Top Crimes in The World

Shocking stories of true crime capture the public's imagination in a way that news seldom can. But what is it that makes certain crimes stick in our minds, and leaves us glued to the headlines for new clues?

For some, it's the sheer brazenness of a daring daylight robbery. For others, it's items missing from an impenetrable vault, or crimes that involve well-known people. While huge cash heists and the theft of priceless artifacts can still intrigue, nothing piques public interest like an unsolved mystery. As long as the loot is still missing or the burglars are still at large, we wait to see how the drama will unfold, or maybe even fantasize that we'll crack the case.

While crime has changed dramatically over the past century, with cyberthieves taking the place of the Tommy-gun toting mobster, these Top Crimes in The World prove that there's always someone willing to break the law to score a massive illegal payday.


10. The Gardner Museum Theft

Boston socialite Isabella Stewart Gardner left her home and art collection to the city of Boston upon her death in 1924, with the stipulation that her home remain arranged exactly as she left it. Museum curators managed to leave Gardner's collections intact until 1990, when a group of thieves disguised as Boston police officers executed a daring robbery. The unknown burglars got away with a collection of 13 works of art valued at more than $500 million. To add insult to injury, the museum was uninsured at the time, and to this day the artwork has never been recovered.

The empty frames for these works hang on the museum's walls as a memorial to the lost paintings. Despite a $5 million reward, offers of immunity to the thieves and a stint on "America's Most Wanted," the case remains unsolved. A 2009 book, "The Gardner Heist," claims that the theft was carried out by an imprisoned Boston mobster with links to the Irish Republican Army, but this theory is yet unproven. Today, the museum holds out hope for the return of the missing pieces, and provides instructions on its Web site explaining how to protect and store the works, just in case the thieves happen to check in.


9. Brink's Security Robbery

It takes extreme confidence -- or sheer stupidity -- to rob one of the world's leading security companies. Yet in January 1950, a gang of thieves infiltrated the Brink's Security World Headquarters in Boston. The perpetrators wore rubber Halloween masks and homemade Brinks uniforms to penetrate the building. Their haul of $3 million was at the time the largest heist in history, and they vowed not to spend the money until the six-year statute of limitations for theft had passed.

Without use of the money from the robbery, some of the thieves continued living a life of crime. One member of the group was soon arrested for an unrelated incident, and ended up serving as an informant for the Brinks case after his fellow thieves made several attempts on his life. Based on his testimony, the entire gang was sentenced to life in prison.

Only a small portion of the money was ever found, and the rest is rumored to be hidden somewhere in the hills of Minnesota. A series of movies were made based on this story, with the 1978 film "The Brink's Job" among the most well-known.


8. Lufthansa Heist

The Lufthansa Heist has all the makings of a classic mobster movie, and did serve as inspiration for the popular film "Goodfellas." In 1978, the Lucchese crime family learned of a cash-filled vault at New York's JFK airport. To avoid problems with the rival Gambino family, who claimed JFK within their home turf, the Luccheses invited the Gambinos to take part in infiltrating the vault. They waited until a night in December when the vault was stocked by a recent arrival on Lufthansa Air. Relying on help from carefully placed insiders, the gang stole $5 million in less than an hour and headed off to celebrate.

Despite the reputation for criminal success that each of these families enjoyed, much of what happened after the theft made them look like rank amateurs. The night of the robbery, the getaway driver took the van from the scene of the crime straight to his girlfriend's house. Instead of destroying the van as directed, he parked in a no-parking zone and went inside to imbibe in marijuana and cocaine. Cops quickly spotted the van and linked it to the crime, then arrested the driver. In an effort to save himself from prison, he provided information on the rest of the gang, resulting in multiple arrests. The driver was soon found dead, likely killed by a fellow family member, and the rest of the gang members ended up in prison or witness protection. To this day, no one but the thieves knows what happened to the money.



7. Stealing the Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa may be one of the most famous works of art in the world, but few people are aware that she was once stolen by an overly patriotic Italian man. On August 21, 1911, guards at the Louvre noticed the painting was absent, but failed to act because they assumed it was out for restoration. It wasn't until the next day that the museum alerted authorities, who sealed the French border and undertook a massive manhunt. Fans of the painting visited the empty spot on the museum wall, and some even wrote love letters to the lost Lisa. Artist Pablo Picasso came under suspicion when police discovered he had likely purchased some other works of art that were stolen from the museum years earlier.

In December 1913, thief Vincenzo Peruggia was apprehended after trying to sell the painting to an art dealer. Astoundingly, Peruggia had once worked for the museum, and had even built the case the Mona Lisa was housed in, but never came under suspicion until he was caught. Peruggia became a national hero in Italy for trying to bring the Mona Lisa "home," even though Leonardo da Vinci actually created this famous work of art in Paris. Peruggia served less than a year in jail for his crime. Today the Mona Lisa is much better protected, reigning over the Louvre from behind a thick panel of bulletproof glass.



