Controversial Commercial

The National Association of Mental Illness is furious about a commercial General Motors ran during the Super Bowl that depicted a GM manufacturing robot taking a suicidal leap from a bridge because it had made a mistake on the assembly line. The robot is fired because of GM’s “obsession” with quality.

In a letter to GM on February 7, NAMI warned that concerns over depictions of suicide in mass media have been raised in the past by the U.S. Surgeon General, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institute of Mental Health — as well as groups like NAMI — because of the risk of “suicide contagion,” the clinical term for “copy cat” suicides.

In addition, suicide rates increase as unemployment rises. GM has engaged in major restructuring that has caused many employees to lose their jobs, NAMI noted in its letter. “The irony is unbelievably callous,” making the ad “even more distasteful.”

GM’s tepid response — noting that the company had received a handful, but not a “tsunami” of complaints” — did not improve matters. And regardless of one’s position on the merits of NAMI’s complaint (which, for the record, I find quite reasonable), assessing the worth of the point by reference to how many persons it seemed to bother probably isn’t the most refined heuristic. The fact that majorities of people are not bothered by events does not alone imply their permissibility.

10 Easy Steps For A Healthy Relationship

Are you ready for real love? In this day and age of fast-paced and short-lived relationships, it’s challenging and many times difficult, to find good, solid, effective, and useful, information that helps to build healthy and long-lasting romantic relationships. Whether you’re single, married, divorced, or looking-to-be-married, these time-tested steps will help you and your current or future mate to create a long-lasting romantic bliss:

1) Always Be Your “True” Self

You are wonderfully and uniquely made by a loving Creator. If you find that you have to act or try to become someone you weren’t born to be, in order to fulfill someone else’s expectation, then something is seriously wrong. A true love will appreciate you for who you are and what you bring to the relationship, and vice-versa. If you feel as if you’re being pressured to alter your character to do things you wouldn’t usually do (drink, drugs, pre-mature sex, lie) so that the person will continue to see you, that’s a certain sign that things are unhealthy. Your true love will gladly embrace you just for who you are-so don’t be afraid, step out in faith and show your true self.

2) Develop Deep Communication with Each Other

A healthy relationship goes much deeper that a surface affair. Even though you may both look good arm-in-arm, or standing next to each other, whether at a concert, family reunion, Movie Theater, or at church, can you talk when you’re alone? What’s going on in your conversations-are they deep and meaningful or surface and bland? Do you discuss personal hopes, dreams and goals, or just talk about the weather and the plot to the latest drama? Can you count on each other to lend a listening ear, good advice, and undivided attention?

10 Panel Drug Test

A 10 panel drug test is a screening test used for quick detection of drugs in the human system. Read on to know more about 10 panel drug test.

A drug screening test is the analysis of a biological specimen, like, blood, urine, saliva, sweat, hair, etc. to find out the presence of some specific drugs. Drug tests are often done to detect the presence of illegal drugs and medications, which are abused. Clearing of drug screening test is required for certain jobs as it is a routine part of pre-employment drug testing, so some organizations go for periodical random drug testing of their employees. Drug testing is also conducted by hospitals, where the patients are believed to be under the influence of drugs. Such tests are also performed during autopsies, in order to find out the cause of death, which can be due to some toxins or chemicals. Even law enforcement officials resort to drug screening test to monitor offenders on probation. This method has been adopted in schools too as a part of random drug testing in schools. Scroll down to find out more about 10 panel drug tests and 10 panel drug testing.

What is 10 Panel Drug Test?

As mentioned earlier, drug testing involves the analysis of a biological specimen. Among these tests, urinalysis is the most common and inexpensive one. It is found to be very effective in detecting drugs, like, marijuana. One such easy and fast drug screening test is the 10 panel drug test. Apart from the presence of drugs, this test is also useful to detect the metabolites of drugs in urine. If you’re wondering as to what does a 10 panel drug screen test for, then as the name suggests, 10 panel drug test is targeted at ten common drugs. These drugs are marijuana, cocaine, phencyclidine (PCP), opiates (OPI), methamphetamine (M-AMP), methadone (MTD), amphetamines (AMP), barbituates (BAR), benzodiazepines (BZD) and trycyclic antidepressant (TCA). These are the drugs that are most commonly involved in drug abuse cases. 10 panel drug test kits are very easy to use, if you follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully. These kits come in various types and include inbuilt strips that can show the results, which has to be interpreted as per the instructions.

10 Reasons Electronic Cigarettes Are Better Than Traditional Cigarettes

Why electronic cigarettes are better.

