NEWS YOU CAN USE: 10 Cocktails to Get Your Thanksgiving Going.

WORKERS’ PARADISE: Rape and no periods in North Korea’s army.

A former soldier says life as a woman in the world’s fourth-largest army was so tough that most soon stopped menstruating. And rape, she says, was a fact of life for many of those she served with.

For almost 10 years Lee So Yeon slept on the bottom bunk bed, in a room she shared with more than two dozen women. Every woman was given a small set of drawers in which to store their uniforms. On top of those drawers each kept two framed photographs. One was of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung. The second was of his now deceased heir, Kim Jong-il.

It was a decade ago that she left, but she retains vivid memories of the smell of the concrete barracks.

“We sweat quite a bit.

“The mattress we sleep on, it’s made of the rice hull. So all the body odour seeps into the mattress. It’s not made of cotton. Because it’s rice hull, all the odour from sweat and other smells are there. It’s not pleasant.”

One of the reasons for this was the state of the washing facilities.

“As a woman, one of the toughest things is that we can’t shower properly,” says Lee So Yeon.

“Because there is no hot water. They connect a hose to the mountain stream and have water directly from the hose.

“We would get frogs and snakes through the hose.”

Plus: “Though Lee So Yeon joined the army voluntarily, in 2015 it was announced that all women in North Korea must do seven years’ military service from the age of 18.”

And yet it’s always the U.S. progressives accuse of militarism.

ANSWERING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: So You Have A Deviated Septum—Now What?

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Bird Flu Is Spreading in Asia, Experts (Quietly) Warn.

CUE THE WORLD’S SMALLEST VIOLIN: Iraq Is Giving OPEC a Headache.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, due to meet next week in Vienna, is already grappling with volatile production in Nigeria and Libya, and Iraq adds another layer of unpredictability. For policy makers, the short-term disruption risks masking a longer-term truth: Iraq, which only got a production quota last year after decades of exemptions, has never felt comfortable with constraints and wants to maximize the country’s potential output.

“Production will remain volatile,” said Issam Chalabi, a consultant and former Iraqi oil minister. While it will be difficult for Iraq to replace barrels lost in the north quickly, Iraq’s “real intention is to reach the 5 million-barrel mark by year-end. Politics is the name of the game.”

The uncertainty makes it more difficult for OPEC to judge the global balance of supply and demand next year and make a decision about how long to extend supply curbs. The producers’ group is seeking to build consensus with non-members including Russia on whether to extend beyond March output cuts aimed at mopping up a supply glut.

Cartels deserve every headache they get, and then some.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Quick treatment of mini-stroke may cut risk for future stroke.

THIS WAS PROBABLY INEVITABLE: New Drone License Plates Stoke Fears About Tracking, Hacking.

BUT OF COURSE: New Yorkers are footing the bill for Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio’s quixotic energy-efficiency plans.

Even if we stipulate that increased energy efficiency in New York buildings is a good thing, the emissions-reduction targets are financially burdensome and unrealistic. Cuomo’s appointees at the New York State Public Service Commission have mandated that buildings must slash their energy use by 600 trillion BTUs by 2030. But as economist Jonathan Lesser points out in a recent report for the Manhattan Institute, the New York Independent System Operator has projected that those energy savings will be about 51 trillion BTUs—or about one-twelfth the required amount.

Opposition to nuclear energy has compounded the problem. The Cuomo administration negotiated the premature closure of the Indian Point Energy Center, but city documents show that shutting the state’s nuclear plants will mean more reliance on natural gas. In California and New England, carbon-dioxide emissions increased immediately after nuclear plants were shuttered, with gas-fired generators replacing the nukes.

Renewables can’t meet New York’s energy needs. In his August report, Lesser estimated that achieving 80 x 50 would require either 300,000 megawatts of new solar-energy capacity—equivalent to all existing solar capacity on the planet—or 100,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity; that’s more than six times as much as now exists globally.

Anything that can’t happen, won’t.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: How a half-educated tech elite delivered us into chaos. They’re all into “social justice” though.

Related: The Arrogant Ignorance of the ‘Well-Educated.’ All too often, they’re more credentialed than educated.

ANNNNNNNND HE’S GONE! CBS AXES CHARLIE ROSE OVER SEXUAL PREDATION ALLEGATIONS.

And so, as he flies the blue lady of the skies into the sunset, we say “Aloha, 5 O’clock Charlie!” and return to our duties. Let me remind you that the Weblog is open 24 hours for your dining and dancing pleasure.

UPDATE: Since I just did a M*A*S*H homage for the Five O’Clock Charlie line, here’s another Korea-centric satiric response to Rose’s implosion:

OH: Flows of ‘water’ on Mars may actually be sand, new study reveals.

Those dark streaks may be the result of granular flows like sand and dust, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience. The study is the product of a research team made up of representatives from the US Geological Survey, the Planetary Science Institute, the University of Arizona and Durham University in England.

