from the home-of-the-brave,-land-of-the-ham-fisted dept.
Two Soylentils sent in stories about the US TSA (Transportation Security Administration) and their handling of Ballaké Sissoko's kora (musical instrument).
US customs dismantled 'impossible to replace' instrument
Prominent Malian Musician Alleges that TSA Destroyed His Instrument:
One of Mali's most prominent musicians, Ballaké Sissoko, has alleged that the Transportation Security Administration [TSA] destroyed his specially designed instrument during a trip from New York to Paris that began on Monday evening. On Thursday afternoon, the TSA said that its agents did not open the instrument case or create the damage.
[...]Sissoko checked his kora, which was packed in a hard flight case covered with "fragile" stickers, as oversized baggage. Koras are large instruments that can stand more than 4 feet from the tip of the long, rounded neck to the base of its big gourd body.
[...]But once he arrived at his apartment in Paris, Sissoko says, he opened the case to find his kora dismantled.
An official statement posted to Sissoko's Facebook page, written by ethnomusicologist and former BBC presenter Lucy Durán, notes: "The neck of the kora has been removed. The strings, bridge and entire, delicate and complex sound system of amplification has been taken apart.... These kinds of custom-made koras are simply impossible to replace."
[...]Sissoko says that inside the case, alongside the dismantled instrument was an official note from the TSA written in Spanish, that said that agents had opened the case for inspection, and that its contents "may have been searched for prohibited items."
At the bottom of the notification is this slogan: "Seguridad inteligente ahorra tiempo" — "Smart security saves time."
[...]"In Mali," the musician's statement says in part, "the jihadists threaten to destroy musical instruments, cut the tongues out of singers and to silence Mali's great musical heritage. And yet, ironically, it is the USA Customs [sic] that have in their own way managed to do this."
[...]According to the TSA website, musical instruments must undergo screening, whether they are carry-on or checked.
See also: BBC, Al Jazeera, the Guardian
Here's how that kora used to sound in Sissoko's hands Ballake Sissoko - Nalesonko - live, Toumani Diabate with Ballake Sissoko - Kadiatou (gorgeous), Famadenke
Ballaké Sissoko's Kora Dismantled by American TSA
https://afropop.org/articles/ballak%C3%A9-sissokos-kora-dismantled-by-american-tsa [Link giving 404 07-18:37ITC]
"The kora is a fragile, hand-crafted instrument, and Ballaké's kora is tailormade to his own specifications. It is an intrinsic part of his very special sound. Would US customs have dared to dismantle a Stradivarius? In its own way that is what has just happened to Ballaké. The neck of the kora has been removed. The strings, bridge and entire, delicate and complex sound system of amplification have been taken apart. The kora is in pieces. Even if all the components that have been dissembled were intact, it takes weeks before a kora of this calibre can return to its previous state of resonance. These kinds of custom-made koras are simply impossible to replace. They are certainly not available in shops." (Lucy Duran)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by exaeta on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:11AM (14 children)
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 2, Touché) by aristarchus on Saturday February 08 2020, @05:32AM (1 child)
exaeta is right. OMG, has the worldl gone mad? But Siriusly, in the name of the Dog Star, when did the American culture wars become a war on culture? Is this a Trump thing? Is music being funded by Trump, or is the only music he approves of is paeans to his own narrciscistic self? #ImpeachAgain. Third time is the charm, and goes with with a major Fifth, and a dissonant minor 7th diminished.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @05:40AM
When it became clear that culture is a hippie thing and entertainment is what brings profits.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday February 08 2020, @06:07AM (4 children)
Get rid of that and shit like this will stop overnight
How?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by exaeta on Sunday February 09 2020, @01:17AM (3 children)
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 2) by TheReaperD on Sunday February 09 2020, @04:20AM
In order for that to work, you would have to be able to sue the person that did the damage as the US federal government doesn't give a shit about $5,000 but, to the employee, that's likely more than his/her whole month's paycheck.
Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Sunday February 09 2020, @04:44AM
Government is far too bold and out of control because they know they are immune.
