WORKERS’ PARADISE: Hungry Venezuelans Flee in Boats to Escape Economic Collapse.

One evening at the end of September, Ms. Piñero, 47, climbed aboard a boat in a small town on the country’s northern coast. She dropped to her knees, praying to God that she would survive the journey and find a better life in Curaçao.

The other passengers, tears in their eyes, began to pray too, some joining hands in a circle on the beach. They muttered hopes that the Coast Guard would not catch them, that they were good people, that they were mothers and fathers.

They waded chest-deep into the water, hoisting their few possessions overhead, and climbed into the boat. Its motor started and it steered toward the horizon.

Even the smuggler seemed distraught at the misfortune bringing him profits.

“I would prefer that the crisis ended and my business was over,” the smuggler said after they had left. “I would prefer a thousand times that there was no crisis and we could live in the Venezuela from yesterday.”

Can you guess what word NYT’s Nicholas Casey failed to use even one time in his report on Venezuela’s economic crisis?

NOTHING IS WORTH THIS. Black Friday Death Count: Man Shot, Killed over Walmart Parking Spot.

Stay home on Black Friday if you can.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Nobody ever got shot at the Amazon Black Friday sale!

SMART DIPLOMACY: U.S., Western Allies Push Iran on New Measures to Bolster Nuclear Deal.

The U.S. and its Western allies are pressing Iran to take steps to sharply cut the amount of radioactive material it holds in a bid to shore up last year’s nuclear deal and discourage the incoming Trump administration from abandoning it, Western officials said.

The discussions about reducing Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium started months ago, officials said, and are among a number of measures the Obama administration has been examining to fortify the accord in its final months in office. But the initiative has taken on new urgency since the election of President-elect Donald Trump created fresh uncertainty around the deal.

If agreed upon, the plan could reduce the odds of a sudden flashpoint between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s implementation of the deal once Mr. Trump takes office, Western officials say, by reducing its enriched-uranium stockpile well below the cap agreed to in the 2015 accord.

A better time to ask for this might have been before lifting the sanctions and turning over pallets full of cash.

HOLIDAY TERROR? Masked Intruder Kills Woman in Attack on Catholic Missionary Retirement Home in France.

The suspect is at large and no group has claimed responsibility for the murder.

THE SECOND LAW OF HOLES: When your opponent is in one, buy them a bigger and nicer shovel.

Jill Stein's racket is incredible:

Step 1: Cost the Dem the Election
Step 2: wait for Trump panic
Step 3: Bilk millions for recount.

— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) November 25, 2016

YES. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: Game-Changer or Procurement Nightmare?

CHANGE: I’m A Card-Carrying Feminist Who Voted For Donald Trump.

CABINET OF RIVALS? Trump Allies Raise Doubts About Mitt Romney Leading State Department.

Trump adviser and former Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway issued a series of tweets Thursday morning in which she appeared to question the former Massachusetts governor’s suitability for a role working alongside Mr. Trump.

Ms. Conway said she had received a “deluge” of social-media and private communications about Mr. Romney. In a second tweet, she added that previous secretaries of state such as Henry Kissinger and George Shultz “flew around the world less, counseled POTUS [president of the United States] close to home more. And were loyal. Good checklist.”

The debate over the State Department job has been marked by an internal tug of war in the Trump camp between supporters of Mr. Romney, those favoring former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani—a longtime Trump ally favored by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich—and others who believe Mr. Trump should keep searching for candidates.

The list of qualified Republican contenders who aren’t “tainted” by association with the Bush 43 Administration is pretty thin.

PLEASE FOLLOW THIS ADVICE. PLEASE. Democrats neither can nor should ditch “identity politics”

ASYMMETRIC WARFARE, AMERICAN-STYLE: One by One, ISIS Social Media Experts Are Killed as Result of F.B.I. Program.

While American and British forces conducted a series of drone strikes on members of the group, the F.B.I. sifted through thousands of the Legion’s followers on social media to figure out who had actually been inspired to take action. In the last two years, it has arrested nearly 100 people in cases involving the terrorist group.

Several of the arrests were of people who had direct contact with the Legion. Many of the others involved were “folks who first came on our radar because we became aware of them” through their connections with Hussain and Reyaad Khan, also a British citizen, who was another leader of the group, according to Andrew McCabe, deputy director of the F.B.I.

Mr. Hussain wore a number of hats, including that of a hacker. He was linked to the release of personal information on more than 1,300 American military and government employees. In March 2015, his group posted the names and addresses of service members with instructions: “Kill them in their own lands, behead them in their own homes, stab them to death as they walk their streets thinking they are safe.”

More important were Mr. Hussain’s efforts as an online recruiter.

According to court records, Mr. Hussain communicated with at least four men in four states, imploring them to initiate attacks or help spread the Islamic State’s message. Mr. Hussain was behind a plot to behead Pamela Geller, the author of a conservative blog. In early 2015, Mr. Hussain began communicating with Usaamah Abdullah Rahim, 26, and gave him instructions to kill Ms. Geller.