The study is based on observations made with the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The RSL have been perplexing scientists since their discovery. Thousands recur during the warmest season on Mars each year, growing longer and darker until they fade in winter. They’re found on steep, rocky slopes on the darkest areas of Mars: the equator, the northern plains, the southern mid-latitudes.

Researchers studied 151 RSL at 10 sites and found all ended at similar points, no matter the length of the slope. If liquid had been involved, there would be longer streaks of liquid on longer slopes. But a closer study of the streaks revealed that they behave just like dry grains of sand on active dunes, all settling at the same “angle of repose.”

That’s disappointing.

THIS IS IMPRESSIVE. I DO, LIKE, HALF THAT MUCH: The 330 lb Press: Ordinary Programming, Extraordinary Persistence.

IT’S HARD TO PLEASE PEOPLE WHOSE CHIEF GOAL IS TO BE UNHAPPY: Remember When Civil Rights Groups Wanted Police Bodycams? Look At What They’re Saying Now.

RENDER UNTO CAESAR THE THINGS THAT ARE CAESAR’S — AND EVERYTHING ELSE, TOO: China’s Communist Party Forces Christians to Replace Jesus With Xi Jinping Posters.

PENN JILLETTE: If Brandeis wants to censor Lenny Bruce, I don’t need college.

NEWS YOU CAN ABUSE: How to Talk About Star Wars at Thanksgiving With Your Ignorant, Rebellion-Backing Uncle.

WELL, YES: School Choice Can Protect Kids From Classroom Indoctrination.

CONSCIOUSNESS OF GUILT: Harvard Faces DOJ Probe Over Affirmative-Action Policies: Justice Department accuses university of failing to cooperate in investigation of whether its admission policies discriminate against Asian-Americans.

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the use of race in Harvard University’s admissions practices and has accused the university of failing to cooperate with the probe, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The Justice Department is investigating complaints that formed the basis of a federal civil lawsuit filed in 2014 in Boston, according to the documents. That suit alleges Harvard intentionally discriminates against Asian-Americans by limiting the number of Asian students who are admitted.

The lawsuit, brought by a nonprofit called Students for Fair Admissions, said the practices violate federal civil-rights law and asks a federal judge to prohibit Harvard from using race as a factor in future undergraduate admissions decisions. The suit is pending.

The Justice Department, whose Civil Rights Division is conducting the investigation into similar allegations, said in a letter to Harvard’s lawyers, dated Nov. 17 and reviewed by the Journal, that the school was being investigated under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin for organizations that receive federal funding. The letter also said the school had failed to comply with a Nov. 2 deadline to provide documents related to the university’s admissions policies and practices.

The department told Harvard it “may file a lawsuit” to enforce compliance if Harvard doesn’t hand over the documents by a new deadline of Dec. 1, according to a separate letter dated Nov. 17 from John M. Gore, the acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. The department wrote that the materials requested by the Justice Department have already been provided by Harvard to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

The documents confirm the existence of an investigation that the Justice Department in August indicated it would pursue and suggest that Harvard has challenged the authority of the department’s Civil Rights Division to conduct it.

Related: Asians Get The Ivy League’s Jewish Treatment.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Out: Trumpism. In: Deplorabilism.

BREAKING: Zimbabwe Parliament Leader: Hey, I Just Got Mugabe’s Resignation Letter!

QUESTIONS THAT NOBODY* IS ASKING: Why Have Liberals Been Such Horrendous Hypocrites on Women’s Rights?, asks Roger Simon.

* Well, at least nobody at NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, PBS, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, among numerous others. Just think of the media as Democratic operatives with bylines, and their omertàs all make sense.

EPI-FAIL: Report Shows EpiPen Failure Cited in Seven Deaths.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Undercover informant confronted FBI handlers about Uranium One deal, was told ‘politics’ was involved. “In any case, despite the Russian bribery scheme, the Uranium One deal was approved. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State was one of the people voting to approve it. After the approval, Solomon reports Cambell confronted his FBI handlers about why it had been allowed. He was told the approval was political. . . . As presented, all of this stinks.”

CHARLES C.W. COOKE OFFERS A CORRECTION TO AN OTHERWISE GOOD PIECE ON CAMPUS FREE SPEECH: Richard Spencer Hasn’t Been Invited By Campus Conservative Groups:

In New York magazine, Jesse Singal pens a long defense of free speech on campus. It’s well done, and worth reading. Overall, I’d recommend it. But I must push back against the opening, which includes a rather misleading implication:

The existence of white nationalist Richard Spencer, and other bigoted far-right figures like him, poses a genuine challenge to public universities. Conservative student groups invite these sorts of figures to speak fairly often, and the courts have consistently held that public universities can’t really interfere with such events.

Having read this, you could be forgiven for thinking that “conservative student groups” have invited ”white nationalist Richard Spencer” to speak on campus, and that they have done so “fairly often.” This isn’t correct. Richard Spencer has indeed spoken on college campuses recently. But, invariably, he has invited himself.

Just FYI.