APRIL 2004 MEMBER SPOTLIGHT - DAVID WEBBER

[Tad]

David,
Its always great to know more about people and you shared a lot of insight into your life. You have had a very exciting and fun filled life! Great pics of your fish and love the crosses your working with.

regards,
Tad

[Wahter]

Hey David,

It was nice meeting you in Atlanta and seeing your presentation. It's always interesting to see photos and hear information about where wild discus live, how they are caught, and how they are shipped out.


Take care!


Walter

[beta]

Good going David All the best for the future

[SLY]

[quote author=DarkDiscus link=board=1;threadid=18305;start=0#msg187953 date=1083250507]

Photography and fish are not just methods of income ( jobs) they are also my hobbies. Confucius said “ find a job that you love to do and you will never have to do a days work in your life.” I’m still working on not doing the work but it takes all my time.

Unfortunately I was married to a girl who thought that the TV show ‘L .A.. Law’ was a documentary… What’s the difference between an ex-wife and a hurricane? Nothing… they both take the house.

[/quote]

Good read david..I especially like those 2 quotes from you ;D keep up the good work.

[Rod]

Well done David, great reading about you. Very nice pix and fish.

[fishfarm]

Mr Webber. Cronic!! Nice write up, makes you sound like an expert. LOL. Take care my friend. Ken

[crimson cross]

Very nice looking fish, definately not mud.

[korbi_doc]

Hi David, good read!! It was so nice to meet you & get to know you at the NE mtg & Al's. I am looking forward to a visit with Korbi to meet the "Diz". Some nice day when they can get out to play, & we can talk "fish"....your fish are fantastic... Dottie 8) 8)

[bikhu]

Hi David,
Great job thanks. I hope many people take you up on that invitation. I know that we thouroghly enjoyed our visit. The drive is beautiful, the fish are awesome and Diz is the best. You, my friend are an interesting and charming gentleman. A man I enjoy calling friend. I hope to get to visit again soon. I have no more room for fish thoug.. a terrible situation... Do you really need all those 125 gal lawn ornaments? ;D
Peace,
peter

[JULIO L.]

Hey Dark Discus:

I am really sad and dissapointed about the comentary that appears in this article about to make trades with peruavian people. I appreciate some kind of bad taste to say something like that about peruvian people.I want to say that a lot of people import fishes from Peru and I am sure sure there are DOA and of course there are bad sellers like in any other part in the world even the U.S.

Julio Linares. >

[RandalB]

[quote author=DarkDiscus link=board=1;threadid=18305;start=0#msg187953 date=1083250507]

Because I get my fish from a trustworthy friend, I have never had to worry about rip-offs and junk fish but I still hear horror stories all the time about the perils of importing. South Americans are not very well organized, shipments are frequently cancelled or bumped. If paperwork does not exactly correspond to the actual shipment, US customs probably will confiscate the whole thing. Most suppliers demand money up front. This often results in lost money with no recourse. An advisor at the Peruvian Consulate told me, “I would not even send advance money to my own brother.” Even if the seller is reputable, you pay in advance, there are always D.O.A.s but replacement for these usually is a credit on the next shipment. So straight away one is tied to them.
[/quote]

Julio,
I actually think you misread this. David is not saying that all Peruvain people are like this, he's saying he's heard horror stories. The Shipping delays, disorganized people, etc, etc are examples of things things he's heard of but not experienced. David is definately not saying all Peruvians are like that. The only thing he's stating from personal experience is what the consulate employee told him. As far as paying in advance, this seems to be a standard import practice for both South America and Asia. It's also common place here in the US. I'm not going to send you anything unless you pay in advance, that's for sure.

I am quite certain that David did not mean to offend, but I think this is a simple misunderstanding. We all know that not all people can be judged based on dishonesty of a few. The consulate employee is more than likely a career law enforcement official and we tend to get cynical after a while.

Please don't be offended, I really don't think there is any reason here for you to be.

