Balkan Apocalypse: People Trapped & Towns Inundated As Severe Storms Hit Greece, Turkey And Bulgaria

🔥 አፖካሊፕስ፤ በግሪክ፣ ቱርክ እና ቡልጋሪያ እየወረደ ያለው ከባድ ዝናብ ከተሞች እያጥለቀለቅ ነው፤ ሰባት ሰዎች ሕይወታቸውን ሲያጡ ብዙዎች የት እንደደረሱ አልታወቀም

👉 Courtesy: The Guardian

Heavy rain in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria has triggered flash floods that have left at least seven dead and many missing.

______________

US Open Fan Ejected For Saying “The Most Hitler Phrase There Is” at German Player

🎾 የዩኤስ ክፍት የቴኒስ ውድድር፤ አንድ ደጋፊ በጀርመን ቴኒስ ተጫዋች አሌክሳንደር ዝቬሬቭ (ሩሲያዊ ዝርያ ያለው ጀርመን ነው) ላይ “በጣም የሂትለር ሀረግ ያለበትን ቃል ተናግሯል” በማለቱ ከኒው ዮርኩ አርተር አሽ ስታዲያም ተባረረ

ብዙም ክፋት የሌለውንና በዛሬው የጀርመን ብሔራዊ መዝሙር ውስጥ የሚገኙትን የመጀመሪያዎቹን ጥቂት መስመሮችን፡ ማለትም፤ ‘ጀርመን፣ ጀርመን ከሁሉም በላይ / ከሁሉም በላይ በዓለም ላይ’ የሚሉትን ቃላት ደጋፊው በማለቱ ነው የተባረረው።

“Lied der Deutschen” (የጀርመኖች መዝሙር) – በተጨማሪም “Deutschlandlied” (የጀርመን መዝሙር) በመባል የሚታወቀው እ.አ.አ በ 1922 የቫይማር ሪፐብሊክ ይፋዊ ብሔራዊ መዝሙር ሆነ።

ይሁን እንጂ የመጀመሪያዎቹ ጥቂት መስመሮች ማለት ‘ጀርመን ከሁሉም በላይ / ከዓለም ሁሉ በላይ’ አዲስ ትርጉም በአዶልፍ ሂትለር እና በናዚዎች በመግዛት ጀርመናዊውን ከሌሎች ሀገራት ሁሉ የላቀ ነው ብለው ያዩትን ለማጉላት አስበው ነበር።

ከ ሁለተኛው የዓለም ጦርነት መጨረሻ በኋላ፣ ካንስለር ኮንራድ አድናወር መዝሙሩን እንደ ብሔራዊ መዝሙር በ1952 በምዕራብ ጀርመን እንደገና ለማስተዋወቅ ጠየቁ።

በዝነኛው ጥቁር አሜሪካዊ ቴኒስ ተጫዋች አርተር አሽ ስም በሚጠራው በዚህ ታዋቂ የኒው ዮርክ ቴኒስ ስቴዲየም ውድድሩን ለማየት ከፍሎ የገባው ምስኪን አሜሪካዊ የአሌክሳንደር ዝቬሬቭ ደጋፊ ስለሆነ ነው ያችን የሚያውቃትን ዓረፍተ ነገር በጀርመንኛ ተደስቶ የተናገራት። በውድድሩ የሩብ ፍጻሜ ያለፈው አሌክሳንደር ዝቬሬቭ ግን ክፋት እንደሌለው የተረዳው አይመስልም፤ ቃላቱን ወዲያው ከሂትለር ጋር ነበር ያቆራኛቸው! አስገራሚ ዘመን! ዘመነ ብሔርተኝነት!

🎾 A tennis fan was ejected from the US Open on Monday night after being accused by Germany’s Alexander Zverev of shouting “the most famous Hitler phrase there is in this world”.

The incident happened during Zverev’s victory over Italy’s Jannik Sinner on Arthur Ashe Stadium during the late-night slot, which has often been criticised for overly boisterous atmospheres.

