As I write this Wednesday morning, the United Auto Workers (UAW) has just initiated a limited strike (17 of 22 plants) against Chrysler Corporation. Of interest to us, of course, is that Chrysler is now owned by Cerberus Capital, the private equity firm that owns NewPage (which has also announced the intent to purchase most of Stora Enso's North American paper operations). The outcome could be significant for the pulp and paper industry.

Looking to the future and using the past as only a lesson, not a pining for, is a mantra of mine. Apparently the US Congress and the nation of Turkey need this message as well. Along about 1915, a large number of Ottoman Armenians lost their lives in a tragic fashion, in the midst of World War I. The US Congress is apparently close to passing a bill commenting on this 92 year old event that upsets the Turks. Can we not let bygones be bygones and get on with the pressing issues of today? I don't want to make light of the loss of one life, let alone many, but such a bill and any subsequent reaction will not change anything that happened so long ago.

The ever-stellar eBay has apparently fumbled. They cannot figure out how to make money with "Skype" phone service (which, by the way, is a great service, a major reason being that it is free computer-to-computer). Apparently the lesson here is do not pay $2.6 billion plus for a service that is sold to consumers for a price of zero. Perhaps the Internet will finally join the rest of us humble businesses forced to make a profit.