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US Customs Destroys Virtuoso's Flutes Because They Were "Agricultural Items"
McGruber writes "Flute virtuoso Boujemaa Razgui performed on a variety of flutes, each made by himself over years for specific types of ancient and modern performance. Razgui has performed with many U.S. ensembles and is a regular guest with the diverse and enterprising Boston Camerata. Last week, Razgui flew from Morocco to Boston, with stops in Madrid and New York. In New York, he says, a US Customs official opened his luggage and found the 13 flutelike instruments — 11 nays and two kawalas. Razgui says he had made all of the instruments using hard-to-find reeds. 'They said this is an agriculture item,' said Razgui, who was not present when his bag was opened. 'I fly with them in and out all the time and this is the first time there has been a problem. This is my life.' When his baggage arrived in Boston, the instruments were gone. He was instead given a number to call. 'They told me they were destroyed,' he says. 'Nobody talked to me. They said I have to write a letter to the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. This is horrible. I don't know what to do. I've never written letters to people.'"
and some that doesn't.
Sent from my ENIAC
" I've never written letters to people"
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
I never thought of flutes as an "invasive species."
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
The dude does have a very legitimate beef though, considering he's taken these around to probably dozens of countries and crossed several hundred borders with them. He apparently had some "raw" material with him to make new flutes, but that wood typically needs to be completely dry and aged. Either way the carved flutes were likely sealed and shouldn't have been destroyed without a very, very good reason, which I doubt the CBP had.
Another whistle blower!
He's obviously a denialist and he got off easy.
The wood that he unscrupulously and capitalistically exploited for his burgeious profit contraption could have reduced ALGORE'S carbon footprint if he hadn't murdered it for his own selfish amusement. I'm just disturbed that this 1%er scum wasn't thrown into our enviromental reeducation camps for his crimes against science.
AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
...and recognize this for what it is. Fascism.
He shouldn't have had them in his checked baggage, since it's well known that checked bags often get lost. If something's that important, it should be in your carry-on.
...that going through US customs could ruin your life. DON'T DO IT.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
When are people going to finally get fed up with these TSA assholes and DEMAND that Congress do something about them, like removing their Federal protection from being sued for their abuses.
Many musical instruments are made of wood. So I guess they are all at risk if the owners come to the US.
... I will make sure to come naked. ...
I assume, however, this will be the worst thing you can do
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Each and every day that I read /. I become even more relieved than the day before that fate smiled on me by not making me a citizen of the USA, and not giving me any compelling reason to visit.
If you like your flute.
'I don't know what it's called. I just know the sound it makes, when it takes a man's life.' ~ Four Leaf Tayback
Once I walked through an airport terminal with wood. I was on my way to Bangkok.
and I never once have regretted that decision. Wouldn't go to dubai either for similar reasons. Toxic culture. I do feel sorry to anyone living there and do hope you are armed.
-
Serves Obama right to be made into a psychotic disease that infects bureaucratic people of the U.S.A. Federal Junta under Obama.
I don't dispute that this incident sounds quite serious and involves some very questionable actions. I don't dispute that it should be publicized.
I do, however, dispute its relevance here at Slashdot. It's one thing when a highly-politicized article involves computers, technology, science or software in some way. This submission is not like that at all.
This story is suitable for traditional media. This story is suitable for more general sites like Digg or reddit. I don't think it has any relevance here, however. We come here to Slashdot to read tech- or science-specific articles, and then discuss them.
We don't come here with the expectation of reading irrelevant material, such as this, regardless of how much the Slashdot editors have apparently been trying to change that lately.
If somebody with any say at Slashdot is reading this, please do the right thing and get the focus back to where it used to be, on science and technology. There are many, many other places we can go to read and bitch about the day-in, day-out shenanigans of American politics. Slashdot shouldn't be one of them.
Coming 3.. 2.. 1..
But what can you do? I know it's bad for the guy who plays the things, but I wouldn't want to shut down customs over it.
Nothing more needs to be said.
Will they start destroying cotton based clothing? Leather soled shoes?
Frog in boiling water is where we are at.
The TSA are just so comically stupid and useless.
If your worthless and you know it, join the TSA.
TSA agents have been know to do unscrupulous things.
He should definitely be compensated.
Always fly with a normal sounding name or face the consequences. Morroco? Never fly Out of Afrika. Never fly into Amerika. Problem averted.
I reed the story he should have flute to a different city.
New York has all kinds of problems.
"who was not present when his bag was opened"
This is not how US Customs works - each passenger needs to take their own bag through customs, and if there are problems then the owner of the item is there to discuss it with the customs officer.
There are situations where this doesn't happen (eg, a delayed/lost bag), but the article doesn't mention that.
I'm not saying that this didn't happen, but there's clearly more to the story than the article states!!
... or stolen?
That's what happens when you hire fast food workers into bureaucratic roles and give them absolute power over other people.
