13 ms·

The TSA's Selective Laptop Ban

198 points by privong 10y ago

CoolGuySteve 10y ago
According to this Guardian article, the ban was caused by a plan to hide a bomb in an iPad: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/26/plot-explosives-ipad-us-uk-laptop-ban https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/26/plot-explosive... I always thought it was weird that you could keep an iPad packed in your carry on but a laptop had to be scanned separately even if it was a similar size to an iPad.
- daemin 10y ago
  I think that is due to the thickness of a laptop compared to an ipad and some x-ray machines not being powerful enough. One time I've had to take out my tablets, out of my bag and out of their case even.
  - raverbashing 10y ago
    Some (older) laptops were sandwiched between thick metal panes, for EMC and mechanical reasons Probably not very transparent to x-rays
    - wwwv 10y ago
      Completely transparent as far as a luggage X-ray is concerned, they're very high power because they don't have to care about exposure limits like medical imaging would. They usually have multiple attenuators and detectors so they can do neat tricks like detection of organic materials.
      - londons_explore 10y ago
        But they usually can't detect an organic material behind a varying thickness metal plate. And metal in laptops is often varying thickness (either due to the design, or poor manufacturing tolerance), hence the concerns that organic explosives can be hidden in their "xray shadow".
  - wwwv 10y ago
    No, luggage X-rays are extremely powerful, think 120kV or higher. They can easily penetrate inches of steel on the low end.
- camillomiller 10y ago
  Every security check in Europe and SE Asia I passed in the last few years (~60 flights) mandated to take every device out of the bag, iPads and smartphones included
  - alistairSH 10y ago
    Weird. I've been to Italy, Scotland (via Dublin), and Iceland and never have to scan small devices separately. The laptop gets pulled out and placed in a bucket. The tablet and phone stay in luggage. It's all so inconsistent, it makes you wonder if any of the security agencies half any clue at all.
    - phicoh 10y ago
      I tend to bring an insane amount of electronics in my hand luggage. The reason that need big objects like laptops separately is that they block too much when they are scanning the rest of your luggage. So if on average the scanner can see through an ipad then there is no need to take it out. I my case, all they see is a huge collection of wires and small devices, so all of that needs to be put on separate shelves and scanned again.
      - alistairSH 10y ago
        Still weird. My carry-on for all of trips I listed above was MacBook Air, iPad, iPhone, Olympus mirrorless camera, 2-3 lenses, Canon P&S camera, 2 USB charging bricks, chargers for the camera batteries, charger for the MBA, a bunch of USB cables. Some snack food, a light jacket, and toiletries. Of course, the really maddening part is the inconsistency. I use TSA Pre-check when possible, so I'm accustomed to not taking off my shoes, unpacking my bags, etc. It's a giant hassle when I'm flying abroad and the rules change. Especially since the rules change arbitrarily - I've passed through Edinburgh a few times over the past 2 years and sometimes the laptop comes out, sometimes it stays in the bag.
        phicoh 10y ago
        The ultimate reference point is whether the person watching the screen at the scanner can see everything or not. If most of the time laptops are transparent enough then why bother asking people to remove them. On the other hand, if routinely they can't properly scan it and have to deal with delay, they will instruct people to take it out of the bag. In the end it still is security theatre so it doesn't have to make sense as long as it looks convincing enough.
- RBerenguel 10y ago
  In Barcelona (I fly once a month the LGW-BCN route) I'm frequently asked to take out even my mobile phone and/or cables and chargers (granted, I have quite a few usually) from my backpack and put them on the tray, OTOH in Gatwick I have to leave the phone in the backpack... But then I randomly need to take something out because, who knows. The iPad always has to be out with the laptop, though (in all airports I've flown recently, at least)
- alasdair_ 10y ago
  If your laptop is thin enough, you can keep it in your carry-on.
  - Raphmedia 10y ago
    Gives a new meaning to the Macbook Air. Thin enough you can carry it on a plane.
sandworm101 10y ago
Unlike all the other restrictions on material allowed in-flight recently, this ban only applies to specific airports/countries. One must ask why shoebomber or liquid explosive plots resulted in universal bans while this one is country-specific. Imho this is business and politics. This everyday safety mesure is being applied selectively in order to disadvantage some and advantage others. If ipads are a threat, ban them. Dont ban them only on routes dominated by non-US airlines. I am glad to see that Canada hasnt joined the madness. Flying dubai-new york? Connect through toronto and the kids can keep thier ipads. ... for now.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- justavoice 10y ago
  or maybe the threat is from a specific geography, and they are trying to inconvenience as few people as possible?
