blue and red, as Walker claimed. 

    “It seems factually incorrect to call Wisconsin a blue state,” he said via email, adding Wisconsin is actually remarkably balanced between Democrats and Republicans.

    He called the fact Democrats frequently win the presidential election a “misleading indicator.”

    “In addition, during that time Democrats were generally winning the national popular vote,” he said. “Democrats won more votes nationwide in 7 out of the last 8 presidential elections. So it is more accurate to describe Wisconsin (as) representative of national trends in presidential elections.”

    Craig Gilbert, who spent 22 years as the Washington Bureau Chief for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and is now a Lubar Fellow at the Marquette Law School, said that it would make more sense to describe Wisconsin as a whole as purple, when you look at elections across the board, state and federal. 

    “I don’t know how you get more purple than Wisconsin has been over the past decade. It is true that Democrats have been more successful in big statewide elections in the Trump Era (especially 2018-2023). But Republicans were more successful in the previous period (2010 to 2016),” he said via email. 

    “In fact, if you compare how Wisconsin votes for president these days to the national popular vote, Wisconsin is MORE Republican than the nation as a whole, which is hard to square with the idea of it being a ‘blue state.’ (In other words, Wisconsin was decided by less than a point in 2016 and 2020 while Democrats won the national presidential vote by roughly 2 and 4 points respectively.” 

    “You can cherry-pick which offices you want to look at and what time frame you want to look at it to make the case that Wisconsin is traditionally blue-leaning or red-leaning,” Gilbert said. “And there is no objective truth to this question. But I honestly don’t know how Wisconsin could have a more ‘purple’ recent history — and present.”

    Our ruling

    Walker claimed that “Wisconsin has historically…and I think largely continues to be, a blue state.” 

    While Wisconsin has voted for more Democratic presidential candidates than Republican presidential candidates in recent history, Wisconsin’s political landscape is much more nuanced, with a Republican supermajority in the Legislature, a Democratic governor and a mix of the parties in Congress. 

    So, no, Wisconsin isn’t exactly blue. 

    We rate this claim Mostly False. 

     



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  • Warriors should rejoice at West return

    We’re living in a topsy-turvy world. Chris Paul is wearing blue and yellow, the Warriors boast a deep roster, and they are — can this be right? — winning on the road.

    This is a lot of change and while it’s working for the Dubs, not everyone does well with this much difference.

    So I’m happy to welcome James Harden — Warriors’ villain extraordinaire — back to the Western Conference.

    We could use a bit of familiarity around these parts.

    After a half-decade-plus of being the Warriors’ top foil in the Western Conference (sometimes with Paul) for Houston, the should-be-two-time MVP took a three-year sojourn out East was marked by… nothing on the court.

    Harden seemed to spend most of the last years of his prime disgruntled, whether in Brooklyn or Philadelphia.

    Now he can be disgruntled in Los Angeles, his hometown, where he’ll join the city’s second team after the Sixers traded him away for, effectively, nothing. There were some depth players and a few pick swaps.

    The deal was hardly a blockbuster, which tells you so much about Harden.

    Now, the guard will join one of the NBA’s strangest teams and reunite with Russell Westbrook, his former running mate in Houston.

    More importantly, he’ll play on a team that can face the Warriors four times in the regular season and could very easily meet again in the playoffs.

    I’m not concerned about the Clippers reaching another level with the addition of Harden, and that has very little to do with Harden.

    The issue is that after five years in LA, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George the Clippers’ two best players have played only 111 regular-season games together.

    Maybe that will change this season. But probably not.

    The Clippers are a mess. Add in Westbrook, who provides more harm than benefit, and now a Harden who is a diminished version of his former offensive self (and who has never had a defensive self) and you have a Clippers team that should have invested in a time machine instead of a new arena — this team would be a lot more intimidating if it were still 2018.

    But maybe the same thing can be said about the Warriors. At least Golden State has done something since the Clippers began their superteam experiment in the summer of 2019.

    Rivalries are what make sports great, though. And for every action (rooting for a team) there should be an equal and opposite reaction (dislike for a rival). If you have your wits about you, it’s fun.

    For years, Paul and Harden were the bane of the Warriors’ existence. They were masters of the dark arts and flop artists, and their style of basketball in Houston was antithetical to the way the Warriors wanted to play.