Futurist Traditionalism
... government has absolute power, but the people who work there tend to be power mad crazies like Eric Holder, morons like the drones in US customs or low life fucktards like the NSA.
I lived and worked in the US for a few years prior to 9/11, and travelled to many parts of the country. I still have a lot of good friends down there, and surely there are a lot of places that I'd love to visit again.
The problem is that since I moved back to Canada there have been a seemingly endless series of stories like this. Whether it's Mahar Arar being grabbed and shipped to Syria for torture and imprisonment; Jacob Appelbaum being detailed by US customs with no reason and no explanation; innocent people who are having their laptops and phones seized and copied with no warrant or explanation, or who are quite simply harassed at the border on the whim of any customs agent. - it just seems to be happening more and more each year.
Being innocent (whatever that means to Homeland Security) is no protection. All it takes is one renta-cop with a bad attitude.
To my American friends: I am honestly terrified by the thought of crossing your border, and I am not alone.
Three Squirrels
An important sentence was left out of the summary, which explained that customs mistook the instruments for pieces of bamboo. Judging from the photo accompanying the article, the confusion is almost understandable. It looks like a home made instrument that may or may not have been prepared properly given restrictions on agricultural products. (Example: they may not have been concerned about the bamboo per se, but rather invasive insects that may be in it since the reeds may not have been treated.)
The moral of the story is to verify that the stuff that you're taking across the border is actually legal for import or export. After all, it could have been much worse for this man. I would imagine that charges could have been pressed if they so desired.
Just another delusional gun nut that thinks violence is the only way to solve problems.
Do they strip naked anyone who's wearing natural fiber?
Give a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day, but set him on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
A failing elitist society is going to make quite a noise on the way down.
It could have been his skin flute.
Shut up slave! Don't question our authority!
Yours Sincerely,
The USA empire.
The people who work in border control are called "Officers". This means that they apply some rules, regulations or laws and have discretion in how they do that. Their bosses have no right to question those decisions and cannot order these officers to change any decision that they have made. The only way to get a decision reversed is to go to court. I'm not sure which court to go to but a US lawyer would be able to tell you that. Suing them is a possibility to get some cash back to help you replace the lost goods, but if you want the decision reversed and your immigration record to be cleaned then you need to appeal the officers decision in the correct court (probably a Federal court of some sort) and get a judge to rule that the officer was wrong and should not have done this. Then in the future you could include a copy of that court ruling in every one of your instrument cases.
If those instruments were this important to him, then they should have been insured. What if they're stolen? Destroyed in a fire? The customs official should be fired for being an idiot too, but this doesn't doesn't change anything. The point of the article is for us to get all worked up over the evil USA -- and it's succeeding. If this guy lost the instruments some other way, it wouldn't be newsworthy.
That's not what he said.
The GP is pointing out that people - at least the loudest ones - are concerned about bullshit and have no concept of what real freedom is.
I am just as disgusted over this "outrage" over what some reality TV 'star' (I don't care what he says or thinks and I have no idea what the big deal is) and yet, those same people who are all outraged over the Duck whatever guy on either side say NOTHING about the abuse of our own government.
AND I'd like to point out that freedom of speech is to protect us from the government curtailing our speech.
Is peanut gallery getting outraged over the US Custom's abuses?
Nope!
They are all pissed of what the Duck guy said or are pissed at his network for censoring him - which IS well within THEIR right as his employer.
http://www.coindev.org/asi-tfp.jpg
HAHA
Funny, last time I went to the states they nearly refused to let me in because of an "Arab" stamp in my passport. Well I did fly Emirates, and I did have a free hotel in Dubai since it was a 9 hour stopover the first time.
By the way I feel safer travelling through Dubai than the USA. The culture may be toxic but at least it is a local and well known culture. Don't want to end up in jail, don't pretend western laws apply in Dubai.
The sad thing is the same comment about western laws these days can be applied to the USA.
Just to make it clear, Morocco is an Arab country and he has probably an Arab name. Not saying whether it's right or wrong, but I guess that's the kind of thing Arabs can expect after 9/11. It's not the Americans' fault that these camel-lovers like to blow themselves up, just saying..
I used to work in a port. We once received an automobile from Thailand in a 20 ft shipping container. The auto was tied down with ropes and the ropes were tightened by twisting with shafts of bamboo (which, by the way, is about the crappiest way to tied down a car and very non-standard). When we opened up container, the bamboo was riddled with holes from some kind of Asian woodborers that had chewed their way out during transit. Anyway, we had to call the Department of Agriculture inspector (this was before the ag inspectors were merged into customs) who had us fumigate the whole container.
So the moral of the story here is, based on experience, if I opened a box with reeds full of holes originating from a foreign land , I'd burn it too.
he might be saying that the US is just too far gone for anything else to work.