- lostboys67 10y ago
  Or those airports have poor security or are at risk of penetration by bad actors.
  - tehlike 10y ago
    As someone who flies through istanbul once a year, i was always surprised by the fact that there is very little security at us airports. :) I think it is more about penetration possibility more so than airport sevurity itself.
    - sandworm101 10y ago
      Security at US airports is hit-and-miss. Sometimes they check something and sometimes they dont. Rules appear to change daily and every checkpoint seems to interpret them slightly differently.
      - 10y ago
captainmuon 10y ago
One explanation I haven't heard, is that this is about the idea that somebody could hack a plane from the passenger compartment. There doesn't even have to be evidence of a concrete plan - it would be enough for someone who knows about these kind of attacks to get the ear of somebody influential in the government, who then proactively enacts this ban. (The hacking story might be a good pretext to convince people internally, while the real motivation might be economic.)
- alistairSH 10y ago
  But, that has the same problem as the "hollow laptop is a bomb" scenario - terrorists can simply route through a major European hub to avoid the ban.
- gommm 10y ago
  In that case they could just do it from a phone... Honestly, the only reason I can see that makes sense is that it helps American airlines and is going to cause significant losses to the big Middle Eastern 3 airlines.. Any argument regarding security can be countered by just taking a flight that routes through Europe
- alex_anglin 10y ago
  Assuming that is the case, then a smartphone would be able to as well.
- Willamin 10y ago
  This (and the whole "airplane mode" issue) could easily be solved by a few things. 1. Adding a faraday cage around the passenger sections of the plane would stop wireless connections from passengers to the panes main systems. 2. Completely separate the passenger systems from the plane systems - not unlike separating a monolithic application into a few smaller applications.
  - bitwize 10y ago
    Adding a faraday cage would cost money and weight.
pieter1976 10y ago
At some point we are going to have to realise that terrorists are always going to want to target aircraft and just live with it. This ban makes no sense because $BAD_GUY can just via some intermediate airport with their iPad Bomb. It's interesting that El Al has not decided to ban laptops (despite undoubtedly being a target) and, in fact, advises people not to put valuables in the hold: https://www.elal.com/en/PassengersInfo/Baggage/Pages/Policy.aspx https://www.elal.com/en/PassengersInfo/Baggage/Pages/Policy.... "EL AL reminds all passengers not to pack valuable items in baggage send to the hold of the plane. These items should be carried in the hand luggage"
- junto 10y ago
  But El Al is also profiling passengers before they even reach the airport. They stop people on route and question them to gain any subtle clues as to whether people might be nervous or acting strangely. They know weird shit like who you've met after being in Israel. A gay friend of a friend went to Tel Aviv Pride, and was taken aside and asked why he'd chosen to sleep with an Arab as he was leaving the country.
  - Fife 10y ago
    What could they possibly say to "he was hot" ?
    - junto 10y ago
      I think the comment was intended to be overtly racist. LGBT folk are pretty welcome in Israel, but you "should be" sleeping with Israelis and not "Arabs".
      - chimeracoder 10y ago
        > LGBT folk are pretty welcome in Israel They are if they're Israeli (and white). People of Palestinian descent living in Israel (as well as Jewish Arabs who are not Palestinian, to a lesser extent) have a very different experience with being gay in Israel.
YCode 10y ago
> And lastly, why is there a delay between the ban being announced and it taking effect? Would this not simply be to give airlines and people time to adjust policies? Was there a delay on the Note7 ban? Or perhaps they decided to implement one after some lessons learned from it?
junto 10y ago
> Why not require passengers to turn their laptops on as they go through security? That would be a more effective security measure than forcing them to check them in their luggage. The reason that security checks aren't going to ask you to turn your laptop, ipad or mobile on, as a standard process, is that it takes too much time.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  Arguably taking your shoes off takes more time.
  - junto 10y ago
    Depends how old the laptop is!
    - tzs 10y ago
      ...and how your shoes are laced. I use Lock Laces [1] and I can take shoes off and put them back on in seconds now. Lock Laces effectively turn regular shoes into slip ons. That wasn't actually why I got them. That was just a pleasant side effect. I got them because they make it easier to keep the ends of the laces from getting loose and into a bicycle chainring. [1] https://www.locklaces.com https://www.locklaces.com
- makomk 10y ago
  The other reason is that it's going to be of limited use these days, since I'm pretty sure some devices such as iPads effectively have multiple cells in parallel and should power on just fine with all but one of them replaced with explosives.
  - londons_explore 10y ago