Yes, and the voters know how to remove that immunity, right? Or is it hopeless and they should just surrender now? Tell them to cancel the next election? With a 95% reelection rate, you may as well.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 4, Interesting) by driverless on Sunday February 09 2020, @11:01AM
I live in a country where you can sue the government, in technical terms "ask for judicial review of a ministerial decision". It works quite well, and doesn't have any of the bad effects that people have mentioned in this thread. It's largely self-regulating, it's only done for significant causes, and you don't need to go after individuals, a public slap across the face from the courts is quite sufficient, in particular since it then establishes case law which means they can't do it again. Works very well too, I've been involved in a couple of these on either side of the issue. In particular it's a really good way to counter bureaucratic stupidity, which this one seems like a prime example of.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Common Joe on Saturday February 08 2020, @09:36AM (4 children)
We, the citizens, are the government. If you want to stop crap like this, the individuals who allow this have to be sued. Leave me out of this.
(Score: 3, Informative) by exaeta on Sunday February 09 2020, @01:19AM (3 children)
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 2) by Common Joe on Sunday February 09 2020, @08:04AM (2 children)
The problem is, if the 11th is repealed, and the government is sued and loses, the money comes from the tax payers, not the person who performed the act. Nothing will be changed except the person suing gets richer and I, the tax payer, will be screwed more than I already am. It's ripe for abuse.
Don't get me wrong. I believe you and I are of the same opinion: sue the person. Where you and I probably disagree is, I don't see repeal of the 11th Amendment as a step forward unless we have something sane to replace it and do a better job. I see the repeal as a step back. Unfortunately, I don't have a better suggestion at this point except to say that we need to go after individuals who are obviously overstepping sane laws and that is definitely not happening right now.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Sunday February 09 2020, @11:11PM
If your Government keeps making boneheaded decisions that cost you, the taxpayer, money then you'll vote them out. Governments will enact sane laws, hire competent people and behave themselves because they don't want to be voted out.
Right now, the US government can do what it wants, because Fuck You.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by exaeta on Monday February 10 2020, @01:38PM
That's how you think until the government blows up your house.
Taxpayers should pay if blowing up someone's house is really in the public interest.
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/30/774788611/police-owe-nothing-to-man-whose-home-they-blew-up-appeals-court-says [npr.org]
Of course, if the government can blow people's houses up with no problem, it isn't a big moral leap to justify blowing up the government, just saying. People like you are why we have so many mass murders in the US.
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:44PM (1 child)
It's not absolute immunity, the government gets sued all the time. The real problem is that there's been way too much collusion with the judicial branch over abuses of power. The courts have more or less abdicated responsibility because they're afraid of having to be the adults in the room if something does happen.
So, because of the possibility of terrorism, the American people get sexually assaulted just to gain access to a plain that they've already paid to board and when they do, who knows what's going to happen to their luggage because the courts don't seem to think that there's any particular reason to require actual reason to do these kinds of invasive inspections.
I don't know who is right here, but the government doesn't have a good record of honesty.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by exaeta on Sunday February 09 2020, @01:21AM
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 5, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:15AM (7 children)
Stay away!
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @05:04AM (6 children)
Yup, that's the message and it's a damn shame too. Have a listen to the link in tfa:
https://youtu.be/rY-bZTWfNaw?t=300 [youtu.be]
The instrument looks pretty delicate, mostly wood. I can't see any reason that TSA would need to take it apart for inspection when it would be trivial to x-ray it. International airports have large x-ray machines.
Idiots (sorry, preaching to the choir here at SN).
Related topic -- since checking a valuable instrument like this clearly doesn't work, how should a musician travel internationally with the tool(s) of their trade? Maybe by boat??
(Score: 5, Touché) by fustakrakich on Saturday February 08 2020, @05:13AM
since checking a valuable instrument like this clearly doesn't work, how should a musician travel internationally with the tool(s) of their trade?
