Hollywood's Stereotypes

By JOHN STOSSEL and FRANK MASTROPOLO
ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=2412723&page=1#

Sept. 8, 2006 — Where do we get our ideas about what groups of people are like? We learn from our parents and friends, of course, but Hollywood has a big influence too.

Most Italian Americans have nothing to do with organized crime. But you wouldn't know that watching movies and TV shows like "The Godfather," "Goodfellas" and "The Sopranos." Those depictions of Italians as gangsters anger Italian activist groups like the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA). Dona De Sanctis, OSIA's Deputy Executive Director says, Italians are "among the few ethnic minorities that it's still okay to make fun of, and that's not right."

Beginning in the silent film era, blacks were mainly portrayed by Hollywood as fools and servants. But movie roles have changed for blacks. Since the 1971 movie "Shaft," starring Richard Roundtree as a private eye, blacks have played most every type of humanity.


Hating Yourself

But that's less true for other ethnic groups. On the ABC show "Lost," Daniel Dae Kim kissed a woman. Have you ever seen an Asian actor do that?

Kim told 20/20 he'd played at least fifty roles on television and had never gotten to kiss a woman on-screen until "Lost." Kim says Hollywood stereotypes Asian American actors, relegating them to certain roles. "We've been portrayed as inscrutable villains and asexualized kind of eunuchs," Kim says. "Even Jackie Chan in his movies rarely gets to kiss his female lead."

B.D. Wong of "Law & Order SVU," a winner of Broadway's Tony award, is still waiting for his first on-screen kiss. Wong says he's constantly cast as a doctor.

"I played a doctor on Sesame Street. I played a doctor in the film 'Jurassic Park.' I play a doctor on Law & Order Special Victims Unit."

"It's beyond weird," he told me. "It's wrong … and it makes me feel somehow like I'm not cute, which pisses me off."

Growing up, Wong saw white actors playing Asian parts in what they call "yellowface." In "Breakfast at Tiffany's" the fussy Japanese landlord was Mickey Rooney, which he played with a broadly exaggerated Japanese accent while wearing thick round glasses and fake buck teeth. Some Asians say these images made them hate themselves. "I wanted to be Matthew Broderick," Wong says. "If you could have given me $150,000 and told me it was possible, I would have had that operation."

That's because Broderick was cool … while Asians were not.

Maybe Asian Americans should protest. Arab American groups, sensitive that they're portrayed too often as terrorists, have picketed theaters and persuaded nervous producers to cast them differently. Hollywood used to make lots of movies about Arab terrorists. But since September 11th, Arabs are much less likely to be cast as terrorists. The Tom Clancy best seller "The Sum of All Fears" is about Palestinian terrorists, but when the movie came out, the bad guys had become neo-Nazis.

Speaking Out

Now some Italian groups are complaining. In 2004, Italy planned to award Robert De Niro honorary citizenship, but then De Niro voiced the role of gangster Don Lino in the cartoon "Shark Tale," using language peppered with Italian expressions like "agita." Advocacy groups complained, and Italy cancelled its citizenship ceremony.

That's just silly, says Vincent Pastore, who played a mobster on "The Sopranos." Pastore told 20/20, "Italian people are gangsters. That's like saying all black people are slaves. Italian people are gangsters? It's just bizarre."

Italian American actor/comedian Pat Cooper says, "The activists don't know what they're talking about."

Cooper played one of Robert De Niro's made men in the film "Analyze This" and says groups like Order Sons of Italy are wrong—mob movies don't make people think Italians are gangsters. He says Hollywood favors Italian gangsters "because we're better gangsters … But that doesn't mean all Italians are gangsters and all Italians are bad, that's ridiculous."

OSIA's De Sanctis disagrees. "I have to say to people like Pat Cooper … 'I'm sorry, your portrayals are influencing public opinion.' "

De Sanctis points out "The popularity of a stereotype doesn't justify it … Cowboy and Indian movies were wildly popular for generations. But that doesn't make the stereotype right."

Pat Cooper responds, "It's an art form, it's a movie! How come nobody comes over to me and says, 'You know, you're making fun of the Italians'? I say, we got a sense of humor, I'm so proud that I'm the first one to let people know we know how to laugh."

For more information, please refer to the sources below, who helped with research for this story:

Jeff Adachi, director of a new documentary "The Slanted Screen: Asian Men in Film & Television" (slantedscreen.com)

Show business biographer James Robert Parish, author of "The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood" (jamesrobertparish.com).

Asian-history anniversaries begin to coalesce

Georgia Straight: 21-Sep-2006
http://www.straight.com/Print_Page.cfm?id=20689

By Charlie Cho

History is never neutral. Framing is everything. Take Vancouver's
anti-Asian riots of 1907.

On September 7 of that year, the Asiatic Exclusion League led a parade
to City Hall at Main and Hastings streets, calling for an end to Asian
immigration to British Columbia. More than 8,000 people, including
local politicians, labour leaders, and members of fraternal
organizations, rallied with banners reading Stand for a White Canada.

Only 2,000 could fit in City Hall, so crowds drifted to Chinatown, a
block away. A rock thrown through a store window touched off a rampage
of smashed signs and glass, and looting that continued into
neighbouring Japantown, where the crowd faced some resistance before
police showed up to quell the violence.

In the following days, Chinese and Japanese armed themselves with
guns, preparing for another siege. They held a general strike,
refusing to go to their jobs in homes, restaurants, and mills.

William Lyon Mackenzie King, then federal deputy minister of labour,
held hearings on the riot. Almost a year later, damages were awarded:
$26,000 to the Chinese, $9,000 to the Japanese.

Henry Yu, an associate professor of history at UBC, sees 2007 not just
as the 100th anniversary of the 1907 riots but marking three other key
years in the history of Asian immigration to Pacific Canada: 1947,
1967, and 1997.

For Yu, focusing on a simple "victim" narrative would obscure the
richer story that has led to the transformation of Vancouver into what
he calls the Switzerland of the Asia Pacific.

Instead of being the end result of a long history of anti-Asian racism
in North America, Yu sees the 1907 riots as the beginning of Canada
severing its ties with Asia. "The Chinese weren't brought to Canada
just because they were 'cheaper' but because they were cheaper to
bring here [than from Eastern Canada]," he says. "The whole irony is
the railroad they helped build [finished in 1885] made it easier to
bring the people to displace them."

New European immigrants claimed the Asians were taking their jobs in
farming, fishing, and mining when the opposite was true: Europeans
were arriving from Eastern Canada and taking jobs from Asians.

In 1947, Asian Canadians' service in the Second World War led to the
repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act and full citizenship (including
the right to vote) not just for the Chinese but also for Japanese
Canadians, Indo-Canadians, and First Nations.

Yu considers 1967 an underrecognized landmark. "We think of
multiculturalism. We think of Pierre Trudeau. It's not just because of
Quebec and the Quiet Revolution and the things that led the
multiculturalism in terms of federal politics but also the new [1967]
Immigration Act, which led to huge new waves from China."

The act created a more equitable points system that made it easier for
educated professionals to enter Canada, facilitated family
reunification, and eliminated discrimination on the basis of
nationality and race by dismissing national origin as a condition of
entry or exclusion.

"My grandfather, to bring my parents and my grandfather over in 1965,
had to pay off…" Yu begins with a laugh, then clarifies his statement.
"Well, let's say you made a contribution to the Liberal-party MP in
your riding and wrote a nice letter. Next thing you know, you get
clearance."