    Also those laptops with detachable screens, which then operate as tablets. There clearly isn't any critical hardware in the base bit...
- 10y ago
golemotron 10y ago
In the news recently we've seen that illegal border crossings from Mexico have gone down substantially just because the administration has signaled that there will be more deportations. This laptop ban could have the same effect. Increase the barriers for visitation from some countries and people think twice. If this is what the administration is doing, it's very Machiavellian.
- sn41 10y ago
  I don't get the comparison. One is about clearly illegal crossings going down. The other is about legal, ordinary passengers. Moreover, these countries are important for global business, and are used as hubs by travellers of many countries. I don't get what's there to "think twice" about it?
  - yebyen 10y ago
    Well, you do have people like Bannon in powerful positions who have openly stated their belief that legal immigration is a "real problem." [1] It's not that far-fetched, then, that GP is describing a real strategy with the goal of making them "think twice." It's not something that you or I want as an end, but it is an end. [1]: https://mcfeely.areavoices.com/2017/02/01/bannon-legal-immigration-the-beating-heart-of-americas-problems/ https://mcfeely.areavoices.com/2017/02/01/bannon-legal-immig...
- beat 10y ago
  Illegal crossings from Mexico had been going down for years prior to the current administration. And I imagine the numbers are seasonal, tied to harvesting work that probably gets a little slow in February. Not that I exactly trust the current administration to tell the truth on the subject in the first place.
  - sukilot 10y ago
    Border apprehensions are way down, unseasonably. You can critique the metrics if you have reason to, but 'golemotron is correct as far as official metrics go. http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/08/politics/border-crossings-huge-drop-trump-tough-talk/ http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/08/politics/border-crossings-huge...
throw2016 10y ago
These policies continue to infringe more and more of people rights of free movement, privacy and communication and exposes serious limitations of democracy. The government can continue to take anti-people actions without anything approaching debate and discussion under the 'frenzy of an external threat' as all authoritarians in history have done and tend to do, untill it is operating for all intent and purposes like a quasi-authoritarian state. As we can in the UK and here this has come to pass and democracy has no response for 15 years and counting. Elections are 5 years apart, and even then political parties advocate near identical policies. By the time people can organize, and they would have to take a break from their day-to-day lives - which many would have to think seriously about - and try to effect change, decades could pass with the situation getting progressively worse and without making headway.
SamBam 10y ago
I'm interested in the idea that turning on your laptop somehow "proves" that the laptop isn't just a box for explosives. Presumably the "on" test is considered sufficient both for a mid-2000s brick of a laptop, and a thin modern laptop like a 2016 MacBook. But you could pack a MacBook into a bulky laptop's body and have plenty of room to spare.
Symmetry 10y ago
Is there any reason to think that Trump doesn't have investments in airlines that are competing with the ones hurt by this ban?
- desdiv 10y ago
  The Ethics in Government Act of 1978[0] mandates annual financial disclosures for high offices, so we'll see soon enough. Here's Obama's 2015 disclosure forms[1], for example. It's times like this that I'm actually glad that the Middle-eastern oil-funded airlines are all private, since this way there's no way for Trump to short them off the books. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_in_Government_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_in_Government_Act [1] https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/05/16/president-and-vice-presidents-2015-financial-disclosure-forms https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/05/16/preside...
bm1362 10y ago
I just transited through Qatar yesterday, bound for JFK, and had my electronics forced into the cargo hold. They made us check a bag 3 separate times: for a hair straightener, a Nintendo Switch and a Kindle. Following a mind-numbing 25 hours; it turns out that our bags then got lost and we're now awaiting some update from the airline.
- jlg23 10y ago
  Ouch. Your story has already been the backing of my policy even before I knew it: Never ever fly without my most valuable things in carry-on luggage (and twice I refused to board the plane because of this - both times they relented because getting my checking in luggage out of the plane (required by safety regulations) would have been too much). Good luck with your lost luggage :(
  - bm1362 10y ago
    Yeah I'm also wary and _never_ check a bag. But there is literally no option, they were very thorough and serious about this. You do not want to be stuck in Doha, Qatar- with no visa- arguing over your {iPad}. They had setup a new scanner checkpoint _at the gate_ to our flight.
krmbzds 10y ago
Apparently, it's not a free market.

