Obama’s having trouble fitting his turkey into the oven this year

Thanksgiving Obamacare

Happy Thanksgiving to our readers in the US. We've got to tell you, though, you've got some of your immigrants pretty perplexed about this holiday.

Take your religious refuge-seekers from Europe, for example. PRI's The World interviewed a pilgrim couple as part of its First Days series, which recounts immigrant memories of their first days in America. Those pilgrims don't recall any big deal around turkeys and marshmallow-swaddled sweet potatoes.

And PRI's The World reports that, in poet Richard Blanco's Cuban-American family, his mother sees today as commemorating the saint of giving, and is worthy of a good pork roast.

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An alien visitor from the Oort Cloud

In a few weeks, ISON could be the "comet of the century" — or it could be a cosmic dud.

The comet is now "grazing" our Sun, coming within a million kilometers of it, and we'll see it on its return trip to the Oort Cloud at the far reaches of the solar system. According to the Economist, it will provide a spectacular show for those in either the northern or southern hemisphere. That is, if it survives. 

Scientists think the comet may have split apart due to the intense heat and gravity of the Sun — and we'll just have to wait and see. By the way, ISON is named for the International Scientific Optical Network in Russia, which discovered it.

When is a woman not a woman? When she alleges harassment, in India

Three alleged cases of sexual harassment are in the news in India these days. The World's Rhitu Chatterjee reported on one case, involving the editor of a magazine known for championing women's rights. The others involve a candidate for prime minister and a retired Supreme Court judge.

The BBC's Andrew North notes that the Indian media typically refer to all of the accusers as "girls" — though all are in their twenties. There's a simple cultural explanation – women are considered "girls" until they are married — which says a lot about deep-seated attitudes toward women.

'Breaking Bad' meets North Korea 

It turns out that North Korea has become a major player in the international meth trade. Their specialty is the 99-percent-pure variety, mentioned in "Breaking Bad" as blue crystal meth. 

Just last week, five men were arrested in Thailand for planning to export North Korean meth to New York City. PRI's The World interviewed  Isaac Stone Fish, associate editor at Foreign Policy, about how North Korea came to be a supplier. He says scientists there with too little work needed a way to feed their families…

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Weather around the world

On this holiday weekend in the US, the country doesn't have any major storm systems, according to Weather.com. Aside from a stray sprinkle or flurry, Americans will have dry weather for Black Friday, the heaviest shopping day of the year known for its extraordinary deals.

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