The Hong Kong handover in 1997, although not a Canadian event,
prompted changes to Canadian law designed to attract Asian
entrepreneurs and investors.

Says Yu: "You could think of it as a new head tax: the $250,000
investment program [which is now $450,000]. In the '80s, if you
invested a quarter of a million dollars, you got Canadian
citizenship."

This, according to Yu, along with then-premier Bill Vander Zalm's
Expo-land sale to Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, "marks the
triumphant rise again of a Canada that now embraces its role not as
the end of the tracks [but] as the centre of a world that is now tied
to Hong Kong and Asia."

Now Yu sees Vancouver as "a safe place to park your money" in
relatively stable real estate and "a safe place to stick your kids" in
our relatively inexpensive education system.

As a board member of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of
British Columbia, Yu encourages a wide variety of interpretations and
events around these anniversaries in 2007. For example, CCHSBC
president Hayne Wai and board member Gordon Mark have already made
progress on the civic level. Along with University of Victoria history
professor John Price, they've begun discussions about possible
activities with Vision Vancouver Coun. George Chow.

As president of the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver and
adviser to the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association, Chow is no
stranger to the issues. "It was purely due to the white workers
worried about Chinese immigrants taking away their jobs," Chow says.
"That kind of thinking will always linger in people's minds."

Apart from public discussions or photo exhibits, Chow suggests, "Maybe
we should have a dinner, like we always do. Like the reconciliation
dinner we did with Bill Chu [founder of Canadians for Reconciliation]
and the First Nations."

Chow says he has not broached the issue with the mayor or other
councillors. "I always look to events generated by the community
rather than done by the government."

Although B.C.'s Ministry of Tourism, Sport, and the Arts is already
calling on groups to help mark the 150th anniversary of the province's
establishment in 2008, the province seems to have no concrete plans to
mark the 2007 anniversary, appearing to take a similar "wait for the
community" approach. A representative of the office of Auditor General
Wally Oppal, who is also the minister responsible for
multiculturalism, did not return a call from the Georgia Straight.

Henry Yu has already begun an advocacy process with a presentation to
B.C.'s Multiculturalism Advisory Council, which may make
recommendations to Oppal. The idea of commemorative events already has
the support of one of the council's 15 members, Jan Walls, Yu's fellow
CCHSBC board member and former director of the David Lam Centre for
International Communication at SFU.

Jim Wong-Chu, an amateur historian, recalls learning about "the night
the white boys played" (as the Chinese called it) in the early '60s
from people in the community.

He has written an essay about the riots for the upcoming issue of
Ricepaper, a national Asian Canadian magazine, and posted it on the
magazine's Web site, www.ricepaperonline.com/.

As in his earlier work on the Asian North American History Timeline
Project, Wong-Chu places the 1907 riots in a broader continental
context. He cites incidents from as far back as 1635, when Asian
barbers were banned from working in Mexico City, to the "Anti-Hindu
Riots" of 1907, when Indo-Americans were beaten in Bellingham just
five days before the violence in Vancouver.

Although he writes that "Today, Canada has the best minority and human
rights legislation in the world" (except with regards to First
Nations), Wong-Chu says the city of Vancouver, the province of British
Columbia, and trade unions have never accepted responsibility for the
riot, and they should. (The Asiatic Exclusion League was formed by
labour unions in San Francisco and had thousands of members in
Vancouver and Seattle.)

But Wong-Chu says it needs to go even further than public
acknowledgment. He would like the focus to be on public discussion and
education. "I would love to see the province change some of the
curriculum to reflect some of this. When you can open a book in 12
years of education and you never heard of this…what the hell?"

Artists have also been working on plans and proposals to mark the
anniversaries. Writers Fred Mah and Roy Miki have reportedly been
working on something performance- or poetry-related.

Filmmaker (and CCHSBC board member) Karin Lee has had discussions with
former Centre A gallery curator Alice Ming Wai Jim about holding
events in Chinatown itself. "For me, that would be the most
interesting thing: to be in the Downtown Eastside and the sites where
the riots took place…whether they're projections at night, or
soundscapes, or installations of some kind."

Rick Lam, president of the Vancouver Chinatown Revitalization
Committee, says the 100th anniversary of the riot isn't really on the
community's radar. Although he thinks it's important for people to
remember events from the past so they don't happen again, he says his
preference would be for a more low-key approach, such as an archival
exhibition at the Chinese Cultural Centre's Museum & Archives
building.

What he doesn't support, however, is a reenactment of the riots
(rumours of which were circulating in the community last year). "Every
group is free to do what they want," he says, "but for public events,
I believe it's important to have a dialogue with the community. If a
group wants to pursue something, we could call a meeting with all the
committee members, including the Chinese Benevolent Association, the
Chinese Cultural Centre, the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants
Association, the veterans' association…"

All of this underlines the fact that while we have about a year left
until the 100th anniversary of the Chinatown riots, how we'll mark the
event is far from settled. Whatever we decide, and whatever we do (or
don't do), it will be history in the making.

Alberta housing still cheaper than other major cities: report

CALGARY (CP) - Home ownership in Alberta's two main cities still remains cheaper than the other major Canadian centres of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal despite rapidly rising prices, according to a report by RBC Economics (TSX:RY). The Royal Bank's housing affordability index, which measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to cover the costs of owning a home, shows that Vancouver continues to be the most expensive Canadian city by far.

While home prices in Alberta shot up about 30 per cent over the past year alone, a five per cent average income gain at the same time helped keep affordability lower than in other key cities across Canada.

RBC assistant chief economist Derek Holt said Alberta's red-hot economy has given Calgary the highest average household income in the country. As well, housing prices in Alberta really only started to take off over the past several years.

"It's been a real acceleration in the past year and a half where Alberta has come from behind on a lot of these affordability ratio calculations, and is starting to catch up to other markets."

Across Canada, housing has become more expensive due to rising house prices combined with weak income growth and slightly higher interest rates.

But the growing regional divide in economic growth separating Alberta and B.C. from the rest of Canada is also becoming more apparent in the housing market.

In Ontario, housing became more costly mainly because of one-off factors like higher interest rates and rising utility costs. It is expected to plateau by next year.

The bank report said Quebec was "in the midst of an orderly slowdown" with housing prices growing at a much slower rate than the double-digit pace of previous years.

Saskatchewan remains one of the most affordable provinces to own a house, while Atlantic Canada's increasing home ownership costs were disproportionately driven by Nova Scotia, where a listings shortage is sparking price gains in a seller's market, the bank said.

Vancouver, already Canada's most expensive city to live in, "is entering uncharted waters," as it sets new records for poor housing affordability.

But Holt said the increasing divide between Vancouver's soaring housing market and more modest household earnings growth is unsustainable and predicted a slowdown in appreciating house values on the West Coast.

"It's a very different game when you're in a rising interest rate environment, as we have been in over the past year, and you can not play with the terms on a mortgage contract to offset some of that gap."

Holt also said that Alberta is likely to join the rest of the country in seeing the pace of new homes and re-sell activity slow next year.

"But it should still have some decent price gains being booked within the market because it has room to creep up on those affordability calculations and generally we're still pretty upbeat about the energy patch."

© The Canadian Press, 2006

Dell recalling 100,000 more Sony battery packs used in its personal computers

ROUND ROCK, Tex. (AP) - Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), the world's largest personal computer maker, said Friday it is increasing the recall of Sony Corp. battery packs (NYSE:SNE) used in its systems to 4.2 million units from 4.1 million. The batteries can short-circuit and have been blamed for causing some computers in which they are used to overheat.