198 points by privong 10y ago

According to this Guardian article, the ban was caused by a plan to hide a bomb in an iPad: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/26/plot-explosives-ipad-us-uk-laptop-ban https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/26/plot-explosive... I always thought it was weird that you could keep an iPad packed in your carry on but a laptop had to be scanned separately even if it was a similar size to an iPad.

daemin 10y ago
I think that is due to the thickness of a laptop compared to an ipad and some x-ray machines not being powerful enough. One time I've had to take out my tablets, out of my bag and out of their case even.
- raverbashing 10y ago
  Some (older) laptops were sandwiched between thick metal panes, for EMC and mechanical reasons Probably not very transparent to x-rays
  - wwwv 10y ago
    Completely transparent as far as a luggage X-ray is concerned, they're very high power because they don't have to care about exposure limits like medical imaging would. They usually have multiple attenuators and detectors so they can do neat tricks like detection of organic materials.
    - londons_explore 10y ago
      But they usually can't detect an organic material behind a varying thickness metal plate. And metal in laptops is often varying thickness (either due to the design, or poor manufacturing tolerance), hence the concerns that organic explosives can be hidden in their "xray shadow".
- wwwv 10y ago
  No, luggage X-rays are extremely powerful, think 120kV or higher. They can easily penetrate inches of steel on the low end.
camillomiller 10y ago
Every security check in Europe and SE Asia I passed in the last few years (~60 flights) mandated to take every device out of the bag, iPads and smartphones included
- alistairSH 10y ago
  Weird. I've been to Italy, Scotland (via Dublin), and Iceland and never have to scan small devices separately. The laptop gets pulled out and placed in a bucket. The tablet and phone stay in luggage. It's all so inconsistent, it makes you wonder if any of the security agencies half any clue at all.
  - phicoh 10y ago
    I tend to bring an insane amount of electronics in my hand luggage. The reason that need big objects like laptops separately is that they block too much when they are scanning the rest of your luggage. So if on average the scanner can see through an ipad then there is no need to take it out. I my case, all they see is a huge collection of wires and small devices, so all of that needs to be put on separate shelves and scanned again.
    - alistairSH 10y ago
      Still weird. My carry-on for all of trips I listed above was MacBook Air, iPad, iPhone, Olympus mirrorless camera, 2-3 lenses, Canon P&S camera, 2 USB charging bricks, chargers for the camera batteries, charger for the MBA, a bunch of USB cables. Some snack food, a light jacket, and toiletries. Of course, the really maddening part is the inconsistency. I use TSA Pre-check when possible, so I'm accustomed to not taking off my shoes, unpacking my bags, etc. It's a giant hassle when I'm flying abroad and the rules change. Especially since the rules change arbitrarily - I've passed through Edinburgh a few times over the past 2 years and sometimes the laptop comes out, sometimes it stays in the bag.
      - phicoh 10y ago
        The ultimate reference point is whether the person watching the screen at the scanner can see everything or not. If most of the time laptops are transparent enough then why bother asking people to remove them. On the other hand, if routinely they can't properly scan it and have to deal with delay, they will instruct people to take it out of the bag. In the end it still is security theatre so it doesn't have to make sense as long as it looks convincing enough.
RBerenguel 10y ago
In Barcelona (I fly once a month the LGW-BCN route) I'm frequently asked to take out even my mobile phone and/or cables and chargers (granted, I have quite a few usually) from my backpack and put them on the tray, OTOH in Gatwick I have to leave the phone in the backpack... But then I randomly need to take something out because, who knows. The iPad always has to be out with the laptop, though (in all airports I've flown recently, at least)
alasdair_ 10y ago
If your laptop is thin enough, you can keep it in your carry-on.
- Raphmedia 10y ago
  Gives a new meaning to the Macbook Air. Thin enough you can carry it on a plane.