6. Antwerp Diamond Heist

 

More than 80 percent of the world's diamonds pass through the Diamond District in Antwerp, Belgium, so it's no wonder the area is under 24-hour police protection. Despite the area's extreme security, a group of thieves known as the School of Turin managed to steal more than $100 million in cash and diamonds over Valentine's Day weekend in 2003.

The group's mastermind, Leonardo Notarbartolo, spent nearly 2 years working in the district as a diamond dealer prior to the robbery. This extraordinary dedication to casing the scene of the crime was necessary to allow Notarbartolo to penetrate the 10 layers of security used to protect the diamonds. During the robbery, the thieves beat security cameras, motion detectors, a drill-proof steel door and a lock with more than 100 million possible combinations to gain access to the vault, all without setting off the alarm.

After all of their careful planning and preparation, these thieves were caught when they were nabbed for littering. A few days after the heist, a local farmer called police to report that trash had been dumped on his property, and investigators found documents that led them to Notarbartolo and his cohorts. While Notarbartolo was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the gems and money were never found. Notarbartolo claims he was double-crossed by insiders within the diamond trade, who ended up with the bulk of the loot . The 2010 book "Flawless" provides an inside look at the fate of the cash and jewels.



5. Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping

Charles Lindbergh became an American hero in 1927 after he completed the first solo flight around the world. While his fame helped him promote the aviation industry in the U.S., it also led to personal tragedy when his son Charles was kidnapped and held for ransom.

On March 1, 1932, Lindbergh's maid discovered his infant son Charles had been taken from his crib. Lindbergh found a ransom note nearby and quickly alerted authorities. After a series of bizarre exchanges with the kidnappers, including 13 ransom notes, the Lindberghs paid $50,000 to an unnamed individual in May 1932. This individual provided the family with a note that said the child could be found on a boat off Martha's Vineyard. Police raced to the harbor, but the child and the boat were nowhere in sight.

The next day, the child's body was found by accident and identified. An autopsy showed the child had been dead for 2 months, indicating that he was killed immediately after he was taken.

It wasn't until 1934 that investigators traced some of the ransom money to New York based on a list of serial numbers. A quick-thinking gas station clerk matched serial numbers to a license plate, which helped the police finally capture the killer. Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested in the fall of 1934 and put to death for his crime in April 1936.


4. The Great Train Robbery

In August 1963, it took just 15 minutes for a gang of thieves to swipe nearly $7 million from a British Royal Mail car. While their total haul would be worth about $80 million today, much of the loot was never found. But despite their quick getaway, the thieves made it easy for law enforcement to catch up and secure their arrest. Not only did the perpetrators leave fingerprints all over the train car, they also spoke openly about their hideout during the robbery, allowing passengers and crew to gather important clues.

Once the gang was apprehended, the local government began a courthouse renovation designed to accommodate the massive trials required for all 15 thieves. Each received a 30-year sentence, but one, Ronnie Biggs, managed to escape after just 15 months. Biggs fled to Brazil, which refused to extradite him, allowing him to live openly in Rio de Janeiro despite his criminal status. His son even became a famous musician, providing an upscale lifestyle for Biggs. At the age of 71, Biggs had a change of heart and returned to England to serve the remaining 28 years of his sentence. He was released eight years later on compassionate grounds due to illness.

The bizarre story of the Great Train Robbery continues to intrigue the public, and has been immortalized in books, movies, TV, the theater and pop music.


3. D.B. Cooper

In November 1971, a man named Dan Cooper bought an airline ticket from Portland to Seattle and boarded his flight. Once on board, Cooper produced a ransom note asking for $200,000 and four parachutes, threatening flight attendants with a bomb if his demands were not met. The flight crew landed, released all passengers and secured the required items before taking off again under Cooper's orders.

Shortly after takeoff, Cooper strapped on one of the parachutes, grabbed the cash, and jumped from a height of 10,000 feet into the deep woods below. To this day, no one knows if he lived or died.

Despite a massive manhunt, no evidence of the case was found until 1980, when a child playing in the woods discovered $5,800 floating in the river and along the bank. The FBI later confirmed that the serial numbers on these bills matched those given to Cooper on the plane. To this day, the rest of the money has never turned up in circulation, which indicates Cooper never got around to spending a dime of his haul.

In 1995, Floridian Duane Weber confessed on his deathbed that he was the elusive D.B. Cooper. His wife alerted the FBI, who deemed him a credible match, but dropped the case in 1998 due to lack of evidence. Today the mystery remains unsolved, and Cooper's story continues to live on in popular culture, as well as in the hearts of treasure hunters who search the woods for the remainder of the lost fortune.



2. Baker Street Robbery

This 1971 London bank robbery combines comically poor police work with a royal sex scandal that remains shrouded in mystery to this day. Late on the night of September 11, a gang of thieves entered a nearby storefront, then tunneled up into the bank. The burglars used a set of walkie-talkies to communicate, but had no idea their entire conversation had been picked up by a local ham radio enthusiast. Though the radio user quickly contacted the police, they were unable to determine exactly which bank the thieves were targeting. Despite the fact that the police could hear the entire conversation, the gang managed to get away with more than 500,000 pounds (about $775,000) in cash and jewels from bank deposit boxes.