I’m not sure if you have heard about electronic cigarettes, but they are absolutely wonderful. E cigs are a new product that is taking smokers everywhere by storm! The idea is that the cig mixes propylene glycol (essentially water vapor) and nicotine, then lets you inhale the vapor just like a cigarette. There are SO many benefits of electronic cigarettes over traditional cigarettes and I am going to outline 10 of them for you right now!

1.) The Flavors: Most brands offer different flavor cartridges for you to “smoke.” I love this. You can get flavors like cherry, coffee, menthol, java, vanilla, and of course traditional. Different brands vary.

2.) The Ability To Smoke Everywhere: Because electronic cigarettes do not have the offensive, lingering odor of cigarettes you can smoke them anywhere. It is great to be able to get your fix whenever and wherever you need it. Whether you are in a restaurant, a mall, or a bar you can “light up!”

3.) There Is No Flame: How many times have you accidentally dropped your cigarette and marred your furniture or car? It just doesn’t happen with the e cigarette. You do not burn anything. If you drop it no need to scram for it frantically. Just clean it off and you are good to go.

4.) The Batteries: You might be thinking “If these are battery powered, I don’t want my battery to die!” Luckily, these batteries last for quite a while and the cigs automatically shut off to preserve power. Batteries are also very cheap so you can keep backups just in case.

10 Rules to Keep your Marriage Happy

Love your partner as yourself is the golden rule of a marriage. How to do that? See 10 practical ways in the article below.

There are many rules and regulations in this world in every area of expertise. We need them to properly relate to each other in traffic, in school, at work and basically anywhere. Can you imagine the traffic without rules? Can you imagine airplanes flying without any flight order? Most of us will admit that it would mean chaos and a sure way to death due to the imminent collisions.

Right but how about marriage? Who is to establish the best rules for it?

Well, who made the rules for the traffic? The inventors of cars! The same way, the Inventor of marriage, namely God, gave the rules for a happy marriage. Yes, He made the man and woman different to complement each other and not to compete against each other. But

often times, in our competitive society, we tend to forget that marriage doesn’t work best if we apply competition.

Jesus, the Son of God said that the greatest commandment of them all is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. When applying this commandment to marriage, it means to love your husband/wife as you love yourself. That implies putting his/her wishes above yours, giving in to make the other happy. Hmm…this sounds a bit hard, doesn’t it?

Someone once said that if you marry because you want your partner to make you happy, you married for the wrong reason; the right reason should be to marry so that you could make your partner happy. You love him/her, you want to see him happy right? But well, you might say, I want him/ her to be happy but not in the detriment of my own happiness!

Conference: Dangerous Liaisons? Industry Relations with Health Professionals

The Institute for Human Values in Health Care at the Medical University of South Carolina is hosting the 14th Annual Pitts Memorial Lectureship, entitled Dangerous Liaisons? Industry Relations with Health Professionals, on September 7 & 8, 2007.

The conference agenda is available here, and the list of faculty presenters is available here. I am particularly impressed with the broad representation of the speakers, including Paul Antony of PhRMA, Sigrid Fry-Revere of the Cato Institute, and Howard Brody of the Institute for the Medical Humanities (my graduate program).

Because conflicts-of-interest among industry, physicians, and investigators has become such a ‘hot’ area in bioethics and health policy, I have at times been dismayed with presentations that do not seem to include speakers representing the diversity of views on the issues. This conference includes a number of presenters with divergent views, and the variety of opinions is reflected in the conference structure, which places two speakers articulating opposing positions into each session, with time set aside for audience participation.

Would that more conferences were set up in such ways. As I learned when practicing law, oral advocay is far more effective when the speaker directly engages (“clashes,” in the jargon) the opposing views. While I do not think the adversarial model is necessarily appropriate for academic conferences, the ideal of the Erasmian sermo is hardly satisfied, IMO, by sounding one’s views only with interlocutors who already concur.

Article on Schiavo & Contemporary Myths About Dying

Rebecca Dresser (Washington University – Law) has uploaded an abstract to SSRN entitled Schiavo and Contemporary Myths About Dying (University of Miami Law Review, Vol. 61, p. 401, 2007):

When the Schiavo case burst onto the national scene, most of us assumed that everyone would see the case as we did. But instead, Schiavo showed that U.S. pluralism was alive and well in decisions about life-sustaining treatment. Schiavo demonstrated, too, that at least some of this pluralism reflects misguided myths about human life and death. In this essay, I examine the myths that Schiavo exposed. One such myth is that death with dignity is easily attainable in modern America, as long as people make living wills. Another myth is that only patients themselves are permitted to take quality of life into account when deciding about life-sustaining interventions. A third myth is that research advances are bringing an end to the difficulties of aging. To examine the myths, I draw on public commentary about Schiavo and on four texts published in 2005, when the case was in the headlines.

