I saw a television commercial for an anti-smoking prescription drug called Chantix that set me to wondering. After extolling the benefits of Chantix, the announcer proceeded to run through a litany of potential hazards of taking the pills, including the possibility of depression and thoughts of suicide. And I wondered: Why would the Food and Drug Administration approve a drug that could cause people to consider killing themselves, especially when there are other, presumably safer, anti-smoking remedies available?

According to an Associated Press story from last year:

“Government regulators said the connection between Pfizer’s anti-smoking drug Chantix and serious psychiatric problems is ‘increasingly likely.’

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The Food and Drug Administration began in November [2007] investigating reports of depression, agitation and suicidal behavior in patients taking the popular twice-daily pill.
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The agency’s announcement comes two weeks after Pfizer added stronger warnings to the drug. In doing so, the company stressed that a direct link between Chantix and the reported psychiatric problems has not been established, but could not be ruled out.”

I am an ex-smoker who stopped smoking a pack of cigarettes a day more than 20 years ago. Personally, I found two methods to stop the habit. One was to stop cold turkey when I had a heavy cold. When you’re suffering from coughing, sneezing, sore throat, etc., the urge to smoke drops sharply. With cold and flu season approaching, this might be something to keep in mind.

The other method, and the one that I used successfully, was to stop smoking when I entered a hospital for surgery. During the one week in the hospital and three weeks of recuperation, I had no access to cigarettes, and after a month, I no longer had the urge to smoke — and I haven’t ever since.

So you ex-smokers out there, I’m curious: What method do you recommend for quitting the smoking habit?

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Inc. magazine’s recently published annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America put 19 Maryland companies on the Inc. 500 list. In addition, another 132 companies made it to the Inc. 5000 list. Here are the Maryland firms on the top 500 list, in terms of their rate of revenue growth over the period from 2005 to 2008. The companies are in the order that they appear on the Inc. list.

31. FedStore, Rockville, 3,748 percent

59. Hardwire, Pocomoke City, 2,235.1 percent

65. LifeMatters, Bethesda, 2,051.1 percent

78. High Street Partners, Annapolis, 1,872.9 percent

121. Solvern Innovations, Baltimore, 1,415.5 percent

128. ERT, Annapolis Junction, 1,354.6 percent

191. DMS International, Silver Spring, 1,025.7 percent

216. Lurn, Gaithersburg, 950.8 percent

222. The Knowland Group, Salisbury, 933.6 percent

224. Carchex, Hunt Valley, 932.5 percent

287. Corporate Brokers, Annapolis, 806.3 percent

292.Canyon Construction, Frederick, 798.8 percent

301. BoxTone, Columbia, 789.6 percent

303. Array Information Technology, Greenbelt, 781.4 percent

330. Angarai, Largo, 735.0 percent

361. Sage Management, Hanover, 691.8 percent

399. SEF Stainless Steel, Baltimore, 638.9 percent

455. Battle Resource Management, Clarksville, 586.9 percent

459. Cardinal Technologies, Bethesda, 565.0 percent

To see the entire Maryland list, including companies on the Inc. 5000 list, go here.

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Recessions don’t generally lend themselves to salary increases, but according to The Wall Street Journal, as employers enter raise season, getting a pay bump isn’t unheard of in times of turmoil.

“It isn’t unrealistic to expect a salary increase, but the general consensus among management experts is that if you want a raise, you’re going to have to justify it more than in previous years. And, you’ll need to pare down your expectations, as companies — especially financial firms and others directly affected by the  downturn — have less money to dole out.”

Here’s how they say you can secure more than a token raise:

• Larger raises will be reserved for those on the top of the hard-worker heap. If you think you’re in that group, put your accomplishments on paper.
• Find out where your company stands. If you work in an industry that hasn’t been badly burned by the recession – they suggest health care or education – you’re more likely to fatten your salary. (Note: If your company doesn’t fall into this group, now probably isn’t the time to ask for more dough).

WSJ talked to some companies about their policies, including local asset management house T. Rowe Price, and here’s what they said:

“Generally, we are restraining pay; both raises and bonuses are down this year,” says Gretchen Park, director of global human resources for the Baltimore asset-management firm. Ms. Park says there have been fewer requests for raises given the economic climate, and employees have been very understanding of the market conditions.”

If you ask for a raise and get turned down, the advice is to not take it to heart.  Experts think now is the best time to work hard to get into a raise-worthy position for when the economy eventually turns around.

