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As business owners, it would behoove you to implore your employees to avoid or at least show some restraint in personal observations that may be related to or posted on their workplace media. One simple rule that I like to employ is akin to that of Occam's razor: An explanation needs no more assumptions than necessary. In other words, keep it simple...

If there's one thing that the two major political parties despise more than each other, it's the possibility of any third-party candidate removing them from political office...

From my perspective, the world of paper, containerboard and plastic is a safe one for the foreseeable future...

With 2014 mid-term elections about a year away, we’ll soon see how Americans really feel. After all, the only poll that matters is the voters’ poll. Here’s a fearless prediction: As Obamacare kicks in and the nation adds trillions in new debt, inflation will rise as will interest rates. Welcome to 1980 redux, America. (Thank you, Jimmy Carter.)

A look at current U.S. federal government "slowdown." (Let's not call it a "shutdown." It is not.) Plus the 2013 class of the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame...

Make no mistake, the bottom line is important. But sometimes, in the case of the "bad mergers," the one business variable that is too often overlooked is the obvious one: The paying customer...

Ineptocracy: A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of real producers.

Suffice it to say, paper – in all its glorious and not-so-glorious uses – is as much a fabric of our culture as the family heirlooms...

Nah, we're not balanced, we're papermakers...

With the annual termination season, December, less than 90 days away, it is time to talk about this...

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Travis asks, "What question is this?"

Download Audio File of August 2013 Nip Impressions.

No one striving for life balance will ever reach the top of their profession.  No one striving for life balance will ever rise to a high level in any company...

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Travis asks, "What is this delicious treat?"

Large response...

You have some...

We have seen some new markets develop for pulp mills that have been hit by the drop in paper demand, but the three largest ones, (wood pellets, dissolving pulp and lignin as a fuel) are based on evolutionary improvements of established technology...

During your career, you will (and I have) run into many professional phonies.  Sales people are near the top, but you’ll find internal candidates in your business, too.  These are people who feint interest in your personal life to gain some sort of favored intention with you...

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Who didn't even make the finals in this competition?

I am "preaching to the choir."

For all of us, how we perceive ourselves and how the viewing public, i.e., anyone looking at us, perceives us is often quite different.  I suspect I am not even telling you something you don’t know, but it is something you forget daily...

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Travis asks, "What are these three prime numbers?"