Rare of the Rarest

We Love Mud While!

Women Equal to Problems

Diving Expressions

Read More

World’s Biggest and Largest Landslides

Read More

Top 10 Most Dangerous Countries for Christians

Some think Christianity’s flawed past and modern emphasis on grace and forgiveness make it an easy (perhaps deserving) target for criticism and even reverse discrimination. Scathing rhetoric is part of any healthy debate, but should it go so far as to turn a blind eye?

Christianity may have become one of the world’s predominant religions, but there are still many places where Christians are persecuted, dispossessed, tortured, and even killed for their faith. Often this occurs as part of governmental or religious policy. Western media frequently under-report these incidents, fearing to offend cultural sensibilities. As a result, much of this news must be culled from secular human rights publications and religious watchdog groups. Submitted for your approval are the Top 10 Most Dangerous Countries for Christians, as ranked by the Open Doors World Watch List.

10

Laos

Population: 6.4 million; 200,000 Christians
Main Religion: Buddhism
Government: Communist State

The Laotian government’s attitude towards Christians is open hostile. Lao authorities, along with many in Lao society, view Protestant Christianity (and Hmong Christians in particular) as an American threat to Communist rule. Christian churches cannot operate freely and Christians are restricted in their family and community roles. Many Laotian believers endure extreme physical and emotional pressure to abandon their faith.

Case in point: in 2010, 29 Christians were killed and at least 20 were arrested and held without trial, while several churches were destroyed. In January of that same year, 11 Christian families in Laos’ Saravan province were driven out of their villages and into the forest after refusing to deny their faith.

9

Uzbekistan

Population: 27.5 million; 208,600 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic

Pressure on Uzbek Christians increased last year. The number of raids on churches spiked and fines for illegal religious activities now exceed 100 times the minimum monthly wage. Short-term prison sentences (3-15 days) are frequently meted out as a punishment for Christian religious activities, and 27 year-old Baptist missionary Tohar Haydarov has been sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment on (likely trumped up) drugs charges. An appeal is being prepared for his release.

Many churches have also lost their registration and some of their buildings in 2010 as well. Recent Christian converts also experience job loss, beatings, social rejection and often expulsion from the family home.

8

Iraq

Population: 30.7 million; 334,000 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Parliamentary democracy

Don’t be fooled by all those American soldiers: violence against Christians in Iraq is on the rise, with large numbers of believers killed and injured. ‘Targeted killings’ of Christians in Mosul during the run-up to the March 2010 election led many Christians to flee their villages and settle in the Nineveh plains. Fears of a ‘Christian ghetto’ in Bagdad were born that day. Pope Benedict XVI even made an appeal for the safety of Iraqi Christians during this time.

Attacks on church buildings and Christian institutions also increased in the latter half of 2010, and at least 58 Christians were killed in a bomb attack on a Bagdad church during an evening Mass in October of that year.

7

Yemen

Population: 23.6 million; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic

Yemen’s state religion is Islam, and sharia law is the source of all legal matters. Foreigners do have limited religious freedom, but evangelism of any kind is strictly prohibited. Case in point: several expatriate workers were deported in 2010 for discussing Christianity with (well-meaning) Muslims who asked about it.

Moreover, Yemenis are not allowed to leave Islam; those who convert to Christianity face persecution from family, authorities, and extremist groups. Worse, terrorist movements and separatists made Yemen very unstable recently. Christian aid worker Johannes Hentschel, his wife Sabine, and their young children Lydia, Anna and Simon, along with married British engineer Anthony Saunders were among nine foreigners abducted in in the north-western Yemeni province of Saada.

Last year Anna and Lydia (3 and 5 years old respectively) were rescued by security forces from neighboring Saudi Arabia. But the Saudis also found the bodies of three other abducted Christians, German Bible students Rita Stumpp, Anita Gruenwald, and South Korean teacher, Eom Young Sun. German and British investigators have since ended their active search for the other hostages.

6

Maldives

Population: 311,000; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic

All citizens must be Muslims in Maldives, as sharia law forbids practicing of any religion except Islam. Christian churches are forbidden, and importing Christian literature into the country is strictly prohibited.