Traveling to civilized countries isn't a problem.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @05:22AM
Customized Steinway destroyed [latimes.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by zoward on Saturday February 08 2020, @03:54PM (2 children)
I used to evaluate ticket claims for Delta. What musicians with high-end instruments usually do is buy an extra seat right next to theirs and stand over the TSA while they check out the instrument, then carry it on and gently place it in the seat next to them (it wasn't unusual to see "Smith,Fred", and then "Smith,Cello" in the seat next to them). While I'm not a huge fan of the TSA, any number of Bad Things (tm) can happen if you check valuable luggage - it can be stolen, broken, lost, shipped to the wrong destination, etc. Granted it's expensive to buy an extra ticket, but so is replacing an irreplaceable instrument.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:30PM
We shouldn't have to do that. The public's low expectations are the far bigger problem. People are too submissive to authority in general, so these things will happen more often.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Saturday February 08 2020, @10:18PM
But law enforcers committing the destruction is a peril that no one should have to worry about in a civilized nation. However, some of those guys are thugs who enjoy exceeding and abusing their authority to avenge themselves on groups they personally dislike. Keeping them on a tight leash or screening them out of the job applicant pool before they're hired is a huge problem. They're all too likely to view some kinds of artists with contempt, seeing them as snotty artsy fartsy pansy lazy liberal assholes who don't know which end of a gun to hold, use art as an excuse to dodge real work, totally mooch off society by taking art grants, and who deserve detention and harassment.
The problem is much worse when the highest authorities are themselves thugs.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:45PM
I read that story. There is some room for doubt there. It would be interesting to learn if that instrument was insured, and whether a claim was made for it. The TSA claims that they didn't take it apart. TSA also claims that the image of a sticker is an authentic sticker, but worn and abused and taped together - like someone removed it from something years ago, and put it to good use here.
I'm no fan of the TSA, but the story does look funny.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:19AM
Did they at least get the fries supersized for only 99 cents?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:24AM (10 children)
but lets stick to tech stories, eh?
Who tf is this person? why should I care about every screw-up of the TSA? What the hell is a "kora"? Is that an avatar? water bender?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:37AM
It's some euro-trash garbage, I guess.
Euro-trash, TSA, one deserves the other.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by janrinok on Saturday February 08 2020, @07:38AM (5 children)
A simple solution to your ignorance of the topic might be to read the story.
But the story does raise serious questions. Why is an x-ray inadequate for the task of checking a musical instrument and, if it isn't up to the task, then what should be done to the equipment at thousands of airports? If it is adequate for the task, then why is it deemed necessary to dismantle something just to alleviate the feelings of paranoia that the TSA seem to be exhibiting.
This incident does not show the USA in a favourable light. With all of the technology that is available why is it necessary to damage or even destroy a valuable instrument? The two reports that we have in the comments here about such incidents are both involving foreign musicians. Does it happen to US musicians too, and do they think that such action is acceptable? Does the land of the free feel threatened by such people?
(Score: 5, Informative) by c0lo on Saturday February 08 2020, @07:47AM (2 children)
Yes [classicfm.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @10:33AM
Same airline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo [youtube.com]
(Score: 2, Informative) by fustakrakich on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:33PM
United is the worst. They should just paint a damn swastika on the tail of the plane. They might get more respect for the honesty.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @07:50AM (1 child)
Ask Eth and Runaway. But I think you already know the answer.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:47PM
Runaway feels threatened when being cited by anonymous cowards. Where did you get this phone number, anyway?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @02:11PM (1 child)
'but lets stick to tech stories'
Fair enough, there is actually a really hard technical/human factors/economic engineering problem here.
Threat model: some folks would like to to smuggle bad things onto airplanes, (Especially things that go boom or make folks high.)
Folks riding airplanes don't especially like to either go boom or pay a lot for tickets.
Result, you are screening a wild variety of stuff with folks who have few clues as to what it is.
What guideline should they give the screeners?
This appears to have been screened with "try no to break it, but make sure it's safe."
(The story's picture and words show a careful disassembly with nothing broken and the strings nicely rolled.)
Definitely a PITA to re-assemble, but actually not that bad for that set of guidelines.
So, given the problem to solve, how would you change the guideline to make this better?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:55PM
TBH, this has absolutely nothing to do with explosives and I know, when I was a security officer, I received training on IED identification and search.
Bombs need at least 4 components in order to function and the screeners should be able to scan for at least one of them very easily. For Heaven's Gate, the Chinese were able to figure out how to board people on planes without the assraping and destruction of private property that's the norm in the US. They simply focus on finding the easiest to spot of those 4 components and searching for suspected component in front of the passenger. That gives them all the information they need to know to keep bombs off of planes and does so in a way that's significantly less humiliating than what you see in the US.