Separately, Toshiba Corp. (OTC:TOSBF) said Friday it is recalling 830,000 batteries made by Sony for its laptops at Sony's request. It was the latest in a growing global recall involving Sony batteries, bringing the tally of recalled batteries to about seven million worldwide.

Earlier Friday, Sony asked manufacturers using its problem batteries to carry out a recall.

Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Omori said Toshiba's recall was in response to Sony's request, and Toshiba had not found any cases in which the laptops were at risk of catching fire.

"But we wanted to assure and satisfy our customers," he said.

Dell said Friday that the increase in its battery recall was made due to additional information received about the affected battery packs containing cells manufactured by Sony.

Dell and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the agency's largest-ever electronics recall on Aug. 15, blaming battery cells supplied by Sony. During production in Japan, tiny shards of metal were left in the cells, which can cause a short-circuit. The recall was issued after six confirmed instances of overheating or fire involving Dell systems with batteries made by Sony.

Dell said customers should recheck their batteries if they have not ordered or received a replacement battery.

The company began shipping replacement batteries on Aug. 15.

On Thursday, IBM Corp. and Lenovo Group, the world's third-largest computer maker, said they were seeking the recall of 526,000 rechargeable, lithium-ion batteries from Sony purchased with ThinkPad computers after one of them caught fire at Los Angeles International Airport this month.

Apple Computer Inc. has also recalled 1.8 million batteries worldwide, warning they could catch fire.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

Ethnic experiment is over on 'Survivor' as race-based tribes are eliminated

NEW YORK (AP) - All the hubbub about the "Survivor" ethnic experiment turned out to be pretty worthless. Why? Because after only two episodes, producers merged the black, white, Asian and Latino tribes into two mixed-race gangs on the reality show Thursday night. No explanation was given for the quick abandonment of segregation; it seemed to pass by so quickly as to mean nothing.

"We're back to America. We're a melting pot," said Parvati, a boxer on the new Raro tribe. "I love it."

The two new tribes competed in a gruelling challenge that seemed better designed to get prisoners of war to talk. Each person strapped on a 15-pound weight and trudged through knee-deep water around a course, with one tribe trying to catch the other. For any person who dropped out, a teammate had to carry their weight.

The Raro tribe won. For the losing Aitus, it meant more politicking than a brokered convention. No one knew or trusted each other much, so they had to feel their way into alliances.

The result was to send Cecilia packing in a 5-3 vote.

Oh, and remember last week's reject, Billy, talking about how he made a love-at-first-sight connection with another player, Candice?

She thought he was nuts, too.

The race-based angle to this season's show had brought a firestorm of criticism down on the show. Several major advertisers pulled out.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

Thai junta chooses former army commander as interim premier, official says

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thailand's coup leaders strengthened their grip on power Friday by sidelining key military supporters of the ousted prime minister, and one official said a former army commander and close adviser to the king had been picked as interim premier. Thailand's auditor general, Jaruvan Maintaka, told reporters late Thursday that Gen. Surayud Chulanont, 62, a highly regarded retired officer, would lead the country until promised elections next year.

"Yes, definitely, Gen. Surayud is the prime minister. He is the suitable person," Jaruvan said. Her comments were posted on the government Public Relations Department's official website Friday.

But the government had not made its official announcement yet, and when telephoned Friday Jaruvan denied her comments, telling The Associated Press: "I didn't say so."

The new ruling military council has hinted that its choice is Surayud, and Friday morning Bangkok newspapers carried headlines that he would probably head the new government. His appointment was expected to be announced this weekend or Monday, after it receives approval from King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The coup leaders, meanwhile, tightened their hold by moving from key positions military officers who had been key supporters of now-deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

In an annual reshuffle of top-ranking officers announced Friday, a number of officers loyal to Thaksin were removed from commands and transferred to either inactive positions or attached to agencies that take them outside the chain of command.

An announcement in official media said the king endorsed the changes.

Gen. Winai Phattiyakul, one of the coup leaders, was given a more powerful position while six other army generals who had stood up to Thaksin were elevated to key command slots.

Winai is to become permanent secretary of the Defence Ministry, a key slot, while Gen. Boonsang Niempradit was promoted from deputy supreme commander of the armed forces to supreme commander.

Patchara Kampitak, president of the Reporters Association of Thailand, told The Associated Press that reporters from several Thai media outlets visited coup leader Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin on Friday and received assurances "about freedom of the media."

Kampitak quoted Sondhi as saying the interim premier would not be a "surprise to the media."

"His face is familiar to you (reporters) and he is the man to 'wai' (greet with respect) without any qualms," Kampitak quoted Sondhi as saying.

Akara Thiprot, a spokesman for the council, said an interim constitution has been completed and sent to the Royal Palace. He hoped the constitution could be announced Saturday or Sunday, followed by the formal announcement of the prime minister over the weekend or Monday.

The expected appointment of Surayad was likely to be widely praised in Thailand.

Over a 40-year career in the military, Surayud garnered a reputation for effectiveness, tact and incorruptibility. Upon his retirement in 2003, he was appointed to the Privy Council, the top advisory body to the king.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

Tommy Chong pontificates on politics, pot and prison in new book

TORONTO (CP) - Tommy Chong, one half of the legendary comedy duo Cheech and Chong, exudes as much serenity sipping on a cup of coffee in a downtown hotel as one might expect from a lifelong pothead. But three years ago, the Canadian-born Chong had good reason to freak out - agents for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency burst into his California home and busted him for selling bongs online, the first time an obscure law dealing with such offences had ever been enforced.

In his new book "The I Chong: Meditations From the Joint" (Simon and Schuster), Chong insists the feds came after him, at the behest of the Bush administration, because he'd frequently spoken out against the war on terror and the erosion of civil liberties after 9-11.

"I was the first one they'd ever charged under that law," says the 68-year-old Chong, in Toronto on Monday promoting his book. "Symbolically, I represented the antiwar movement. I represented the hippies. And they're scared to death of the hippies, because the hippies are the ones who stopped the Vietnam War."

That's not just nostalgic bluster from Chong, who was introduced to a new generation of fans when he played aging stoner Leo on "That '70s Show." Of the 55 people charged under the "Operation Pipe Dreams" sweep in early 2003, Chong was one of the very few who was sentenced to hard time. Most were sentenced to fines and home detentions.

In last year's documentary "A/k/a Tommy Chong," which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, comedian and social commentator Bill Maher, among many others, accused the U.S. government of making an example out of Chong for petty political reasons.

But thanks in part to his spirituality and, undoubtedly, his unabashed appreciation of the calming effects of marijuana, Chong approached his sentence with good humour. He says he didn't mind his nine months in prison because it allowed him to focus primarily on writing the book.

"If you're a guy like me, it's not so bad ... I'm an old man, I'm a writer and I'm writing my book, I'm Tommy Chong, and I'm doing time with my fans," he says.

Being Canadian, Chong says, also helped.

"When you grow up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and spend 20 years with Alberta winters, everything else is so easy. Nine months in a California jail is nothing compared to nine months of a Canadian winter," he says with a laugh.

"Canadians, we appreciate sunshine and the things that really matter in life. People say to me: 'Don't you get tired of signing autographs?' No! Being famous, that's pretty easy."

In some ways, he says, the bust actually helped rejuvenate his career as marijuana advocates started a "Free Tommy Chong" movement and he became the subject of the documentary. But there are no plans to get back together with Cheech Marin.

