Brain Contour

Win a Grant from Tobacco Media Control Project

braincontour — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:15:30 +0000

I almost marked the email below a spam. Coming from a tobacco media and sent to my work email address is not something common to see in my inbox. Regular emails that flood my office account usually come from research collaborators and professors whose email addresses end with dot edu. Had it not been for the subject line that had the words “Invitation to participate…”, I would have not opened nor read the contents.

I had checked the validity of the email and visited the suggested link for confirmation. The email below is not a hoax. Probe Media Foundation, Inc. exists online. I am sharing this because I believe in its drive to inform the Filipinos of the hazards of cigarette-smoking, especially to the teens who at young age are already hooked to the habit.

The email came from Data T. Canlas.

Dear Mr. Salas,

Greetings from Probe Media Foundation, Inc. I am writing to invite you to submit a proposal for a story grant we are giving for tobacco control stories. (Apologies for writing to you at this email address, as your profile on your blog does not list your email address).

This project is being implemented with the help of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance-Philippines (FCAP). We would like to encourage practitioners in traditional media and bloggers in the Philippines (or Filipinos anywhere in the world) to do more stories on tobacco control. As such, we researched some of the top blogs and bloggers in the Philippines, and yours was one of those that ranked quite high.

There are some forms to fill out and a budget projection to be done for your story. We are giving up to P75,000 as grants. This is for any fee you may incur in researching your story. All we require is that it appear on your blog as a major post, and make it prominent for your loyal readers to peruse.

We hope you find this project interesting. For additional information, you may visit this link to the Probe Media Foundation website: http://probefound.com. The forms are available for download from the site. You may submit these with your proposed idea to tobaccomedia@gmail.com. You may also use this email to write to us for any clarifications regarding the project.

The deadline for submitting your story ideas is 11.59 pm of March 14, 2010.

Please feel free to drop us a line anytime. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Data T. Canlas
Project Manager
PMFI

If you read the online flyer, it says the deadline is March 1. Obviously, according to the email, the deadline has been extended to March 14, 2010.

To all Filipino bloggers, you may want to check this out and help me spread the word. No, I am not paid for this. Since it is for a good cause, I do not mind promoting it.

The Rick Sanchez Stupidity Acts

braincontour — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:00:08 +0000

There goes the stupidity of CNN’s Rick Sanchez again! I really dislike the foolish, dumb-acting stunts of Rick Sanchez on his show. Are Sanchez’s viewers kindergartens, that he had to ask questions like, what a 9-meter drop is? Or was his intention to embarrass his guests on live TV?

And why does he have to be angry when reporting a news?

Rick Sanchez apologized! Duh!

Facebook – Add Friends and Know Them Well

braincontour — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:20:07 +0000

From just over 100 friends last year, my list of Facebook friends has now reached over 1000. It is amazing to know how everyone seems to own a Facebook account these days. Met someone in a bar? Ask for his/her FB account and you’d be on your way to knowing him or her more. Add all your friends from church. Find your long-lost high school friends and add them in. In a matter of days, you will have a number of followers who will sneak into your every wall post.

When you add someone you have not seen for many years, what do you usually do afterward – say, few seconds after adding?

1. Do you check the profile to see if she or he is already married? (if both of you are still single at an age perfect for tying the knot, who knows, something might spark between you two)

2. Do you look at the photos to see how the person have changed over the years? (Oh, she has become horizontally-challenged! What happened to the curves?!)

3. Do you check the person’s present residence? (others may have moved out of the country or maybe even traveled in space)

4. Do you check the person’s accomplishments from those years you have lost touch? (most often people change career paths – from engineering to nursing, from medical field to theater)

5. Do you open the person’s list of friends to see who are in there that you might have known too and not on your list yet? (friends find friends from friends, you know)

6. Do you leave the person a message on the wall with a note “how happy I am to find you here”? (I usually do this for very close friends)

What about if you will add someone you’ve just met or known? Do you check and read the full profile of the person? Or do you ever bother?

I have encountered so many instances when friends ask me questions that are already in my profile. Most of the time, I don’t care when friends inquire stuff that I already laid out for them and for the public to read. But there are just times that I wish they could have taken a quick peek first.

I made quite a number of friends in Facebook and the list will continue to grow for sure. It might double next year or maybe even triple in number. I will be happy whatever the number is. The more friends is on my list, the merrier will my FB wall become.

Benny Hinn Divorces Wife

braincontour — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:24:47 +0000

Who says Pastors could not get a divorce? Huh! Even the most decorated of pastors, like Benny Hinn, can get one. What a slap on the face for Benny Hinn who preaches about the sacrament of marriage being a lifelong union, ending only with the death of one spouse!

LA Times reports:

Suzanne Hinn filed the papers in Orange County Superior Court on Feb. 1, citing irreconcilable differences, after more than 30 years of marriage. The papers note the two separated on Jan. 26 and that Hinn has been living in Dana Point, a wealthy coastal community in southern Orange County.

“Pastor Benny Hinn and his immediate family were shocked and saddened to learn of this news without any previous notice,” Benny Hinn Ministries said Thursday in a statement. “Although Pastor Hinn has faithfully endeavored to bring healing to their relationship, those efforts failed and were met with the petition for divorce that was filed without notice.”

Hinn is one of the best known advocates of the prosperity gospel, which teaches that Christians who are right with God will be rewarded with wealth and health in this lifetime.

How will Benny Hinn encourage his millions of followers to stick to marriage now, when he himself could not get it right?

Video: Benny Hinn sings “EL SHADDAI”

County Health Rankings – Brookings, South Dakota Tops 2010 List

braincontour — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:24:44 +0000

Wow, the 2010 County Health Rankings report shows Brookings, South Dakota topping the list on “Health Outcomes” and third on “Health Factors”. This means the Brookings county rated high in most health specific categories:

1. Health Outcomes (how healthy a county is)
- Mortality (death proportions)
- Morbidity (health state)

2. Health Factors – (what influences health of county)
- Health Behaviors – (smoking, diet, exercise, alcohol use)
- Clinical Care – (access to care, quality of care)
- Social & Economic Factors – (education, employment, income, safety)
- Physical Environment – (Air quality, built environment)
- Mortality – (length of life, premature death)
- Morbidity – (quality of life, low birth weight)

On “Health Outcomes”, Lincoln county is second and Clay county is third. On “Health Factors”, Lincoln ranks first, followed by Lawrence county and Brookings is third.

Top 10 County Health Rankings (SD) on Health Outcomes:

1 - Brookings
2 - Lincoln
3 - Clay
4 - Union
5 - Turner
6 - Hamlin
7 - Spink
8 - Brown
9 - Hughes
10 - Yankton

Top 10 County Health Rankings (SD) on Health Factors:

1 - Lincoln
2 - Lawrence
3 - Brookings
4 - Hughes
5 - Minnehaha
6 - Brule
7 - Miner
8 - Kingsbury
9 - Custer
10 - Hutchinson

The full 2010 County Health Rankings for South Dakota can be accessed here.