Find a good lawyer who is an expert in this area and sue the big Jesus out of US customs. These lousy f@%ks think they are above the law and use this to abuse passengers whenever they can. They will confiscate your work computer, camera, tablet and phone, and not tell you when you can have them back (with scratches on the edges and spyware installed). What they do is the only bit of power they will ever have over you. So they aren't afraid to be vulgar, rude and abusive. When you deal with them, you will quickly understand that you have put yourself in situation of being their bitch. This practice has to be stopped and it will only happen when genuine people stand up and take action. Otherwise evil triumphs.
Its his own damn fault. Flying while brown...... What did he expect? Fair treatment?
I do feel sorry to anyone living there and do hope you are armed.
Why? So he could have shot the border control official? And then shot the security guards, followed by the police, SWAT, army, etc? What problem would be solved by being armed?
Polish pianist Kristian Zimerman had his Steinway grand piano seized by the TSA twice: the fist time around they destroyed it, the second time they just detained it for a week: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krystian_Zimerman
No, they didn't confuse it with a vegetable---apparently Zimerman recently modified his instrument and the piano smelled of glue. As a result he ended up travelling with just the mechanism, fitting it by hand to the boxes at concert halls he plays in.
I don't really agree with most of this comment- but I do agree he should have kept them with him.
Wife and I learned the hard way when we had a bunched of stuff stolen out of our luggage flying from ORD to IST- if something has monetary and/or sentimental value, always keep it with you.
Turkish airlines sent us $100 check for the $500+ stuff that was stolen.
Turn your head and cough.
Why do we as Americans give up our 4th Amendment protections if we fly?
Only the American people willingly get curb stomped by their government in the name of security.
Surely they do not have the authority to destroy, rather than confiscate, private property? Well, Obomber has probably given them immunity from everything in some executive order somewhere. Travelling these days has been made completely sh1t by the government (aka the companies who make huge profits from the airport security theatre).
Do not do business with the usa if you value your data.
Do not visit the usa unless you have a very good reason. A concert is not a good reason.
If you MUST visit. Anything valuable should be sent fedex. Sure still a chance it will vanish. But theres alot less chance of it encountering monumental stupid at our borders.
And don't even think of visiting if you're any shade of brown.
We're a police state now. And a really dumb one at that.
The guy was carrying a fasces, he must have been a Fascist.
All countries have strict controls on import of agricultural goods. It's an absolute necessity in this day and age when import of a couple of insects can wipe out a whole native species.
For example several important species of trees in the US have been lost this way. The Ash are right now being decimated by the emerald borer from China. It's likely that this insect will wipe out the entire genus of Ash trees in North America.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2012/10/21/ashes-continue-road-to-extinction.html
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/science/2013/08/25/1-decimation-of-ash-trees-provides-valuable-lesson.html
So one guy had his flutes mistaken for agricultural products. Not really that big a deal in the big picture. This is one case when you really want to err on the conservative side because making a mistake in the other direction is a really bad thing.
It isn't a case of human rights, illegal searches or ethnic profiling or anything like that.
As far as I'm concerned this is just another misplaced slashdot article.
Frodo and Samwise walked from the Shire to Mordor (even though it's clear at the end one of those fucking eagles could have carried the both of them) , and you refuse to have the TSA Experience story to share with your grandchildren?
That's just selfiush.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Get slapped down. If you don't read the rules first, don't blame others.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
The airport at Boston has one of the worst reputations for respecting the public, and they continue to earn it.
I have actively avoided visits to the USA in the past ten years. Tradeshow? Regional conference? Send someone else.
Herp derp I so cool I didn't do this thing since before it was dangerous wow I cool.
They probably would have burned him too, just to be sure.
Yes, we have it so horrible here. Woe is me.
Are agnostics skeptical of unicorns too?
I think it's more likely that a bag handler or TSA agent flat out stole the flutes, and the "agricultural product" excuse is just some run-around style bureaucratic ass-covering. One of our agents stole your things? Oh actually it's because of [MADE-UP REASON], and you need to contact [RANDOM OTHER AGENCY] to deal with it.
Esoteric reference.
"I don't know what to do. I've never written letters to people.'
Huh!?! what?!? is this guy a moron or something... is he a three year old? Grow a pair and be a man. Hire a lawyer and sue their ass and stop whining in the press.
Apparently no-one even read the title, and immediately jumped to the assumption that TSA is at fault. TSA doesn't inspect inbound international luggage, that's the job of Customs, Border Patrol (CBP). Customs has very clear restrictions on bring in plants, timbers, etc and obviously they felt the raw flute making materials qualified under those restrictions.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/kbyg/prohibited_restricted.xml#PlantsandSeeds
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/permits/index.shtml
http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/newsroom/fact_sheets/agriculture/olympic_ag.ctt/olympic_ag.pdf
Had he known about the restrictions and he declared them, it wouldn't have been an issue.
