This past weekend, off the coast of Yemen, luxury cruise ship the Oceania Nautica outran pirates. Pirates!

The Nautica is a 30,200 ton, 11 deck ship which carries a crew of 400 and 684 passengers, all of whom must have been very relieved when they narrowly escaped two skiffs who tried to intercept them. The Nautica accelerated to its full 23 knot (27 mph) speed and maneuvered out of the gunfire.

The Nautica was amid a 32-day cruise from Rome to Singapore when it encountered the pirates and totally pwned them. Oceania says there are no plans to re-route the cruise.

Though the area off the coast of Yemen is being patrolled by an international anti-piracy task force, it is common for pirates to hijack yachts and cargo ships. Cyrus Mody of the International Maritime Bureau says that the area is large, and "Vessels do not automatically get guaranteed safe passage even if they use it." Still, it is unusual for a passenger ship of the Nautica's size to come into harm's way.

Also, pirate activity has been far more prevalent off the coast of Somalia. The pirates there, who recently claimed they are unstoppable, have been called "animals" for their cruel tactics and treatment of hostages. The problem of piracy continues to fester despite the work of the UN and various national patrols. Someone tell the UN to send in a fleet of armed cruise ships.

[via cnn.com]

China's very first fully homegrown aircraft has hit the skies at last, bringing China's aviation industry another step closer to competition in the global market. The ARJ-21, a regional aircraft built at the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, flew its maiden flight last Friday, after delays from suppliers held up the jet for about eight months.

With its new jets, the Aviation Industry Corp of China, or AVIC, expects to compete with Canada's Bombadier Inc and Embraer SA of Brazil. AVIC officials expect the ARJ-21 to be certified airworthy by early 2009, and the company will start delivering planes to customers by the second half of next year if all goes according to plan.

According to the Chinese government, airlines have ordered 206 of the jets so far, and demand is expected to increase. Experts estimate that China's growing domestic airline industry will require about 900 new mid-sized regional jets over the next twenty years, and the ARJ-21 should control most of that market.

The jets are designed to carry 70-110 passengers and have a flight range of 3,680 kilometers, or 2,286 miles.

In a classic scene from the film A League of their Own, coach Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks) screams at his female players: 'There's no crying in baseball!'

Of course, while there may have been a Hollywood ending for Madonna and Geena Davis, there is still very much a prominent glass ceiling in real-life baseball.

However, there is a chance that the sport as we know it may one day change, especially following the recent draft pick of a female Japanese high school student by the minor league team Kobe 9 Cruise.

On that note, allow me to introduce you to the cutest pitcher you've ever seen, namely 16-year old Eri Yoshida (吉田えり). Weighing in at a mere 114 pounds, and standing just over give feet tall, Eri is now the first woman ever to play in Japan's all-male professional baseball league.

How did she do it you ask? Simple.

Eri has mastered the knuckleball, an infamous baseball pitch characterized by its wild and unpredictable motion.

Keep reading as the story goes on..

The father of a family friend of mine recently passed away in Taiwan. He was a well-respected Taiwanese dignitary, and mourning his death will continue until his burial next week. In the meantime, family members leave the front door of their home open and people stop by to express their condolences.

There's a lot of crying going on in Taiwan these days. Former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian ended his two-week hunger strike that was an effort in protesting his recent arrest. He has been accused of bribing and money-laundering - the proof of which has been uncovered in three Swiss bank accounts. Despite this proof, he wrote a poem that was published in the Liberty Times on November 25th, saying he would die for Taiwan's independence from China. He continues to accuse Taiwan's current administration of pandering to its communist neighbor.

From beef, chicken and fish to horse, jellyfish and whale, the Japanese are fierce carnivores that love their meat raw, red and occasionally bloody...

Of course, this can present something of a problem for vegetarians in Japan, especially since fish stock is a classic cooking staple that can appear in the most seemingly meat-free dishes - we're looking at you, miso soup!!

Fret not however as it is in fact possible to eat cruelty-free meals in Japan. And, you can still enjoy the high level of quality that makes Japanese cuisine justifiably famous the world over.

So, without any further adieu, here are some author-tested tips for eating veggie in Japan:

1) Learn to love the convenience store. You don't have to look very far in Japan to find a convenience store, which is a good thing as these one-stop shops are packed with non-meat goodies. You'll certainly want to stay away from the pre-packaged dinners, though salads are decidedly meat free, along with most chips, cookies, crackers and candies. With that said, shrimp-flavored snacks are popular with Japanese kids, so give a product a pass if it's got smiling crustaceans on the packaging.