The story made headlines for the next three days, until the British government mysteriously issued a gag order that prevented news media from covering the robbery. Though rumors suggest the thieves were eventually caught and sentenced to prison, their identities and the terms of capture were never revealed. In 2008, a movie titled "The Bank Job" was released, and was largely based on information about the case. The movie suggests that the British government imposed the gag order and covered up the story to protect Princess Margaret and other royals from damaging photos taken from the vaults. To this day, there is no evidence to suggest the money or jewels were ever found.



1. Bernie Madoff

Disgraced-financier Bernie Madoff might just be the most brazen thief in history. Not only did he scam investors out of as much as $50 billion, but he did it out in the open, for the entire world to see. From 1960 to 2008, Madoff operated an incredibly successful Wall Street investment firm. Known for earning his investors historic returns, Madoff counted some of the world's richest and most famous people among his clients. For many, the success of Madoff's firm seemed too good to be true, but that didn't stop investors from pouring billions into the company.

As early as 1999, financial analysts pointed out that Madoff's return rates from his investments were not only unbelievable, but also mathematically impossible. Using a giant Ponzi scheme, Madoff used money from new investors to pay returns to older clients, and then generated new clients to continue the cycle. Despite years of complaints to the SEC, no action was taken and the scam continued.

It all came crashing down in 2008, when Madoff found he was unable to drum up enough new clients to keep the cash flowing. He let his sons in on his secret, and they alerted authorities. After a swift investigation, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

World's Greatest Missing Treasures

They were fantastic examples of opulence, decadence, and splendor. People marveled at their beauty, drooled over their excess, and cowered at their power. And now they're gone.

But where are they? And what happened to them? Ok. Lets begin..

1. The Amber Room

 Described as the eighth wonder of the world by those who saw it, the Amber Room is certainly the most unique missing treasure in history.

It was an 11-foot-square hall consisting of large wall panels inlaid with several tons of superbly designed amber, large gold-leaf-edged mirrors, and four magnificent Florentine mosaics. Arranged in three tiers, the amber was inlaid with precious jewels, and glass display cases housed one of the most valuable collections of Prussian and Russian artwork ever assembled.

Created for Prussia's King Friedrich I and given to Russian czar Peter the Great in 1716, it was located at Catherine Palace, near St. Petersburg. Today, the Amber Room would be valued at more than $142 million.

When Adolf Hitler turned his Nazi war machine toward Russia, the keepers of the Amber Room got nervous. They tried to move it, but the amber began to crumble, so they tried to cover it with wallpaper. They were unsuccessful and when the Nazis stormed Leningrad (formerly called St. Petersburg) in October 1941, they claimed it and put it on display in Königsberg Castle during the remaining war years.

However, when Königsberg surrendered in April 1945, the fabled treasure was nowhere to be found. The Amber Room was never seen again. Did the Soviets unwittingly destroy their own treasure with bombs? Was it hidden in a now lost subterranean bunker outside the city? Or was it destroyed when Königsberg Castle burned shortly after the city surrendered?

We'll probably never know for sure. But fortunately for lovers of opulence, the Amber Room has been painstakingly recreated and is on display in Catherine Palace.

2. Blackbeard's Treasure

 The famous pirate Blackbeard only spent about two years (1716-1718) plundering the high seas. Within that time, however, he amassed some serious wealth. While the Spanish were busy obtaining all the gold and silver they could extract from Mexico and South America, Blackbeard and his mates waited patiently, then pounced on the treasure-laden ships as they sailed back to Spain.

Blackbeard developed a fearsome reputation as a cruel and vicious opportunist. His reign of terror centered around the West Indies and the Atlantic coast of North America, with headquarters in both the Bahamas and North Carolina. His end came in November 1718, when British Lieutenant Robert Maynard decapitated the pirate and hung his head from the bowsprit of his ship as a grisly trophy.

But what happened to the vast treasure that Blackbeard had amassed? He acknowledged burying it but never disclosed the location. But that hasn't stopped countless treasure hunters from trying to get their hands on it.

Blackbeard's sunken ship, Queen Anne's Revenge, is believed to have been discovered near Beaufort, North Carolina, in 1996, but the loot wasn't onboard. Possible locations for the hidden stash include the Caribbean Islands, Virginia's Chesapeake Bay, and the caves of the Cayman Islands.

3. Treasures of Lima

 In 1820, Lima, Peru, was on the edge of revolt. As a preventative measure, the viceroy of Lima decided to transport the city's fabulous wealth to Mexico for safekeeping. The treasures included jeweled stones, candlesticks, and two life-size solid gold statues of Mary holding the baby Jesus. In all, the treasure filled 11 ships and was valued at around $60 million.