Its an American prerogative. Sue the hell out of them. Bring conductors and other musicians in with you. There are lots of other musical instruments that aren't made of metal: Stradivariusviolins are all made of wood, and therefore agricultural too! When the TSA or DHS or whoever the hell they are starts turning them into toothpics and firewood, not only will they (finally) lose their jobs, but the US will receive a big fucking black eye. Its not about terrorism, its about ass-hattedness. This isn't safety, this isn't security, this is about dumb-ass. This is just stupid. "I don't know what that is so I'm going to break it." They could have siezed it and told him its in a secure locker. But no, the decided to break it. Clearly they don't know from musical instruments if it bites them in the ass. But usually people carry musical instruments in a special travelling case that doesn't look like a grain shipment. They could have asked a question. Fuckups guess. Smart people inquire. The TSA or DHS or whoever the hell they are have shown which they are.
http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/266x198xboujemaa-neys-300x224.jpg.pagespeed.ic.0cUyxS4qkI.jpg
A picture of what the finished flutes (nays) looked like, and a list of what else was in the case
Boujemaa adds some specifics of the case:
What was in the case? they called Bamboo case
1) 11 nays (flutes) made by me some of them in Canada some in US
2) material to make new nays in the case
3) flight AA 0095 Madrid to JFK
4) time : 12/22/2013 (notice : on 12/23/2013)
5) Reason : nays from plants which is agricultural items (so l can’t play nay)
How is this story something that should be discussed on a technology website?
people should read more john brunner, beyond that i don't have an opinion here.
to a checked bag while traveling
I hope someone bombs the US or starts killing off our worthless leaders. This country has no honor and it's impossible to live in this shithole and still maintain any dignity. Burn it all down.
Which would be applicable if they hadn't also destroyed his ACTUAL FLUTES. Those weren't raw materials. They didn't destroy the rest of his luggage, so it clearly wasn't a pest/sanitation issue.
By the way I feel safer travelling through Dubai than the USA.
The Arab terrorists don't tend to target the rich Gulf Arabs much - professional courtesy, and it would hurt their fundraising.
You don't have to be a German Nazi from the 1930-40s to be a fascist. There have been others. I suggest try looking at a dictionary instead of assuming that only Nazis were fascist. If you want to get a bit of a clue consider Italy before WWII or Greece after it.
If I do ever visit America again, and I can't possibly imagine why I would want to, but if I do, I'm washing any clothes that were in my bag (and subsequently meddled with, and man handled) immediately on arrival. I would also have to do a cleanse after leaving too, to get the 'merica out of my liberty tree-hugging clothes and toiletries.
cowardfully yours,
anonymous coward
Was deemed a threat to the NSA pied piper
... thought we might see some world class, monumental stupidity, like burning flutes from 2000 - 6000 BC.
So the execution of suspects and innocents has to go through the air force or xe right now outside the US or otherwise. Not really that big of a deal. Once the TSA has drones, I assume they will keep them armed and have the same rights to murder as interpreted by the executive fuhrer.
The U.S. government is EXTREMELY corrupt. Only the rich matter.
I think there is a clear distinction between the two, but it is not apparent among the comments I've read so far. This needs to be noted.
Yup, a bunch of sticks tied together in a bundle
That sounds more like a faggot to me.
Use of the words "good", "bad" or "evil" is almost invariably the result of oversimplification.
Paddle them all and let God sort em out.
Table-ized A.I.
I wonder if he's gettin' kinda antsy?
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
The TSA is not a single entity. Sometimes several people make mistakes in a row. "The TSA" does not make these decision; people who work for the TSA do and people make mistakes. There are many references to the fact that he has been crossing the border for several years with no problem. That would be relevant if there was only one inspector but there are hundreds. Different inspectors under different circumstances may see things differently. We also don't know the whole story. Perhaps the agricultural inspector, who's job it is to protect the US from insects, saw a bug come out of one of the flutes and overreacted.
All this righteous indignation over something that is in all probability a mistake is just stupid and a weak reason for jumping on the "bash the TSA" bandwagon. This is one incident. If it happens many time there may be an issue. I think Hanlon's razor is probably applicable here.
Funny, last time I went to the states they nearly refused to let me in because of an "Arab" stamp in my passport. Well I did fly Emirates, and I did have a free hotel in Dubai since it was a 9 hour stopover the first time.
Nearly refused, really? Or they just asked you about your last visited country, which is a routine question? (And if you filled in London for example and your passport shows entry for a day in Dubai, then it's common to ask about it.)
Are you saying that Shelob the giant spider is better than TSA.
Did he say he was a police officer? No he did not. So STFU.
Nearly refused, really? Or they just asked you about your last visited country, which is a routine question? (And if you filled in London for example and your passport shows entry for a day in Dubai, then it's common to ask about it.)