Having taken a 2-1 lead into the fourth set, Zverev was serving at 2-2 and 0-15 in the fifth game when he suddenly stopped his motion and approached the British chair umpire James Keothavong.

“He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in this world,” Zverev told the umpire of a fan in the stands to his left. “This is unbelievable.”

Following the game, Zverev told a reporter that the supposed fan had been singing the ‘anthem of Hitler’ – the banned first verse of the original German National anthem.

‘He started singing the anthem of Hitler that was back in the day. It was `Deutschland über alles’ and it was a bit too much,’ the Hamburg-native said.

‘I love when fans are emotional. But I think me being German and not really proud of that history, it’s not really a great thing to do and I think him sitting in one of the front rows, I think a lot of people heard it. So if I just don’t react, I think it’s bad from my side,’ he added.

“Lied der Deutschen” (Song of the Germans) – also known as the “Deutschlandlied” (Song of Germany) became the official national anthem of the Weimar Republic in 1922.

However, the first few lines mean, ‘Germany, Germany above all / above all in the world’ took on a new meaning under Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to emphasize what they saw as German superiority over all other nations.

Following the end of WW2, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer requested to reintroduce the song as the national anthem in 1952, in West Germany.

The Allies agreed, but only if the third verse of the song, meaning ‘unity and justice and freedom, for the German fatherland’, was used.

After being told about the incident, the umpire turned around in his chair to directly address the most expensive courtside seats, asking the culprit to identify himself.

When nobody owned up, Keothavong made an announcement to the whole crowd to respect the players, while security was dispatched into the area to try and remedy the unsavory situation.

Play continued, before cameras then cut back to the stands a few minutes later to show a middle-aged male being spoken to by security and then led out of the arena – much to the delight of the fans around him.

It is unclear exactly what was allegedly said by the man, or if the man pictured by ESPN cameras was the fan alleged to have made the slur.

______________

VP Fauci? Biden “JOKED” About Replacing Kamala ‘Jezebel’ With America’s Doctor Mengele, Dr. Fauci

😈 ምክትል ፕሬዚዳንት አንቶኒ ፋውቺ? ፕሬዚደንት ጆ ባይደን ካማላ ‘ኤልዛቤልን’ በአሜሪካው ዶክተር መንጌሌ፣ በ ሮማዊው በዶር. ፋውቺ ስለመተካት “ቀልደዋል”

👉 Courtesy: NYPost + TruNews

Are you ready for Vice President Anthony Fauci? Don’t laugh, but apparently, Joe Biden thinks would make a great replacement for Kamala Harris on the 2024 Democratic ticket. That’s the word on the street following the publication of a new book about the Biden Administration.

President Biden liked to joke during the height of the pandemic that controversial ex-COVID czar Anthony Fauci could replace Kamala Harris as his No. 2, a bombshell new book says.

As Biden’s team scrambled to tackle the coronavirus in 2021, the president would quip during meetings that his then-White House chief medical adviser should sit in the vice president’s chair.

“When the president assembled his COVID team, he would jokingly direct Anthony Fauci to sit in the vice president’s chair,” according to “The Last Politician” by Franklin Foer — who says he had “unparalleled access to the tight inner circle of advisers who have surrounded Biden for decades.”

For his part, Fauci “struggled to contain his exuberance” about working with Biden, says the book, which went on sale Tuesday.

A new administration was in charge of ending the pandemic — one that would listen to him, unlike former President

Fauci had been “traumatized” by public speaking events with Trump, who had infamously asked scientists if there was a way to inject disinfectant into humans to kill the coronavirus, the book says.

Trump later claimed the comment was “sarcastic.”

“When Fauci made his way to the podium in the White House briefing room for the first time after the [Biden] inauguration, he felt a surge of traumatic memories wash over him,” Foer writes. “For the first time in years, he was no longer in the awkward position of having to correct the administration he served.”

But Biden would harangue Fauci during his first month as president with a “challenging question,” according to the book: “When would the nation return to normal?”

