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US PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe Biden has warned of “devastating consequences” if Donald Trump continues to delay signing a Covid-19 economic relief bill passed by Congress.
Trump threw a long-awaited pandemic aid package into doubt last week as millions of Americans prepared to lose benefits and face eviction – demanding politicians more than triple the $600 direct payments to US taxpayers.
“This abdication of responsibility has devastating consequences. Today, about 10 million Americans will lose unemployment insurance benefits,” Biden said in a statement.
“In just a few days, government funding will expire, putting vital services and paychecks for military personnel at risk. In less than a week, a moratorium on evictions expires, putting millions at risk of being forced from their homes over the holidays.”
In a video late on Tuesday, Trump, who is due to leave office in less than a month, called the $900 million bill “a disgrace” – despite it being passed Monday with a large bipartisan majority after months of negotiation.
The legislation was designed to throw a lifeline to businesses and people struggling to keep their heads above water.
But in a pre-recorded statement made in the White House and sent out on Twitter, Trump said he would refuse to accept the bill without changes.
“I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple,” he said.
The move puts Trump at odds with Senate Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell and House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who have ruled out any larger stimulus measures.
Democrats failed to get a standalone measure through Congress on Christmas Eve that would increase the payments that would go to all taxpayers earning up to $75,000 a year, with smaller amounts for those making up to $99,000.
“Delay means more small businesses won’t survive this dark winter because they lack access to the lifeline they need, and Americans face further delays in getting the direct payments they deserve as quickly as possible to help deal with the economic devastation caused by Covid-19,” Biden added.
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As desperate as it is for those holed up there, venturing out under the guise of a Russian ceasefire is likely more dangerous.
@Chris Linehan: russians can’t be trusted ever again
@Joseph Devinem. When they get rid of Putin and install a democracy they can be.
@Derek Moran: Putin was elected in a democratic process. Unfortunately, while in power he removed all the checks and balances democracies are supposed to have.
@Seamus O’Corcorain: and that’s what trump tried. He nearly owned one of the other two sections of power (the legal) in the US and ignored the other (the Senate)
@Derek Moran: I see your point Derek, unfortunately in their last free election the people voted for a KGB agent. Putin is merely part of an overall corrupt system, remove him and you’ll get Putwo.
@Seamus O’Corcorain: which time was he elected in a democratic process :)?
@Fenrir Wolfganger: let me remind you that Putin was appointed by Yeltsin as his successor. All following elections with a certain degree were a scam. But Russian people did not do enough to restore true democracy.
@Ivan Counihan: ah the lesser spotted Rusbot. They’re hard to spot but if you hang out in the Journal comments section and voice opinions about Russia they’ll soon come gambolling into view
@Seamus O’Corcorain: democratic process??
@Ivan Counihan: All good Kremlin talking points Ivan. I guess someone in Orwell Rd has to make a living.
@Paul Casey: I don’t agree with what’s going on in Ukraine, but this has absolutely nothing to do with the good Russian people in Ireland. The same people that have lived hear peacefully for years, are part of of communities, towns, workplace and most importantly contribute to our society. Your comments reeks of closed-mindedness and prejudice. I’m shocked that no one has challenged your backwards way of thinking so far. If we were to change the word “Russians” to “Black’s” or any other group then we’d have uproar here.
Maybe reduce the amount of Cold War movies you watch as it’s clearly rotting your brain.
@Ivan Counihan: Which is one of the reasons why they won’t be admitted until they sort out their corruption issues.
@Ivan Counihan: When did Ukraine because trustworthy? They’re not the ones who have just launched an unprovoked invasion killing thousands of civilians.
@Ivan Counihan: GO ON IVAN! YOU tell them you warrior for truth and justice. Tell them about the war crimes in Chechnya carried out by Russian forces. Anything here sound familiar? From Human Rights Watch Feb 2000.
“Russian forces have often refused to create safe corridors to allow civilians to leave areas of active fighting, trapping civilians behind front lines for months. The haggard men and women who came out of Grozny after a perilous journey told me of living for months in dark, cold cellars with no water, gas or electricity and limited food: their little children were often in shock, whimpering in the corners of their tents in Ingushetia and screaming in fright whenever Russian war planes flew over, reminding them of the terror in Grozny.
Men especially face grave difficulties when attempting to flee areas of fighting: they are subjected to verbal taunting, extortion, theft, beatings, and arbitrary arrest. On several occasions, refugee convoys have come under intense bombardment by Russian forces, causing heavy casualties. Currently, tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in the Argun river gorge in Southern Chechnya, stuck behind Russian lines without a way out from the constant bombardment and rapidly running out of food supplies.”