No asking about it and grilling you for half an hour then claiming they don't "buy the story" are two different thing. I get asked about all sorts of things at many airports around the world. In this case it wasn't even an airport it was a simple border crossing at Canada. I've never had so much lip service from an idiot border guard in my life. I've also never needed to announce my intention to pass into a country which freely issues tourist Visas 48 hours in advance, and I also know of no other country which staples a special piece of paper in your passport and then removes it when you leave, not to mention finger printing. Tell me again why I should carry a plane ticket showing how I got into the previous country when I go to the next one? Because that's what the border guard said I should be doing so they can "verify" my "story" about the "curtesy hotel" in one of the busiest transit hubs operated by one of the most popular airlines in the world.
I was in the USA for 10 hours, and over an hour of that was the border crossing. Land of the free my arse. The Canadian border security is quite good, with expert use of probing questions. Australia is good. Most of Europe doesn't give a shit, and neither did England last time I was there though that was a long time ago.
Coming 3.. 2.. 1..
It's sad when you can't even do a lame overused meme properly.
Or did you think that the entire STASI popped out for the killings, rather than have experts and specialists for that work?
The TSA just pass the murdering on to specialists who are given a different arm to operate under.
So, no, no different.
They probably mistook it for a skin flute and stole it.
...but I like your phrasing. In-forced, indeed.
Hahahahahaha
Are half the people commenting here Alex Jones fans or something? "First they come for your flutes, then tomorrow it's your children!". You paranoid idiots. Get some perspective.
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but still tools all the same.
my direct experience was about 10 or so years back and was the confiscation and destruction of a scale model of a Shinkansen (bullet train) I bought back from Japan. the Customs note explained that they ".... believed it contained contraband food goods, specifically chocolate because some parts of Asia had incidents of bird flu" but not Japan, and why the hell they thought an official JR scale model, sealed in its box, was "chocolate" and having inspected what was obviously plastic and metal and electric motors still believed it was "chocolate" really does not speak well of the level of intelligence of these officials.
my second, indirect experience of customs incompetence was a friend who, when his band came went from Australia to tour North America, US customs confiscated and destroyed his vintage 335 Rickenbacker because it contained Brazilian rosewood on its fretboard, this despite the fact the guitar was over 40 years old, well before the ban came in to place (and technically exempt), Ironic given the that the guitar was made in the US, and had made many trips back there with its various owners over the years (the case was a veritable museum piece of stickers and tags from long gone airlines)
I think this guy should start calling lawyers and unless it can be shown that the written law requires that Preserved Plant Materials must be destroyed at the border Sue The Airport Sue the Airline and the TSA.
My question is why were the flutes not keep in holding and then shipped back (after he paid for the shipping)?
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
They did the same thing to Zimmerman a few years ago; he's one of the leading concert pianists on earth. Customs took his piano and destroyed it! Clueless! http://www.omg-facts.com/Interesting/A-Famous-Concert-Pianist-Had-His-Piano-D/53381 and http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=46850
Police state instruments such as the Gestapo, Stasi, and many others of more modern history understand that the technology is not the most feared nor the most useful tool.
Instead, make it law for everyone to watch and inform on everyone.
Teachers inform on children who have repeated what spouses have said in private confidence.
Neighbors inform on neighbors, and those who fail to corroborate get a visit in the small hours of the night.
No one is safe saying anything to anyone.
The security organizations don't need technology to record what actually is being communicated; they simply assume that wrong things are being said and arrest, detain, and make people disappear on a regular basis. Much cheaper than what the NSA does and much more effective at keeping people in line.
No massive and expensive data centres. No embarrassing questions from political hacks. Just a wonderfully useful way to employ the sociopaths who would otherwise be busy with unapproved antisocial behaviour.
. . . and the streets become very safe.
I mean, seriously, I would never give stuff like that away to be handled by packet tossers (not only because of customs, but also because of accidential damage). I would always carry it in my hand luggage.
Paper departure records are starting to die out and be replaced by computer records, but they were very common outside of Europe up until recently. The staple is so you don't lose it, admittedly I've only encountered that in US and Japan, most other countries just slip it into your passport.
Get slapped down. If you don't show he's actually violated a rule (rules to raw materials don't apply to finished products) then you're just being a fucktard.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
When do people finally learn to avoid the US? You don't want to be a foreigner there, because you practically have no rights (and you will be harassed if you're not a white person). You also don't want to do business with the US, because your data will be stolen and used against you. We're trying to avoid US services more and more. Our government investigates a 'national cloud' to avoid these issues.
As a frequent traveler I've found that the first line of defense is to not check anything important. For some stuff, like liquid or knives, you don't have a choice, but otherwise I keep my valuables close. Between ham-fisted baggage handlers and bone-headed bureaucrats I want the chance to at least argue if they're going to do something stupid with anything more valuable than my dirty socks. In fact, I generally manage to get everything into my carry-ons and rarely check anything at all.