sandworm101 10y ago

Unlike all the other restrictions on material allowed in-flight recently, this ban only applies to specific airports/countries. One must ask why shoebomber or liquid explosive plots resulted in universal bans while this one is country-specific. Imho this is business and politics. This everyday safety mesure is being applied selectively in order to disadvantage some and advantage others. If ipads are a threat, ban them. Dont ban them only on routes dominated by non-US airlines. I am glad to see that Canada hasnt joined the madness. Flying dubai-new york? Connect through toronto and the kids can keep thier ipads. ... for now.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
justavoice 10y ago
or maybe the threat is from a specific geography, and they are trying to inconvenience as few people as possible?
lostboys67 10y ago
Or those airports have poor security or are at risk of penetration by bad actors.
- tehlike 10y ago
  As someone who flies through istanbul once a year, i was always surprised by the fact that there is very little security at us airports. :) I think it is more about penetration possibility more so than airport sevurity itself.
  - sandworm101 10y ago
    Security at US airports is hit-and-miss. Sometimes they check something and sometimes they dont. Rules appear to change daily and every checkpoint seems to interpret them slightly differently.
    - 10y ago

captainmuon 10y ago

One explanation I haven't heard, is that this is about the idea that somebody could hack a plane from the passenger compartment. There doesn't even have to be evidence of a concrete plan - it would be enough for someone who knows about these kind of attacks to get the ear of somebody influential in the government, who then proactively enacts this ban. (The hacking story might be a good pretext to convince people internally, while the real motivation might be economic.)

alistairSH 10y ago
But, that has the same problem as the "hollow laptop is a bomb" scenario - terrorists can simply route through a major European hub to avoid the ban.
gommm 10y ago
In that case they could just do it from a phone... Honestly, the only reason I can see that makes sense is that it helps American airlines and is going to cause significant losses to the big Middle Eastern 3 airlines.. Any argument regarding security can be countered by just taking a flight that routes through Europe
alex_anglin 10y ago
Assuming that is the case, then a smartphone would be able to as well.
Willamin 10y ago
This (and the whole "airplane mode" issue) could easily be solved by a few things. 1. Adding a faraday cage around the passenger sections of the plane would stop wireless connections from passengers to the panes main systems. 2. Completely separate the passenger systems from the plane systems - not unlike separating a monolithic application into a few smaller applications.
- bitwize 10y ago
  Adding a faraday cage would cost money and weight.

pieter1976 10y ago

At some point we are going to have to realise that terrorists are always going to want to target aircraft and just live with it. This ban makes no sense because $BAD_GUY can just via some intermediate airport with their iPad Bomb. It's interesting that El Al has not decided to ban laptops (despite undoubtedly being a target) and, in fact, advises people not to put valuables in the hold: https://www.elal.com/en/PassengersInfo/Baggage/Pages/Policy.aspx https://www.elal.com/en/PassengersInfo/Baggage/Pages/Policy.... "EL AL reminds all passengers not to pack valuable items in baggage send to the hold of the plane. These items should be carried in the hand luggage"

junto 10y ago
But El Al is also profiling passengers before they even reach the airport. They stop people on route and question them to gain any subtle clues as to whether people might be nervous or acting strangely. They know weird shit like who you've met after being in Israel. A gay friend of a friend went to Tel Aviv Pride, and was taken aside and asked why he'd chosen to sleep with an Arab as he was leaving the country.
- Fife 10y ago
  What could they possibly say to "he was hot" ?
  - junto 10y ago
    I think the comment was intended to be overtly racist. LGBT folk are pretty welcome in Israel, but you "should be" sleeping with Israelis and not "Arabs".
    - chimeracoder 10y ago
      > LGBT folk are pretty welcome in Israel They are if they're Israeli (and white). People of Palestinian descent living in Israel (as well as Jewish Arabs who are not Palestinian, to a lesser extent) have a very different experience with being gay in Israel.

YCode 10y ago

> And lastly, why is there a delay between the ban being announced and it taking effect? Would this not simply be to give airlines and people time to adjust policies? Was there a delay on the Note7 ban? Or perhaps they decided to implement one after some lessons learned from it?

junto 10y ago

> Why not require passengers to turn their laptops on as they go through security? That would be a more effective security measure than forcing them to check them in their luggage. The reason that security checks aren't going to ask you to turn your laptop, ipad or mobile on, as a standard process, is that it takes too much time.

