Germany
The Security Chug…
Some people have a seriously overinflated sense of rebellion. Or value thier vodka very highly:
A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing a liter (two pints) of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new carry-on rules, police said Wednesday.
Bwaa ha ha ha haaa. He showed them!!
New airport rules prohibit passengers from carrying larger quantities of liquid onto planes, and he was told at a security check he would have to either throw out the bottle of vodka or pay a fee to have his carry-on bag checked as cargo.
Instead, he chugged the bottle down — and was quickly unable to stand or otherwise function, police said. – [Yahoo/Reuters]
D’oh! Ok, so I can see why the guy did it. It was either pay to take the vodka in his luggage, or have it confiscated. He did the one thing any rebellious, poor, vodka afficionado would do. CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! …
One problem though. He severely overestimated his manliness. (Or felt that missing the flight was no big deal)…
Man drinks liter of vodka at airport line – [Yahoo/Reuters]
A car thief with a conscience… Or a good head on his shoulders…
Yet another tale of soft hearted thievery:
A thief in Germany got the guilties and returned the car he had stolen after finding an 18-month old baby on the back seat, police said Friday. – [Yahoo/AFP]
Now if you’re just a small time car thief, I’m sure this would make for a very bad day. Especially if you’re the kind hearted sort. You really wouldn’t want to get stuck having to raise some careless ninny’s kids on account of your stealing their car. Seriously. Now you’d have two mouths to feed, school, bullies, medical and dental expenses to think of. And that’s all before college.
He was wise to return the vehicle. Babies are more trouble than they’re worth. But I found one thing just a wee bit odd. Nobody seemed to be miffed that the little tyke was left in the car, all alone, with the keys in the ignition…
Teething problems for German car thief with a conscience – [Yahoo/AFP]
Unleaded costs how much!? That’s it. I’m walkin…
I just ran into an interesting article. Apparently a German man opted to leave his car at the pump after paying for his gas. Yep:
“He just forgot about it and walked off home,” said a spokesman for police in the western city of Wuppertal. – [Yahoo/Reuters]
OK, so they say he forgot about it. I dunno. As I were walking home I would be asking myself why I didn’t take the car. I bet you he left it on purpose cause he was shell shocked at the price. But I suppose with gas prices being as high as they have lately, I could see how one might decide to save money and hoof it everywhere. But honestly, leaving your car at the pump? Isn’t that a bit much just to save on gas money?
Man forgets car at gas station – [Yahoo/Reuters]
The “Victorinox” Human Smuggling Ring…
In a recent post I talked about the jailbreak of a female prisoner who managed to evade detection by German detention center security by hiding in anothers suitcase. I will admit to being surprised they got away with it. However it seems that they aren’t the only ones to resort to this method of human trafficking:
A man hiding in a suitcase and a driver have been detained by Customs and Border Protection officers after a failed smuggling attempt – [Yahoo/AP]
Now under normal circumstances I would be making smart aleck comments about how these folks obviously didn’t think the plan through. However, because the victorinox carry-on uber jailfrau duo managed to successfully avoid detection of the “carry on” party, I shall to refrain from any such comments. Or at least try to.
Except that the samsonite boys fared quite poorly in their attempt. And, honestly, who am I kidding. I can’t help myself. I have to ask at least these two questions:
What kind of person honestly expects to get away with hiding in the one travel article that, in my humble opinion, should be very first thing that any self respecting security professional would search? And more importantly, how funny might it be to see what these people looked like, all contorted into their respective luggage, as it proceeded slowly through a luggage x-ray machine…?
Texas border agents find man in suitcase – [Yahoo/AP]
Is that carry-on or check in?
No, I am not referring to Airport security. Really, I’m not. I’m talking about a German detention center. Uh huh. Read on…:
A 19-year-old woman appears to have escaped from a juvenile detention centre in northwest Germany by hiding in the suitcase of a fellow inmate who was released, police said on Monday. – [Yahoo/AFP]
Now I might be wrong about this, but as I understand it, when a detainee is checked in, all of the belongings they have with them is cataloged, then placed in storage until they are released. Now I don’t know how detailed the logging process is, but given the Germans penchant for efficiency, I’m sure no detail gets left behind.