The reality is that the TSA does things like this because it's a diversion program for childmolesters rather than actual security. Actual security would keep passengers safer without having to agree to the illegal searches. And yes, they are illegal TSA is not legally authorized to conduct any of these screenings, they get away with it because there's often times no viable option other than flying.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday February 09 2020, @01:23AM
Problems with the TSA have made frequent appearances here over the years. There was the professor with implants who got physically ripped apart by them. There were the TSA agents demanding travellers decrypt their data. So on and so on.
A musical instrument is not strictly tech per se, but there are a lot of audiophiles in the community and not a few musicians also who can appreciate the pain of having a custom-built and calibrated instrument destroyed by government stooges.
I am neither of those but the story is a bummer to me because kora music is beautiful. It's somewhere between a harp and a lyre, and the Malian musicians who play it are from a very old musical tradition. I have a couple albums from Toumani Diabate, who is a virtuoso. So this artist losing his instrument is at least as newsworthy as when Yoyo Ma left his Stradivarius in a cab.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @06:59AM (28 children)
It's standard advice to musicians, regardless of where they're travelling, not to travel with the irreplacable.
It doesn't have to be the TSA. It can be idiotic baggage handlers. It can be all sorts of things. It can be moronic roadies, or cops hoping for promotion. It can be simple thieves.
You travel with computers you can replace from any mall, using data that you can duplicate from online. You travel with your trash guitar, your third best mic, your whatever. You don't travel with anything about which you give any kind of shit - not by shipping separately, not by hand luggage, nothing.
Because this shit happens all the time. Check youtube for the video of the song about United breaking guitars. That really happened.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Breaks_Guitars [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 5, Touché) by c0lo on Saturday February 08 2020, @07:39AM (7 children)
Well, it seems you are saying the US public only deserves music played on Wallmart quality instruments.
Because airline profits it's more important than culture?
Or is it because the TSA plays such a great security theater everything else is superfluous?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Saturday February 08 2020, @01:19PM (2 children)
Does it really seem that way? For it seems to me that a rational, thinking person would never reach that conclusion from the remarks made.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday February 09 2020, @07:35AM (1 child)
Were you one who were waiting [soylentnews.org]?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday February 09 2020, @06:37PM
Because if he doesn't pay sufficient lip service to your obsession of the day, he must approve of it, right? How should these discussions "seem" to me?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @09:20PM (1 child)
I didn't say that the US public deserves anything. I didn't say that the US public deserves caviar on crystal dishes, nor a swift kick in the gonads. I said that musicians are advised not to put their expensive, possibly irreplacable tools in the hands of the typical monkeys and goons that run our transportation infrastructure, because monkeys will monkey and goons will goon.
Many insurance companies will even refuse to reimburse damage done by the agents of the state (check for force majeure clauses) and thus even insuring your expensive but replacable tools is unlikely to be a real solution.
Working musicians generally have a stipulation in their contracts that explains their requirements for a backline, sound system and so on. This is precisely so that they don't have to deal with this crap. They also have riders that stipulate that the venue has to provide (for example) a Yamaha grand piano, or a kiddie pool full of champagne, or whatever.
One touring musician I know travels with a credit card, a throwaway laptop, and a hotel booking. He checks into the hotel, downloads whatever he needs from his cloud accounts through a local Starbucks, and if he needs something extra he can pick it up from an electronics supply store in under two hours. Granted, he's an EDM act, and he can do that, but it's precisely because of this that he doesn't drag his custom machine from home to wherever.
Now please explain for the short bus riders how any of this translates to airline profits being important (I don't give a shit if they all go bust tomorrow), the TSA playing great security theatre (I don't give a shit if they get disbanded tomorrow), or any statement whatsoever concerning what the US public deserves, or even morality in the abstract.
We're all waiting.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday February 09 2020, @07:32AM
How many of you are there and, btw, who are you that I keep waiting?
(actually, you don't seem to have a problem with both of them thriving)
If you don't get it how letting those monkey and goons control your life, I doubt that you'll get any explanation I can come about their impact on the American culture (or the growing lack of it).