nommm-nommm 10y ago
Arguably taking your shoes off takes more time.
- junto 10y ago
  Depends how old the laptop is!
  - tzs 10y ago
    ...and how your shoes are laced. I use Lock Laces [1] and I can take shoes off and put them back on in seconds now. Lock Laces effectively turn regular shoes into slip ons. That wasn't actually why I got them. That was just a pleasant side effect. I got them because they make it easier to keep the ends of the laces from getting loose and into a bicycle chainring. [1] https://www.locklaces.com https://www.locklaces.com
makomk 10y ago
The other reason is that it's going to be of limited use these days, since I'm pretty sure some devices such as iPads effectively have multiple cells in parallel and should power on just fine with all but one of them replaced with explosives.
- londons_explore 10y ago
  Also those laptops with detachable screens, which then operate as tablets. There clearly isn't any critical hardware in the base bit...
10y ago

golemotron 10y ago

In the news recently we've seen that illegal border crossings from Mexico have gone down substantially just because the administration has signaled that there will be more deportations. This laptop ban could have the same effect. Increase the barriers for visitation from some countries and people think twice. If this is what the administration is doing, it's very Machiavellian.

sn41 10y ago
I don't get the comparison. One is about clearly illegal crossings going down. The other is about legal, ordinary passengers. Moreover, these countries are important for global business, and are used as hubs by travellers of many countries. I don't get what's there to "think twice" about it?
- yebyen 10y ago
  Well, you do have people like Bannon in powerful positions who have openly stated their belief that legal immigration is a "real problem." [1] It's not that far-fetched, then, that GP is describing a real strategy with the goal of making them "think twice." It's not something that you or I want as an end, but it is an end. [1]: https://mcfeely.areavoices.com/2017/02/01/bannon-legal-immigration-the-beating-heart-of-americas-problems/ https://mcfeely.areavoices.com/2017/02/01/bannon-legal-immig...
beat 10y ago
Illegal crossings from Mexico had been going down for years prior to the current administration. And I imagine the numbers are seasonal, tied to harvesting work that probably gets a little slow in February. Not that I exactly trust the current administration to tell the truth on the subject in the first place.
- sukilot 10y ago
  Border apprehensions are way down, unseasonably. You can critique the metrics if you have reason to, but 'golemotron is correct as far as official metrics go. http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/08/politics/border-crossings-huge-drop-trump-tough-talk/ http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/08/politics/border-crossings-huge...

throw2016 10y ago

These policies continue to infringe more and more of people rights of free movement, privacy and communication and exposes serious limitations of democracy. The government can continue to take anti-people actions without anything approaching debate and discussion under the 'frenzy of an external threat' as all authoritarians in history have done and tend to do, untill it is operating for all intent and purposes like a quasi-authoritarian state. As we can in the UK and here this has come to pass and democracy has no response for 15 years and counting. Elections are 5 years apart, and even then political parties advocate near identical policies. By the time people can organize, and they would have to take a break from their day-to-day lives - which many would have to think seriously about - and try to effect change, decades could pass with the situation getting progressively worse and without making headway.

SamBam 10y ago

I'm interested in the idea that turning on your laptop somehow "proves" that the laptop isn't just a box for explosives. Presumably the "on" test is considered sufficient both for a mid-2000s brick of a laptop, and a thin modern laptop like a 2016 MacBook. But you could pack a MacBook into a bulky laptop's body and have plenty of room to spare.

Symmetry 10y ago

Is there any reason to think that Trump doesn't have investments in airlines that are competing with the ones hurt by this ban?

desdiv 10y ago
The Ethics in Government Act of 1978[0] mandates annual financial disclosures for high offices, so we'll see soon enough. Here's Obama's 2015 disclosure forms[1], for example. It's times like this that I'm actually glad that the Middle-eastern oil-funded airlines are all private, since this way there's no way for Trump to short them off the books. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_in_Government_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_in_Government_Act [1] https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/05/16/president-and-vice-presidents-2015-financial-disclosure-forms https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/05/16/preside...

bm1362 10y ago

I just transited through Qatar yesterday, bound for JFK, and had my electronics forced into the cargo hold. They made us check a bag 3 separate times: for a hair straightener, a Nintendo Switch and a Kindle. Following a mind-numbing 25 hours; it turns out that our bags then got lost and we're now awaiting some update from the airline.

jlg23 10y ago
Ouch. Your story has already been the backing of my policy even before I knew it: Never ever fly without my most valuable things in carry-on luggage (and twice I refused to board the plane because of this - both times they relented because getting my checking in luggage out of the plane (required by safety regulations) would have been too much). Good luck with your lost luggage :(
- bm1362 10y ago
  Yeah I'm also wary and _never_ check a bag. But there is literally no option, they were very thorough and serious about this. You do not want to be stuck in Doha, Qatar- with no visa- arguing over your {iPad}. They had setup a new scanner checkpoint _at the gate_ to our flight.

krmbzds 10y ago

Apparently, it's not a free market.