Captain William Thompson, commander of the Mary Dear, was put in charge of transporting the riches to Mexico. But the viceroy should have done some research on the man to whom he handed such fabulous wealth because Thompson was a pirate, and a ruthless one at that. Once the ships were well out to sea, he cut the throats of the Peruvian guards and threw their bodies overboard.

Thompson headed for the Cocos Islands, in the Indian Ocean, where he and his men allegedly buried the treasure. They then decided to split up and lay low until the situation had calmed down, at which time they would reconvene to divvy up the spoils.

But the Mary Dear was captured, and the crew went on trial for piracy. All but Thompson and his first mate were hanged. To save their lives, the two agreed to lead the Spanish to the stolen treasure. They took them as far as the Cocos Islands and then managed to escape into the jungle. Thompson, the first mate, and the treasure were never seen again.

Since then more than 300 expeditions have tried -- unsuccessfully -- to locate the treasures of Lima. The most recent theory is that the treasure wasn't buried on the Cocos Islands at all but on an unknown island off the coast of Central America.


4. Pharaohs' Missing Treasure

 When Howard Carter found the tomb of Tutankhamen in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in 1922, he was mesmerized by the splendor of the artifacts that the young king took to the afterlife. Attached to the burial chamber was a treasury with so many jewels and other artifacts that it took Carter ten years to fully catalog them.

However, when the burial chambers of more prominent pharaohs were unearthed in the late 19th century, their treasure chambers were virtually empty. It is common knowledge that tomb robbers had been busy in the tombs over the centuries, but the scale of the theft required to clean out the tombs of the kings is beyond petty criminals. So, where is the vast wealth of the pharaohs buried in the Valley of the Kings?

Some scholars believe that the treasures were appropriated by the priests who conducted reburials in the Valley of the Kings during the period of the early 20th and late 21st Egyptian dynasties (425-343 B.C.). Pharaohs were not averse to reusing the funeral splendors of their ancestors, so this may have been carried out with official sanction.

One particular ruler, Herihor, has been the focus of special attention. Herihor was a high court official during the reign of Ramses XI. Upon Ramses' death, Herihor usurped the throne, dividing up the kingdom with a co-conspirator, his son-in-law Piankh. Herihor placed himself in charge of reburial proceedings at the Valley of the Kings, affording himself ample opportunity to pilfer on a grand scale.

His tomb has never been found. When and if it is, many scholars believe that the missing treasures of many of Egypt's pharaohs will finally see the light of day.

On the next pages, you will find more of the world's greatest missing treasures, including the Ark of the Covenant.

5. The Ark of the Covenant

 To the ancient Israelites, the Ark of the Covenant was the most sacred thing on Earth. The central and paramount object of the Hebrew nation, this ornate chest was, according to the Bible, designed by God.

Measuring 44 inches long, 26 inches wide, and 26 inches high, the chest was made of acacia wood, overlaid inside and out with pure gold, and surrounded by an artistic gold border. Mounted on the solid gold cover were two golden cherubs, one at each end of the cover facing each other, with heads bowed and wings extending upward.

The Ark served as a holy archive for the safekeeping of sacred relics, including the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. As a historical and religious treasure, the Ark and its contents were absolutely priceless.

In 607 B.C., Jerusalem, the capital city of the Israelite kingdom of Judah and home of Solomon's Temple, where the Ark was housed, was besieged and overthrown by the Babylonians. In a terrible slaughter, more than a million people were killed, with the survivors driven off into captivity.

Seventy years later, when the Israelites returned to rebuild the city, the Ark of the Covenant was gone. What happened to this priceless relic has been the subject of intense speculation ever since.

It is widely believed that the Ark was hidden by the Hebrews to keep it from the Babylonians. Possible locations for its hiding place range from Mount Nebo in Egypt to Ethiopia to a cave in the heart of Judah. Yet, if the Ark was hidden, why was it not recovered when the Israelites returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple?

Others believe that the Ark was destroyed by the rampaging Babylonians. Still another explanation put forth by the faithful is that God miraculously removed the Ark for safekeeping by means of divine intervention.

6. Montezuma's Treasure

 The Spanish decimation of the Aztec empire in Mexico came to a head on July 1, 1520. After mortally wounding Emperor Montezuma, Hernando Cortés and his men were besieged by enraged Aztec warriors in the capital city of Tenochtitlán.

After days of fierce fighting, Cortés ordered his men to pack up the vast treasures of Montezuma in preparation for a night flight, but they didn't get far before the Aztecs fell upon them. The ensuing carnage filled Lake Tezcuco with Spanish bodies and the stolen treasures of Montezuma.

The terrified army had thrown the booty away in a vain attempt to escape with their lives. The hoard consisted of countless gold and silver ornaments, along with a huge array of jewels.

Cortés and a handful of his men got away with their lives and returned a year later to exact their revenge. When the inhabitants of Tenochtitlán got wind of the approaching invaders, they buried the remains of the city's treasure in and around Lake Tezcuco to prevent it from falling prey to the gold-crazed Spanish.