Meh, indeed, who am I to cast judgements on your kink? Enjoy your EDM acts, that's all you're going to get after a while.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Mykl on Monday February 10 2020, @12:02AM (1 child)
Yes, the US only deserves Walmart quality instruments, UNTIL they demand that their government stop the abuses perpetrated by the TSA and replace them with something saner (such as the security systems in just about any civilized country in the world).
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday February 10 2020, @01:25AM
I'll be buying the $20 Walmart kora [wikipedia.org] on day 1!
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by janrinok on Saturday February 08 2020, @07:41AM (16 children)
When there is only one such instrument in existence - built to his personal specification and requirements - how does one travel without it?
Because it frequently happens doesn't mean that it is acceptable.
(Score: 1, Disagree) by loonycyborg on Saturday February 08 2020, @07:51AM (13 children)
He should have it always near his person when transporting it. If it's impossible in plane, travel by boat instead.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday February 08 2020, @08:12AM
Not all trains will transport instruments .. and travel by boat is slow [ports.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 4, Touché) by janrinok on Saturday February 08 2020, @08:15AM (7 children)
I asked about booking another seat for my Steinway piano - they were reluctant to allow it in the cabin....
How about fixing the problem that exists rather than suggesting stupid alternatives?
(Score: 2) by loonycyborg on Saturday February 08 2020, @09:07AM (6 children)
And how do you fix it? It's not only about TSA. There is million of other possibilities for a custom instrument to get fucked up during transit. Only way is to either constantly watch it yourself or hire someone else to do it.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday February 08 2020, @12:01PM (1 child)
How about the airlines come with a special service and offer me baggage handlers able to honour a "Fragile" label?
On an extra cost, of course. Sounds preposterous? I'm old enough to remember times when it wasn't.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Interesting) by legont on Saturday February 08 2020, @03:46PM
It used to be possible to ride a Harley to JFK, watch it loaded correctly into the belly of a regular scheduled flight to Europe, and supervise the unloading. All for a nonstandard baggage fee comparable to an economy ticket.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @12:51PM (1 child)
This is an inane attitude. It's like claiming a woman wearing a short skirt, caused the rape.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @05:26PM
Short skirts don't rape people, people rape people.
Drugs don't cause drug addiction, people cause drug addiction.
Guns don't shoot people, people shoot people.
Which one of these kids is not treated like the other kids?
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:42PM
And how do you fix it?
No, it's, how do we fix it?... Because it is we who have to demand better service and some respect. And it is we who have to stop reelecting corrupt politicians that make these thing happen. If we don't do it, expect the decline to continue.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:58PM
The TSA is a problem for all sorts of other reasons, that's the first place to focus as air travel is often the only viable method of getting between two points. Yes, if you're only a few hundred miles away, the train may be an acceptable option, but for state to state travel, you might not have the time it takes to drive or take the train.
Given the unconstitutional abuses of power that the TSA regularly engages in, they all deserve to be in prison with the rest of the child molesting perverts.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by EEMac on Saturday February 08 2020, @02:03PM (3 children)
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 08 2020, @04:58PM (2 children)
I agree - but:
Customs and border patrol are authorized to be asses anywhere within 100 miles of the border - and the TSA kinda inherited that authorization. You might be secure from local, state, and even federal police, but you're not secure from customs, border patrol, or TSA.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 09 2020, @02:24AM (1 child)
I am reasonably competent in the english language and I do not see a "within 100 miles of the border" exception in there. Now granted, they can set up barriers on the borders and make it a condition of passing through that you submit to a search, but that is very different from stopping and searching random people just because they happen to be near the border.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday February 09 2020, @06:07AM
I did not question your literacy. The constitution doesn't specifically exempt Customs from the obligations of government. But, laws written very early in our history did so, and no one challenged them hard enough. Customs and Border Patrol have a very special status today. And, I forgot to mention game wardens. They have a similar exemption, but worse, because they can actually enter your private domicile without a warrant.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @09:23AM (1 child)
Find a sympathetic billionaire with a private jet. You can get away with flying anything into the USA if you have enough wealth and a private jet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @05:01PM
There's also jsx.com. It's essentially flight sharing. It's more or less like a bunch of unrelated people getting together to charter the same plane to the same location.
(Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Saturday February 08 2020, @01:23PM (2 children)
Get insurance. Then if the airlines/TSA/thieves destroy the irreplaceable instrument, then you can get another irreplaceable instrument (guess they're not so irreplaceable) and make them pay.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @05:04PM (1 child)
You're a fucking moron Khallow. Most of those instruments are genuinely irreplaceable. The wood is unique as well as the specifics of how the luthier went about shaping it into an instrument. The specific shape and the density of an instrument means that it won't sound quite the same.
Now, whether or not the difference is detectable is a bit of an open question, but you're not going to be able to replace a Stradivarius as he's been dead for a very long time and the number of them will never increase.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday February 09 2020, @03:02AM
So what? Even if that were true, you can always get another irreplaceable instrument of the same sort with a unique sound.
I bet there's a few replacements out there already that haven't been caught yet.
My point about the insurance is that if you really care about the safety of anything handled by others, then insurance is the way to get these other parties to take your cares seriously. They aren't going to care about some old violin in a case. They are going to care about the old violin with a ten million dollar policy that they will pay out, if they screw things up.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @08:08AM (1 child)
A friend imported hundreds of dollars worth of original anime from Japan to the US. They destroyed them all.
They claimed they were counterfeit. Doesn't matter. Destroyed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 08 2020, @09:56AM
Futanari? Originals?
(Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Saturday February 08 2020, @02:04PM
I call it the Uniform Degenerative Force, tied in with Dark Psychic Energy and Anti-movement Policing (defined at my expanded definitions page for anyone who likes to read and think)
It is an aspect of totalitarianism. Once the inner party has control, they don't care about anything else. They rule form their bunkers and mansions and fly their own private jets and don't give 2 shits about your inconvenient loss of your most prized possession. Or life.
The decisionmaking power is removed from everywhere else, and every single disfunction only serves them. Instrument destroyed, veterans benefits cut, disabled people thrown on the street, random people die in 'senseless' rampages, diseases run rampant, muggings, congress devolves to spitwad battles, clarence thomas's entire life, 500 indifferentiable rap and 'core' rock wannabees given international fame, kanye west's entire life, pete buttigieg, plastic in the water, coastline losing a million square miles, flint michigan, jacksonville mississipi, or young children https://archive.is/KSdMl [archive.is]
It doesn't matter who, what, where, this system does not care about you, and your life does not matter to it, and in any case of systemic need over your need, the system need is going to win and there is nothing you can do about it.
It is totalitarianism, you have no rights, the force from above will degenerate you more the more you encounter it, and especially the more you oppose it. (my life story, see speech I gave in 2005 on my website, right hand column)
This is not isolated, this is a key trait of what we are now living under. Any concerted effort of civilians will be torn asunder, any source of credibility, greatness, complexity, heritage, goodness, beauty, it will be degrated, to the extent you are not in the inner party(and if you were you would not be encountering TSA at all...see epstein)
This is perhaps my best explanatino: https://archive.ph/gPWRk [archive.ph]
This is how they perceive themselves; https://archive.is/OPkTH [archive.is]
This is why: decultification.org
and thesesystemsarefailing.net (we have to place the blame where it lies, with those who have the power to do anything about it, when they are doing everything they can to blame it on the poor and powerless, their victims and prey)
https://archive.is/hoSs3 [archive.is] until we get out of this
https://archive.is/2uTeZ [archive.is] we can't have this
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Sunday February 09 2020, @07:35AM (2 children)
1. I have a stack of those TSA fliers from flying with a firearm. They are printed in English on the reverse.
2. For domestic travel, I see most guitars or smaller instruments as carry-ons. Flying in and out of Nashville I see a lot of these. The rules specifically permit [transportation.gov] them as carry-ons. I'm ignorant to this rule's applicability for international travel.
3. TSA screeners are largely ignorant of their own rules and regs. I've had the lock cut off my gun case repeatedly by these morons. These are required NOT to be TSA compliant locks to prevent unauthorized opening and they still cut them.
(Score: 2) by Booga1 on Monday February 10 2020, @07:39PM (1 child)
Thank you for this informative post. I guess the "solution" is to put a cheap sacrificial lock on there for them to cut. Still sucks though that they can't just leave well enough alone.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Tuesday February 11 2020, @03:52PM
There are other solutions, but "all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
I'd be more tolerant if I thought it made a difference.