Chong once famously described his old comedy partner as being "closer than a wife. The only thing we didn't do was have sex." The pair, one of the most successful comedy acts of all time, split up in 1985 due to creative differences in a breakup that Chong likened to "a death in the family."

It seems those differences are still serving to keep them apart.

"He's been trying to get me to do a play but he doesn't want to do the doper characters, so I'm not interested. I only want to play a doper. If it works, don't fix it," Chong says.

He can't resist poking fun at Marin for his recent stint on the Fox show Duets, in which professional singers like Winona Judd and Belinda Carlisle are paired up with wannabe celebrity crooners. Marin got voted off after week 4.

"After seeing him on Duets ... you know, I don't want to hang with losers. He lost pretty bad. If he'd stayed on another a week, I would have voted him off," Chong says.

"And he was serious, that's what really scared me. There's a reason we went into comedy. We were going to start a band, but I heard him sing and I said: 'We better stick with comedy.' "

© The Canadian Press, 2006

Coming soon: Cheap movie nights

CBC News

Cinema companies are hoping to bring moviegoers back to theatres by introducing cheap movie nights.

Cineplex Entertainment has chosen Winnipeg and Ottawa as test markets for a discounted movie deal. Starting Tuesday, film fans in both cities can buy adult admission, a regular drink and a small popcorn all for $10 — half the price of a similar bundle any other day of the week, and the same price as a movie ticket alone.

In Winnipeg, Cineplex is offering the deal at its Silver City Polo Park and St. Vital locations, as well as its theatre at Kildonan Place.

The Ottawa test sites are the Cineplex Odeon South Keys, Silver City Gloucester, Coliseum Ottawa and Cineplex Odeon Barrhaven.

Cineplex officials will monitor the program over the next few weeks and use the test markets to establish prices for discounted movie nights for the rest of the country.

Competitor Empire Theatres of New Glasgow, N.S., is offering a two-for-one ticket deal on its website until mid-October. Moviegoers have to sign up to receive an online newsletter in order to take advantage of the deal.

As the latest box office figures reveal, fewer people are going to cinemas these days. North American box-office sales this past week were down more than 12 per cent from the same time last year.

Rob Warren, director of the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba, says the promotions aim to address box office issues and lure back consumers, who have found cheaper and more convenient options, including video on demand and even illegal movie downloads.

"Video on demand — you can get it with your cable station now," Warren said Monday. "Why go outside when you can just call up a movie? Granted, it may be six months old, but still, you can do it from the comfort of your own home. And if you want to get up and go get a drink, you just press pause, come back to it later.

"And still we have the ability to rent movies, and movies are coming out faster now on DVD than ever before," he added.

China is Nasdaq's fastest source of growth in new listings, executive says

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Chinese companies are the biggest source of new share listings for Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) and don't appear to be discouraged by stricter regulatory requirements, the U.S. exchange's international president said Wednesday. Mainland Chinese companies now account for 29 of about 3,300 companies listed on Nasdaq, said the president of Nasdaq International, Charlotte Crosswell, in an interview in Shanghai.

The exchange also lists about 50 firms from Hong Kong, putting China third behind first-place Israel and second-place Canada in having the most non-U.S. listings on the Nasdaq, Crosswell said.

Crosswell declined to give any figures on upcoming new listings or other specific business plans in China, but she said growth was accelerating.

"Obviously the growth is coming from China, and that's where we're really seeing the pipeline expand, in terms of numbers of companies coming to market," said Crosswell, who was in China's commercial hub to encourage a parade of new Chinese firms marching toward an initial public offerings, or IPO, of stock.

The growth comes despite the perceived disadvantage of a U.S. listing under new federal rules requiring stricter audits and increased disclosure.

Nasdaq President and CEO Robert Greifeld earlier this month said efforts to attract international listings have been hampered by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which took effect in 2002 in response to a spate of U.S. corporate scandals.

However, Crosswell said Chinese companies tell her the regulatory hassles are offset by added trust from investors for U.S.-listed shares. Chinese firms also have comparatively little difficulty implementing the requirements because they are often too young to have developed rigid corporate structures, she said.

"They believe it's a good thing to have," Crosswell said. "They're actually very happy they can prove they can comply with it because they think that's a good story for investors."

As part of its expanded presence in China, Crosswell said Nasdaq was now advising firms that were still two to three years away from listing. It formerly worked mainly with companies that were much closer - usually six months to a year - from listing on the exchange.

While Nasdaq listings from China have traditionally come from the high-tech sector, they are now hailing from increasingly diverse industries, including services, manufacturing, health care and media, she said.

Business has also been boosted by agreements with the governments of Zhejiang and Jiangsu, two of China's most economically dynamic provinces, to steer local companies toward Nasdaq listings.

"It's really starting to pickup," she said. "It's certainly our fastest growing market."

Crosswell said the Nasdaq doesn't seek to compete with local stock markets and prefers to encourage firms to launch dual listings at home and in the United States.

Internationally, the exchange continues to view NYSE Group Inc.'s New York Stock Exchange as its chief rival, she said.

Along with competing to draw foreign listings, the Nasdaq and NYSE have become rivals in expanding overseas in a first wave of consolidation in global stock markets.

Nasdaq amassed a 25 per cent ownership stake in the London Stock Exchange PLC, Europe's biggest market, after the LSE rejected Nasdaq's initial US$4.2 billion takeover offer in March. The NYSE (NYSE:NYX), meanwhile, is moving to merge with Euronext NV.r

© The Canadian Press, 2006

Alberta artists say province ignores them

(CBC) - The province of Alberta needs to show more respect to its artists and culture, a group of artists and academics said at a weekend summit in Calgary.

"I think that there's a real reluctance to look at how important the arts are," author Aretha Van Herk told CBC News at a symposium at the University of Calgary focusing on the future of arts.

The most recent statistics from the Canada Council for the Arts show the province lagging behind the rest of the country in arts funding.

Alberta artists received 6.3 per cent of Canada Council funding in 2004-05. By comparison, the province makes up 8.9 per cent of artists and 10 per cent of the population in Canada. Looking at 2003 figures, the study said Alberta had the lowest ratio of government spending to consumer spending on cultural goods.

Film writer and University of Calgary professor George Melnyk said he thinks artists are treated like second-class citizens in the province.

The view in Alberta of artists he said, is that "somehow you are afflicted with either some kind of central Canadian disease or you are a heretical unorthodox human being who doesn't belong here."

Speakers at the three-day conference included Van Herk, the author of Mavericks: An Incorrigible History of Alberta, as well as National Post columnist Robert Fulford and playwright Tomson Highway.

While speakers suggest the government has turned its back on local artists, the Canada Council report shows that Albertans themselves care about culture.

On a per capita basis, Alberta's cultural spending is the highest of all the provinces at $838 per resident, the report found.

The university speakers aren't alone in suggesting Alberta needs to do more to encourage the arts. Last Friday the Alberta Film and Development Program called on the province to raise its funding or risk losing the industry to other regions.

© the CBC, 2006

inDANCE

As a start to our fall calendar, we are pleased to announce that inDANCE has been invited by Kalanidhi Fine Arts of Canada to present new work for its 8th international dance festival on Thursday, September 28 at 7.30pm at the Premiere Dance Theatre (Harbourfront Centre in Toronto).

inDANCE will be presenting the second version of our latest contemporary work Inverse with an original score and sound design by composer Phil Strong. Inverse represents the culmination of 14 months of new movement research and choreographic labs.