Mr. Rahim abruptly abandoned the plan and decided instead to kill a police officer in the Boston area. The bureau was monitoring him, and Mr. Rahim was shot and killed in June 2015 after he confronted an F.B.I. surveillance team with a knife. The F.B.I. also arrested two of Mr. Rahim’s associates, whom prosecutors say were involved in the plot.

Faster, please.

ALLIES: Denmark is going to ‘punish’ Britain when Brexit talks begin.

“We’ll be rather selfish,” Denmark’s former foreign minister Martin Lidegaard said.

“Brexit has changed it all. Instead of looking at the common benefit and pool our interest, we will get into a game where all of us look more selfish, more narrow-minded,” he said.

The word currently coming from Copenhagen is that Denmark — a country where growing Euroscepticism is now a serious concern for the political establishment — will take a hard line when it comes to Brexit talks with Britain.

Most EU member states have not really made much progress when it comes to preparing for Brexit talks, the FT notes. This is largely down to the mystery surrounding Theresa May’s plans for when negotiations get underway.

But Denmark, a small nation in Northern Europe with more to lose from the downsizing of the EU compared to most other member states, has seemingly reached its position — and it means another headache for May and her cabinet.

“The political environment says that we should be friendly to the UK, that we should not punish it,” an unnamed figure at the heart of preparations explained.

“You need a friendly divorce. Then you look at the issues, and it is clear. It’s not to our advantage to be helpful and friendly.

The Anglosphere is looking better and better.

RIP: ‘Brady Bunch’ Mom Florence Henderson Has Died.

BLACKMAIL: Turkey threatens EU with new surge.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that he will let hundreds of thousands of migrants travel on to Europe if pushed by the EU.

He was reacting to a non-binding vote by the European Parliament to freeze talks on EU membership for Turkey.

The MEPs were alarmed by Mr Erdogan’s “disproportionate” response to a failed coup attempt in July.

The migrant numbers reaching the Greek islands have dropped since an EU-Turkey deal in March to curb the influx.

The EU could re-open the talks to soothe Turkey’s ruffled feathers, but everybody knows that Erdogan’s Turkey will never gain admittance.

THE GREAT DEBATE: Red or white wine with your Thanksgiving turkey?

OR ANY OTHER HOLIDAY:

DONT YOU DARE LET YOUR COUSIN WITH ONE INTRO TO SOCIOLOGY COURSE UNDER HER BELT TELL U HOW THE WORLD WORKS ON THANKSGIVING

— Wu-Tang Financial (@Wu_Tang_Finance) November 23, 2016

RELATED:

Thanksgiving Plan:

• Dinner table (Dining room)
• Kiddie table (Living room)
• Political table (Backyard somewhere, pray for rain)

— Stephen Green (@VodkaPundit) November 22, 2016

THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE! Should ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ Be ‘Accurate?’ Apparently, Some ‘Experts’ Think So.

We could use experts whose expertise is in weeding out silly experts.

THIS SEEMS LIKE A POOR WAY TO EXPRESS SOLIDARITY: Black Lives Matter Activists Plan to Disrupt Black Friday Shopping in Major Cities.

ALWAYS LOW PRICES: An $18,000 Cartier Watch for Wal-Mart’s Black Friday Shoppers?

On Black Friday weekend Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is hoping some shoppers trade up from half-price pajamas and $1 DVDs. The retailer is also pitching $18,000 Cartier watches, Prada pumps and other high-price gifts on its website.

Walmart.com has jumped from offering about 8 million products earlier this year to over 20 million, in large part due to an aggressive pursuit of third-party sellers, outside companies able to sell products through Wal-Mart’s website. That has given Wal-Mart access to luxury items that can attract a long-elusive group: higher-income shoppers.

I went to Walmart.com, and while I didn’t find any $18,000 Cartier watches for sale, I did find a pair of Cartier sunglasses for a little more than $4,000.

NEWS YOU CAN USE LATER THIS EVENING: Building a perfect turkey club sandwich.

WAPO: Trump turning away intelligence briefers since election win.

FLASHBACK: Obama Skips the Majority of His Intelligence Briefings.

DOESN’T ANYBODY HERE KNOW HOW TO PLAY THIS GAME? Hillary Clinton’s lead in popular vote nears 2 million.

But Donald Trump was just declared the winner in Michigan, putting him up over 300 electoral college votes.

Nevertheless, CNN continues to hype Clinton’s meaningless run-up of popular votes in Blue coastal enclaves.

NOT ONLY IS THE UNIVERSE STRANGER THAN WE IMAGINE, IT IS STRANGER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE: This space engine breaks a law of physics. But a NASA test says it works anyway.

SHOPPING: Buying a PC on Black Friday? Here are five trends to watch out for.

HEH:

"Ben Carson is unqualified for HUD Secretary!", say people that put the last 8 years of their lives in the hands of a community organizer

— Josh Earnst (@NotJoshEarnest) November 24, 2016

WHAT TO EXPECT FOR THANKSGIVING TRAVEL: By air, by road, by rail.

Be careful.