SAME PLAYBOOK WE SEE IN UKRAINE
“Since the beginning of the conflict, Russian forces have indiscriminately and disproportionately bombed and shelled civilian objects, causing heavy civilian casualties. The Russian forces have ignored their Geneva convention obligations to focus their attacks on combatants, and appear to take few safeguards to protect civilians: It is this carpet-bombing campaign which has been responsible for the vast majority of civilian deaths in the conflict in Chechnya. The Russian forces have used powerful surface-to surface rockets on numerous occasions, causing death tolls in the hundreds in the Central Market bombing in Grozny and in many smaller towns and villages. Lately, Russian commanders have threatened to use even more powerful explosives, including fuel air explosives which could have a disastrous casualty count if used against civilian targets. The bombing campaign has turned many parts of Chechnya to a wasteland: even the most experienced war reporters I have spoken to told me they have never seen anything in their careers like the destruction of the capital Grozny.”
https://www.hrw.org/news/2000/02/29/war-crimes-chechnya-and-response-west
@Paul Furey: Trump wanted to overturn the election results, bring in Martial Law, stood by during the assault at Capitol Hill, fruit cake just like his far right nutjob supporters.
@Wooden Spoon: would these be the same people who drove around in a convey with Russian flags and the letter Z on the cars?
Russia seems to announce a “ceasefire” everytime its storm troopers fail to take the steel plant. one minute it is surround them, the next it is destroy the Ukrainians, then a ceasefire so they can kill some more civillians. The russians don’t need to announce a ceasefitre to hide their latest failure, they need to announce that they are getting out of Ukraine, end-of!
Russian media are trying to frame the narrative to their home audiences, if they see Ukrainians leaving the steel plant and using white flags, then it’s likely to translate as a surrender in Marioupol, which Putin claimed that they had done a few days ago.
@Ivan Counihan: hi Ivan. Tv news and news papers regularly report the war as it is portrayed in Russian media. Opps. I forgot. Russian media does not allow use of the word war. I’d get 15 years in jail for that.
@Ivan Counihan: I know the Russian narrative, tell me again which country invaded which? And in which country are they arresting people for calling it a war?, aren’t you lucky!
@Ivan Counihan: Then perhaps would you mind explaining why I am able to access the Pravda and TASS Russian news agencies web sites from Dublin without resorting to anything fancy like a VPN? If we were being censored as you incorrectly state, then these sites would be inaccessible and the Russian narrative would be censored but its not.
@Killian O’Sullivan: do you live in Russia?, genuine question
@James Moran: No, I live in Dublin. I accessed TASS and Pravda to check if they are censored as Ivan claims and they are not. We have full view of both narratives. One is fairly accurate and the other is a fairy tale. I have no sympathy for anyone outside of Russia pushing Kremlin talking points when they have full access to all information but choose to promote the fairy tale that Ukraine is being liberated when it is plain to see that their citizens are being pulverized.
@Ivan Counihan: Well I just googled Tass news agency as well as Pravda news and it returned links to their web sites. I was then able to visit those sites without being blocked.
BTW, WSJ is owned by Rupert Murdoch, same guy that owns Fox News.
@Ivan Counihan: Regarding RT from Wikipedia:
RT has regularly been described as a major propaganda outlet for the Russian government and its foreign policy.[2] Academics, fact-checkers, and news reporters (including some current and former RT reporters) have identified RT as a purveyor of disinformation[59] and conspiracy theories.[65] UK media regulator Ofcom has repeatedly found RT to have breached its rules on impartiality, including multiple instances in which RT broadcast “materially misleading” content.
@Killian O’Sullivan: I absolutely agree, I think I directed my last comment to you by accident, soz
@Ivan Counihan: So what do you think that Russia narrative might be?
@Killian O’Sullivan: by who the opposition
@Ivan Counihan: chill out Ivan.
@Ivan Counihan: Well Al Jazeera can still be read as well as Times of India, Hindustan times. They don’t portray a US narrative. They’re not blocked.
@Ivan Counihan: Russia is a country of oppression run by criminals in nice suits. Of course you know that as you are either in their employ or you hold them in high esteem. Russia is very corrupt on every level with no press freedom. I don’t understand what attracts someone like you to defend the indefensible. People will do anything for money or status. Russia recently made it legal to beat your partner making domestic violence legal. So you can beat your wife to a pulp and the police can ignore it. What does that say about the country? Maybe that is one of the reasons you admire Russia so much. Is it?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/0dd0ab91-145a-4137-bf87-28d0498c8d56
@Ivan Counihan: Ivan, we know enough about Russia to not trust them. Constant childish lies. Bare faced lies for all to see too. On top of that.. they’re literally destroying another country as we speak. So, probably not that nice a bunch.
@Killian O’Sullivan: Far from plain to see, Al least 15,000 Russian troops, 20,000 military vehicles, the warmongers have made little or no progress since they commenced with the second stage of their illegal war with Ukraine.
“Ruscists” always do the opposite of what they say.
Yeah right…..”ceasefire”….wink, wink
I think one thing we have learned from this is to never, ever trust anything the Russian government says. God help the Ukrainians.
They’re lucky they’re not up against the Americans. They would have just bombed the whole place into oblivion by now.
@bread of heaven: or use chemical weapons, like that did in Iraq.
@bread of heaven: da comrade botski.
