Free Frank Warner

Russia falls into ‘Not Free’ status

Freedom House, which annually rates each nation for human rights and democratic institutions, has just lowered Russia’s status from "Partly Free" to "Not Free."

It’s the first time since the end of the Soviet Union that Russia has been so obviously devoid of democratic protections that it has rejoined the community of dictatorships.

The problem: Vladimir Putin. Who stands to lose in Putin’s power grab: the whole world. A dictator is no good to anyone. And a dictator with nuclear weapons has no limit to his potential for repression and aggression.

Frank Warner

Space station nearly ran out of food because earlier crew ate too much

USA Today is reporting the two men on the International Space Station recently had to cut back on meals because the previous crew secretly went on a snacking binge and ate much of their rations.

Fortunately, a cargo ship arrived with more food on Christmas Day.

Frank Warner

259th mass grave: Another of Saddam’s crimes is unearthed as Iraqis dig foundation for hospital

The conservative "left" that wanted to keep Saddam Hussein in power never talks about the highest justification for the liberation of Iraq: mass graves.

And yesterday, the 259th mass grave was discovered in Iraq as workers dug the foundation for a hospital that will serve a new free and democratic nation.

We could have let Saddam continue his repression forever. It’s a good thing we didn’t.

Frank Warner

Check out the tsunami video movies

On TV, the tsunami videos look like a few big splashes, and that’s it. The news editors chop it down too much. Take a look at these raw videos. You’ve probably seen parts of them before. But watch and imagine how it felt to be standing there, not know how far the crushing waves would rise.

Click here for the tsunami hitting Phuket Beach, Thailand.

Click here for the tsunami hitting another part of Thailand.

Click here for the tsunami hitting Penang, Malaysia.

Click here for the tsunami hitting Sri Lanka.

Click here for the tsunami hitting Patong Beach, Thailand.

This is scary stuff.

Frank Warner

Update: Overloading of bandwidth has closed these tsunami video links. Check here and here instead.

SEE ALSO: Tsunami relief and Muslim smiles: U.S. Air Force and Navy pilots enjoy this life-saving mission.

SEE ALSO: Canada’s embarrassment: 11 days after tsunami disaster, its DART disaster-relief team will fly to Sri Lanka on 2 rented Russian planes.

Washington Post prints 18 errors in one paragraph on RatherWater scandal

Tom Shales of the Washington Post apparently hasn’t been paying attention to anything the last few months. He writes at least 18 errors into one paragraph on Dan Rather’s use of faked Bush National Guard documents Sept. 8 on “60 Minutes II.”

Click over to Scylla & Charybdis for the breakdown.

Frank Warner

‘Sixth sense’ might have saved Sri Lankan park animals

Twenty-one thousand people died in the tsunami that hit Sri Lanka, but locals were surprised to find no dead animals at Sri Lanka’s Yala wildlife reserve.

“Maybe what we think is true, that animals have a sixth sense,” said Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, who ran a hotel in the reserve.

Wijeyeratne said he should have known trouble was brewing two months ago when the gray langur monkeys started building a very large boat.

Frank Warner

(OK, that last sentence isn’t exactly true.)

Al Jazeera: Ramsey Clark to help defend Saddam

Oh, brother.

Ramsey Clark, attorney general to former President Lyndon B. Johnson, wants to defend Saddam Hussein in court, and he wants the United States put on trial for the battle of Fallujah, according to Al Jazeera.

In the 1990s, Clark campaigned for the end of U.N. sanctions on Iraq. He didn’t mind that Saddam was murdering, torturing, starving and repressing the Iraqis, in violation of human rights and U.N. resolutions, and he didn't mind that Saddam was aiding terrorists, refusing to cooperate with U.N. arms inspectors, and breaking other terms of the 1991 cease-fire.

Clark just wanted another tyrant free to torture and kill forever as he pleased. Clark’s new campaign adds to his sad legacy of dictatorship, dishonesty and denial.

Frank Warner

Even Putin’s economic adviser calls takeover of Yukos unit the ‘swindle of the year’

Andrei Illarionov, economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, yesterday described Putin’s takeover of Yukos’ main oil subsidiary, Yuganskneftegaz, as “the swindle of the year.”

“We used to see street hustlers do this kind of thing. Now officials are doing it," Illarionov said. “When the Yukos case started, everyone was asking what the rules of the game would be. Now it is clear the game has no rules: They are decided on the needs of the moment.”

Putin’s subordinates forced Yukos to auction off the subsidiary by inflicting it with ridiculous bills for back taxes. Then Putin put up a shell company to buy the company for half its price and transfer it to the government, which means Putin now owns it. The dictatorship digs in.

Frank Warner

SEE ALSO: Top 10 news events of 2004 in freedom’s global struggle.

Amazon’s tsunami-aid zooms close to Germany’s donation!

Germany has pledged $2 million to help the victims of the Sept. 26 tsunami. But take a look at the Amazon site. Its visitors have donated almost as much – probably more by the time you read this.

Amazon has a spot to click in your donation to the American Red Cross’s Disaster Relief for the tsunami aid effort. It was at $827,000 early this morning and rising fast!

Call us stingy, will ya?

Frank Warner

Update: By Dec. 31, the contributions through Amazon totaled $8.8 million. Germany's pledge increased to $27 million.

Update: By Dec. 31, the U.S. had pledged $350 million to aid tsunami victims. U.S. cargo planes were delivering food, water and medicine, and U.S. ships were moving in to generate more clean water.

Ukraine: Discovering the difference between freedom and democracy

The Moscow Times on Ukraine’s successful election:

“The Orange Revolution proved the old saying that freedom is when the people can speak, but democracy is when the government listens.”