A couple links via Neatorama:

A Japanese company has adopted a radical strategy for success in a world where Japan is rapidly disappearing, as an economic force and as a culture. They do business exclusively in English:

The country has both a dread of English and an understandable attachment to its own ornate business customs. Those idiosyncrasies made Japan a bewildering but envied powerhouse during its economic boom. They now make Japan a poor match, experts say, for global business.

Mikitani took a step few other companies here have dared because, he said, he thought it would help his company expand and thrive. He also wanted to prove a point — that the Japanese, counter to the stereotype, could embrace the risks and embarrassment that come with learning a foreign language.

In another part of the world, a group of masked bandits in armor robbed a French/German Renaissance Faire:

A bunch of people dressed as knights and armed with a sword and an axe forgot to look up the definition of knight. They robbed the organizers of a medieval festival and stole $25,000. Yeah, they’ve apparently been learning knighthood from the likes of Jaime Lannister.

They needed this Englishman (not from Neatorama)–a man who has lived out the not-so-secret fantasy of every historical reenactor:

A Civil War re-enactment enthusiast used the battle skills he learned playing a Cavalier to disarm a knife-wielding robber.

Alf Thompson, 60, sprang into action when the thug threatened to slash a shop assistant’s throat.

Mr Thompson, a member of the Sealed Knot, grabbed the robber’s hand and dragged him over the shop counter.

The grandfather wrenched the knife from the man’s hand and then pinned him to the counter while the shopkeeper dialled 999.

During the brawl, the masked robber drew a second knife – but Mr Thompson disarmed him again before pinning him to the floor and waiting for police.

Someday you’ll read about me doing something similar.

The story will be accompanied by my death notice, of course.

It will be worth it.