@Munster1: Had to look that up:
US Department of Defence spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable confirmed to the BBC that US forces had used white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon there. The documentary Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre, produced by RAI TV, said that Iraqi civilians, including women and children, had died of burns caused by white phosphorus during the assault on Fallujah, but this was denied by Venable. Venable also stated “When you have enemy forces that are in covered positions that your high explosive artillery rounds are not having an impact on and you wish to get them out of those positions, one technique is to fire a white phosphorus round into the position because the combined effects of the fire and smoke – and in some case the terror brought about by the explosion on the ground – will drive them out of the holes so that you can kill them with high explosives.”
That’s the US for you, I suppose.
@bread of heaven: as oppossed to russia who have bombed the whole place into oblivion ?
@bread of heaven: Of course, you ignore the Russians who killed 100s of thousands of civilians in Chechnya. Strange that you never shout about that from your high horse.
Oh Look, sound familiar.
“Following an investigative mission to Chechnya in February 2000, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) listed these violations as follows: ‘destruction of towns and villages unjustified by military necessity; bombardments of and assaults on undefended towns and villages; summary executions and murders, physical abuse and torture; intentionally causing grave harm to people not directly involved in hostilities; deliberate attacks on the civilian population, on public transport and health workers; arbitrary arrest and detention of civilians; looting of private property.’ The FIDH concluded that these violations ‘constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity due to their massive, systematic and generalised character, according to the definitions of customary international law and the different international bodies.’ (FIDH, February 2000: 49).
https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/massacres-civilians-chechnya.html
@Paul Furey: I don’t know know if that’s a solid argument
@bread of heaven: Puck Futin ,and all who support him .Glory to the brave Ukrainians. fighting cowards, now selling stolen Ukrainian cars on Russian markets.
So the thugs have declared a ceasefire? Yea, right.
I really hope Putin and Russia pay for this invasion one day. Absolute pack of loopers.
This will be used by the Russians.
Keep an eye on 9th May. Putin’s Victory Day
Hope the remaining Ukrainian Marines are allowed by their leaders to surrender and not have to die in vain.
@Tjamr: I don’t think its a choice any Ukrainian commander would give his men. Die as a hero defending Ukraine or surrender only to die of dysentery at a filtration camp in Donetsk. After being interrogated and tortured like innocent Ukrainian citizens.
@Ivan Counihan: GO ON IVAN! YOU Tell them you warrior for truth and justice. Tell them about the war crimes in Chechnya carried out by Russian forces. Anything here sound familiar? From Human Rights Watch Feb 2000.
“Russian forces have often refused to create safe corridors to allow civilians to leave areas of active fighting, trapping civilians behind front lines for months. The haggard men and women who came out of Grozny after a perilous journey told me of living for months in dark, cold cellars with no water, gas or electricity and limited food: their little children were often in shock, whimpering in the corners of their tents in Ingushetia and screaming in fright whenever Russian war planes flew over, reminding them of the terror in Grozny.
Men especially face grave difficulties when attempting to flee areas of fighting: they are subjected to verbal taunting, extortion, theft, beatings, and arbitrary arrest. On several occasions, refugee convoys have come under intense bombardment by Russian forces, causing heavy casualties. Currently, tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in the Argun river gorge in Southern Chechnya, stuck behind Russian lines without a way out from the constant bombardment and rapidly running out of food supplies.”
SAME PLAYBOOK WE SEE IN UKRAINE
“Since the beginning of the conflict, Russian forces have indiscriminately and disproportionately bombed and shelled civilian objects, causing heavy civilian casualties. The Russian forces have ignored their Geneva convention obligations to focus their attacks on combatants, and appear to take few safeguards to protect civilians: It is this carpet-bombing campaign which has been responsible for the vast majority of civilian deaths in the conflict in Chechnya. The Russian forces have used powerful surface-to surface rockets on numerous occasions, causing death tolls in the hundreds in the Central Market bombing in Grozny and in many smaller towns and villages. Lately, Russian commanders have threatened to use even more powerful explosives, including fuel air explosives which could have a disastrous casualty count if used against civilian targets. The bombing campaign has turned many parts of Chechnya to a wasteland: even the most experienced war reporters I have spoken to told me they have never seen anything in their careers like the destruction of the capital Grozny.”
https://www.hrw.org/news/2000/02/29/war-crimes-chechnya-and-response-west
There was once a time when it was common to hear don’t trust the Brits here in Ireland, now it’s the turn of the Russians, there will have to coming together of warring parties if diplomacy is to stand a chance of working otherwise the fighting will be on going. As for Azov brigade I don’t believe the civilians they are with would be happy to die in some glorious battle.
Watch your backs Ukrainian citizens, do not trust the Russian army supported here in Ireland by a small LOUD number of ex antivax far right nutjobs.
A few little booms around Russia today too.. A couple of fuel depots who were used to resupply the tanks are now out of diesel. A few more of these actions will severely hamper Putins efforts along the east of Ukraine.
Well at least they’ll have some nice pics of Ukrainians waving white flags to send home…
@Colm de Cleir:
They already have plenty of those photos. Thousands have already surrendered waving “white flags” or did you miss that bit
@Ivan Counihan: the russian soldiers who surrendered ?
@Ivan Counihan: You mean the ones that have been illegally deported to the warmongering country of Russia?
@Ivan Counihan: why dont you organize a pro putin rally then ?
have your say