New regulations governing religious practice were unveiled by the government in 2010, and stricter policies have been imposed on tourists after some were discovered with Bibles. The few indigenous believers in Maldives are isolated from one other and are closely monitored by the law enforcement , religious authorities, and locals.

5

Somalia

Population: 9.1 million; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Charitably described as ‘Transitional’

Somalia as a “country” has been without an effective central government since 1991. It’s dangerous for anyone to live there, but doubly dangerous to be a Christian.

At least fifteen Christians were killed by Islamist insurgents Al-Shabaab in 2009, and they killed at least another eight Christians in 2010. So it’s no wonder a quarter of all Christians have already fled the country. The few believers remaining are heavily persecuted and must practice their faith in secret, lest they be murdered in front of their children like Christian convert Osman Abdullah Fataho.

Al-Shabaab has taken control of most of southern Somalia, and they have a stated goal to wipe out Christianity from all of Somalia. However, recent indications hint they may be losing popularity.

4

Saudi Arabia

Population: 25.7 million; 565,400 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Monarchy

There is no religious freedom in the Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Public non-Muslim worship is absolutely forbidden, and conversion to Christianity – perceived apostasy – is punishable by death. Most Christians there are monitored foreign workers who are allowed to worship privately within isolated ‘foreigner’ compounds, and even then they sometimes face difficulty.

For example, twelve Filipino Christians and a priest were arrested while attending a service in a private home in October 2010. They were verbally charged with ‘blaspheming against Islam” and cordially banned for life from Saudi Arabia (quiet deportations are a new tactic of the religious police- it avoids the media scrutiny that heavy-handed arrests generate).

Saudi believers fear being open about their faith, even with their family. There have also been reports of several Christians being physically harmed for their faith in 2010.

3

Afghanistan

Population: 28.15 million; few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic

Open Christians in Afghanistan face constant pressure from family, society and government agents. Believers usually keep a very low profile and never meet together publicly. In June 2010 the deputy secretary of Parliament called for the execution of Christian converts after seeing baptisms of Afghan Christians on an Afghan television (correction—THE Afghan television).

As a result, many Christians have gone into hiding, and in August 2010 the Taliban shot and killed ten members of a Christian medical team that had been providing eye treatment and other health care in remote villages of northern Afghanistan.

2

Iran

Population: 74.2 million; 450,000 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic

There was a sharp increase in the number of Christians arrested in Iran during 2010. Although some were later released, pressure on the Christian church remains very high. Many of the approximately 450,000 believers from Muslim backgrounds live in fear of harassment by the government.

Even worse, the regime has lost a great deal of credibility following the social upheaval of the 2009 elections and subsequent demonstrations. In a transparent effort to distract attention from continuing protests, the Iranian government has been lashing out against Christians with even greater fervor.

1

North Korea

Population: 20 million; 400,000 Christians
Main Religion: Atheism
Government: Dynastic Communist Dictatorship

North Korea’s persecution of Christians knows no equal, and being a Christian there is considered one of the worst crimes possible. North Korean communist dogma considers religion an ‘opiate’ of the people, unless of course that religion is the personality cult of ‘Great Leader’ Kim Il Sung or his son, ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong Il.

North Korean Christians must hide their faith at all times, and Christian parents can’t teach their faith to their children until the kids are old enough to understand the dangers (and for parents to be sure their kids won’t turn them in). Just owning a Bible in North Korea is grounds for execution or deportment to a harsh labor camp (essentially a gulag).

In 2010 hundreds of Christians were arrested: some were publicly executed, while others were sentenced to labor camps. Despite the risks, the Christian church is growing: an estimated 400,000 believers now sing silent hymns in cramped basements of crumbling buildings.

Read More

These are ten places you don’t want to visit! Having said that, maybe the curious would get a thrill from visiting some of these strange and dangerous places, but for most of us, reading about it is quite enough. Feel free to mention any other contenders for the list in the comments.