    Good prevailed over evil in those hard-fought playoff series between Golden State and Houston. The Warriors were so victorious that they were able to bring Paul to the light. (Though Chris Paul still be flopping, and I won’t ignore or condone it.)

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  • RIVERS: ‘Fubara Has Done Nothing To Warrant Impeachment’ — Amaechi’s Man Peterside Defends Governor

    Dakuku Peterside, a member of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, has faulted plots to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara by the state’s House of Assembly.

    Despite his political affiliation, Peterside came to Fubara’s defence on Tuesday, saying “impeachment issues cannot arise in less than 5 months of incumbency.”

    Speculations have swirled that the state’s immediate past governor, Nyesom Wike, who is now serving as the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, is allegedly behind the move to impeach Fubara.

    Wike had played a significant role in ensuring Fubara’s election as his successor in the March 18 governorship poll. The latter had served as the Accountant-General of the state under Wike’s administration.

    Reacting to the controversy as well as the burning of the state House of Assembly hours before Fubara’s planned impeachment process, Peterside issued a statement to express his concerns.

    A former governorship candidate in the state and ally of Wike’s arch-enemy, Rotimi Amaechi, Peterside described the impeachment plot as a “theatre of the absurd” by desperate political actors who do not wish Rivers State well.

    He also condemned what he called “the raw violence that followed what should ordinarily be average political engagements,” as well as the “unwarranted disruption of governmental activities by politically motivated interests”.

    Peterside said that he has seen nothing in the Rivers political landscape to show that Governor Fubara has compromised the state’s interest and deserved to be impeached.

    The statement further reads, “I have read in the media, impeachment issues and the like. In good conscience, impeachment issues cannot arise in less than 5 months of incumbency. It sends the wrong signal that our State is a land of theatrics.

    “Nothing in the political landscape has shown that the Executive Governor has compromised the State’s interest or put our State in a severe security quagmire.

    “I have always said that no pursuit of personal interest or ambition can override the interest of Rivers State and its people. We, political leaders, must always watch our actions and tame our excesses.

    “I appeal to all political actors to allow time and space for the Governor to do his job. Only one Governor can function at a time. I also appeal to members of RSHA to focus on the business of law-making and get less distracted by the pursuit of personal ego or narrow pecuniary interest.

    “Finally, I appeal to all leaders in Rivers State to intervene in measured terms with the overall interest of our State in mind. Posterity will judge all of us. Let us allow reason to prevail, please.”

    Meanwhile, on Tuesday, both Wike and Fubara visited the Presidential Villa to attend the National Police Council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu.

    The meeting had in attendance 36 state governors and the FCT Minister.

    Source

  • On NFL trade deadline and Brock Purdy’s play

    SANTA CLARA — These 49ers were built to be a team that runs the ball, has a catch-and-run passing game, and plays elite defense.

    That’s the kind of squad Brock Purdy, the NFL’s cheapest starting quarterback, was meant to helm.

    But now the 49ers can’t run the ball, they can’t defend, either, and without Deebo Samuel, their passing game has lost its yards-after-catch prowess — the middle of the field isn’t open.

    This team looks normal the last three weeks, which has put the burden of winning on the quarterback’s shoulders.

    It’s not a burden he’s ready to carry. It’s not a burden he is supposed to carry.

    Purdy brought the 49ers close in all three games, but three consecutive losses aren’t debatable.

    Yes, Purdy was, as head coach Kyle Shanahan said, “one of the reasons we were in the game” on Sunday. Purdy’s good was downright great. He makes the kind of big throws that no 49ers quarterback under Shanahan has attempted, much less completed: deep outs to the sideline, linebacker buzzers, improvisational flips.

    But amid the good, the Niners’ quarterback peppered in some bad, too.

    The Niners, unfortunately, need their quarterback to be perfect these days. Purdy hasn’t been that, throwing five interceptions in the last three games.

    Again, this is how the vast majority of NFL teams live. There are only a few transcendent quarterbacks in the league these days — guys who can carry a team to a win.

    The list might include one player: Patrick Mahomes.

    Be a bit less exclusive, and we’re adding Josh Allen and maybe Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts. That’s if we’re being nice. Joe Burrow could be on the list when he’s healthy.

    That’s five quarterbacks under the most generous terms.

    After that, there’s a big middle class filled with guys like Purdy: Tua Tagovailoa, Jared Goff, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Kirk Cousins, Geno Smith, and the rare appearance of vintage Russell Wilson.

    These quarterbacks are unquestionably good and can look great on any given day. Guys like this have even won MVP (Matt Ryan 2016). But they won’t put a team on their back and singlehandedly take them to victory week in, week out.

    At 23 years old, Purdy is not that guy. Maybe he will become one down the line. Maybe not. That’s to worry about after the 2025 season, when his rookie contract expires.

    Structurally, the Niners didn’t think they’d need a transcendent quarterback. No, this Niners team was supposed to be the 2013 Seattle Seahawks — talented beyond belief because they had a cheap, effective, second-year game-managing quarterback with a bit of magic to him.

    But right now, that talent is on par with the rest of the league on offense and all that defensive talent has been muted by poor coordination.

    And so the games rest on the shoulders of a quarterback who was taken with the last pick in the draft and who makes less per season than Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton makes per game.

    If the Niners thought they needed a quarterback to be their first, their last, their everything, they would have traded for Cousins or Aaron Rodgers this past offseason. They wouldn’t have pinned their hopes on Purdy.

    But for what they thought they needed — competency-plus — Purdy is perfect.

    That’s not what the 49ers need at this moment, though. Not with Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams sidelined with injuries. If this formula sticks for the 49ers, Purdy might win a few games for them down the stretch, but San Francisco won’t be a Super Bowl contender.

    If this defense bounces back and Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams return, however, the Niners could be world-beaters again.

    They have a pretty good quarterback, after all.

    If only pretty good was enough the last few weeks.

    The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, and I don’t expect the Niners to make any significant moves.

    Source

  • False Alarms Over Missing Genital Organs Will Attract Penalty, Benue Police Warn

    Police-Officer

    The Police Command in Benue has warned against false alarm and mob actions over cases of purported missing genital organs in the state.

    This is contained in a statement issued by the command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Sewuese Anene, in Makurdi on Tuesday.

    Anene said that the police had observed with dismay the increasing number of cases of false alarm over genital theft and the barbaric/ignorant behaviour of some youths in reaction to the alarm.

    She said that the most recent case was that of a pastor and his member, over which there had been no complainant until now, but with the victims sustaining varying degrees of injuries and the video making the rounds on social media.

    “Over the years, these cases have been reported but medical and physical examinations have shown that they are not true.

    “Complainants have also come to realise that they have their genitals intact. This is obviously a mischievous plan to cause tension,” he said.

    The police spokesperson called on traditional rulers, religious leaders, parents, teachers and other stakeholders to warn and educate their children/wards against such mob actions that had caused innocent people so much pain.

    “The command also warns those people who take laws into their hands that the command will deal decisively with them in accordance with the law,” she said.

    NAN

    Source

  • 49ers hit big fade at bye week; Eagles, Lions stay atop

    Look out below!

    The 49ers dropped from No. 1 to No. 6 in the conference standings, the result of falling a half-game behind the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West.

    With both games remaining on the schedule against Seattle, it is within the 49ers’ power to wind up winning the division and the guess here is they will regardless of a three-game losing streak heading into the bye.

    Yet this nugget from coach Kyle Shanahan Monday was more than a little alarming:

    “What sticks out on tape to me the most is just how slow and tired we looked,” Shanahan said on a conference call. “When that happens, it leads to bigger holes, it leads to more mistakes, it leads to more missed tackles. I could see on tape a different type of energy that was disappointing, but I also know that they need this rest. That showed the most.”

    The 49ers hit the wall after eight games. Their coach came out and said it. After the bye, nine games remain. I’m not great with math, but that’s one more than eight. Then there are the playoffs to consider, assuming the 49ers get there.

    So while players rest up, Shanahan and his staff should be looking hard at their practice plan, checking to see if there’s a way to ease up on the physicality and keep players fresher. It’s a difficult balance because teams already practice with less hitting and intensity than they used to and multiple walkthroughs don’t cut it in terms of crisp execution.