The president was deeply reliant on the controversial figure’s advice and assistance, so much so that when other public health officials attempted to draft an answer, “Biden would disregard them and ask to speak with Fauci,” the author says.

Later, when new variants of the coronavirus began making their way to the United States, Biden pressured Fauci to discover whether the coronavirus vaccine would protect against them, Foer says.

But Fauci said it would take weeks to find out, causing the administration great anxiety with the unknown, the biography says.

______________

The US Should Prioritize Human Rights in Relations With Saudi Arabia

💭 አሜሪካ ከሳውዲ አረቢያ ጋር ባለው ግንኙነት ለሰብአዊ መብቶች ቅድሚያ መስጠት አለባት

ዩ ኤስ አሜሪካ በድርቅ፣ በድህነት እና በጦርነት እየተጎዱ ያሉ ሰዎችን ከመርዳት ይልቅ ለራሷ ባሰበችው ለግል ጥቅም እና ለሳዑዲ አረቢያ ተጨማሪ ወታደራዊ ሃይል ጥንካሬ ቅድሚያ በመስጠት ላይ ትገኛለች።

ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ በመካከለኛው እና በደቡብ አሜሪካ ከሚገኙ አምባገነኖች፣ ወታደሮች እና ወታደራዊ ኃይሎች ጋር በመተባበር ስትረዳባ መሣሪያ ስታስታጠቅ በነበረበት ወቅት፣ በርካታ ታዋቂ መሪዎች ብጥብጡን ሲፈጥር የነበረው ድጋፍ እንዲቆም ሲጠይቁ ነበር።

ለምሳሌ እ.አ.አ በ1980 ዓ.ም የሰማዕትነት አክሊልን የተቀዳጁት ጀግናው የኤል ሳልቫዶር ቤተ ክርስቲያን ሊቀ ጳጳስ ‘ኦስካር ሮሜሮ‘ እንዲህ በማለት በወቅትይ ተናግረው ነበር፡-

“ለሠራዊቱ ሰዎች በተለይም ለብሔራዊ ጥበቃ ወታደሮች፣ ለፖሊስ እና ለጦር ክፍሎች ልዩ በሆነ መንገድ ይግባኝ ለማለት እፈልጋለሁ። ወንድሞች፣ እናንተ የራሳችን ሰዎች ናችሁ። እናንተ የራሳችሁን ወንድሞች ገበሬዎችን ትገድላለህ፤ እና በሰው ከተሰጠው የመግደል ትእዛዝ በፊት፤ ‘አትግደል!’ የሚለው የእግዚአብሔር ህግ ይቀድማል፣ ማንኛውም ወታደር የእግዚአብሔርን ህግ የሚጻረር ትዕዛዝ የመፈጸም ግዴታ የለበትም። ማንም ሰው የብልግና ህግን ማክበር የለበትም። ከኃጢአት ትእዛዝ ይልቅ ሕሊናችሁን የምታገግሙበት እና ትእዛዙን የምትፈጽሙበትት ጊዜ አሁን ነው። . . . ስለዚህ፣ በእግዚአብሔር ስም እና በዚህ ለረጅም ጊዜ በሚሰቃይና ልቅሶውም በየእለቱ ወደ ሰማይ በሚወጣው ታጋሽ ህዝብ ስም እማጸናለሁ ፣ ሕዝባችን ለበለጠ ስቃይ እየተጋለጠ ነው፣ እለምናለሁ ፣ ትዕዛዙን እሰጣለሁ፣ በእግዚአብሔር ስም፡ ‘ጭቆናውን አቁሙ!’