10.Great Pacific Garbage Patch – Pacific Ocean

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135° to 155°W and 35° to 42°N. Most current estimates state that it is larger than the U.S. state of Texas, with some estimates claiming that it is larger than the continental United States, however the exact size is not known for sure. The Patch is characterized by exceptionally high concentrations of pelagic plastics, chemical sludge, and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. The patch is not easily visible because it consists of very small pieces, almost invisible to the naked eye, most of its contents are suspended beneath the surface of the ocean. This is not a place the average Joe would want to visit.

9. Izu Islands – Japan

The Izu Islands are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan. Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ōshima. Because of their volcanic nature, the islands are constantly filled with the stench of sulfur (extremely similar to the smell of thousands of farts). Residents were evacuated from the islands in 1953 and 2000 due to volcanic activity and dangerously high levels of gas. The people returned in 2005 but are now required to carry gas masks with them at all times in case gas levels rise unexpectedly.

8.The Door to Hell – Turkmenistan

This has featured on listverse before, but it would be remiss of us to exclude it from this list. While drilling in Derweze in Turkmenistan in 1971, geologists accidentally found an underground cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 50-100 meters. To avoid poisonous gas discharge, scientists decided to set fire to the hole. Geologists had hoped the fire would go out in a few days but it has been burning ever since. Locals have named the cavern The Door to Hell. As you can see from the picture above, it is one hell of an amazing place, but certainly one you wouldn’t want to visit.

7.Alnwick Poison Gardens- England

Inspired by the Botanical Gardens in Padua, Italy (the first botanical garden which was created to grow medicinal and poisonous plants in the 1500s), the Alnwick Poison Garden is a garden devoted entirely to plants that can kill. It features many plants grown unwittingly in back gardens, and those that grow in the British countryside, as well as many more unusual varieties. Flame-shaped beds contain belladonna, tobacco and mandrake. The Alnwick Garden has a Home Office license to grow some very special plants; namely, cannabis and coca which are found behind bars in giant cages – for obvious reasons.

6.Asbestos Mine – Canada

Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals highly prized for their resistance to fire and sound absorption abilities. On the downside, exposure to this stuff causes cancer and a variety of other diseases. It is so dangerous that the European Union has banned all mining and use of asbestos in Europe. But, for those curious enough to want to get close to the stuff, all is not lost. In Canada at the Thetford Mines, you can visit an enormous open pit asbestos mine which is still fully operational. The workers in the mines aren’t required to wear any sort of respiratory protection, and in some sections of the nearby town, residential areas are butted right next up against piles of asbestos waste. The mine offers bus tours of the deadly environment during the summer months. Tickets are free (would you expect it to be any other way?). If you decide to visit, don’t forget your full body bio-hazard suit.

5.Ramree Island – Burma

Ramree Island in Burma is a huge swamp home to 1000s of salt water enormous salt water crocodiles, the deadliest in the world. It is also home to malaria carrying mosquitos, and venomous scorpions. During the Second World War, the island was the site of a six week battle in the Burma campaign. Here is a description of one of those horrifying nights: “That night [of the 19 February 1945] was the most horrible that any member of the M.L. [motor launch] crews ever experienced. The scattered rifle shots in the pitch black swamp punctured by the screams of wounded men crushed in the jaws of huge reptiles, and the blurred worrying sound of spinning crocodiles made a cacophony of hell that has rarely been duplicated on earth. At dawn the vultures arrived to clean up what the crocodiles had left…Of about 1,000 Japanese soldiers that entered the swamps of Ramree, only about 20 were found alive.”

4.Yungas Road – Bolivia

The North Yungas Road (Road of Death or Death Road) is a 61 kilometres (38 mi) or 69 kilometres (43 mi) road leading from La Paz to Coroico, 56 kilometres (35 mi) northeast of La Paz in the Yungas region of Bolivia. It is legendary for its extreme danger with estimates stating that 200 to 300 travelers are killed yearly along it. The road includes crosses marking many of the spots where vehicles have fallen. The road was built in the 1930s during the Chaco War by Paraguayan prisoners. It is one of the few routes that connects the Amazon rainforest region of northern Bolivia, or Yungas, to its capital city. Because of the extreme dropoffs of at least 600 metres (2,000 ft), single-lane width – most of the road no wider than 3.2 metres (10 ft) and lack of guard rails, the road is extremely dangerous. Further still, rain, fog and dust can make visibility precarious. In many places the road surface is muddy, and can loosen rocks from the road.

