Drive an Audi or VW? You may be a terrorist!

my little brony

Keep Being A Little Bitch
Oct 15, 2004
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This was posted over in Genmay's car forum but I couldn't help bringing it here (lol and on tempmay, I'm crossposting like a bitch today). The mere thought of this happening pisses me off to no end.

Noo Yawk Tymes

June 21, 2005
Put Down Your Key and No One Will Be Hurt
By JOE SHARKEY

AFTER passing through security at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport recently, Nathan Rau noticed something odd - stuffed animal puppets, actually - affixed to two electronic wands used for body scans on passengers chosen for more intensive secondary screening.

"They told me they use the covered wands to screen young children," he said. "They said it makes the child feel a little more relaxed during the process."

Screeners at Minneapolis are using their heads, Mr. Rau decided.

Mr. Rau, a 31-year-old Minneapolis lawyer, has a fairly straightforward approach to evaluating airport security procedures. "I'll give praise where it's due, but not where it's not," Mr. Rau said.

Praise is due to the screeners in Minnesota, he said. But not for the screeners at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, who recently confiscated his car key as a prohibited item.

"I'm leaving Dallas on a Sunday and at security it's the usual stuff - shoes off, laptop out. My carry-on bag goes through the X-ray machine and I hear the infamous 'bag check!' " Mr. Rau recalled.

Here we go, he thought. "A screener says, 'Sir, is this your bag?' And I say, 'Yeah, and I need a private room if you're going to go through it,' " he recalled telling the screener.

Mr. Rau explained: "As an attorney, I carry documents, and because of the nature of what I do - I do intellectual property law - opening them up in a public place could have repercussions for myself or for my clients."

He was told private rooms were for personal screening, not for screening bags. That was not the case in Minneapolis, on the rare occasions when Mr. Rau said he was randomly selected for a secondary screening. "In Minneapolis, if you ask, they always give you a private room and they're nice about it," he said.

At the Dallas checkpoint, the contents of his bag were dumped on the table. "They pull out my car key," he said.

"What's this?" an inspector asked.

"My car key," Mr. Rau said.

Mr. Rau drives an Audi. Audis now come with stylish ignition keys designed to house the key inside a holder, preventing rips and wear on pocket liners. You push a button on a flat two-inch shaft and the key slides out.

As he demonstrated it, Mr. Rau could see the word forming in the minds of the screeners, now three, on his case: switchblade.

"Now the bells are ringing," he said. After running the key through the X-ray machine three times, the security committee reached a conclusion. "Well, sir, that's a switchblade style, and that's a prohibited item," Mr. Rau said he was told. "We're going to have to confiscate that."

Paperwork, of course, was required. His driver's license and other identification papers were photocopied.

"And of course, I didn't have my car keys," he said. Luckily, he keeps a spare in a little magnetized box under his car. But, it cost $300 to replace the key at the dealer, who must add a computer code for a specific car.

He was carrying his house key at the time. In comparison with the flat Audi key, "the house key looks like a saw blade," said Mr. Rau, who first described the incident anonymously on www.flyertalk.com, a frequent-flier forum.

On its Web site, www.tsa.gov, the Transportation Security Administration has posted a list of items you are not permitted to take on an airplane, in both checked bags and carry-ons. But the list is not "intended to be all-inclusive and is updated as necessary," the T.S.A. says, adding, "To ensure everybody's security, the screener may determine that an item not on this chart is prohibited."

Mr. Rau said, "That is the ultimate out - it's totally at their discretion."

Mr. Raus said of his Dallas-Fort Worth experience: "They were not ultra-rude about it. But you ever get the feeling you're just banging your head against a wall?"

Yes, we get that feeling frequently, his fellow business travelers will agree. Last week, the Business Travel Coalition, in a survey of both individual travelers and corporate travel managers, found that "inconsistency among airports was the No. 1 most troubling aspect of the airport security process."

That survey, which also elicited opinions about screening in general and about a proposed registered-traveler program that would expedite screening for those who registered personal information and possibly fingerprints in advance, is available at http://btcweb.biz.

Incidentally, it is not clear to me yet whether other Audi drivers have had ignition keys confiscated at other airports. Telephone calls seeking comment from a spokeswoman at Audi of America headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., were not returned.

E-mail: [email protected].


Now seriously, how utterly stupid is that? I can kill someone with a #2 pencil a lot easier than I could with an Audi key. They don't even have teeth! It's a laser cut trench for christ's sake, normal keys are far more dangerous.

But no, the TSA can say and do whatever they want in the name of false security. These $10/hr untrained fucks do nothing but make traveling a hassle. If someone really wanted to cause shit on a flight, this is a much more effective way of doing it than a damn key....

I really hope he sent the TSA an bill for having to get a key cut and programmed.
 
What the hell? You can do more damage with a regular key then those Audi / VW keys...they're flat. No edges. It's just a regtangular piece of metal with a groove in the center.

You'd think as a lawyer he would have thrown some weight around and given the guy a hard time. ...especially about that private document thing.

And you know, after all of this tightened security and crap...is there still any FOOL PROOF way to detect PLASTIC knives?! I mean they've got the market cornered on detecting car keys......
 
I can't wait for the civil war that tears this nation apart and wipes out 40% of its population. Maybe then we won't think car keys and toenail clippers are a serious threat anymore.
 
Millions said:
What the hell? You can do more damage with a regular key then those Audi / VW keys...they're flat. No edges. It's just a regtangular piece of metal with a groove in the center.

You'd think as a lawyer he would have thrown some weight around and given the guy a hard time. ...especially about that private document thing.

And you know, after all of this tightened security and crap...is there still any FOOL PROOF way to detect PLASTIC knives?! I mean they've got the market cornered on detecting car keys......
FlyNavy said:
If someone really wanted to cause shit on a flight, this (<--- click) is a much more effective way of doing it than a damn key....
 
Sarcasmo said:
I can't wait for the civil war that tears this nation apart and wipes out 40% of its population. Maybe then we won't think car keys and toenail clippers are a serious threat anymore.
yea but when I tell people that i'd easily bet on a civil war within the next two to three decades they call me crazy :lol:


john titor wasn't right, but damn close
 
Wasn't that the guy from the future with the ham-radio time travel suitcase? Badass.
 
FlyNavy said:
yea but when I tell people that i'd easily bet on a civil war within the next two to three decades they call me crazy :lol:


john titor wasn't right, but damn close
Sadly, I agree. I dunno about 20-30 years but I think we'll certainly see one in our lifetime. Makes me not want to even save money in my 401k. :lol:
 
fly said:
Sadly, I agree. I dunno about 20-30 years but I think we'll certainly see one in our lifetime. Makes me not want to even save money in my 401k. :lol:
hence the reason I wanna buy a converted missle silo :D
 
smileynev said:
Minneapolis > *

Meh, I've always believed it doesn't really matter where you live, as much as what your support group is (family/friends) and how you live that makes you happy.
 
FlyNavy said:
yea but when I tell people that i'd easily bet on a civil war within the next two to three decades they call me crazy :lol:


john titor wasn't right, but damn close

I've thought about this as well. A war not based on geography but ideology. The problem is the complete and total apathy of this country. We're too lazy to shoot each other.
 
KNYTE said:
Meh, I've always believed it doesn't really matter where you live, as much as what your support group is (family/friends) and how you live that makes you happy.

hence, Minneapolis > *