I guess I could have put Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Anytown, USA
Yeah, like on Juneteenth day in Milwaukee. Way to go A**holes!
Appalling though that incident is, I saw MLK Blvd. mentioned nowhere in the article.
Weird… I always thought Juneteenth was a Texas thing, not a nationwide thing.
Still, it is kind of perplexing why people would want to commemorate the freeing of enslaved persons by beating someone down at random.
You can actually wander around certain parts of Soweto during the day. It’s a bit of a tourist attraction these days. I believe it is the only town that has a street that two Nobel Laureates live on (I guess if you don’t count Pierre and Marie Curie).
Apparently crime in Colombia is down considerably in the past couple of years. I would guess Mogadishu is still quite dangerous. However, I wouldn’t want to be caught dead outside the Green Zone in Baghdad, because, I’d probably be caught dead.
I don’t agree with Rio- its one of the bigger tourist destinations in the world. And they give guided tours of the favelas. I’ve walked around there at night with no problem- of course, I was dressed like a homeless person.
The coast of Somalia is crawling with pirates and anything less than a well-defended warship is ill-advised to go there. (Apparently actual pirates are somewhat less fun than what the movies have taught me.)
I’d guess Darfur, or maybe Washington, D.C. Judging from the news I see every night, both are a bloodbath. 
I was going to come in with Die Hard: With a Vengeance question. Does the consequences of going to Harlem with a “I hate niggers” sandwichboard sign count as “man against man” violence?
Is Algiers, Algeria still very dangerous for the average western white dude?
Unless there are women attacking him, why wouldn’t it?
The news you see every night is nonsense, if it really says what you claim.
ETA: Referring to DC of course. I don’t doubt Darfur is a bloodbath.
This was going to be my guess, as well. I seem to recall that the author of The World’s Most Dangerous Places seemed to think that Algeria was the most dangerous of them all. I actually have been to Soweto and, while crazy, it did not strike me as what I would expect the most dangerous place on the planet to be.
Agreed. Rio definitely has its problems, but AFAIK there aren’t any “guided tours” of the worst areas of Baghdad (or even the “good” ones) being offered in unarmored vehicles without military escort. Particularly if you’re American, I’d put your odds of survival much higher walking from one end of Rio to the other than attempting the same in Baghdad.
I’ve heard it’s really hard to get a caipirinha in Baghdad too, and if I were going to be murdered in the street I’d much rather have a good buzz on.
Lots of good answers here pertaining to ‘man’s violence to man’.
I’d just like to offer one mildly alternative and possibly interesting answer based on personal experience.
A couple of years ago I travelled to Indonesia and then on to Komodo island, to see the famous ‘dragons’ or giant lizards. The whole point, of course, was to get as close as possible to these magnificent creatures without actually coming to any harm. It is possible to get very close to the dragons (literally within touching distance), but only before mid-day, when they are still sluggish and basically interested in basking in the sun to gain energy.
Before I was allowed on the island, I had to provide my passport number. This was so that if I did have an unfortunate encounter, the authorities could notify my next of kin of my sad death. You see, a komodo dragon can move faster than you can believe - much faster than human reaction times. And even one very slight bite - anything that breaks skin - is quite enough to kill you. You won’t die straight away: you’ll just bleed to death, because of stuff in the dragon’s bite. You are at least 6-8 hours away from any kind of basic medical facility. You’ll bleed to death before you get there, and even if you didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to do anything for you except maybe help you to die painlessly.
So, an alternative answer: standing 3 feet away from a Komodo dragon to have your picture taken. I’ve done this.
I don’t think Algiers is that much more dangerous than any other third world cities with a terrorism problem :eek: .
Back when the insurgency was in full swing, perhaps, but nowadays it seems safe enough to have assorted ex-pats living there without massive safety concerns. I doubt preschools are high on people’s worry list in the Green Zone. I would put Algiers on a par with Lagos, Caracas, Karachi, and suchlike places which are dangerous enough to make residents think seriously about what they do and where they go on a daily basis, but not fully fledged war zones.
My money would definitely be on Baghdad or Mogadishu as the cities where you are currently most likely to be killed on sight for walking down a street where you are not recognised or don’t ‘look right’. In townships, ghettos and favelas around the world strangers (and residents) may risk getting robbed, beaten, raped, etc, but there is a reasonable chance of surviving the experience, or avoiding it if you are careful. Not so much with a bloodthirsty militia.
How did you accomplish this?
I’ve thought of putting on some “homeless” garb and wandering around skid row just to see what’s there.
I have to agree. I’ve been to Rio on vacation in the Ipanema and Copacobana areas and it’s probably about as safe as any city of it’s size. Those are the more upscale touristy areas though. I wouldn’t go wandering through the favelas.
I would have to think you were at a much greater risk in Mexico City.
I have to think any failed nation or someplace place where there’s an active war going has to be far more dangerous than most large cities. My pick would have to be Darfur or Mogadishu simply because as a white dude, I would stand out there more than in Bagdad.
Right you are. An earlier thread that may be of interest: U.S. Navy should do more to fight high-seas piracy - Great Debates - Straight Dope Message Board
At the bottom of the Mariana trench, for 20 minutes.
100% of the people who go there & walk around die. (Submarines are cheating: you could drive around in an APC in the hostile countries & be safe, too.)