===== Murphy's Law is recursive. =====
While I do empathize with him, it is quite possible he is in the wrong and CBP is OK. Specifically, if he did not declare them for inspection, the CBP is likely in the right for finding and dealing with them in a secondary inspection. Note that he connected through NY and it was only in Boston where he found them missing. Likely he did not declare them while transiting through NY and they were caught in the screening after he went through the CBP an rechecked his bags. Unfortunate, however, if I were traveling with expensive items, I would make sure I knew and followed the proper procedure. Now, the article is short on details so there is a lot of speculation involved so we cannot know exactly who is in the right here.
A quick search turned up:
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1166
To Quote:
Can I bring or send an item made from wood to the U.S.? What if the object has feathers or bone?
Finished, manufactured, or naturally weathered products including carvings, driftwood, furniture, picture frames, and musical instruments, and plywood are allowed into the U.S., but you need to declare them so the items can be inspected by CBP. Wood that has bark attached is prohibited from China and is subject to a higher level of inspection from all countries (Miscellaneous and Processed Products Manual, Table 3-161, Pages 152-154)
Objects that have feathers are allowed if the objects are fully finished and the feathers are clean, dry, and free of skin. (APHIS Animal Product Manual, Table 3-7-13, Page 272)
Bones that are fully finished and ready to use such as buttons, knife handles, and souvenirs are allowed as are tanned hides of domestic species (APHIS Animal Product Manual, Table 3-4-6, Page 218 and Table 3-7-3, Page 262)
APHIS Animal Product Manual can be found at aphis.usda.gov.
Please note that all items made from wood, feathers, or bone may also be subject to endangered species regulations. See our Q&A entitled: Endangered species, CITES, endangered wildlife, plants, exotic skins, animals Answer ID 64.
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The next time you're rooting for another new government program that you hope will allow you to shed some more of your personal responsibility, remember this story. When you keep supporting politicians and policies aimed only at growing the size and power of the government, you end up with stories like this, and like the NSA spying, and like the roadside gloveless anal cavity searches, and crashed MRAPs on the I-10.
If you want the madness to stop, you have to start taking responsibility for yourself, and telling the government that you've finally decided that you know how to live your life and take care of yourself better than the government does.
This is not a police state: it's plain fascism. Don't get fooled by word games.
In a police state the police still serve, this is not the case in the US.
With facsism the enforcement system has become the ruler. The "police" does not serve the law but are "the law". The US has already gone beyond this simple fascism.
Your congress does not matter. Your president does not matter. Your courts do not matter. Your meatbags with badges do not matter. Your weapons do not matter. Your money does not matter. Your knowledge, proficiency, talent, experience and creativity does not matter. Your righteousness does not matter. Your dreams do not matter. Your situation does not matter. Your intent does not matter. Your complaints do not matter. Your likes and dislikes do not matter. Your opinion does not matter. Your death does not matter. Justice does not matter. Freedom does not matter.
This new beast already has a blasphemous name. People call it "America". All of humanity lives under its shadow now.
Feel free to call it Babylon. It does not matter.
And sold on eBay. I bet he didn't even check eBay.
Why would anyone want to come to this country anyhow?
Blah blah internet libertarian retard.
There is no difference between big government and big business. We could privatise the whole government tomorrow and give it an ownership interest in all US soil, and effectively nothing would change. Even if the whole US customs service were privatised, the contract you agree to when flying through the US would include a little, "You accept that we can take and resell^Wdestroy anything," clause, and what are you gonna do about it, punk? Private postal/courier services ruin shit way more often than public, except perhaps in Italy, and they're just as good at finding a reason not to pay out, because, well, their 20 pages of small print is more carefully written than your understanding, and even if it isn't, go ahead: take them to court.
There is either power or a power vacuum quickly filled. The only question is who holds the power. The problem here is bad government.
maybe not incompetence or fascism, maybe its just greed.
You make the false assumption that we either have to give all our power to the government or to "big business." I advocate neither of those. Reclaim your power as an individual; that's the only place that power comes from to start with.
Customs has very clear restrictions on bring in plants, timbers, etc and obviously they felt the raw flute making materials qualified under those restrictions.
Customs says
Some plants, cuttings, seeds that are capable of propagation, unprocessed plant products and certain endangered species are allowed into the United States but require import permits and other documents; some are prohibited entirely.
Notice the phrases "capable of propagation" and "unprocessed." Are you arguing that a varnished length of reed with mouthpiece and finger holes cut in it, probably wrapped carefully in cloth and placed in a case, could reasonably be mistaken as a cutting capable of propagation? Because I'm pretty sure the reason this is a story is specifically because none of the rest of us think that one could mistake a flute-shaped piece of wood as an incipient tree. A flute seems almost as likely to sprout roots as a baseball bat and as reasonably classified as an "agricultural product."
sounds like the t-bagger rants about jack-booted govt oppression, but somehow i doubt they'll support a moroccan:-[
i'm webmaster for bostoncamerata.org, the medieval music group mr. razgui has performed with:
http://bostoncamerata.org/blog/over-a-quarter-of-a-million-people-have/
If I had anything that was "my life" I damn well wouldn't put it into checked luggage. It would be in carryon, highly protected AND insured.
