President Barack Obama announced yesterday that he will soon announce his decision on our strategy in Afghanistan. When he says he intends to “finish the job,” what does he mean? Here to help us answer that is David Sanger, chief Washington correspondent for our partner, The New York Times. And to help us see what the consequences of finishing the job will be are Charlie Sennott, executive editor and vice president of GlobalPost, and Nadir Atash, former Afghan government official and author of “Turbulence: The Tumultuous Journey of One Man's Quest for Change in Afghanistan”

• Business Takeout: Louise Story of The New York Times says the FDIC insurance fund that protects your bank deposits has fallen a smidge below zero: $8.2 billion, in round numbers. Take heart, though -- there's a plan.
• Dinner Takeout: Vishakha Desai, president of the Asia Society, was a guest at President Obama's first state dinner. She joins us to talk about the event.
  
• Listener Takeout: Listeners tell us their stories of dealing with TMI in the workplace and long term care for family members.

It seems the American people are playing the “wait-and-see” game on whether health care reform passes before the year’s end or not. Right now the bill stands on the Senate floor where Harry Reid and other Democrats are fighting for every last vote that they can muster up. One of those Democrats is our guest, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who also talks about the prospects for jobs in a slow economy.

Florida fishermen found Elián González floating in the Atlantic Ocean ten years ago today. After months of legal wrangling, González was sent back to Cuba and his waiting father; who can forget the picture of an armed federal official confronting a screaming Elian? The incident once again brought the frayed relations between the United States and Cuba to the forefront. How have those relations changed in the ten years since? Ann Louise Bardach brings us an update on González; she is the author of “Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana, and Washington,” and previously of “Cuba Confidential.”

For every Thanksgiving Day grocery shopper procrastinator who hasn't picked up the essentials, Melissa Clark, our food contributor and food writer for The New York Times, offers us wisdom. Where can you best put your money to work for you at the Thanksgiving table? The turkey or the side dishes? (click through for Melissa's tips and her recipe for Spicy Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Hash)

At a Defense Department briefing on Tuesday, spokesman Geoff Morrell ran down the list of what U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will be eating on Thanksgiving day. It's a feast that includes more than 465,000 pounds of turkey and 61,000 pounds of stuffing. Specialist Naveed Ali Shah is one of the enlisted soldiers who will be taking part in the festivities on base. He's stationed in Balad, Iraq. First Lieutenant Russell Galeti joins us from Germany, where his unit is training before deploying to Afghanistan. And Michael Hoffman, staff writer for The Mililtary Times and a former Air Force intelligence officer, talks about what it's like to be enlisted during the holidays.

• Washington Takeout: Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich has the story of a presidential pardon taking place on the Hill.  (psst... it's just the annual White House turkey.)
• Sports Takeout: Sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin says Notre Dame's head football coach, Charlie Weis, may soon be out of a job. We'll take a look at possible successors. 
• Movie Takeout: Takeaway movie contributor Karina Longworth looks at what's worth watching over the holiday weekend.

The Federal investigation into a Minnesota-based terrorism operation widened this week when authorities released criminal charges against eight men connected to the operation, which allegedly recruited young men to fight alongside terrorists in Somalia. We look at how the case is impacting the Somali community in Minnesota, and speak with Tim Nelson, a reporter with Minnesota Public Radio. We also speak with Mohamed Hassan, vice chair of Somali Cause.

With over one million users posting 27.3 million tweets a day, one would expect Twitter to be a hugely profitable organization spread across the globe.  But the truth is a little more nuanced than that.  Twitter is a big company, one valued at over $1 billion by investors. But, by offering a free service to millions around the world, Twitter, like Facebook, has no immediately obvious way to actually make money.

So how does a company like Twitter stay in business?  And what kind of business model can they employ to become profitable? 

The Takeaway talks to BBC business correspondent Mark Gregory, who recently spoke with Biz Stone, one of Twitter's co-founders.  Mark reports that Twitter does indeed have a plan or two to allow their company to turn a significant profit.

As the annual hajj pilgrimage begins, we check in with BBC reporter in Mecca, Shahzeb Jilani. We also talk with the State Department’s Special Representative to Muslim Communities, Farah Pandith, about her work and whether or not she plans to make the annual pilgrimage to Mecca this year. It’s all part of our continuing series on Faith in America.