Having premiered in April 13-15, 2006, Purnima/Full Moon was described by Toronto Star dance critic Susan Walker as 'a kind of enchantment to take us back to the temples and palaces of long ago south India when court dances celebrated romantic love in song and movement.' Noted dance critic Michael Crabb in Fall 2006 issue of Dance International writes the work 'was profoundly sensual and less concerned with tales of ancient gods than the more yearnings of the human heart and loins. Purnima/Full Moon also asserts confident Indian womanhood, referencing the fact temple dancers of old had considerable independence'. Arts critic Glenn Sumi from Toronto's Now magazine writes, 'Purnima/Full Moon , explores the sensuality and eroticism that was part of Indian dance before the Victorian morality of British imperialism put a lid on all that. One of the great things about (an inDANCE) show is its eclecticism. Not only is the dance troupe ethnically all over the map, but the people collaborating, bring their own backgrounds.'

The performance takes place on Thursday, Sept 28, 2006 at 7.30pm at the Premiere Dance Theatre. The evening also features India based dance artists Sujata Mohapatra (Odissi) and Ileana Citaristi (Chau).

The festival runs from Sept 22-Oct 1, 2006. For more information about the festival, please visit: www.kalanidhifinearts.org.

In keeping with inDANCE's mandate, we continue to collaborate with artists engaged in various forms of cultural practice to produce original Canadian works, and to create new, cutting-edge work rooted in Indian dance and music.

For tickets, please call the Harbourfront Centre Box Office at 416-973-4000.
http://www.indance.ca/

Tokyo Game Show packed amid next-generation console hype

CHIBA, Japan (AP) - Japan's biggest gaming event, the Tokyo Game Show, was packed this weekend, a sure sign the battle among Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to woo fans to their games consoles is heating up. Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Wii from Nintendo Co. are both set to go on sale later this year, joining Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 which hit Japanese stores last year.

But analysts said the year-end shopping season may be too early to declare a winner and price might be the key weapon in the three-way console war.

"It's not going to happen overnight. This is a five-year-battle," said Hiroshi Kamide, director of research department at KBC Securities Japan in Tokyo, saying at least 18 months are needed before a likely market leader emerges.

Like thousands of others thronging the annual industry event that runs through Sunday, Satoshi Yamakura was hoping to get his hands on one of the next-generation consoles and a slew of new gaming titles.

But after a day spent trawling the stalls and trying out the latest technology, he is still undecided. And price seems to be the biggest factor.

"If I decide to buy one, I'll probably buy the PS3," the 21-year-old student said.

"But it's still too expensive."

And it seems console makers are listening to their customers.

At the gaming show, Ken Kutaragi, head of Sony's video-game business, announced a 20-per-cent cut in the price of the 20-gigabyte PlayStation 3 model to the equivalent of about C$460.

That puts the PlayStation 3 in the same price range as a combined basic Xbox 360 and external high-definition DVD player, which Microsoft recently announced it's introducing for the Xbox.

It is the first time Sony has ever announced a pre-release price cut. U.S. and European prices are unchanged.

Even at the new price, PS3 may be a bit steep for some game fans. Yamakura and his friend said they would wait until the price drops by at least 20 per cent. PS3 will arrive in Japanese stores Nov. 11.

"The PS3 has absolute graphics quality and absolute pricing," said Hirokazu Hamamura, president of video games magazine publisher Enterbrain Inc.

"Just because people say they want it doesn't mean they're going to buy it. Most people are going to buy it when the price comes down."

Microsoft's bare-bones Xbox 360 - available in Japan in November - will retail for the equivalent of C$285, about $95 cheaper than its standard version. The external HD DVD player for the Xbox 360 has roughly the same capabilities as PS3's Blu-ray disc.

Nintendo is offering Wii at a relatively cheap US$250 in the United States and 249 euros in Europe.

Kamide, the analyst, believes Wii could emerge the surprise winner because of its pricing, as well as its potential to appeal to gaming novices with its wandlike remote control that's swung around like a tennis racket or fishing rod.

Nintendo lost out in the earlier home console battle with its GameCube, although the Kyoto-based manufacturer has scored success with handhelds, including Game Boy Advance and the more recent Nintendo DS, which comes with a touch-screen panel.

Analysts said initial shipments of the next-generation consoles are likely to sell out because supply isn't sufficient to keep up with demand from hard-core gamers.

Sony, which is planning to ship six million PlayStation 3 machines by the end of March 2007, has said it will only have 400,000 PS3 machines in the United States and 100,000 in Japan for their launches.

Nintendo plans to sell six million Wii consoles during the fiscal year ending March 2007 but has declined to say how many machines will be available on the first day.

Software manufacturers are also waiting for the shake-down, as consumers have held off on buying new games until they waited to see what was in the works with next-generation consoles.

Big names in the software business, including Electronics Arts Inc., reported slumping earnings, while others such as Namco in Japan, of PacMan fame, were forced into mergers.

"Each console is so unique, allowing consumers to pick and choose their way of enjoyment," Takashi Sensui, who heads Xbox operations in Japan, said.

"This is going to lead to a revitalization of the entire gaming industry."

Sensui said Microsoft is serious about pushing Xbox 360 in Japan, Sony's home turf, where Microsoft has long struggled and is investing heavily in role-playing games by star Japanese game designers, including "Blue Dragon."

Adam Sessler, a game expert with U.S. cable network G4 who was in Japan for the show, believes PlayStation 3 no longer has the leadership position it once had and is likely to face a tough job fighting rivals this time.

The pricing could hurt PS3 sales, Microsoft is planning attractive games for Xbox 360 and Wii is offering innovative entertainment, Sessler said.

"If you still don't know which console to get, wait and see," he said.

"Give it another year."

© The Canadian Press, 2006

Nissan says CEO Ghosn and GM's Wagoner to hold alliance talks this week

TOKYO (AP) - Carlos Ghosn, the head of Nissan and Renault, and General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner plan to hold talks this week in Paris as they continue to assess the possibility of an alliance among the three automakers, Nissan said Monday. "We can confirm that they will meet this week in Paris," Nissan spokeswoman Mihoko Takeda said. "But we are not providing any further details at this time."

Kyodo news agency said it was unclear whether the meeting would happen before the opening of the Paris Motor Show, which starts Thursday with a media preview.

In July, Detroit-based General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM), Renault SA of France and Nissan Motor Co. of Japan (Nasdaq:NSANY) announced a 90-day consideration of an alliance; the French and Japanese carmakers already have ownership links and share CEO Ghosn.

GM, stumbling amid intense competition from Asian rivals, has announced plans to close 12 plants by 2008, slash its workforce and cut costs.

The automakers are expected to decide by Oct. 15 whether to go ahead with a partnership, Kyodo said.

Over the weekend, the Yomiuri newspaper reported that the companies are unlikely to form a capital alliance because of reluctance on the part of GM, whose U.S. sales have shown recent signs of a recovery.

GM employees and union leaders have also voiced opposition to the possible capital linkup with the Nissan-Renault group, the report said, citing unidentified officials.

But the American company could still co-operate with the French-Japanese group in buying parts and materials, the report said.

Nissan has been making solid profits after a dramatic Ghosn-led turnaround, but recently acknowledged it has been selling fewer vehicles around the world because of a dearth of new models.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

CIBC to open more branches, boost credit-card balances to improve revenue

TORONTO (CP) - CIBC (TSX:CM) outlined plans to bolster its core retail operations Friday, saying it will open more branches in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia and raise credit-card limits to stimulate overall revenue growth. Canada's fifth-largest bank plans to move, expand or build 70 branches in those "high-growth" areas between 2007 and 2011, executives told an investor forum in Toronto.