So it escapes me how a human being (even a 19 year old, presumably petite, female) in a suitcase managed to avoid raising any red flags is beyond me. I mean, I’m fairly certain “female, 19, petite” was not on the checklist. And even if she only weighed 100 lbs soaking wet, that’s 100 lbs of stuff that this inmate obiously did not bring to the detention center with her.
Amazing. At least they won’t make it out of the country by air. I doubt the luggage (or the contents) would tolerate the treatment of airport baggage handlers very well…
Woman escapes from German detention centre in a suitcase – [Yahoo/AFP]
This is why I’m Hawt… This is why you’re not…
Today I thought I’d indulge in an interesting study in morality…
A mysterious blonde paid a visit to a petrol station shop in the small eastern German town of Doemitz on Sunday — wearing nothing but a pair of golden stilettos and a thin gold bracelet.
The tall, slender woman strolled into the shop in the town of Doemitz on the warm afternoon and bought cigarettes, petrol station employee Ines Swoboda told Reuters on Monday. – [Yahoo/Reuters]
Now compare that with this story…
A German bus driver threatened to throw a 20-year-old sales clerk off his bus in the southern town of Lindau because he said she was too sexy, a newspaper reported Monday.
“Suddenly he stopped the bus,” the woman named Debora C. told Bild newspaper. “He opened the door and shouted at me ‘Your cleavage is distracting me every time I look into my mirror and I can’t concentrate on the traffic. If you don’t sit somewhere else, I’m going to have to throw you off the bus.’” – [Reuters]
Now these articles represent, at least to my mind, a interesting illustration of the fundamental differences between American and European views of sexuality in general. I am almost certain that had these same set of circumstances occurred here in the good old U. S. of A., the exact opposite of what happened in Europe would have occurred. The bus driver would have kept his mouth shut for fear of violating a passengers rights, and some random stick-in-the-mud would have phoned the police on the naked blond.
I believe that this behavior in Americans is also indicative of a much deeper issue. In spite of the constant “Support of Personal Freedoms” chant we hear here in the US, the truth is, it seems that we only believe in the concept of individual freedoms and unalienable rights so long as our own individual beliefs have not been offended. Not our individual rights, just our individual beliefs. There is a big difference. The fact that you believe something does not make it a right. Trust me. Or not. That is your right…
As a result of this, I believe we tend to focus too much on the wrong things. Think back to when you read the articles. Which scenario did you find more offensive? A totally nekkid, (save for a pair of gold stilettos, and a gold necklace) 30 year old, Ferrari-driving blond, at a gas station convenience store? Or a fully (relatively) clothed 20 year old on a bus whose plunging neckline was apparently so distracting as to have possibly caused an accident? And when you first answered this question in your head, did your personal moral values/beliefs take precedence, or your humanitarian instinct towards the preservation human life?
It is such irony that we seem to live in a society where, as a typical example, in any given movie, scenes depicting extreme violence, torture, dismemberment and death, are generally considered more acceptable and less socially heinous, than those with explicit sexual content. What does that say about our values as society? Methinks our moral priorities may be just a *wee bit* skewed… But then again that’s just my belief…
Nude blonde, gold stilettos and a Ferrari… – [Yahoo/Reuters]
“Too sexy for my bus,” woman told – [Reuters]
But Officer…
Now here’s a case of “rage against the machine…”:
A German man who startled his neighbors when he hurled his computer out of the window in the middle of the night, was let off for disturbing the peace by police who sympathized with his technical frustrations. – [Yahoo/Reuters]
Now to be honest, I think this guy should have gotten a ticket. For something. Anything. Disturbing the peace. Or littering, at the very least. I know many people who have legitimately gotten mad enough to throw their computers out of the window, but they didn’t do it. What if it had hit someone? Not to mention that it’s wasteful, bad for the environment, detrimental to you in the long run, (you did buy it for a reason right?) and well, it just isn’t a good, well thought out idea.
But on the flip side, it would be great if this worked for speeding tickets. “But Officer, haven’t you ever felt the need for speed?…”
Police excuse angry computer user for outburst – [Yahoo/Reuters]
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