NEW YORK, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- A musician says U.S. customs agents destroyed 11 of his flutes but a customs official says agents destroyed only "fresh green bamboo canes."
http://www.upi.com/...
Of course Customs would make a counter-claim like that - they fucked up spectacularly, they know it now (if they didn't at the time), and they have GOT to come up with a plausible-sounding cover for their malicious imbecility.
Never mind that no one with any knowledge or experience would even try to make a flute out of raw green bamboo - it wouldn't come out right, and it would get worse - not better - as the material aged and dried.
UPI is doing the "false equivalency" thing, giving "both sides" of a story where there is only one side.
What's even more pathetic, some mouth-frothers on Facebook have been trumpeting the Customs cover lie as "the Real Truth" and libeling Mr Razgui as a liar and an eco-terrorist(!)
Frankly, I would not blame Mr Razgui if he canceled all future performance dates in the US, gave up his Brockton, MA (NOT "New York", despite a lot of BS reporting) flat, and went home to Canada (where he is a full citizen and has at least some rights).
It would be our loss - but boy howdy have we ever deserved it.