"We have the second-largest branch network in Canada and we continue to build on this platform," said Sonia Baxendale, senior executive vice-president of CIBC Retail Markets.

CIBC currently has over nine million personal and commercial clients and a stable of 1,057 branches. It will now focus on courting more retirees and immigrants, particularly in the Toronto area, which continues to be the region of "greatest opportunity."

Toward that end, CIBC will also grow its credit-card portfolio, already the largest in Canada with $11.6 billion in outstanding balances.

Said Baxendale: "Going forward, we have a number of initiatives planned to increase client loyalty and market share."

The Toronto-based bank will ramp up its advertising push, while increasing cross-sell promotions and boosting credit limits for existing clients - all in an effort to encourage spending.

CIBC derives about 76 per cent of its revenue from its retail and wealth-management divisions, but executives acknowledged that revenue has improved at a slower rate than the industry.

"Our retail revenue has been affected first and foremost by our priority to improve the credit quality of our (loan) portfolio," said CEO Gerry McCaughey.

"Over time, we do expect the impact on retail revenue will be reduced as a higher quality loan portfolio grows from a stronger base."

Over the past year, CIBC has refined its credit adjudication criteria on underperforming products and increased its emphasis on secured lending.

At the end of July, secured loans and lines represented the majority of its personal lending portfolio. Its unsecured portfolio, meanwhile, has shifted toward higher quality accounts.

Nevertheless, CIBC has lost some market share as spot balances declined to $33.5 billion in the third quarter from $34.5 billion in the same period last year.

"Dealing with our unsecured lending portfolio has reduced our risk and loan losses. At the same time our risk posture has clearly had an impact on retail revenue growth in the short term," said McCaughey.

"However, our risk posture is completely in line with our strategy to reduce volatility and position CIBC for consistent and sustainable performance."

Retail revenues have also been pinched by shifting client preferences for fixed-rate mortgages from variable-rate products and stiff pricing competition from its domestic rivals.

Looking ahead, CIBC may also make acquisitions through its majority stake in FirstCaribbean International Bank, the largest regionally traded bank in the English-speaking Caribbean.

"We are very, very clear that we won't overpay," said FirstCaribbean chief executive Charles Pink. "If we can't make the numbers work, we will not acquire."

CIBC shares lost 27 cents to $84.06 during afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

“BIRTHDAYS AND OTHER TRAUMAS” World Premiere

at 25th Vancouver International Film Festival

Filmmaker Katie Yu (JUST SMILE AND NOD) is pleased to announce the World Premiere of her latest short film, BIRTHDAYS AND OTHER TRAUMAS, at this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival.

On his 12TH birthday, the perpetually bewildered Oscar Pitt imagines Mother’s homemade piñata is her Evil Twin which is alive and taunting him. But Evil Piñata Twin crosses the line when it ridicules Oscar’s flatulent Father) and it's now up to Oscar to defend the family honour, if not the family jewels. Oscar’s at bat and his courage is put to the test as he finally faces his fears!

Starring Brett Kelly (BAD SANTA), Beverley Elliott (UNFORGIVEN) and Peter Elliott (THE OVERCOAT).

Produced by NETWORK ENTERTAINMENT LTD. in association with DIRECTORS GUILD OF CANADA BC DISTRICT And BRITISH COLUMBIA FIM “Kick Start” Initiative.

Screenings: Sat. Sept 30th 3:30pm and Mon Oct 2nd 9:30pm
Venue: Pacific Cinematheque 1131 Howe St. Vancouver, BC
Ticket info: www.viff.org or 604 685-8297
Official website: www.katieyu.com

Pioneer sues Samsung over plasma-display patents

(CBC) - Pioneer Corp. said Monday it is suing Samsung SDI Co. for allegedly infringing on Pioneer's plasma-display technology patents.

Samsung SDI of South Korea, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. that makes flat-panel television sets, denied it was using Japanese electronics maker Pioneer's patents and said it would fight the lawsuit.

Tokyo-based Pioneer said in a statement it was seeking a court order to halt sales of allegedly infringing Samsung SDI products in the suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The company also plans to seek an unspecified amount of compensation for past infringement, it said.

The lawsuit also names several other Samsung companies. They were not identified in the statement.

Pioneer has been developing a suite of patents related to plasma-display technology and had been negotiating with SDI to license the portfolio since April 2005, the Japanese firm also said in the statement.

Last December, Samsung SDI Co. filed a lawsuit against Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. for alleged violation of patents related to plasma-screen technology.

With files from Associated Press

© the CBC, 2006

Sony cuts price of PlayStation 3 in Japan as video game wars heat up

TOKYO (AP) - Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE) said Friday it will slash the price of its much-anticipated PlayStation 3 video game console in Japan by 20 per cent, heating up the competition in the next-generation gaming war against rivals Microsoft and Nintendo.
The announcement comes just days after Microsoft Corp. announced that it would roll out an external high-definition DVD player for its Xbox 360 in an effort to match the PlayStation 3, due to be released in November with its own Blu-ray DVD technology.

Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi, speaking at the Tokyo Game Show in Makuhari, just east of Tokyo, said the move was in response to consumer complaints the console was too pricey.

Sony will cut the domestic price of its basic PlayStation 3 model to 47,600 yen, or about US$410, from an originally planned 59,800 yen, or $515. That puts the PlayStation 3 in the same range as the combined basic Xbox 360 and HD DVD player in Japan, where the duo will sell for 49,600 yen, or $427.

There are no plans to lower prices in the United States or other markets, Sony spokeswoman Nanako Kato said. In Japan, the game will hit stores on Nov. 11.

In the U.S., it will go on sale Nov. 17 at $499 for a 20-gigabyte hard drive version and at $599 for the 60 gigabyte version.

The decision could give Sony a badly needed boost at a time of embarrassing delays for the highly anticipated upgrade. Rival Nintendo Co. is also scheduled to release its next-generation Wii gaming system by year's end, while Xbox 360 has been selling in Japan since December 2005.

PlayStation 3, initially planned for earlier this year, has been postponed twice. Sony now expects to ship only two million units by year's end instead of an original projection of four million.

The price cut affects the basic PlayStation 3 model, which comes with a 20-gigabyte hard drive. Another upscale version of the PlayStation 3 will have a 60-gigabyte hard drive, but Sony is leaving its pricing to retailers.

Xbox 360 was rushed to market last year to get a head start on its rivals, but it has seen sluggish sales in Japan, which is one of the world's biggest video game markets but one in which players have a deep loyalty to homegrown Sony.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft's decision to launch an HD DVD peripheral in Japan on Nov. 22, based on a rival format to Sony's Blu-ray, is seen as one attempt to eat into that base. The basic Xbox 360 doesn't come with any high-definition DVD capability.

Nintendo said last week its new Wii game console will arrive on schedule in the final quarter of the year, priced below both rivals, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

VIFF bucks film biz trend

TONY MONTAGUE
Special to The Globe and Mail

The posters are up, the programs are out and, with just a few days to go before the first screenings, the buzz is mounting around town for the 25th edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival, which starts on Thursday.

The event draws about 150,000 movie buffs -- a figure second only in North America to the estimated 250,000 who attend the Toronto International Film Festival. And despite its relative lack of Hollywood glitz, the Vancouver event has clearly won over local cinephiles.