Today, a vast treasure trove remains hidden beneath nearly five centuries of mud and sludge on the outskirts of Mexico City, the modern day incarnation of Tenochtitlán. Generations of treasure seekers have sought the lost hoard without success. A former president of Mexico even had the lake bed dredged, but no treasure was found.

Why Phi = 3.14 ?

Pi is an extremely interesting number that is important to all sorts of mathematical calculations. Anytime you find yourself working with circles, arcs, pendulums (which swing through an arc), etc. you find pi popping up. We have run into pi when looking at gears, spherical helium balloons and pendulum clocks. But you also find it in many unexpected places for reasons that seem to have nothing at all to do with circles.

On one level pi is simple: It is the ratio of a circle's circumference divided by its diameter. This ratio, for any circle, is always the same - 3.14 or so. You can prove this to yourself with a circle, a piece of tape and a ruler. Look around your house and find something circular: a jar lid, a CD, a plate - whatever you can find that is circular, the bigger the better. Measure its diameter (the width across the center of circle) with the ruler. Now wrap a piece of tape around around the circle and cut or mark the tape so that it is exactly as long as the outer edge (the circumference) of the circle you are measuring. Measure the piece of tape. With a calculator divide the length of the tape by the diameter you measured for the circle. The answer you will get, if you have measured accurately, is always 3.14.

The following figure shows how the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 1.27 inches is equal to a linear distance of 4 inches:

As you might imagine, 4.0 (the circumference) / 1.27 (the diameter) = 3.14.

As you can see, on this level pi is a basic fact of life for all circles. It is a constant, 3.14, for any circle you find. The funny thing about pi is that it also has another level. Pi is an irrational number (it cannot be expressed by any simple fraction of two integers) that has an infinite number of non-repeating digits. There are ways to calculate pi that have nothing to do with circles. Using these techniques, pi has been calculated out to millions of digits.

Weight Loss Alternative

 Many people wishs ideal body, they must do diet and many doing athletics. Some people can do diet truly, partly doing diet abundantly and partly cannot do diet. Actually there are other alternative to do diet, Metmorfin!

How can Metformin Weight Loss help you to slim down? Well, in short, it will reduce your feeling of being hungry. If your most important overweight problem area is your belly, then there is a good chance you are overweight on the account of too much insulin production. Eating makes your blood sugar level rise and the higher it goes, the more insulin your Pancreas produces. This insulin tells your brain to feel hungry, your liver to manufacture fat, and the fat cells in your waist area to suck up this fat.

To fight this kind of obesity, you need to stay away from food that makes your blood sugar rise excessively and to take Metformin Weight Loss which prevents your blood sugar level to rise too much. Stay away from flour made foods like bread, pastry and pasta, fruit juices and basically anything that has sugar added to it. Consume fruit and potatoes only with meals.

Metformin Weight Loss effects are reduced by excess lactic acids in your blood, but working out does not make those acid levels rise enough to counteract Metformin Weight Loss benefits. So no, taking Metformin Weight Loss is no excuse to stop exercising. Daily exercising will always stay number 1 when it comes to losing weight.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS is caused by high blood levels of insulin and leads to obesity in woman. It is a rather common affliction and women suffering from PCOS will benefit from Metformin Weight Loss and lose weight. Check out our section on PCOS for more information.

Metformin Weight Loss is safe and effective as weight loss alternative, but you will not see any benefits if you keep eating food that increases your blood sugar quickly. It does not help you lose weight taking Metformin Weight Loss after indulging in 2 slices of Cherry Pie!

Common prescription: take 500mg of Metformin Weigth Loss a few minutes before meals, 3 times a day.

It's kind of hard to answer the question if there are two different two types metformin. It all depends on how you look at it... You could differentiate between Metformin and Glucophage. There's the standard type of Metformin and the "different" ER/XR version. And then there are the really different combinations of Metformin with another drug.

 Visit : two types metformin

The Fifteen Secret Tortures And Sufferings Of Our Lord Jesus Christ

(Revealed to the pious, God-loving Sister Mary Magdalen of the Santa Clara Order, Franciscan, who lived, died and was beatified in Rome.)

Jesus filled the wish of this Sister who desired ardently to know something about the secret sufferings which He endured the night before His death. (This devotion is approved and recommended by His Holiness Clement II, 1730-1740.)



"The Jews considered Me as the most wretched man living on earth so that is why:

 

 

 

(1) They fastened My feet with a rope and dragged Me over the stepping stones of the staircase, down into a filthy, nauseating cellar.

(2) They took off My clothing and stung My body with iron joints.

(3) They attached a rope around My body and pulled Me along on the ground, from end to end.

(4) They hanged Me on a wooden piece with a slipknot until I slipped out and fell down. Overwhelmed by this torture, I wept bloody tears.

(5) They tied Me to a post and pierced My body with various arms.