This looks to be an important article for a variety of reasons. I recently co-authored a paper in which one of our central claims was that U.S. society remains deeply divided on all manner of issues related to death and dying, including, not least of all, how we assess when someone is dead. (I eschew the phrase “definition of death” because I am skeptical of the coherence of any such definition). Professor Dresser, who likely needs no introduction to the bioethics and MH audience, has written an important article questioning the notion of precommitment that lies at the heart of advance directives legislation, and using the Schiavo case as a lens for examining the current state of U.S. attitudes towards death and dying seems promising.

Advice and Tips on Baby Sun Protection

We take a look at some essential baby sun protection clothing and accessories concerned parents will need this summer.

Summer is approaching, and you will no doubt be thinking up ways in which you and your baby can enjoy fun outdoor activities during the day, but you’ll also be concerned at protecting them from over exposure to the sun. With adequate UV sun protection measures there is certainly no need to avoid the outdoors this summer.

The skin of a baby is far more sensitive to the sun’s rays that you may think, and certainly more sensitive than an adults, and it’s vital to take the necessary steps to ensure your baby does not suffer excessive sun exposure.

UV protective clothing, usually a one piece baby sunsuit or two piece bottoms and tops set, is certainly something you’ll need when on a beach holiday or by the pool, but it’s also great for days in the park or garden too. Good sun protective clothing is designed to ensure adequate coverage of the body and limbs, and you should check to see that the label indicates the material is approved as a sun protective swimwear garment and equivalent to at least a factor 50 sunblock.

A good sun hat is also an important sun protective line, and something that baby should be wearing however briefly he may be out in the sun. Wide brim sun hats are usually popular and look smart, but it’s the legionnaire’s style sun hats that offers the best sun protection for babies. The extra length of material at the back provides extra protection to the neck and back of the head. As with clothing, sun hats can also carry approval markings to indicate the material itself is sufficiently UV proof.

Advice on Intimacy in Marriage

Intimacy life givers and intimacy killers in marriage.

Intimacy is a crucial element in marriage. There are many things that can help or hurt the fragile intimacy in a committed relationship. To develop intimacy, both partners need to play an active role in making sure that love is inspired, you give each other respect, and you are both honest and open with each other. Take a look at these intimacy life givers and intimacy killers to improve your marriage relationship.

Life giver: Respect one another as adults. Treat each other with love and care. That means don’t speak in a condescending manner to each other, don’t use disrespectful language towards each other, and don’t physically harm each other.

Killer: Looking down on your partner destroys self-image and trust. This causes your partner to pull away. Cutting each other’s words off or yelling at each other and is disrespectful. It is hard to be open and get close to someone who will not carefully listen and does not control their anger.

Life giver: Enjoying sex as a celebration of love, an ending to a period of good quality time, or because of feeling close emotionally. Savor the time and give your whole self into it. Focus on your partner and don’t be afraid to look deep into their eyes. Enjoy not only the physically bond, but the emotional and spiritual bond.

Killer: Having sex as an obligation, due to stimulus other than your partner, or purposely neglecting to have sex as a form of punishment for offense, or ransom for a demand. Sex should be inspired and not forced or begged for. Sex is better when all you need is them to excite you. Eliminating outside sexual stimulus can enhance the sex with your partner physically. Sex should not be used as a means of bargaining or teasing your partner. Disputes should be worked out before engaging in sex, but the denial of sex should not be a threat.

Advice for Teens on Romantic Relationships

Have you ever heard of dating violence, like a guy hitting his girlfriend? Studies have shown that one in ten teens experience physical violence in adolescent relationships. Read on to know more…

A common belief of adolescent romantic relationships is that they are shallow, short-lived and not influential. Contrary to the assumption that teenager boys are not emotionally involved, they are found to be more vulnerable in a relationship than girls. The only thing is that boys do not know how to express their emotions, which is why their girlfriends often misunderstand them. Here is some advice on teenager romantic relationships.

Are You in Love

It is a common query whether you are in love or not. The answer is very tricky, as what you feel like love may be just an infatuation to the other person. Some signs of true love are trusting your partner, feeling good by being yourself and telling the truth and being honest to your partner, whatever the circumstances may be. Being in love, your first priority is to fulfill the wishes of your partner, rather than fulfilling yours. Real love is long-lasting and becomes stronger with time.

Parents and Partner

There may be situations, when you like a person deeply and your parents are against the relationship. In such a case, it is you who has to decide whether you want to continue the relationship or take a step back. Before taking any crucial or drastic step, talk to your parents and analyze the reasons for their disapproval. There are possibilities that your parents see something in your partner that you didn’t notice or maybe your parents are just overreacting. Take the right decision because at the end of the day, you will be the one who will be getting hurt, either ways.