bonoman

Flew out of IAD yesterday and saw TSA walking around with jacking in the same font/style as the DEA, but they said "TSA VIPR Team" on them. Has anyone seen this before? I tried searching the forum to find out what this waste of tax dollars was about, but no such luck.

I went through the "Diamond" checkpoint as well and there was an agent halfway down the line doing hand wipes, 3 times on each palm. Since I'm already in the line at this point and getting ready, I'm preparing my bins and he comes over just after I take my shoes off. He looked at me and went "Ohhhh, you touched your shoes" to which I replied that was moot since I had already touched the bins and that it didn't really make sense. Typical TSA response: "If you know the law, it makes sense". I just laughed and said laws might be laws but that doesn't inherently mean they make sense.

At this point, I'm ready for an army of monkeys to "protect" our country over these cretins.

VH-RMD

rhey are the new 'Very Intrusive Per Rectum" team who take over from the Nude-o-Scope crew...

TSORon

Education is usually the best response.

http://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/...ockisland.shtm

VH-RMD

I was right!!!

bonoman

Education would be great, thank you. I'll take 50,000 orders of it - 1 for every agent out there. And Phew! I'm sleeping well knowing that the tram at IAD and our nations ferries are no longer under attack from the terrorists!

Like I said...more waste.

BearX220

When asked about benefits of VIPR operations around highly-traveled transportation systems in the greater-Providence area, Joseph S. Salter, TSA's federal security director for Rhode Island, said, "VIPR teams improve interagency communications and our ability to leverage resources quickly. Working closely with our transportation partners and law enforcement, we're ensuring resources are deployed efficiently and in a complementary fashion, providing an effective first line of defense against terrorism."

So... you're walking around in nice new jackets, waiting to spot a wave of terrorists so you can make a phone call.

I guess it beats committing sexual assault at the checkpoints, but it's still silly.

Does Chertoff now own stock in a jacket manufacturer?

Foxhat

Ok, that means the group wearing the VIPR TEAM jackets hanging around the tarmac outside the A gates at IAD on Tuesday were lost or just early. The closest ferry is about 15 miles away on the Potomac and the Metro isn't supposed to be extended to IAD until 2015. Frankly all that article did was show that TSA just wants to spread the silliness around further.

FliesWay2Much

A bunch of us MARC riders have speculated what would happen if the TSA ever dared to show up to conduct screenings on the MARC Brunswick Line.

I hadn't considered what would happen if the TSA ever showed up to conduct screenings at White's Ferry!

I have a feeling the end result would be the second Battle of Ball's Bluff, and, like the first one in which bodies of Union soldiers floated down the river to Washington, bodies of screeners would float down the Potomac to Washington.

Letitride3c

NY's Finest - NYPD's Hercules are being deployed at the US Tennis Open not far from our house across the river, with the finals being tomorrow. Picked up some radio transmissions on the scanner about "working the piers" - TSA clowns had been working alongside with them previously in NYC, mainly at the train & subway stations doing random bag checks (what a joke !!) but been known to setup at the SI ferry terminal greeting commuters & visitors sailing pass the Statue of Liberty.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72131699@N00/3819490228/

At taxpayer's expenses, these show of force is a waste of resources and simply serve to intimidate the public, whether it's the unarmed TSA (thank god ) or the Hercules with their short barrel M4's (not good for close range urban shootouts w. the bad guys !)

The greatest threats are coming not from foreigners but from home grown terrorists - "fellow Americans" that are not easily "profiled"

Global_Hi_Flyer

The appropriate reply would have been: "if you were faster or more efficient I wouldn't have touched my shoes. Now, you're just slowing down the line...".

n4zhg

What do you have against clowns?

Would that be the Tea Party, gun owners, or people who believe the Constitution is supreme? (Sorry, I just had to go though mandatory 3 hours of WMD awareness training where these groups were primary on the list of the "Who is a terrorist?" section. I really wish FT had a "puke" smiley.

NoStressHere

Massive increases in failed schools.
People dying from health issues.
Child abuse rampant.
Crime everywhere.

But, we can spend money on this foolishness.

So very sad.

DevilDog438

I hope I am in town the day this screening occurs...will have to park on one side and watch the shenanigans.

I have been there during USCG inspection trips before; the language used by the ferry operators becomes quite colorful when describing the BS that other DHS agency puts them through.

FliesWay2Much

There's a distinct possibility that the TSA screeners would not make it across the river. Well, there would be a few vacancies open up...

doober

I don't normally correct other poster's spelling errors, but I think you meant "show of farce", did you not?