DANIELLE ULMAN, Business Writer

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I went to YouTube.com immediately following President Barack Obama’s inauguration speech, and there were clips of the inaugural addresses of 10 former presidents: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Ronald W. Reagan, George H. W. Bush, William J. “Bill” Clinton and George W. Bush. (Jimmy Carter’s speech was absent.) They all came from C-SPAN.

So if you want to revel in some high-flown rhetoric, as well as some ideological twaddle, go here and listen to what some great communicators had to say.

PAUL SAMUEL, Associate Editor

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It’s funny how the world of news gathering and documenting works today. The 24-hour news cycle on cable networks has all but extinguished the power of a newspaper’s front page headlines, circulation and home delivery numbers are sinking and advertising revenue has been drastically cut for print outlets.

And yet…once in a blue moon Americans remember what’s truly special about newspapers — they are the souvenirs of each day, the physical documentation of sometimes historic events, and on days like Tuesday and Wednesday, they will be hot commodities as history’s first account of America’s first Black president.

This has happened before. For example, on Sept. 12, 2001, newsstands were raided in the early morning hours for newspapers’ dramatic, front page headlines and photos depicting the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. I remember at 9 o’clock that morning, the only daily newspaper I could find still left on the streets in downtown Washington was USA Today (I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about that tidbit).

The Baltimore Sun is preparing for similar demand this week as it is upping its delivery numbers to distributors on Wednesday and anticipating a high number of reprint orders for its front page headline depicting the event. Representatives from grocers Safeway and Giant say they are stocking up on newspapers in anticipation of the high demand these next two days.

While the broadcast outlets offer their own memento for the day, you can’t beat the price of a daily newspaper, and there’s something to be said for holding a souvenir in your hands or having it framed on your wall versus popping it into a DVD player for review.

But on Thursday, most of us will wash the ink off our hands and go back to reading the news online or tuning in to the television or radio after work to catch up on the day’s events. Much like the boon to the retail industry that Obama gear is providing, it’s a nice blip on the radar screen but it won’t change the course of the flight.

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

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In response to Wednesday’s article about the city’s new land-banking program that seeks to tackle the 30,000 vacant properties in Baltimore, a reader writes:

“Why can’t the city simply improve the processes and procedures of the SCOPE program? If SCOPE isn’t doing what it is supposed to do, end it and replace it. It makes no sense to me to have both programs exists.”

Our first response was, well, that’s what this is: the Land Bank will replace SCOPE. But we decided to run that question by some Baltimore Housing officials anyway, just in case they had more authoritative thoughts on the matter. Cheron Porter, a department spokeswoman, wrote this in response:

“SCOPE is a marketing and sales tool. It is just one method of disposition. It was not designed or contemplated to address the full range of 10,000 vacant properties in the inventory.

The Land Bank will consolidate properties in a single entity making them more accessible to realtors who participate in SCOPE, as well as to the general public. It will also streamline the disposition review process to shorten the time from sale to settlement.”

Jody Landers, head of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors, told us Tuesday that only about 250 houses had been sold in five years of SCOPE. At that rate, it would take 340 years to get the city free of vacants. So while some local Realtors, like Landers, can both benefit from and take credit for SCOPE, it seems clear that something needs to be done about Baltimore’s vacants on a much larger scale.

ROBBIE WHELAN, Business Writer

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It seems the gauntlet has been thrown – last night three Edgar Allan Poe scholars from three cities debated which had the best claim to the poet’s legacy, and Philadelphia was named the victor.

Ed Pettit of Philadelphia, Jeff Jerome of Baltimore and Paul Lewis of Boston each made their cases at the Free Library of Philadelphia debate. Can’t say I’m too surprised the Philly audience — who got to pick the winner — went with the home team. Still, Poe did pen “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” while living in the city.

The event was one of many celebrating Poe’s 200th birthday on Jan. 19.

As if to drive the heel in even deeper, a release from the city says “there’s no better time to honor the author’s literary legacy and there’s no better place to do it than at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site” in Philadelphia.

Nay, I say. Nay!

WE have his final resting place. WE have the mysterious flower-leaving stranger. WE have the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum which even gave famed creepster Vincent Price “the creeps.” And WE have a football team named for perhaps his most famous work. Who besides Poe and Baltimore could make a Raven so intimidating?

So to heck with Philadelphia. And keep your hands off our Poe. Be happy with your cracked bell.

JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist

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At this year’s National Retail Federation convention in New York City, Tuesday’s sessions seemed to be all about one thing: how bad will 2009 be and what can we do to hang on?