So, did he have $10,000 insurance for "his life"?
He travels more than I. I only spend about 2 months overseas annually, on vacations. When I travel, especially overseas, my check luggage has clothes and power adapters that can easily be replaced. Nothing "important." I say this as someone who has never lost any luggage during travel - only once did my bag not arrive with me during air travel and once on a bus (don't get me started). Besides that. my bags arrive when I do, amazing after 25-40 hrs of travel, let me assure you. Just for fun, figure out how to get from your home town to Pohkara, Nepal and think about the chances for baggage to be lost.
That customs person needs to be fired.
I have a British friend who once traveled through Korea, stayed one day, and left. My friend had bought a lot of deodorant, since she was living Japan, and couldn't get any there that she liked there.
When going through Korean customs, she actually had the customs agent tell her, in English, that she was confiscating all her deodorant because she wanted it. She then went on to explain that if she complained, she would miss her flight and possibly be put in jail.
Don't put important stuff in your checked luggage such as flutes that you earn your livelihood with. At least if you have them in your hand luggage you can put up an argument. Maybe you'd have to go so far as returning to your country of origin rather than submit to having them confiscated, but at least you'd still have them. Not to mention the possibility of having stuff stolen by the baggage inspectors; there have been plenty of those sorts of stories.
Seriously? He's an idiot. Maybe some Federal agency should rendition his ass, then he'd know what horrible really is.
"I've never written letters to people". Baby Jesus weeps.
Captcha: redneck. You just can't make this shit up.
Great letter and spunk is abundant also in others of your age group--not just the "young punks" getting outted by uniformed idiots! Even my 85 yr. old mom's behaving like a worked up member of the cast of "Network" and I'm proud of her! Everyone's waking up to noise, lies, chemtrail smog spread like jam on our GMO tainted grain belt. Our elders now paint signs of impending relief for our struggle's victory, even as they're incarcerated for doing so. Thank you for your lucid reflection and thrive on another couple of decades, will ya? We need your spirit!
"i'm webmaster for bostoncamerata.org, the medieval music group mr. razgui has performed with:"
Unforch, I surmize you are 200% correct. But I would like to thank you for bringing yet another of our "governments" (insert laff track here(but push wrong button & get sob track instead)) completely arbitrary, and asinine to me, abuses of power.
I have no clue how long it will take him to replace those, but I hope he can. Unfortunately I'd also imagine we will never again get to hear him, in any US venue. I sure as hell would never again set foot on US soil, for any reason.
Cheers, Gene
*cough* *cough* soma
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
In this message I admit I'm basically a schlep.
Our local Taco Bell, which is a frequent hessian dining facility, has excellent management and attracts top of the line fast food workers.
They're not all interchangeable.
Unlike the sullen zombies at our local Burger King, McDonald's and KFC (but not Subway, Starbucks or Taco Cabana, which are also well managed) these workers have a positive attitude, seem to not mind the job, and are genuinely helpful and do a good job of making the food.
The difference is management, which is both realistic about the nature of people and the nature of the job. The TB managers eliminate a lot of busywork and keep their staff active at a reasonable pace but don't push them too far. I see managers jump in and make food all the time.
I don't think every fast food worker is this way -- see above for the description of the zombies at BK and McD's -- but for some, with good management and possibly higher salaries, this works out for the better.
As far as why someone might take this job, the simple answer is that it is low-stress and inoffensive. You can make enough money to live without ever having something that keeps you up at night worrying.
Futurist Traditionalism
Most other countries have abolished the process in favour of stamping the passport, you know the thing the passport was designed for?
Why do I need a separate piece of paper for the USA which contains, all the things in the front of my passport + the date which is normally written onto the passport stamp, and why should I then need to carry it inside my passport?
Who came up with this system? The department of redundancy department?
Is this real ..happening in most advanced country of the world..Please stop this nonsense US
"Dood. Thass a plant"
"No my good sir, these are musical instruments..."
"It look like wood. It agreekulturel. We destroy."
"no. No! I have labored many hours on rare reeds to create this magnificent instruments."
"Reed is wood. We take. Must destroy."
Welcome to Idiocracy.
Or something like that.
We're from the government, and we're here to help.
Funny, last time I went to the states they nearly refused to let me in because of an "Arab" stamp in my passport.
You are simply lying.
REALLY?????? OMG
They are not stupid in the way you think, they intend to destroy our USA. We are infidels in need of destruction.
I know this is an old thread, but the truth about this finally comes out.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/musician-s-bamboo-flutes-destroyed-at-u-s-customs-1.2482370
The relevant part of the article is here:
"But the border agency told As It Happens that it "discovered fresh green bamboo canes approximately three to four feet long" in unclaimed baggage that belonged to Razgui. Fresh bamboo is prohibited from entering the U.S., the agency said.
