What If A Luxury Cruise Ship That You're On Almost Gets Hijacked?

Most people seek out a luxury cruise & their main concern is getting seasick. But, there are more dangers than a sour tummy on a luxury cruise ship. What if the cruise that you've embarked on almost gets hijacked by pirates? That's what happened when a cruise ship that left Rome on Nov. 18 on a 32-day cruise to Singapore was almost overtaken by pirates. Here's more from CNN:

"The Nautica was in an area patrolled by international anti-piracy task forces when two small skiffs appeared to try to intercept it, Oceania spokesman Tim Rubacky said.

The ship took evasive maneuvers and accelerated to its full speed of 23 knots or 27 mph. One of the smaller craft closed to within 300 yards and fired eight rifle shots at the cruise ship, he said, but the ship was able to pull away.

It was the first report of a pirate attack on a passenger ship of its size this year, said Cyrus Mody of the International Maritime Bureau, which runs a piracy reporting center.

"There have been a couple of passenger yachts hijacked, but they were much smaller," he said. It is "quite common" for pirates to target ships the size of the Nautica and even larger, he said, but they tend to be cargo ships, not passenger vessels.

The Nautica escaped without damage or injury to its 684 passengers and 400 crew, and arrived safely on schedule in Salalah, Oman early on Monday morning, Rubacky said.

He emphasized that the ship was not off the coast of Somalia, which has become a base for pirates, but off the coast of Yemen." (END OF EXCERPT) Read the article here:http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/12/01/pirates.cruise.ship/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

I Dedicate "Legalize The Herb" To Every Country That Won't Decriminalize It!

Macka B,one of Birmingham,England's finest DJs, has composed the perfect song about decriminalizing marijuana. He says that "you're only making criminals out of decent folks". And that is an understatement. A lot of "legal drugs",such as prescription, may cause horrific side effects or death. Yet, they remain legal & the advertisements on television for these various antibiotics give you a whole litany of possible negative results. So,why is weed the worst seed again? If the hemp seed is bad for you, then nothing should be legal that is. Nicotine & alcohol have damaging consequences if you consume either of them frequently. So, this song "Legalize The Herb" sums up exactly how I feel about the marijuana issue.

Swiss Approves Prescription Heroin But Not Marijuana!

Now, Swiss voters approve of prescription heroin ,but not marijuana. They make the argument that heroin addiction cannot be easily overcome & having a legal heroin program where addicts are given premeasured injections is necessary for their recovery. Marijuana is not a necessity for the user so I guess they felt it would just be supporting drug use. But, there are some very sick folks who use marijuana as an actual healing property. So, why not make provisions for those people,like we do in numerous states across America. It just seems illogical to me. Here's more from the Associated Press:

"The heroin program has helped eliminate scenes of large groups of drug users shooting up openly in parks that marred Swiss cities in the 1980s and 1990s, supporters say.

The United States and the U.N. narcotics board have criticized the program as potentially fueling drug abuse, but other governments have started or are considering their own programs modeled on the system.

The marijuana issue was based on a separate citizens' initiative to decriminalize the consumption of marijuana and growing the plant for personal use.

Jo Lang, a Green Party member of parliament from the central city of Zug, said he was disappointed in the failure of the marijuana measure because it means 600,000 people in Switzerland will be treated as criminals because they use cannabis.

"People have died from alcohol and heroin, but not from cannabis," Lang said.

The government, which opposes the marijuana proposal, said it feared that liberalizing marijuana could cause problems with neighboring countries.

"This could lead to a situation where you have some sort of cannabis tourism in Switzerland because something that is illegal in the EU would be legal in Switzerland," government spokesman Oswald Sigg told The Associated Press."(END OF EXCERPT) Go here for the whole article:http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jvPQobAzzd8b8rx5Ltg7TxMtz4bAD94PC0R80