ሊቀ ጳጳስ ‘ኦስካር ሮሜሮ’ ይህንን መግለጫ ሲሰጡ የራሳቸው የሞት ማዘዣ ፈርመው ነበር። እ.አ.አ በማርች 24, 1980 ሮሚሮ ንግግራቸውን በቆራጠኝነትና በድፍረት እንደተገበሩት ወዲያው በዋና ከተማዋ በሳን ሳልቫዶር በሚገኘው በራሳቸው ቤተክርስቲያን ውስጥ በጸሎት ስነ ሥርዓት ወቅት ሆን ተብሎ በተፈፀመ እና አለምን ያስደነገጠ ግድያ በጥይት ልባቸው ላይ ተመተው ተገደሉ።

ፕሬዘደንት ጆ ባይደን እኝህን ካቶሊክ ቅዱሳንን ቢከተሉና፣ በሳውዲ አረቢያ ውስጥ ለሚሰሩ ዲፕሎማቶች የሰጡትን ትእዛዝ ቢከለሱ እና “ሕሊናዎን መልሰው ያግኙ! ጭቆናውንና ግድያውን ያቁሙ!” በሚለው በሊቀ ጳጳስ ሮሜሮ ቃል ቢታመኑ በጎ ነው።

ዩ ኤስ አሜሪካ ወታደራዊነትን እና የሰብአዊ መብት ረገጣዎችን መደበኛ ከማድረግ ይልቅ ምድራችንን ወይንም ፕላኔቷን ለማዳን እና ሰብአዊ መብቶችን ለማክበር ሁል ጊዜ እና በሁሉም ቦታ መታገል/መሥራት አለባት።

እንደ የኤል ሳልቫዶር ሊቀ ጳጳስ ዓይነት ጀግና እና ክርስቲያን የሆነ አባት በኢትዮጵያ ሃገራችን ለምን አይታይም/አይሰማም? ሊቀ ጳጳስ ኦስካር ሮሜሮ የአሜሪካን ጣልቃ ገብነት በመቃወማቸው በአሜሪካውያኑ ተገድለው ለሰማዕትነት ሲበቁ፣ የእኛዎቹ ግን በጎቻቸው የሚገኙበትን የመከራ፣ የአሳርና የውርደት ህይወት ቸል ብለው ወደ አሜሪካ ለሕክምና ይጓዛሉ!

Rather than assisting people afflicted by droughts, impoverishment, and intensifying wars, the United States is acting in its own perceived self-interests and entertaining Saudi demands for even more military power.

👉 Courtesy: The Progressive Magazine,

💭 There is a refugee trail that goes from the Sahel drought region in Africa, into war-ravaged Yemen, and up through Saudi Arabia towards Iraq and Turkey. It’s known as “the Eastern route,” or sometimes “the Yemeni route.” The Saudi monarchy, already leading an eight-year starvation and bombardment campaign against Iran-aligned, rebel-governed Yemen, has been massacring Ethiopian (and other African) refugees, allegedly in the thousands, to send a message that drought-stricken Africans should choose to die at home and not risk their lives to die in Yemen. It is a chilling, cruel message.

U.S. imperial policies in the region, which have propped up the brutal Saudi monarchy, ensure continued bloodshed, hunger, division, and destabilization. These degenerate policies undermine desperately needed collaboration in the face of ecological collapse. Rather than assist people afflicted by droughts, impoverishment, and intensifying wars, the United States is acting in its own perceived self-interests and entertaining Saudi demands for even more military power. The purpose of wooing Saudi Arabia with military contracts is, apparently, to head off a further economic integration of Saudi Arabia with China and Russia, global rivals of the United States.

The first week of September, two U.S. State Department representatives will arrive in Saudi Arabia’s capital city, Riyadh, to resume negotiations with the Saudi royals. A recent report suggests that the meetings will discuss a NATO-like agreement between Saudi Arabia and the United States, a measure which might then move Saudi Arabia closer toward normalizing relations with Israel. What does Riyadh want in return? “Riyadh has been seeking a NATO-like mutual security treaty that would obligate the U.S. to come to Saudi Arabia’s defense if the latter is attacked, according to The Times of Israel. The Saudis also seek to strengthen the U.S.-backed civilian nuclear program in Saudi Arabia, and they want assurance about acquiring more advanced weaponry from U.S. military contractors.