(6) They struck Me with stones and burnt Me with blazing embers and torches.

(7) They pierced Me with awls: sharp spears tore My skin, flesh and arteries out of My body.

(8) They tied me to a post and made Me stand, barefoot, on an incandescent metal-sheet.

(9) They crowned Me with an Iron crown and wrapped My eyes with the dirtiest possible rags.

(10) They made Me sit on a chair covered with sharp pointed nails, causing deep wounds in My body.

(11) They poured on My wounds liquid lead and resin and, after this torture, they pressed Me on the nailed chair, so that the nails went deeper and deeper into My flesh.

(12) For shame and affliction, they drove needles into the holes of My uprooted beard. Then they tied My hands behind My back and led Me walking out of prison with strikes and blows.

(13) They threw Me upon a cross and attached me so tightly that I could hardly breathe anymore.

(14) They threw at My head as I lay on the earth, and they stepped on Me, hurting My breast. Then taking a thorn from My crown they drove it into My tongue.

(15) They poured into my mouth the most immodest excretions, as they uttered the most infamous expressions about Me.



    Then Jesus added:

    "My daughter, I desire that you let everyone know these FIFTEEN SECRET TORTURES, in order that everyone of them be honored."

    "Anyone who daily offers Me, with love, one of these sufferings and says with fervor the following prayer, will be rewarded with eternal glory on the day of judgement."

    

PRAYER

    "My Lord and My God, it is my unchangeable will to honor You in these FIFTEEN SECRET TORMENTS whn you shed Your Precious Blood: As many times as there are grains of sand around the seas, as grains of wheat in the fields, as blades of grass in the meadows, as fruit in the orchards, as leaves on the trees, as flowers in the garden, as stars in the sky, as angels in Heaven, as creatures on earth. So many thousands of times may You be glorified, praised and honored, O most love-worthy Lord Jesus Christ - You Holiest Heart, Your Precious Blood, Your Divine Sacrifice for mankind, the Holiest Sacrament of the Altar, the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the nine glorious choirs of Angels and the Blessed Phalanx of the Saints, from myself and everyone, now and forever, and in the eternal ages.

    In like manner, I desire, My dear Jesus, to give You thanksgiving, to serve You, to repair and atone for all ignominies, and to offer You my soul and body as Your Possessions forever. Likewise, I regret all my sins and beg Your pardon, O my Lord and my God. And I offer You all the merits of Jesus Christ to repair everything, to obtain a happy dying-hour and the deliverance of the souls from Purgatory. This prayer I desire to renew at each hour until my death O lovable Jesus. Sweet Savior, fortify my resolution and permit not that neither wretched men nor Satan destroy it. Amen."

Bizarre Torture Methods

In Medieval times, they sought out ways to cut back on crime. Instead of letting the criminals sit in a jail cell, like today, they would use different torture devices. These devices came in all shapes and sizes and were meant to scare other would be criminals into not doing the crimes committed by the person being tortured. Let’s check these weird torture methods


10. The Brazen Bull

This device was designed in Greece by Perillos of Athens. He was a brass founder and he cast the shape of a hollow bull with a door on the side. This condemned person was shut in the bull. There was a fire lit underneath the device and because it was brass it became yellow hot, which would cause the person to roast to death. It was configured with tubes and stops, so when the person was screaming it would sound like the bull was raging.

http://www.perillos.com/brazenbull.html


9. The Breaking Wheel

This wheel of torture was used to kill criminals and it did that very slowly. This device was a large wagon wheel. The criminal would be tied to the wheel, where the punisher would proceed to use a hammer to break the bones of the other person. Once that was completed, they were left there to die and even the birds would peck at their flesh until death was complete.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_wheel



8. The Rack

This device is an oblong rectangle with a wooden frame. It was raised from the ground with a roller either at one end or at both ends. One end had a fixed bar, where the feet were locked onto it, and the other end had a moveable bar, where the hands were tied to it. It had a lever that was used as the interrogation progressed. It was on a lever and pulley system that would eventually cause the joints of the person being tortured to dislocate and then separate. Eventually, the muscle fibers userbin, ligaments, and cartilage would break separating the limbs from the body of the condemned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rack_(torture)


7. Judas Cradle

This torture device is a pyramid shaped seat. The victim is placed on top of it, with the point inserted into an orifice, then they are very slowly lowered onto it. The condemned was usually naked in order to add to their humiliation. This device was thought to stretch the orifice or to slowly impale the person. The stretching of the orifice would cause pain, rips and tears, which would eventually cause death.