3.Mud Volcanoes of Azerbaijan – Azerbaijan

In the Spring of 2001, volcanic activity under the Caspian Sea off the Azeri coast created a whole new island. In October 2001 there was an impressive volcanic eruption in Azerbaijan at Lokbatan, but there were no casualties or evacuation warnings. But Azerbaijan does not have a single active volcano, at least not in the usual sense of the word. What Azerbaijan does have is mud volcanoes – hundreds of them. Mud volcanoes are the little-known relatives of the more common magmatic variety. They do erupt occasionally with spectacular results, but are generally not considered to be dangerous – unless you happen to be there at the wrong time: every twenty years or so, a mud volcano explodes with great force, shooting flames hundreds of meters into the sky, and depositing tonnes of mud on the surrounding area. In one eruption, the flames could easily be seen from 15 kilometers away on the day of the explosion, and were still burning, although at a lower level, three days later.

2. The Zone of Alienation – Eastern Europe

The Zone of Alienation is the 30 km/19 mi exclusion zone around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster and is administrated by a special administration under the Ukrainian Ministry of Extraordinary Situations (Emergencies). Thousands of residents refused to be evacuated from the zone or illegally returned there later. Over the decades this primarily elderly population has dwindled, falling below 400 in 2009. Approximately half of these resettlers live in the town of Chernobyl; others are spread in villages across the zone. After recurrent attempts at expulsion, the authorities became reconciled to their presence and even allowed limited supporting services for them. Because of looting, there is a strong police presence – so be warned, if you visit, you may either be shot or get radiation poisoning – and we all know how awful that can be.

1.Ilha de Queimada Grande – Brazil

Off the shore of Brazil, almost due south of the heart of São Paulo, is a Ilha de Queimada Grande (Snake Island). The island is untouched by human developers, and for very good reason. Researchers estimate that on the island live between one and five snakes per square meter. That figure might not be so terrible if the snakes were, say, 2 inches long and nonvenomous. The snakes on Queimada Grande, however, are a unique species of pit viper, the golden lancehead. The lancehead genus of snakes is responsible for 90% of Brazilian snakebite-related fatalities. The golden lanceheads that occupy Snake Island grow to well over half a meter long, and they possess a powerful fast-acting poison that melts the flesh around their bites. This place is so dangerous that a permit is required to visit.

Read More

Big Rig & Truck Accidents

 We saw how cars, cranes, other heavy machinery and even tanks get into situations where we often ask "how exactly did this happen"? This compilation does the same for semis and smaller trucks - only the consequences for careless driving are rather dire indeed. Hope these guys had good insurance!

 

Big rigs could be weapons of (almost) mass destruction 

Squashed by truck
















Squashed by a Russian tractor:






-------------

(images credit: Foothills Fire & Rescue)


Careful! This one is filled with explosives!


(image credit: Rowan County Department of Emergency Services)



(image credit: Gallup Independen)


Stuck










Drowned...

The first photo appears to be Interstate 10 near Houston, Texas: in 2001 a tropical storm flooded much of the city, leaving underpasses such as the one shown with as much as 20 feet of water in them.







Unauthorized Entry












The last "home intrusion" shot shows a tanker that has plowed through 3 buildings. This was taken in New Zealand, and it should be noted that the occupant of the last house was home at the time and narrowly avoided injury when the milk truck crashed into his lounge. (He was protected by the recliner he was sitting in.)
(info by Justin Smith)

 

This accident is probably not the driver's fault, as it happened on quite dangerous route: "The Arctic Highway" in Canada's Northwest Territories (85 percent of the road lies over frozen lakes, so ice can break at anytime and swallow the trucks)







Updated info (thanks Brian)
The ice road tanker incident occurred during the crossing of the MacKenzie River at Fort Providence. It was early in the season before the ice thickened and the road was restricted to 4000kg. The driver missed or ignored the limit sign but still managed to drive his 40,000(?) kg truck several hundred meters before sinking.


Truckers! Be careful on such roads:



-------------

A piece of street art, for sure :)

Read More