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Management Side
Week of 2 February 15: Two stupid comments and a complaint

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As we reported on Pulp and Paper Radio International this past Monday morning, last week, Governor Paul LePage of the State of Maine, said "[Verso] get out of the State of Maine." This was in response to US District Court Judge John Woodcock dismissing a suit attempting to block the sale of the Bucksport Mill to a company that will dismantle it.

I have heard politicians make stupid statements before, but this ranks right up at the top. If you were a paper company executive with any company, would you ever invest another dime in the State of Maine if this is how you are going to be treated? Maine has appeared hostile towards our industry for years--this is just the icing on the cake.

Then to the complaint--several paper companies filed a petition with the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission alleging several countries' paper industries are dumping certain printing and writing grade papers in the United States, creating an unfair competition situation. We have seen this film before. The ink wasn't dry on this story before the Dead Tree Edition was out with a blog entitled, "Boo-hoo!: North American Paper Companies That Enjoyed Black Liquor Subsidies File Complaint Against Foreign Competitors' Subsidies."

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It has been more years than I care to remember since I explained to you dear readers here in Nip Impressions that public corporations (a) do not have emotions or inherent ethics (they are simply a pile of registration documents) and (b) that public corporations exist to find every legal way to create the highest possible return for their shareholders. Apparently the Governor of Maine does not understand this and neither does Mr. Dead Tree.

Mr. Dead Tree can be forgiven, for like me he is out trying to create readership in a crowded field. The Governor of Maine should actually be thanking Verso, for what Verso has done has cleared the decks--there will be no parade of "carpetbaggers" marching to Bucksport with the latest scheme to save the mill. We have lamented here for years that old mills never die, they just fade away. The reason is there is always a schemer coming to town and telling the city fathers and the state government that, "if you'll just give us USD 20 million, we bring back all those high paying jobs." You don't have to travel too far up the Penobscot River from Bucksport to find examples of this. These schemers not only waste taxpayers' money, they give false hope to communities and their citizens. Better to take the axe and make a clean cut, I say.

Oh, the other stupid comment? That great paper industry executive, Robert Kraft, who happens to own a football team, the New England Patriots, said, in response to the deflated football fiasco, "If the [Ted] Wells investigation is not able to definitively determine that our organization tampered with the air pressure on the footballs, I would expect and hope that the league would apologize to our entire team, and in particular, Coach [Bill] Belichick and Tom Brady, for what they have had to endure this past week."

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Give me a break. And allow me to give you a scolding, Mr. Kraft. First, however, let me say that I care about as much about football as Mr. Kraft does about what tricks my dog Fred can do. That being said, sports leaders here and around the world have a sacred duty which almost to the last owner, they have abdicated. That sacred duty is this: to be a shining example of fair play, decency and ethics to the children, teenagers and young adults around the world. Young people look up to sports figures and model their own behavior after them. While we often condemn Hollywood for the crazy ideas they put in young people's minds, seldom do we condemn sports, which this columnist believes are just as guilty by example as anyone in Hollywood for teaching our children poor values.

Personally, I think New England should voluntarily forfeit the game before it is ever played. Then, if they want to go play it Sunday afternoon for fun, using footballs inflated by the opposition, have at it.

What do you think? I have given you my opinions, now it is your turn. You may take our weekly quiz here.

For safety this week, the stupid comments cited above reflect people with highly charged emotions. When you have highly charged emotions, you can commit thoughtless, careless acts. Watch the safety conditions when emotions are high.

Finally a confession--I got my RPA (drone) last week. And I promptly stuck my finger in the props. It hurts like a s---- when I type, as I really did a number on the tip of the second finger on my left hand. Expect a column on drone safety if the thing doesn't kill me first.

Be safe and we will talk next week.

You can own your Nip Impressions Library by ordering "Raising EBITDA ... the lessons of Nip Impressions."


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