6. Coffin Torture

This device was used in the Middle Ages. The condemned would be placed in the metal coffin and left there for the appropriate amount of time. Depending on the crime, the person could be left in there to die, while animals ate their flesh or they would be placed on public display, which would cause their death. The people that would surround the person in the coffin would throw rocks and poke the person with objects until they finally became deceased.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_torture


5. Iron Maiden

This iron cabinet with a hinged front was made to be a tall upright cabinet that would enclose a human being. It would have a small opening, which was closeable, so the interrogator would be able to open and close it at their will. They would then poke the bodies of the person with a sharp object. They would use knives, spikes, or nails and the person inside was forced to remain standing in one position, ultimately causing their demise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_maiden_(torture)



4. The Knee Splitter

The whole purpose of this device was to make a person’s knees useless. It was used in mainly during the Inquisitional period of time. This device was faceted with spikes, from three to twenty of them, and depending on the crime committed, depended on the number used. IT had a handle the torturer would use to close the device. The spikes would mutilate the skin and begin to crush the knee. They would also use the device on elbows, arms and the lower legs. There were even instances that they would heat the device to cause a maximum amount of pain. Death wasn’t a result of this device, but it the person refused to cooperate they would use other means.

http://www.occasionalhell.com/infdevice/detail.php?recordID=Knee%20Splitter



3. Heretic’s Fork

This device was used during the Spanish Inquisition. It has two forks at opposing ends of a metal rod. One of the forks would be placed under the chin, piercing the skin, and the other end would be piercing the flesh in the upper chest. It didn’t puncture any vital organs, so death would not take place during the use of this method, but it made talking and neck movements impossible. While wearing this device a person’s hands would be tied behind their backs, so they could not escape it. It would harm the person’s neck and, often times, spread diseases.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heretic%27s_fork



2. Saw Torture

This method was used to torture and kill the condemned person, which were typically accused of witchery, adultery, murder, blasphemy, or theft. The accused was hung upside down. This slowed down the blood loss by forcing the blood to the brain and it humiliated the person. This type of torture could last for several hours. Some of the victims would be cut completely in half, while some would only be cut up to their abdomen in order to prolong their deaths.

http://www.corkscrew-balloon.com/misc/torture/25.html



1. Thumbscrew

This was used to get a confession from the offenders. The fingers of the person were placed in the device and crushed by the torturer turning the handle on the top. It could last for a very long time and it was very painful. This was also used to crush a person’s toes. They even made bigger versions of this device used to crush feet, knees, elbows and even heads.

http://that-shane.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-decided-to-continue-posting-torture.html

Written by Harmony Stalter

Ananga-Ranga : Indian Manual About Sex

The indian erotic art must be seen at the light of Hinduism. In the indian mithology Kama designates a God of Love. The same word also refers to te search of pleasure, one of the fundamental aspects that lead to the salvation of the soul. It is not surprising, for that matter, that sex has been invested with so much importance for indians for such a long time. That is what Kama-Sutra is all about, a classical book about eroticism and others forms of human pleasure.

The Kama-Sutra was written nearly 1500 years ago by a holy man, Vatsyayana. What is concluded, is that is a compilation and a classification of ancient texts about sex, a few which are 3000 years old. Its fame is not only due to its context but also to its unique character. It is known, however, that the texts and overall the erotic engravings were pretty comun in India (as well as in the whole eastern hemisphere), now only a few have survived until our days.

In the Occident Kama-Sutra was hardly known in 1883, in England, through a private edition with the title of The Hindoo Art of love. Another work of identical importance, much less known and rare, called Ananga-Ranga contains, besides texts, a considerable number of erotic engravings of good quality. The author is, a poet: Kalyana Mall. Published in England 10 years before as A Boat in the Ocean of Love remains until today as the most important ilustrated indian manual about sexuality and relationships in between sexes.

What Really Scares People ??

Whether you jump at the sight of a spider or work up a sweat at the mere mention of getting on an airplane, fears and phobias abound. About 19.2 million American adults ages 18 and over, or some 8.7 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have some type of specific phobia, or extreme fear. Here are some of the worst.

10. The Dentist

Not many people jump for joy at the thought of an intense session of plaque removal. And between 9 percent and 20 percent of Americans say they avoid going to the dentist because of anxiety or fear, according to WebMD.

Full-blown dental phobia is a more serious condition in which a person avoids the dentist at all costs. People suffering from the phobia usually only show up at the dentist when forced by excruciating pain.

Various factors can keep someone from the dental chair, including a bad experience in the past, fear of injections, and feelings of helplessness (think dental chair and drill in mouth). How to get to the dentist before you have a mouth full of rotting teeth? Realize a dentist can work with you to make you more comfortable during cleaning and other procedures. For instance, you can set up a hand wave that signals the dentist to stop a procedure immediately.

9. Dogs

From tiny, purse-size pups to buff German shepherds, any flavor of man's best friend can scare the pants off some who suffer from cynophobia, or extreme fear of dogs. Typically, people tend to develop fear of dogs as a result of being bitten themselves or seeing somebody get bitten, according to psychology professor Brad Schmidt of Ohio State University. Some dog phobics, however, became fearful of pooches because they know dogs do sometimes bite. Treatment generally involves coming maw-to-maw with the barkers.