Since the purported "fresh bamboo" and Razgui's instruments were in the same container, he lost his entire collection of 13 flutes—and with them, his livelihood."
So he was transporting his flutes plus fresh green bamboo in the same case. The entire thing was his fault and not that of customs officials.
Inflating it beyond that and getting hysterical is childish.
Predictable knee-jerk reactions aside, the US Dept. of Ag. has a serious job to do, and preventing invasive species from destroying the North American ecosystem IS part of that job.
As other sensible people have pointed out, this is an issue of the system being flawed, addressing the specific flaw and fixing it should be the focus.
Not acting like this is an example of the police state we live in when there are much more serious and profound examples of it all around us that hardly anybody is talking about.
Holding this up as an example of THAT is actually a much greater problem than this specific rare and unfortunate incident.
I hope attorneys and engineers step-up to offer assistance to Mr. Razgui, I can't imagine a more interesting project than assisting him in replicating and replacing the destroyed instruments.
How did the guy pass the customs separately from his luggage?
The world is now safer that terrorist woodwinds have been stopped in their tracks.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
As this story spreads you can bet a battalion of Attorney types gathering. What I find most disturbing, under logic like this A Stradivarius is also an agricultural product, Remember the former Nazi quote "I was just following orders"......once again common sense proves to be uncommon, Just My Take,,,
"In Every Life The Time Comes To Grab The Bull By The Tail And Face The Situation" W.C.Fields
You really should have more respect for fast food workers.
Especially when you look at Not Always Right and see what $#!+ they have to go through.
In the war on terror, "smart," high-precision, low-yield weapons are used. There are certainly civilian casualties, as you point out, but the number of civialian casualties is orders of magnitude lower than in World War II, when the U.S. intentionally firebombed large residential neighborhoods in Germany and Japan, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians. (e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo )
Given that information, I have a few questions for you.
Tom Brokaw wrote a famous book about the WWII generation titled "The Greatest Generation." Do you agree with Brokaw's characterization? Do you believe the current generation of warriors is even greater than the WWII generation, because it kills orders-of-magnitude fewer civilians? Why or why not? If current tactics amount to "U.S. indiscriminant killing of civilians," how would you characterize the tactics used in WWII? Will future generations of Afghans and Yemenis hate America less than current generations of Japanese and Germans do, because of the far-less-deadly tactics used today? Why or why not?
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
Mistakes are made by all sides, in every war. To the extent that an organization feels ashamed of its mistakes, it is likely to attempt coverups as well. (There's no need to cover it up, if you have no remorse about it.) By characterizing this as a "great" story, you seem to revel in, or celebrate, the mistakes made by our side.
To the extent that the story is true, I would call it a "tragic" story, not a "great" story.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
He hand made them himself. Knew how each one sounded, felt and fitted his hand. He then hand crafted the reeds using special wood and who knows how or when he will get more. Lets just hope he was coming off a tour and has time to replace those one of a kind flutes each carved one at a time.
We've all had our projects we took pride in. How would you like it if you got home and found a note on your door saying We destroyed it, call or write for more information and wait months for any answers.
still believed Slashdot was worth reading...
past tense intended.
Sent from my ENIAC
Don't even know what agricultural is
If his instruments were his life and he is a virtuoso musician, he would have kept his flutes with him on the airplane.
tempus fugit
Bravo... may all of us be as capable as you, and posting gems like this to Slashdot, at age 79. I mean, being able to spell hyaluronan correctly is, in and of itself, quite a feat.
It's been said that one way to ensure good behavior of all passengers is to issue a piece to every adult passenger. Would having a few amateur air marshals on every flight prevent more trouble than it causes? Finding out would be a good experiment.
Now if I may pick your brain... is there some inexpensive signal strength meter I can carry with me up onto the roof when pointing a residential TV antenna? As I understand it, the pros use fancy, expensive spectrum analyzers. Is there a sub-$100 solution that you can recommend?
(I'm a fan of taking advantage of those free over-the-air signals. It's surprising how many people aren't even aware that those signals are there for the taking... they seem to think that when the cable-TV networks were built out decades ago, over-the-air broadcasts were discontinued.)
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
You do NOT need to be a victim of these federal morons. The fact that they were so utterly stupid that they do not know that many woodwind instruments have REEDS that are made from PLANTS. If you find a very good attorney you may be able to obtain a very huge monetary settlement given the quality and rarity of these instruments. PLEASE talk with many musicians with whom you have performed. You should certainly be able to obtain the names of a number of very high quality attorneys.
What I find utterly enraging is reading the comment sections that are filled with posts made by Americans who seem to be utterly unable to focus on an article or story and provide an on target response. You friggin morons go off in 45 different directions as soon as one person posts something you take issue with.
What a bunch of brain dead opinionated poorly educated losers.