JMHO,
RandalB

[DISCUS USA]

Maybe those sentences can be edited more sensitivley to South American folk.In the write up i also understood a negative generalization of the people in that country. ..Bumped flights,rip offs and confiscations occur world wide ,no need to say South Americans are disorganized makes it sound like they are a bunch of knuckle heads and thats not nice. :-\

Hector Garcia.

[Ardan]

Thanks for taking the time David and John!

Some great info here and beautiful fish!

[mench]

John and David..another great interview...I have been to David's house,both in NYC and his new house way out in the boondocks and I could not have met a more gracious host.David and his best bud Dizzy make you feel like you have know him for years and his fish ain't half bad either LOL.
If ya like to travel and are ever in his neck of the woods,David's is a must stop.
Just a note to the other people on this thread...Geez get a life...where in the interview does David say bad things about the South Americans...He is just stating his opinions and what he stated could hold true for any part of the world...Man it's getting so ya can't say anything on the boards without getting blasted.
David,I for one am glad to have met you and enjoyed my visits and I am sure going to make a few return trips to "Hooterville" for a visit.

Again John and David,good job

Mench

[wildthing]

[quote author=JULIO L. link=board=1;threadid=18305;start=15#msg188361 date=1083430947]
Hey Dark Discus:

I am really sad and dissapointed about the comentary that appears in this article about to make trades with peruavian people. I appreciate some kind of bad taste to say something like that about peruvian people.I want to say that a lot of people import fishes from Peru and I am sure sure there are DOA and of course there are bad sellers like in any other part in the world even the U.S. but this comentary is absolutly out of place.
I would appreciate Mr.David Weber next time give value to this kind of comentaries do not put them in such an important forum like this one, generalizing a position that is definitly not correct.


Julio Linares. >


[/quote]

Senor.
I understand that you love your place of origin, and you should, it is a beautiful place, but I think you need to admit that not everything is the same there as it is here in the USA.
While I did not mean to give offence I stand behind my words and perhaps you should detach and reconsider and be a little more open about the how various cultures of graft and corruption operate in S.American countries. (Do a google search using 'Peru AND corruption' and you will find more than 247. 000 documents) The vast majority of the peoples there are honest but desperately poor and horribly exploited by almost feudal leaders and sadly the actions of a corrupt few taint the rest of the culture.
They are simple statements of fact. I did not say that all Peruvians or all Colombians are drug dealers even tho most of the worlds' cocaine comes from there, any more than all English ( I am English) are soccer hooligans or all Americans voted for Bush even tho he is president.
Would you recommend that anyone here send money in advance to someone in Peru that they don;t know and cannot verify?

Actually several shipments of fish into the USA have recently been impounded from Peru and Colombia because they have been used to smuggle drugs. It has made CNN and the New York Times over the last couple of months. ( the method was ...cocaine dissolved in water in a bag with a fish in another bag of water inside that)... when fish are suspiciously cheap from those countries it is often because they were not the real purpose of the shipment. Most of the Brazilian army is stationed along the borders with your country because of the drug trade and seperatist guerillas....but we shouldn't judge a culture on this kind of thing.....should we???
I quoted a Peruvian official representative to the US. maybe you should take it up with your own embassy or consulate? or better still, if you don;t like the way you think you are percieved then maybe change the culture in your country to more respect foreigners and not constantly sacrifice tomorrow's wealth for short term scams. My own extensive experiences support my statements. I bet anything that secretly you agree that it would be very ill advised to send advance money to any third world country, including Peru , to people you don;t know. The same thing applies to Asian fish or anywhere else... KNOW YOUR SUPPLIER or risk losing your money! The ability to be a scum-bag is not restricted to any one country, We all know there are enough of them even here in the USA....I have never really understood why the Tropical fish industry should interest so many scammers....but I guess that starts at the top...after all look at Axlerod now.....on the run from the law for massive tax evasion and hiding in Cuba