    The 49ers have a lot of players who have played a lot of football in their careers. The sport takes its toll. Aside from catastrophic injury, their players’ ability to deal with wear and tear may be their biggest concern, given that the second half of the season will be every bit if not more physical than the first half.

    And that could be their undoing.

    Here is how the NFC is aligned in terms of playoff seeding heading into Week 9:

    1. Philadelphia (7-1): The Eagles aren’t exactly world-beaters of late, but unlike the 49ers, they’re still delivering wins as they’re working through their issues. They were able to overcome giving up 472 yards of offense to Washington, whose quarterback Sam Howell was 39 of 52 for 397 yards and four touchdowns. Jalen Hurts avoided his recent turnover issues, going 29 of 38 for 319 yards and four touchdowns.

    Next three weeks: vs. Dallas (5-2), bye, at Kansas City (6-2)

    2. Detroit (6-2): Settling for three short field goals, missing a chip-shot field goal and giving up a pick-six Monday night against an inferior opponent can be a recipe for disaster. Fortunately that inferior opponent was the Raiders, whom the Lions dominated in every way. Detroit under coach Dan Campbell has won 14 of its last 18 games and appears to have clear sailing toward a division title. The Lions haven’t hosted a playoff game in 30 years.

    Next three weeks: Bye, at L.A. Chargers (3-4), vs. Chicago (2-6)

    3. Seattle (5-2): The Seahawks’ future schedule still has both games with the 49ers that will determine the NFC West championship. They’re serious too — witness the reported trade for Giants’ defensive lineman Leonard Williams. One problem — quarterback Geno Smith, whose decision-making was top-shelf a year ago, has five interceptions in his last three games. That can’t continue.

    Next three weeks: at Baltimore (6-2), vs. Washington (3-5), at L.A. Rams (3-5)

    4. Atlanta (4-4): Nobody has turned the ball over more than Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder, who has 12 giveaways after a loss to Tennessee. Ridder was sacked five times and removed for a concussion evaluation but left on the bench in favor of Taylor Heinecke. More bad news for Atlanta — standout defensive tackle Grady Jarrett is done for the season after a torn ACL.

    Next three weeks: vs. Minnesota (4-4), at Arizona (1-7), bye

    San Francisco 49ers' Fred Warner (54) sacks Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Dak Prescott (4) in the second quarter at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

    Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group

    The 49ers knocked down Dak Prescott a number of times back on Oct. 8. He and the Cowboys got back up.

    5. Dallas (5-2): Left for dead after a 32-point thrashing at Levi’s Stadium against the 49ers, the Cowboys have a second shot at a statement game when they visit the Eagles. Since the debacle in Santa Clara, Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott is 46 of 61 for 576 yards, five touchdowns and one interception in wins over the Chargers and Rams.

    Next three weeks: at Philadelphia (7-1), vs. N.Y. Giants (2-6), at Carolina (1-6)

    6. 49ers (5-3): Of all the potential problems for the 49ers in 2023, a leaky defense with no pass rush was far down the list. In the last two games, Kirk Cousins and Joe Burrow were 63 of 77 for 661 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. That’s a combined quarterback rating of 118.7. By point of comparison, the best Joe Montana ever did over a full season was 112.4 and Steve Young 112.8. Tom Brady’s all-time best was 117.2 and Peyton Manning 121.1. Shanahan said he’s going to discuss moving Steve Wilks from the coaches’ box to the field to get a better look.

    Next three weeks: Bye, at Jacksonville (6-2), vs. Tampa Bay (3-4)

    7. Minnesota (4-4): Kirk Cousins was just about at the point where his legions of doubters were coming around to his skill as a decision-maker and passer. Then he tore his right Achilles’ tendon, which essentially torpedoes any chance the Vikings had of ending up in the playoffs. They were borderline at best anyway. Now they’re done.

    Next three weeks: at Atlanta (4-4), vs. New Orleans (4-4), at Denver (3-5)

    8. New Orleans (4-4): Taysom Hill’s ability as a runner near the goal line has helped Derek Carr’s issues near the red zone. And Carr has found a deep target he’s comfortable with in Rashid Shaheed. With Alvin Kamara hitting his stride and a solid defense, it’s hard to imagine New Orleans not winning the NFC South.

    Next three weeks: vs. Chicago (2-6), at Minnesota (4-4), bye

    SCOPING THE AFC

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