8. Frightful Flight

There's no such thing as "the friendly skies" for the 25 million or so people in the United States who suffer from some form of flying fear. Such fears range from just a bit of anxiety to an extreme flying phobia called aviophobia that can keep a person off airplanes at any cost.

These frightful fliers fall into two evenly split groups: those who are afraid of plane crashes and those who are claustrophobic and risk a panic attack inside a plane's tight cabin quarters, according to Barbara Rothbaum, professor in psychiatry and director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program at Emory University School of Medicine.

Like other phobias, reason plays little role in calming such crash fears. For instance, the lifetime odds of dying in an air travel accident are 1-in-20,000 compared with 1-in-100 for an auto accident and 1-in-5 from heart disease (based on 2001 statistics). However, treatment for flight fears -- sans a drunken stupor -- which includes virtual reality therapy and other forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy has shown much success, Rothbaum notes.

7. Thunder and Lightning

The crackling of thunder and lightning can lead to a heart-pounding, sweaty-palm meltdown for individuals with severe weather phobia. In fact, some even pack up and move to regions known for calm weather, according to John Westefeld of the University of Iowa.

Westefeld reported on a survey of mostly college-age students in 2006 in which 73 percent of participants had "a little bit" or "moderate" fear of weather. "I think there are more people out there who have [severe weather phobia] than most people might assume," Westefeld told LiveScience. "A lot of the folks I interviewed indicated they were very embarrassed about this so that they hadn't told anybody about it. In some cases they indicated their spouses didn't even know about it."

In terms of treatment, Westefeld recommends "a combination of social support and accurate information, and training in ways of coping with anxiety and panic." That way, those with intense storm frights can reach a middle ground, where they have enough fear to keep them safe without debilitating them.

6. The Dark

For many kids, lights out can mean immediate distress that the boogey man, or some variation, will pop out from beneath the bed or behind a closet door. In fact, being afraid of the dark is one of kids' most common fears. "What always amazes us are the thoughts or beliefs that kids have," said Thomas Ollendick, professor of psychology and director of the Child Study Center at Virginia Tech. "Kids believe everything imaginable, that in the dark robbers might come or they could get kidnapped, or someone might come and take their toys away." Essentially, their fears stem from "the unexpected," he said. While kids grow out of such fears, if the anxiety reaches extreme levels and is considered a phobia, called nyctophobia, Ollendick says that can last through adulthood if left untreated.

5. Harrowing Heights

If you get the heebie-jeebies when standing on a rooftop or looking up at a tall building, you're not alone. Fear of heights is one of the most common phobias (followed by public speaking) with an estimated 3 percent to 5 percent of the population suffering so-called acrophobia.

While scientists had thought such phobia was the result of an irrational fear to normal stimuli, new research is suggesting otherwise.

In the study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, participants had to judge the height of a building when standing at ground level and when atop the building. Compared with participants who scored lowest on an acrophobia test, those most afraid of heights judged the building to be about 10 feet (3 meters) higher at ground level and 40 feet (12 meters) taller from the top of the building. So the building actually seems taller to acrophobics, it seems.

4. Other People

Does the thought of speaking in front of an audience color your face a bright red, send sweat pouring from your pores and bring a sick feeling to your gut? Those are just a few of the signs of social phobia, which affects about 15 million American adults, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. And it's not limited to public speaking: Those affected can get the sweats over eating or drinking in front of others, or a general anxiety when around almost anyone other than family members. The fear begins in childhood or adolescence, usually around the age of 13.

3. Scary Spaces

About 1.8 million American adults over 18 years of age suffer agoraphobia, which involves intense fear and anxiety of any place or situation where escape might be difficult, according to a 2008 report by the National Institute of Mental Health. Commonly feared spots and activities include: elevators, sporting events, bridges, public transportation, driving, shopping malls and airplanes, according to the Mayo Clinic. The fear can lead a person to avoid leaving their home, traveling in a car or being in a crowded area.

2. Creepy Crawlies

While most would at least flinch at the sight of Aragog, the human-eating spider depicted in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," the everyday spider can cause the same fear in some people. And it turns out, women are four times more likely to fear such arachnids than men.

In a study being published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, David Rakison of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh found that 11-month-old girls quickly learned to associate images of spiders and snakes with a fearful facial expression, while baby boys did not.

From an evolutionary perspective, this makes sense, as women would have encountered such creepy crawlies regularly while gathering food, Rakison speculates. And, he says, the cringe factor could keep both moms and their infants safe. Macho men, on the other hand, would have needed to take frequent risks when hunting and so evolutionary pressure to jump at the sight of a spider would be less than beneficial.

1. Slithering Snakes

Considered one of the most common phobias, an extreme fear of snakes could be evolutionarily imprinted in people, studies suggest. Long ago, spotting a snake (or even a spider) would have been an advantage to a person's survival, according to one study in which adults and children could pick out images of snakes among various non-threatening objects more quickly than they could pinpoint frogs and flowers. The ability to spot a snake in the blink of an eye, the researchers say, likely helped our ancestors survive in the wild.