As Moody’s Chief Economist Mark Zandi put it during a morning panel discussion: “The next six months is going to be very painful. The six months after that is going to be just painful. In 2010, it’s going to be uncomfortable. So 2009 is a matter of survival – it’s the expense side of the [balance sheet].”

Zandi and others highlighted focusing on staying lean and mean this year, noting that inventory management would be key. In other words, those piles of “XXL” and “XS” shirts stacked on the clearance counter are going to hurt stores more than ever this year.

Quantum Retail is one company exhibiting here that actually helped a United Kingdom-based clothier increase its sales by 2.8 percent this holiday season (no, that was not a typo), partly through its inventory management software. According to Wyndham Albery, one of the co-founders of the 4-year-old company, U.S. retail’s “massive problem” has become the outlet stores. In some sense they have helped aid inventory mismanagement by providing retailers a place to dump their extras and sell at a low profit margin, thus allowing them to ignore the original problem.

“And the problem is now outlets are cutting into the main, full-priced business,” he said.

While Albery wasn’t advocating the total end of the outlet concept, he said his company’s product helps keep the guesswork out of ordering and re-ordering inventory by tracking the trends, seasonal needs, and patterns of demand for certain products. That way, he said, customers are more likely to find what they’re looking for on their first visit to a store, netting the store a sale and bonus points for good customer service.

And in time, if inventory is streamlined, it saves the retailer money and can bring down the price of products, Albery added.

I have to admit, I’m a bargain shopper, and there have been plenty of times I’ve headed to the sales rack, not found a single item in my size and headed out of the store without buying a thing. If other items in the store had been priced a little lower, I can’t say I wouldn’t have stopped and had another look around.

As a shopper, what do you think about Albery’s statement about what outlets are doing to the mainstream business?

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

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We’re a little more than a month away from the country’s television broadcasters switching from analog to digital signals. With each passing day it seems there’s another story about a bump in the road, or about an official or trade group representative calling for a delay in the change.

Advocates for the delay point to the lack of coupons for rabbit-ear-loving consumers to use for the digital converter boxes. It seems there really is a sizeable group out there that thinks several years isn’t enough time to prepare (even President-elect Barack Obama thinks it should be delayed).

I have bad news for those people: I’m pretty sure we’re too far along in the process to change pace or direction.

And like most matters, it comes down to money. Converter boxes cost maybe $30-40 and there are a number of options on the market. So, even without a coupon, preparing for the digital world isn’t going to slam your wallet.

On the other side we have broadcasters and technology companies that could lose millions — maybe even go bankrupt — if the switch-over is delayed. Broadcasters simply aren’t budgeted to pay for both signals past the planned switch. Forcing them to dip into their pocketbooks — pocketbooks which are already thin due to the lousy economy — is demanding they spend money that just isn’t there. And I think we’ve had about enough of that as of late.

Then there are the tech companies that are depending on the available analog signals to power the next generation of wireless technology. It’s not as if the government’s planning on abandoning the analog signals — Washington’s looking to make some money through licensing.

And, of course, there’s the fact that emergency responders and other government services are scheduled to use available analog signals. Might be a good idea to keep them in top working order.

So if you aren’t ready for the Feb. 17 switch — tough. It’s been planned for years, and there’s money to be made by everyone. The government and corporations can’t risk losing millions of dollars just because some consumers waited until the last minute to care.

JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist

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I love it when politicians get involved in sports.

Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith sent out a news release Monday calling for “more purple” outside of the traditional Purple Fridays. For the last two years, county employees have been encouraged to wear Ravens gear and other purple clothing on Fridays during football season.

Given this amazing run by Coach [John] Harbaugh and the entire team, one day of purple passion will simply not do,” Smith stated in the release. “I encourage all county employees to wear purple every day this week to show their support for the Ravens as they march toward Tampa. I am confident that the private sector will join us in creating a purple wave as we show support for our team.”

What’s next, adding purple to the Maryland state flag?

I’m all for showing team pride, but somehow I don’t think this is an area in which Baltimore fans need any prodding.

You also can’t turn out your radio or television or open a newspaper these days without seeing an ad for new Ravens playoff gear…and you can’t turn a street corner in this city without seeing someone wearing it either.

Turns out the release may be a thinly veiled attempt to take credit for the fact that the Ravens’ Owings Mills practice facility is in Baltimore County.

“We love sharing Joe Flacco, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed with the region,” Smith said. “But we do take special pride in knowing that the Ravens call Baltimore County home.”

Should we next expect to see “I (heart) Jim” t-shirts coming out of Smith’s Towson office?

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

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