Keep reading as the list goes on...

Modern Japan may be an über peaceful place of happy shiny people, but it certainly wasn't always like this...

On the contrary, medieval Japan was at times a conflict-stricken land of warring clans and spirit-breaking feudalism, which gave rise to some truly monolithic castles.

Sadly, most of Japan's medieval structures were either burnt to the ground during the Meiji era of 'enlightenment,' or destroyed during WWII by Allied bombing.

However, there are still a few places in Japan where you can stand in awe before imposing castles that look as if they've jumped straight out of a Miyazaki anime.

On that note today's post is all about Japan's best medieval castles. While our list certainly isn't comprehensive - and may in fact leave out some of your favorites - keep reading to check out which ones made the cut.

The days of poop-behind-a-rock be gone - a Nepali climber has recently started promoting the use of a packable toilet for hikers up the world's tallest mountain. Tired of the 965 kilos of waste he picked up during an expedition in May (including a corpse dating back to 1972! wtf!), Dawa Steven Sherpa is determined to make Mt. Everest a cleaner place.

His solution is the Luggable Loo – a portable bucket-cum-toilet that stores waste in a gas-impervious bag. This way, hikers will have a potty to sit on (plus!) but poop to haul out (not so much plus). The bags do their job to keep unwanted aromas from reaching expeditionists while they hike.

Still, if hauling your own waste out seems like too much trouble, what the hell are you doing climbing Mt. Everest anyway? Any good hiker knows that the first rule of messing with Mother Nature is to leave her exactly as you found her. That includes poop, too.

The loo retails from Cabela's Outfitters for $15 – not too shabby – and 6 of the "Doodie Bags" (as they are so named) will cost you $12.99. If I were Mr. Sherpa, I'd be handing these things out at the base camp. Who wants to clean up someone else's 20-year-old, iced-over poo anyway?

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor. In fact, the closest I ever got to medical school was a failed campus visit that drove me to Japan in the first place. With that said, I am merely reporting here today on the purported merits of bird poo, rather than endorsing it as a safe and effective beauty product.

Besides, I'm sure you're beautiful just the way you are, so why change a thing? (^_^)

In the olden days of Japan, geisha were - and still are - known for their painted white skin, which was believed to be a sign of beauty, grace and social refinement.

As you might have guessed, the look seems to have some tough competition, especially from the dark-tanned and bleached-haired urban youth of hip neighborhoods such as Tokyo's Harajuku.

But, old traditions die hard, which is why bird poo is making a comeback amongst Japan's female fashionistas.

Yup. You definitely read that correctly. Bird poo.

Before you run outside and start rubbing your face against all that pigeon poo on your car's windshield, keep reading as there are definitely a few things you should know!

Few tourists and resident foreigners in Japan need to find a reason to visit Kyoto (京都)...

Established in 794 AD as the official seat of the imperial court, Kyoto truly is one of the last places in modern Japan where you can sip and savor a cup of green tree while mediating on the finer points of a centuries-old Zen rock garden.

Of course, like any tourist destination the world over, Kyoto has its seasons, which is why the city is jam-packed when the sakura bloom in the springtime, and when the leaves fall in the autumn.

Indeed, Kyoto can be stiflingly hot in the summer, and frigidly cold in the winter. However, if you can get over your sensitivity to the harsh elements, there are some serious deals out there to be had.

For the second year in a row, the city is sponsoring the "Kyoto Winter Special" to lure in foreign tourist dollars. Although the global economy is dropping, and the value of the yen is rising, it's worth parting with some cash this winter, especially if you want to catch a glimpse of Kyoto's hidden national treasures.

Keep reading...

In honor of the recent passing of Michael Crichton, today's posting is all about cloning...

Believe it or not, Jurassic Park may in fact be a reality sometime in the near future. Of course, we're talking about the cloning parts of the books and films, not the Hollywood parts where the dinosaurs rampage, and eat pesky humans in equally horrific and amusing ways!

Last week in Japan, healthy mice were cloned from the cells of dead mice that had been frozen for 16 years. This groundbreaking scientific research raises the possibility that endangered - or even extinct - species could be cloned from old carcasses that have been tossed in freezers or found in permafrost, rather than from living cells.

When asked about the possibility of one day resurrecting a woolly mammoth, Teruhiko Wakayama of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, who led the research, elegantly stated: "It would be very difficult, but our work suggests that it is no longer science fiction."

How awesome is that?