VIFF has come a long way since its creation in 1982, when it had just one venue, the Ridge Theatre, and no financial support from the public sector.

"We asked for a grant of $5,000 from Telefilm -- the only agency at the time funding such events -- and were refused," recalls Festival Cinemas president Leonard Schein, who helmed VIFF through its first four years. "We were told that if people in Vancouver wanted to attend a film festival in Canada, they should go to Montreal or Toronto. It was three years before we got any funding from a government agency."

Despite the economic challenges, VIFF grew rapidly, and in 1986, its special Expo edition featured 380 films spread over five weeks. The festival was already one of the city's premier cultural attractions.

Alan Franey, who took over as director in 1988, refers to "three pillars" of programming that have given VIFF its distinct character. Canadian productions were a strong presence from the beginning; East Asian movies emerged as a major focus from the mid-eighties onwards; and in the past decade, the number of non-fiction films screened has grown dramatically.

"Twenty years ago, you couldn't draw flies to even the best documentaries," Franey notes. "There was a real prejudice against them. Then a shift started, where many people -- not just me -- discovered that many of their festival favourites were non-fiction.

"The batting average for non-fiction is often very high. What's happened is that filmmakers have transcended its formal limitations. You get a lot of highly educated and very intelligent artists working in the medium -- people who have a trust in the cinematic language to present a full, rich picture of a subject that needs attention."

While the festival has always included commercially oriented movies from the major studios, Franey has never tried to make VIFF a celebrity and business destination in Toronto's mould.

"We don't need to do that. . . . It's important for people to realize this isn't just us being bloody-minded. . . . Why should taxpayers' money be spent on anything but providing access to good films that wouldn't otherwise be seen? We aim to emphasize new talent and provide a complementary opposite to what's on commercial screens the rest of the year."

VIFF doesn't go looking for new ways to be unique, Franey says -- its identity has evolved organically, in response to outside developments. At the same time, it's clear that he is prepared to buck trends and resist pressures.

"In the past 15 years, there's been a fundamental shift in the way films are shared internationally. It's less in the spirit of international exchange and more in the spirit of business. There's a general sense that government shouldn't be supporting culture. A lot of film agencies around the world have been eviscerated and replaced by private interests.

"I lament a lot of those changes. I think we're impoverished by the increasing dominance of the bottom line for everything. Filmmakers who aspire to art often have a very hard time finding an audience, and I think festivals are there to provide that service."

Franey sees another related role for VIFF, one that has increased over time. The 16-day event nurtures its own community of passionate cineastes.

"I always used to stress the fundamental relationship of filmmaker and audience at a festival. But what's equally important now, I think, is the primary connection between the people attending each year -- how they strike up conversations about the films, make friendships and have a strong sense of sharing. In a world where everything can be brought into our living rooms, that social and festive aspect is very important."

The Vancouver International Film Festival runs Sept. 28 to Oct. 13. For venue, schedule and ticket information, call 604-683-3456 or visit http://www.viff.org.

Japan launches rocket carrying sun observation satellite

TOKYO (AP) - Japan's space agency on Saturday launched an observation satellite into orbit around the Earth to study violent eruptions on the sun's surface and other solar phenomena. An M-V rocket carrying the satellite lifted off from Uchinoura in southwest Japan early Tuesday, according to a live Web broadcast by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA. The satellite split from the rocket and entered Earth orbit about an hour later, and was expected to start observations in about 10 days.

The 900-kilogram SOLAR-B satellite - dubbed Hinode, or sunrise in Japanese - was developed by Japan, the United States and Britain and incorporates a trio of telescopes designed to observe the sun's violent outer atmosphere, the characteristics of which still baffle scientists.

Researchers especially hope to discover why the outer reaches of the sun, with temperatures reaching two million to three million degrees Celsius, is far hotter than its surface temperature of about 6,000 degrees Celsius, according to JAXA executive Yasunori Motogawa.

"Many of the sun's properties are still a mystery," Motogawa said. "The satellite will stay in continuous sunlight for most of the year, so we're hopeful it can amass data that may help us understand the sun's energy better."

Hinode will also study solar flares and geomagnetic storms that cause the colourful auroras in the Earth's northern and southern hemispheres, he said. A major solar eruption can also interfere with radio signals and knock out satellites.

Though launched for an initial three-year mission, JAXA hopes Hinode, which is powered by solar cells, will stay in operation much longer - possibly for as long as 10 years, about the full duration of the solar activity cycle.

Hinode's launch follows a string of successes for Japan's space agency, which has struggled in the past.

The agency launched two H-2A rockets from the southern island of Tanegashima in January and February, each carrying observation satellites.

Japan is racing to catch up with China, a regional rival that has put astronauts into space twice since 2003, becoming only the third country to send a human into orbit on its own after Russia and the U.S.

Following Beijing's success, Japan - which put its first satellite in orbit in 1972 - said it was reconsidering its focus on unmanned missions and announced plans to send its first astronauts into space and set up a base on the moon by 2025.

Earlier this month, the agency launched its third intelligence-gathering satellite amid concerns over neighboring North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

Mehta's Water is Canada's official Oscar entry

JAMES ADAMS
The Globe and Mail

Toronto -- Deepa Mehta's Water, a worldwide critical and commercial smash, is Canada's great hope for the gold statuette for best foreign-language film at next year's Oscars.

Telefilm Canada this week forwarded Water, shot by Toronto-based Mehta in Sri Lanka and India, for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as Canada's official entry at the Oscars. There is, of course, no guarantee that the movie will make the shortlist of five, which is to be announced in January. A country may submit one film for foreign-film consideration.

Canada last took an Oscar for best foreign-language film in 2004, with Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions.

Convicted Air India bomber Reyat to go on trial for perjury

VANCOUVER (CP) - Convicted Air India bomb-maker Inderjit Singh Reyat will go to trial next May on perjury charges. Lawyers appeared in B.C. Supreme Court to set the date although they will return next month to confirm it before Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm.

Reyat was charged with perjury after his testimony in the trial of two men co-accused in the Air India case.

Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted in March 2005 of murder and conspiracy charges in the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182 that killed 329 people.

The indictment filed against Reyat in B.C. Supreme Court lists 27 times where he allegedly misled the court during his testimony in September 2003.

Reyat is currently serving a five-year sentence for manslaughter as part of a plea agreement for the deaths of those killed after the bomb exploded aboard the plane on June 23, 1985.

He could spend a maximum of 14 years in prison if convicted of perjury.

Before that, Reyat served 10 years for a blast at Tokyo's Narita airport the same day as Flight 182.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

TSAR Publications is proud to present The Palm Leaf Fan and Other Stories

From crumbling shops in Chinatown to decaying tanneries in Tangra, Kwai-yun Li’s collection of short stories expose us to the sights, sounds, and smells of a marginalized community in post-colonial Calcutta.

We peek into Wong’s Shoe Shop, where a mother arranges a marriage for her six-year-old daughter. We stop at a school for girls, where the principal singles out students who have large breasts for punishment. We pause by a temple guarded by a billy goat where family drama rages. We rally with politicians while monsoon rain drenches us. We relax under waving palms while the setting sun shimmers over the surface of the Tangra fishponds.

Li's sensitivity and quirky sense of humour will keep us wanting to return to the ghetto, again and again.

Kwai-yun Li ’s Hakka parents emigrated from Moi-yen , China to Calcutta , India , where Li was born. She grew up in Chattawalla Gully, in the old part of the city. She came to Canada through an arranged marriage and became an accountant. Li received a Canada Council writing grant in 1998.Currently studying Professional Writing at the University of Toronto , she co-authored A Kiss Beside the Monkey Bars.

