I think it's time that NRO came out on the most important question facing Americans next week. That is, of course -- Cranberry Sauce: Can-shaped or Fresh?  

I should hope that the good conservatives of NRO will agree that the namby-pamby French-style berry-shaped sauce is [not for real Americans]-- real Americans eat it shaped like the can (as God intended). Could you see John Wayne eating anything else? Or ...Ronald Reagan?

French EU Commissioner Barrot's secret? Here is the answer, courtesy of EU Observer.

"EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Nigel Farage, a British eurosceptic MEP, caused a furore in the European Parliament on Thursday (18 November) by launching a strong attack on the French Commissioner, Jacques Barrot. Mr Farage, who belongs to the UK Independence Party, said that Mr Barrot should not be allowed to be a commissioner alleging he received an eight month suspended sentence in 2000 for a funding scandal involving his political party...under French law no reference is allowed to be made to the case in public after Mr Barrot came under a presidential amnesty"

Hmmm, Interesting (and seemingly backed up by the story linked to here). And who was president of France in 2000?

Why, it was Jacques Chirac.

The organization may be corrupt, malign and useless, but is it too much to expect that the UN will not set out actively to wreck Afghanistan's new democracy? It seems that it is.. Read this report from the Independent and consider its implications:

"So alarmed is the UN [by increased opium production in Afghanistan] that it is suggesting a remedy more radical than any that has been put forward before - bringing in US and British forces to fight a drugs war similar to the war on terror. It wants them to destroy farmers' crops on a massive scale before they can be harvested."

If there is anything more guaranteed to alienate the locals than that particular bone-headed suggestion, I can't think what it is. As to the wider point, it is only the 'war on drugs' that makes possible the super profits that make opium such a valuable currency for terrorists and other criminals. War against terror or war against drugs? You can't fight both, and I think that I know which one matters most.

Would that it were true. Those billboards are advertising to the suburbanites who commute to or through Philly. Most middle-class families (and anyone else uninterested in politics based on race or high taxes) have left Philly in the last decade. (I believe Philly is the only city of America's ten largest to have lost population over that period.) What is left is lots of Democrats, including a huge academic community (UPenn, Villanova, Temple, St. Joseph's, Loyola).

Trust me, there is as little acceptance of conservatives in Philly as in NYC, maybe less.

NEAS LAUDS KEENAN APPOINTMENT TO

NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA

Washington - Following the announcement late Thursday that NARAL Pro-Choice America has chosen People For the American Way (PFAW) Director of Education Policy Nancy Keenan as its new president, PFAW President Ralph G. Neas had the following statement:

"At a time when many of the fundamental rights of American women are at risk, NARAL has found the perfect champion in Nancy Keenan.

"Nancy brings with her a lifetime of dedication to the fundamental rights and freedoms of women, a brilliant strategic mind, a sharp wit, great compassion and common sense. Nancy's ability to communicate the concerns of women and their families and bring people together made her a successful officeholder in her home state of Montana, and an effective advocate on the national stage. NARAL could not have made a better choice.

"We will miss her skill and savvy, but we know we will still be fighting side by side in the looming battles over the Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, and in legislative chambers across America. With Nancy in charge, Naral Pro-Choice America and People For the American Way will continue their steadfast partnership in safeguarding reproductive rights and personal privacy for the women of America and their families."

Hurt Troops Need Clothes, Toiletries

By Justin Willett, Staff writer

LANDSTUHL, Germany - When wounded troops arrive at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center they often are wearing the same clothes they were wearing when they were injured; usually a dirty desert camouflage uniform, sometimes just a pair of boxer shorts.

The troops receive a $250 voucher from the Department of Defense.

But they are often unable to make it to the nearest Army and Air Force Exchange Services store at Ramstein Air Base for clothes or toiletries.

That's where Landstuhl's Pastoral Services Department comes in.

Pastoral services runs the Chaplain's Closet, a tiny building packed full of donated clothes, toiletries, books, movies and other personal items.

Lt. Col. Robert Hicks is a chaplain with the Alabama Air Guard. He works with Army, Marine, Navy and Air Force chaplains on getting the troops what they need.

This weekend, volunteers delivered wheelchairs full of items to hundreds of troops who arrived from Fallujah in the past week.

Senior Airman Karly Vogel, who is in the Minnesota Air Guard and is a chaplain's assistant at Landstuhl said the biggest need right now is large and extra-large sweatpants and shirts for Germany's cold weather.

"We rely on donations." she said. "There's so many troops that come through here, we have to work quick to get them what they need."

Col. Eric Holmstrom is an Army reservist who was activated for one year and made chief of pastoral services at Landstuhl.

He said the hospital is a good place to minister, but there are always needs.

"We always have patients," he said. "And we always have a need."

Holmstrom said men's shoes sizes nine to 12 are in high demand as is cash.

Pastoral services only accepts new items. Ongoing needs at the Chaplain's Closet include: men's shoes sizes nine to 12, women's shoes size six to nine, men's and women's winter coats sizes medium through extra-large, and backpacks, gym bags and small suitcases.

I must protest. It is not enough that certain, select NROniks get to go off to a Caribbean Cruise. They now also debase themselves by taunting Kathryn in the Corner! The horror! The absolute depravity!

Therefore, I put out a call to all Corner readers. Flood the mailboxes of Rich Lowry! Demand equal time! We want to send Kathryn on a two-week vacation to the destination of her choice, accompanied by Mel Gibson, Jim Caviezel, and Don Rumsfield. Perhaps she could have a nice cabana on a beach in Aruba. Mel, Jim, and Don will hopefully volunteer to serve as her entourage providing entertainment and security.

Act now!! This is WAY more important than the Specter flap. YOU can make a difference!

Yesterday, local radio news reported on some [politically motivated (?)] vandalism against a Baptist church. The sheriff deputy quoted in the report said, "We think this is the work of juveniles because of the spray-painted satanic words and Pentagons."

Later news reports used a different quote.

Bummer - that was fun!

The Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk criticized Western media "misinformation" about his country and insisted that Iraqis are looking forward to elections "because they will be useful for national unity."

"It is not all death and destruction," explained Archbishop Louis Sako in an interview Tuesday published by AsiaNews.

"Much is positive in Iraq today," he said. "Universities are operating, schools are open, people go out onto the streets normally." He did acknowledge that "where there's a kidnapping or a homicide the news gets out immediately, and this causes fear among the people."

Yet, "there is no organized resistance" in Iraq, the prelate insisted. "Those who commit such violence are resisting against Iraqis who want to build their country.

"Iraqis instead are resisting against terrorism and are not carrying out attacks, which instead are the work of foreign infiltrators. I have stressed this before: Saudis, Jordanians, Syrians and Sudanese have entered Iraq. Prime Minister Allawi has said this as well. And clearly, there are also Iraqi collaborators who, for money, help the terrorist hide."

"The Kyoto protocol requires a supranational bureaucratic monster in charge of rationing emissions and, therefore, economic activities. The Kyotoist system of quota allocation, mandatory restrictions and harsh penalties will be a sort of international Gosplan, a system to rival the former Soviet Union's. The majority of humankind does not accept this system, despite claims of worldwide support. Even with Russia's ratification, 75 per cent of the world's CO2 is emitted by, 68 per cent of the world's GDP is produced in, and 89 per cent of the world's population live in countries that are not handcuffed by Kyoto's restrictions. Like fascism and communism, Kyotoism is an attack on basic human freedoms behind a smokescreen of propaganda. Like those ideologies of human hatred, it will be exposed and defeated."

Wise words, and the welcome arrival of a splendid, if vaguely Bolshevik-sounding, new insult: "Kyotoism."

A noun, and an adjective ("Kyotoist"), to savour. Thanks, Andrei!