‘The death of what you love’ I MEANT what I said, and this is what it mans.
August 22nd, 2006Strict security measures at UK airports are having a “devastating impact” on musicians, says the Musicians’ Union. It says its members “are reporting significant lost earnings” because they are unable to take their instruments on board aircraft as hand luggage.
Many instruments are too fragile to be placed in the hold of an airliner, the union told the BBC News website.
But the Department for Transport said the security regulations will “be in place for as long as they need to be”.
Under the rules, passengers are allowed one item of cabin baggage, which must be no larger than a laptop bag.
A spokeswoman at the Department for Transport said instruments would have to be checked into the hold until the security situation is downgraded. […]
Your comments on this story:
It’s the damage inflicted by temperature which is a major issue
Simon, LondonIt’s not only the danger of damage from the instruments being knocked about, it’s the damage inflicted by temperature which is a major issue. Extreme cold will more than likely split the wood, or possibly damage the valves of many instruments. Then, going from the cold to the heat will more than likely warp the wood, making them unplayable.
Sadly, it isn’t as simple as packing instruments in a flight case.
There was a cellist on my flight to Belfast on Monday who had no problems getting it in the cabin, and stored at the front of the plane. For those travelling to the States I’d probably suggest flying out to Schipol/Charles De Gaule and then back over to America. OR fly to canada and then a local flight into the states.
Steve, Belfast/London[…]
I am a professional violinist living in London and would like to point out that although it is a similar situation for other professions, I would be very surprised if any other equipment that people carry on to a plane can be valued in the hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds. Optical equipment such as cameras etc. are factory produced and made in numbers. Our instruments have an intrinsic cultural value and uniqueness that make them an exception.
JM, London[…]
Lots of comments on this story at BBQ.
As we can see from the comment above, people are already avoiding the US and UK to play and work and live in places that are not in thrall to this mass hysteria. It is the loss of the people of the UK and the USA to not have these great performers and their instruments, and they deserve this fate, because they are sheepishly going along with this total farce, the only person standing up against it being the boss of Ryan Michael O’Leary…. who is Irish!
These ‘security’ arrangements are absurd. Everyone knows it, and yet, they go along with it, and whine like children on BBQs comments instead of attacking the root cause of the problem; Bliar and the wholley owned Mass Murder Cabal Murder inc. .
I will say it again. If you do not want everything you have loved to be destroyed by Murder Inc. you had better WAKE UP and PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN and refuse to finance this insane cabal of villains, who lie to your face, with absurd double talk, platitudes and nonsense that not even a child would believe.
And as for an example of instant self contradiction:
I would like to reassure the public that we are doing everything we can to keep you safe, for you to live your lives without being in constant fear.
However, we must be realistic. The threat from terrorism is real, it is here, it is deadly and it is enduring.
You cant make shit like this up. And as for the rest of that article:
I shall try to give you an idea of the size and complexity of this investigation.
There have been 69 searches.
These have been in houses, flats and business premises, vehicles and open spaces.
As well as the bomb making equipment, we have found more than 400 computers, 200 mobile telephones and 8,000 items of removable storage media such as memory sticks, CDs and DVDs.
So far, from the computers alone, we have removed some 6,000 gigabytes of data.
The meticulous investigation of all this material will take many months. All the data will be analysed.
This is TOTAL HOGWASH. If they have charges to bring, then they have enough evidence to charge, and all of this garbage is totally irrelevant. They have, by their own admission, been monitoring these people for over a year. During that time it must be an absolute fact that they have VOLUMES of information about these people. This is just pathetic window dressing to try and keep the hysterial level high. They say they have found 200 telephones. So what? They have been bugging those phones for over a year, and have built up social networks for all 200 of those numbers, guaranteed. To list that they have these telephones is just grandstanding. And as for the computer equipment, all of it is irrelevant. These people were caught because they communicated, and they (so they claim) were arrested with incriminating items in their posession, enough to bring a charge. This dirty washing list is simply nonsense, and no one is buying it…at least no one that can think is bying it.
Note how nothing is being said about the people released without charge. How is it that they can have a group of people under ‘unprecedented surveillance’ for over a year and then STILL arrest innocent people?! What would they have had to say in the cells that could have exhonerated them that could not be gleaned during the extreme surveillance? The mind boggles at these people’s incompetence. But I digress.
We would not be discussing this at all if this great country was being run on the behalf of and in the interests of its citizens. England would not be the second nation listed every time people talk about war crimes and injustice.
None of this should be hapenning in the first place.
The life that you loved and drank down like free mountain water is being eroded on a daily basis. The knock on effect, the erosion of culture, free exchange of ideas, meeting people EVERYTHING is going to be shut down and then ground into dust before your very eyes.
August 23rd, 2006 at 8:46 am
I read something similar recently here:
“I’m sorry to say that the latest on carrying hand-baggage on flights to/from Britain is that violins appear to be a no-no.
Tom has been carrying his violin into the cabin as hand-luggage for 25 years. Yesterday we hung on for about ten minutes to get through to the airline on which we are meant to fly to France next month, listening to pre-recorded platitudinous messages about their wonderful customer service. Finally Tom was told by some idiot of a rep that he can put his violin in the hold. He explained that he can’t: it’s liable to be smashed by those shott-putting bag handlers, being 150 years old and worth a five-figure sum. ‘In that case you can afford to buy another ticket for it,’ said the rep, who evidently hadn’t listened to the platitudinous messages about their wonderful customer service. […]”
With a wonderfully astute comment:
“So the airline was happy to take the violin on board, provided that it had its own seat. This is completely illogical. By allowing it in the cabin, the airline is acknowledging that it poses no security risk. But it is using security regulations to justify the need for it to have its own seat. Using the crisis to maximise revenue?”
August 23rd, 2006 at 9:41 am
YOU SEE??!!!
Firstly, What was the name of the Airline?
Secondly, well done for repeating the story.
of should that be the other way around?
Either way, what these people should have done is told everybody they know about this airline, and its apalling behaviour, and then refuse to travel. Cancel the ticket. Get a refund and then go by train or dont go at all.
This is the only way that these people will understand that their duty is to the customer. If the customer acts like a sheep, it will be treated like a sheep. If you act like a human being, then you will be treated like a human being.
Wake up you stupid fools!
August 25th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
Some interesting comments on Spy Blog