At the recent summit of the BRICS coalition led by U.S. rival China, Saudi Arabia was announced as a new member to join in January 2024. Earlier this year, China had brokered a resumption of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and its (and the United States’) chief regional rival, Iran, which has also been invited to join BRICS early next year. The U.S. State Department’s Brett McGurk and Barbara Leaf, in their Riyadh trip, will be working to counter integration of the oil-rich Saudi Arabia into a coalition of nations the U.S. fears as threats to U.S. unipolar hegemony. Routinely, the United States condemns China and Russia for human rights abuses—abuses paling beside the worst of Saudi Arabia’s.

Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has bombed, starved, blockaded and tortured Yemeni civilians. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to persecute and execute its own citizens for speaking out about cruel wrongdoings.

Human Rights Watch, in their seventy-three-page report, “‘They Fired on Us Like Rain’: Saudi Arabian Mass Killings of Ethiopian Migrants at the Yemen-Saudi Border,” alleges that Saudi Arabian border guards have fired machine guns and launched mortars at Ethiopians trying to cross into the kingdom from Yemen, likely killing hundreds of the unarmed migrants in recent years. This widespread and systematic pattern of attacks featured incidents, the report states, when “Saudi border guards first asked survivors in which limb of their body they preferred to be shot, before shooting them at close range. Saudi border guards also fired explosive weapons at migrants who had just been released from temporary Saudi detention and were attempting to flee back to Yemen.” The human rights group cited eyewitness reports of attacks by troops and images that showed dead bodies and burial sites on migrant routes, saying the death toll could amount to “possibly thousands.”

Also of interest to the two U.S. envoys should be a report from The Guardian that says the U.S. and German militaries have trained and equipped Saudi border guards.

The Saudis picked us up from the detention center in Daer and put us in a minibus going back to the Yemen border. When they released us, they created a kind of chaos; they screamed at us to “get out of the car and get away.”. . . this is when they started to fire mortars —to keep us into the mountain line, they fired the mortar from left and right. When we were one kilometer away, . . . We were resting together after running a lot…and that’s when they fired mortars on our group. Directly at us. There were twenty in our group and only ten survived. Some of the mortars hit the rocks and then the [fragments of the] rock hit us.—Twenty-year-old Munira, quoted in the report “They Fired on Us Like Rain.”

There is a reason for the massive migrant flight from the Sahel into the killing zone that Saudi Arabia, with its international partners, has made of Yemen: The planet is boiling.

Collaboration is surely needed among all peoples in order to cope with and solve the tragic problems, including displacement and horrific human rights abuses, that are certain to continue to rise from multiple intensifying climate catastrophes. Advancing military agreements with Saudi Arabia, agreements which could lead to escalating weapon sales and green lighting development of nuclear technology, will exacerbate the environmental assaults caused by war. The U.S. policy of confrontation to beat down economic rivals can only worsen these crises.

During years when the United States collaborated with and armed dictators, militaries and paramilitaries in Central and South America, several notable leaders demanded an end to the violence. El Salvador’s Archbishop Oscar Romero, now canonized as a saint, spoke up:

“I would like to appeal in a special way to the men of the army, and in particular to the troops of the National Guard, the police, and the garrisons. Brothers, you belong to our own people. You kill your own brother peasants; and in the face of an order to kill that is given by a man, the law of God that says ‘Do not kill!’ should prevail. No soldier is obliged to obey an order counter to the law of God. No one has to comply with an immoral law. It is the time now that you recover your conscience and obey its dictates rather than the command of sin. . . . Therefore, in the name of God, and in the name of this long-suffering people, whose laments rise to heaven every day more tumultuously, I beseech you, I beg you, I command you! In the name of God: ‘Cease the repression!’”

In a sense, he signed his own death warrant when he made this statement. On March 24, 1980, Romero was assassinated for his courageous words and deeds. President Joe Biden would do well to heed this Catholic saint, revise the mandate he gives to diplomats working in Saudi Arabia, and rely on Archbishop Romero’s words: Recover your conscience! Stop the repression, stop the killing.

Rather than normalize militarism and human rights abuses, the United States should seek, always and everywhere, to salvage the planet and respect human rights.

______________