My Next Vacation

So apparently they do tours of Chernobyl, the site of the largest nuclear meltdown in history, in northern Ukraine. It's totally safe, you just can't touch plants or buildings or stand downwind of the reactor core or breathe too deeply.

Chernobyl Offers a Holiday in Hell, Times Online

Colombia's Hippos Killed

Ethnic cleansing, massacres of whole towns, narcotrafficking, leftist guerrila attacks on government buildings... these are all fine and good. But when a country comes for the hippos, you know it can go no lower...

Cocaine King's Hippo Gunned Down in Colombia, Reuters

Two Brothers Living "Past the Edge"

Here's an article on two brothers in Rio who are literally living 30 feet in the air, having rigged up a hammock, table and chairs on a vertical wall. I have a feeling they're just doing it to be able to tell the favelados that they're spoiled and don't know what real hardship is. No actually they're part of an art exhibit, but actually now that I think about it it's kind of a neat idea. I'm starting to mull a lifestyle change...

Going Vertical: Brothers Live on Building's Wall

Brazil Sets the Pace

The Barra de Tijuca neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro is set to build a series of solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations, as part of a campaign to promote environmental awareness. Pretty cool.

Brazil Getting Network of Solar EV Charging Stations

It's Finally Settled, I Am White...

This long-standing question has finally been answered, as this post on the blog "Stuff White People Like" so accurately explains:

Stuff White People Like: #120: Taking A Year Off"

What they do mostly in Ukraine...

Peace Corps: Ukraine

So I got my Peace Corps assignment and it looks like I'm going to Ukraine. I think it's perfect and I couldn't be more excited, especially after watching this TV ad for the Ukrainian army: