BHBcast Please listen

For those of you that don't know I do a audio podcast five times a week that we publish on my myspace page we call the BHBcast. I'm not here to promote that to be honest, but I'd like for everyone to listen to todays if you can. It's about the proposed reptile ban and the "summit" that is coming up in Chigago about it. It's a very important topic for me and the whole industry. You can listen to it by going to my page at: www.myspace.com/bhbreptiles It'll start to play as soon as you load the page.
Now on a promotional front, we did a pretty cool interview on a blog called pet-snakes.com If you want to check it out you can see it at my blog at: www.snakebytes.tumblr.com sorry for the selfless plug:) Brian(BHB)

Brian,

I just listened to this cast and I can't agree more. Some of the bickering that has been going on is only hurting our chances of providing a united front to the government. People need to put their egos aside and joint the fight. Insteed of sitting there with their arms crossed argueing like children get your hands out of your pockets crush the ego and pitch in because this will affect them as much if not more than is will ours as hobbiest. If this ban goes through I go to my full time job and my house note still gets paid. Fulltime breeders, the guys that have been doing this for years and years now have to start at square one.

Please to anyone that reads this and hears Brian's cast if you know of any BS going on behind the scenes help squash it.

Luke 11:17

But He knew their thoughts and said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls.

You're spot on, I just don't understand the thinking of some people. We don't all get along for one reason or another, but this is larger then all of us. This is taking away the freedom that we all deserve to keep the animals that we all love so much. I breed more then Pythons and Boas, so I would go on as a "snake breeder" but I don't want to have to get rid of half my collection that I love because of some B.S. law that doesn't even make sense. We have one shot at getting together and standing as one. If this fails nobody will get behind another unified organizatrion. They'll just say " look what happened to the last one" We can't screw this up!!! We all need to be on the same page and put our egos on the back burner. Brian(BHB)

I could not agree more, Brian......on a lighter note.....selfless plug? you? LOL
I hope everyone gets a chance to check it out.

lol!!! I can't help but have that promoters hat on all the time:) The good thing is it's always about promoting the business. You never catch me say " buy from me, I'm the best:) " The funny thing is that Lori always is on me about all the promting the business that I do never seems to make us any money:), it just cost us!!! She's always the voice of reason and I'm the one that never thinks about it??? It's all worth it! Brian(BHB)

Oh come off it Brian, quit playing the martyr card. Making an 'important announcement' about this BIG summit coming up and then making some vague allegations about the back stabbing going on in private E-mail (which obviously NONE of us hobbyists are going to know ANYTHING about) And then using that as an excuse to not go, sounds really petty.

If you don't have the intestinal fortitude to stand up for what you believe in then maybe you SHOULD stay home.

Mark

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Originally Posted by BHB

lol!!! I can't help but have that promoters hat on all the time:) The good thing is it's always about promoting the business. You never catch me say " buy from me, I'm the best:) " The funny thing is that Lori always is on me about all the promting the business that I do never seems to make us any money:), it just cost us!!! She's always the voice of reason and I'm the one that never thinks about it??? It's all worth it! Brian(BHB)

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Brian,
You just did what your cast was telling us not to do WTF??

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Oh come off it Brian, quit playing the martyr card. Making an 'important announcement' about this BIG summit coming up and then making some vague allegations about the back stabbing going on in private E-mail (which obviously NONE of us hobbyists are going to know ANYTHING about) And then using that as an excuse to not go, sounds really petty.

If you don't have the intestinal fortitude to stand up for what you believe in then maybe you SHOULD stay home.

Mark

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Originally Posted by JASBALLS

Brian,
You just did what your cast was telling us not to do WTF??

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Sounds like you two have something personal against BHB? If so kindly take it up in pms. Regardless of what goes on behind the scenes with big breeders, this is a topic we need to show a united front on. If you cannot do that and feel the need to get into a pissing contest of sorts in public due to whatever reason , then everyone is acting petty and immature.

Any further posts that do not help the cause but fan the flames instead will be deleted unceremoniously and without warning. :colbert2:

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Originally Posted by iceman25

Sounds like you two have something personal against BHB? If so kindly take it up in pms. Regardless of what goes on behind the scenes with big breeders, this is a topic we need to show a united front on. If you cannot do that and feel the need to get into a pissing contest of sorts in public due to whatever reason , then everyone is acting petty and immature.

Any further posts that do not help the cause but fan the flames instead will be deleted unceremoniously and without warning. :colbert2:

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Hey, I agree with you 100%. We all do need to work together on this. That is why I posted what I did! This is B.S!! I have nothing against Brian.. I just think he should not have posted something on here that He just Preached about us not doing.. Other then that. Great cast!:gj:

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Originally Posted by JASBALLS

Hey, I agree with you 100%. We all do need to work together on this.

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Hec yah! That's what I'm talking about! :gj:

I totally agree with Brian on this, I do talk to Brian quite often and know him not to be the type of person that would lie about whats going on through email or anywhere else. When I hear him say "he might not go because of the backstabbing going on behind the scenes", I take that as him saying if him going is going to cause more of that to go on and and less talking getting done about the important issue at hand, that being the proposed ban again US, then he might not go for the sake of the industry. Personally I would like him there because I think from my personal perspective of the breeders I have did business with/chatted with, he is the one I want representing me. Just my two cents, and I don't agree with anyone bashing Brian, when he has already done a ton to help this business, and I am sure the best is yet to come!

I never get into internet wars, I think they are stupid and nobody wins. My point was that if we ban together and try to help one another rather then look out for our own agnena's we'll be much stronger. I agree with you that I need to follow my own advice and go to the meeting, I will admit that I made a mistake there. This is a very touchy subject for me, we all have a lot at stake. What I was hoping to accomplish by my rant was not bash anyone, if you noticed I didn't mention anyone's name nore do I think it is one person that is the problem. The problem is that we need this to be about everyone, not just the "big" breeders. Maybe the more I think about it I should have kept my mouth shut, I was just hoping to help. Brian(BHB)

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Originally Posted by BHB

I never get into internet wars, I think they are stupid and nobody wins. My point was that if we ban together and try to help one another rather then look out for our own agnena's we'll be much stronger. I agree with you that I need to follow my own advice and go to the meeting, I will admit that I made a mistake there. This is a very touchy subject for me, we all have a lot at stake. What I was hoping to accomplish by my rant was not bash anyone, if you noticed I didn't mention anyone's name nore do I think it is one person that is the problem. The problem is that we need this to be about everyone, not just the "big" breeders. Maybe the more I think about it I should have kept my mouth shut, I was just hoping to help. Brian(BHB)

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Brian, I think your helping out alot! I just threw two and two together and it looked obvious.. I hope Everyone does his/her part in this.

I curious where all the other big breeders are? The only two getting involved seems to be BHB and VPI. What is NERD and Ralph doing just to name a few ?

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Originally Posted by Brimstone111888

I curious where all the other big breeders are? The only two getting involved seems to be BHB and VPI. What is NERD and Ralph doing just to name a few ?

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They will probably the only guys to show up!

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Originally Posted by BHB

I will admit that I made a mistake there. This is a very touchy subject for me, we all have a lot at stake.

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Don't sweat it Brian. You do a lot more to promote awareness of this than anyone else I personally know so far. I would like to see the haters, the finger pointers and the general "aha you fudged up"ers to try and contribute something positive instead of nit picking at those who try.

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Maybe the more I think about it I should have kept my mouth shut, I was just hoping to help. Brian(BHB)

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I think the consequences of not acting might be a lot harsher Brian. I for one would like to see you promote awareness of this issue through what ever means that you can.

Thanks, I feel a bit better after reading some of the supporting comments. I just take this stuff way too personal, I think I need to get thicker skin:)
To let everyone know, there are a lot of big breeders that are very active in this. They might not be posting, but we all are a buzz about this topic. You mentioned Ralph Davis, I truly believe that his heart is in the right place and he wants nothing more then this to succeed. I haven't spoken to Kev at NERD, but I'm sure I can speak for him when I say he'd do anything for this hobby. There are so many people behind the scenes that are working so hard to do their part. I guess what bothered me was some of the politics that are starting to happen, and that this might fail because of them. We can't afford to have this fail. I think there's little chance of this proposal passing, but that doesn't mean that the next one can't. I truly believe that Ball Pythons are safe, there is no way that they can get public support to ban a snake that only gets five foot. Where I think they have a chance is the big snakes. I don't want anyone to have to stop keeping animals responsibley, no matter how big they get. Not to mention we throw them the big snakes thinking that it doesn't effect us and the next time they come after what we love. Sorry for the ramble, thanks again for understanding how important this is to me. Brian(BHB) AKA Passion:)

I have to agree Brian. There is way too much back-stabbing and crooked politics going on in this business. We need to understand that if this thing were to pass, we would all lose what we love. Maybe not a first, but they would eventually come after it all.
Please keep us updated with any info you have.

Im scared.

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Originally Posted by iceman25

Sounds like you two have something personal against BHB? If so kindly take it up in pms. Regardless of what goes on behind the scenes with big breeders, this is a topic we need to show a united front on. If you cannot do that and feel the need to get into a pissing contest of sorts in public due to whatever reason , then everyone is acting petty and immature.

Any further posts that do not help the cause but fan the flames instead will be deleted unceremoniously and without warning. :colbert2:

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You are dead wrong. I have absolutely NOTHING personal against BHB the business or Brian himself. However it does make me angry when someone with as high of a profile as he has comes here to post a message about listening to this important podcast about this important meeting coming up, and then when you actually listen to the podcast he claims that he's not even going to be there due to the politics and back stabbing. It sure made it sound to me like HE'S the one playing politics with this issue.

Now, you show me ANY industry that DOESN'T have some political fighting or wars of words between competitors and I'll show you a monopoly. It's just part of doing business, ANY business. But when you have the threat of legislation that could have such far reaching effects across an entire industry, you darn well better box up those egos and show a united front or you will be stomped on by the people trying to pass these regulations. And having one of the leaders of that industry publicly stating that he's not going to show up for a strategy meeting because he doesn't like the politics involved, thats far FAR more damaging then any private E-mails could ever be.

And THATS why I said what I did, and I stand behind it 100%

Mark

Mark,
I respect your position and have no interest in arguing your points. We all have a right to our opinions and if you feel that way then I understand. But there are a couple of things I'd like to clear up. First I never said I had important news about the ban, I said I'd like for people to listen to the podcast for info about the "summit". The reason that I did this is not to play politics, anyone that knows me knows that I hate politics and that's why I normally stay to myself. The reason for me thinking I might not go was BECAUSE of the politics. You said in your response that we need to put the egos aside and unite. My point is that's NOT happening now and I thought if I could bring that to everyones attension that maybe that could put everyone in check. The reason that I was thinking of not going is because the way it was going nothing would get accompolished and it would go down in flames, trust me I'm not the only one that feels this way. If we can't get over the back stabbing and the childish politics before we even meet what do you think will happen when we do meet. I'm not accussing anyone, I'm accussing everyone. This is not highschool, this is seriuos.
I have decided to go no matter how I bad it gets. Maybe with more people pressuring the names that will be there to represent the industry in an adult manner it can be salvaged and it will be historical. If not it will fail and we will probably never be able to unite to fight these attacks.
I hope you understand my point now, If not then I guess we'll agree to dissagree. I have no interest in fighting about it. Thanks, Brian(BHB)