For information on this and other titles by TSAR,
please visit our website: www.tsarbooks.com

'Jet Li's Fearless' may leave Li's fans wishing for something more: review

(CP) - How fearless is Jet Li? He's intrepid enough to say that "Jet Li's Fearless" will be the last of his martial-arts films, a farewell to the genre that made him an international star. Though "Fearless", filled with dazzling fight sequences, was a passion project for Li, his career might have been better served with the glorious "Hero" as his martial-arts swan song.

"Hero" had it all: masterful action, rich characters, a riveting story structure and the grandest of drama. "Fearless" is merely adequate by comparison, a tale propelled almost entirely by its action, with a passable but predictable story of disgrace and redemption stuffed between its combat scenes.

A Chinese martial-arts champion in his teens, Li had been itching to tell the story of Huo Yuanjia, an idol and inspiration who laid the groundwork for the modern incarnation of the sport in the early 1900s.

Directed by Ronny Yu, a Hong Kong filmmaker whose English-language flicks include "Bride of Chucky" and "Freddy vs. Jason," "Fearless" casts Li as the brash Huo, whose father is a martial-arts master.

Initially a sickly, asthmatic child, Huo studies his father's moves in secret, gradually improving his health and stamina and becoming a ferocious competitive fighter.

The young Huo has the skills but not the philosophy of restraint, discipline and inner peace that guide the best martial-arts practitioners. Huo's a boozy partier who revels in the adoration of his followers and desperately needs to show the world he's the best.

The thin story of "Fearless" unfolds as a standard hero-rising-from-his-own-ashes tale. Huo's brazenness and brutality lead him to tragedy, followed by a period of exile in the wilderness where he conveniently falls in with sturdy rural folks who teach him the value of selflessness, mercy and gratitude for the simple things.

Huo returns stronger than ever, establishing the Jingwu Sports Federation whose martial-arts practices remain a huge influence on the sport today. He also competes in a showdown against four international opponents to lift the spirits of the Chinese, who have become second-class citizens in their own country amid Western and Japanese influences.

When Li is not fighting, "Fearless" lumbers through its dramatic scenes, sequences focused on the sports federation's formation coming off as especially dry and dull. Yu and screenwriters Chris Chow and Christine To treat the presence of outsiders superficially, the foreigners presented as caricatured villains whose incursions into China are abrupt and unexplained in the film's context.

Li continues to show increasing depth as an actor, though the role calls mainly for a few extremes of haughtiness and sorrow woven around a facade of zen equanimity.

His fight scenes are fast and furious, yet because they take place largely in competitive rings, they end up feeling constrained and far less organic than the remarkable action of "Hero."

While he intends to keep making action movies, Li has said he wants to focus more on family-oriented and philosophical stories rather than the martial-arts epics that launched his career, such as "Once Upon a Time in China" and "Fist of Legend."

"Fearless" is an OK way to say goodbye, but its stagy fight choreography may just leave Li's fans wishing for something more.

Two and a half stars out of four.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

More TV sets than people in the average American home now: Nielsen

NEW YORK (AP) - The average American home now has more television sets than people. That threshold was crossed within the past two years, according to Nielsen Media Research. There are 2.73 TV sets in the typical home and 2.55 people. With televisions now on buses, elevators and in airport lobbies, that development may have as much to do with TV's ubiquity as an appliance as it does conspicuous consumption. The popularity of flat-screen TVs now make it easy to put sets where they haven't been before.

Rick Melen, a facilities manager, has three sets in the Somers, N.Y., home he shares with his wife. That doesn't count the bathroom set that broke down and hasn't been replaced or the speakers installed near their hot tub, allowing them to watch a wide screen set through a window.

"It's really just a matter of where your living takes place, what rooms you tend to spend your time in," Melen said on Thursday. "Other appliances you can move from room to room but if you have cable, you can't move a television."

His wife might want to watch something while she's cooking while he's got a baseball game on downstairs, he said.

Half of American homes have three or more TVs, and only 19 per cent have just one, Nielsen said. In 1975, 57 per cent of homes had only a single set and 11 per cent had three or more, the company said.

David and Teresa Leon of Schenectady, N.Y. and their four-year-old twins have seven sets, plus an eighth they haven't set up yet. They include TVs in both the parents' and kids' bedrooms, the family and living rooms and one in the kitchen that is usually turned to a news station.

"No one ever sits down for more than a few seconds in this house," said Teresa, a stenographer. "This way you can watch TV while you're moving from room to room, folding laundry or taking care of the kids."

In the average home, a television set is turned on for more than a third of the day - eight hours, 14 minutes, Nielsen said. That's an hour more than it was a decade ago. Most of that extra TV viewing is coming outside of prime time, where TVs are on only four minutes more than they were 10 years ago.

The average person watches four hours, 35 minutes of television each day, Nielsen said.

While people are watching more television, ratings for the big broadcast networks have declined steadily. That's a function of the greater number of channel choices available in each home, the company said.

One new Nielsen finding - that young people aged 12 to 17 watched three per cent more television during the season that ended in May than they had the previous year - is a particular relief to TV network executives.

For a few years, Nielsen had been finding that TV viewing among teenagers was flat or even declining, a trend blamed on the Internet or the popularity of electronic games and other devices.

"There are just more opportunities for them to watch whatever they want to watch," said Patricia McDonough, Nielsen's senior vice president of planning policy and analysis.

Oddly, one of the driving factors is teenage girls watching more TV late at night or early in the morning, she said.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

FREE CONTEMPORARY ART BUS TOUR

Sunday, October 1, 2006
12:00 noon - 5:30 pm

Bus departs the Textile Museum of Canada (55 Centre Ave.) at 12:30 pm to Doris McCarthy Gallery, The Koffler Gallery and Blackwood Gallery - come early and catch a tour of Fray at the Textile Museum of Canada at 12 noon.

To reserve a seat, please call the Doris McCarthy Gallery at 416.287.7007 by September 29 . This event is FREE.

Textile Museum of Canada
The Koffler Gallery

Fray
Textile Museum of Canada July 13, 2006 to January 7, 2007
The Koffler Gallery July 13 to October 13, 2006
Curators Sarah Quinton (Textile Museum of Canada) and Carolyn Bell Farrell (The Koffler Gallery)

Featuring sculptural installations, photo-based and mixed-media works by Therese Bolliger, Millie Chen, June Clark, Hannah Claus, Susan Detwiler, Rachel Echenberg, Doug Guildford, Cal Lane, Sarah Maloney, Luanne Martineau, David Merritt, Allyson Mitchell, Nadia Myre, Kim Ouellette, Kathryn Ruppert-Dazai, Liz Sargent, Susan Schelle, Sarah Stevenson and Jeannie Thib

Artists at the Koffler Gallery: Thérèse Bolliger (Toronto); Cal Lane (New York State);, Susan Schelle (Toronto); Sarah Stevenson (Montreal); Jeannie Thib (Toronto)

Artists at the Textile Museum of Canada: Millie Chen (Ridgeway, ON); June Clark (Toronto); Hannah Claus (Montreal); Rachel Echenberg (Montreal); Doug Guildford (Toronto); Kathryn Ruppert-Dazai (Toronto); Sarah Maloney (Halifax); Luanne Martineau (Victoria); Kim Ouellette (Georgia)

Artists at both venues: Susan Detwiler (Moffat, ON); David Merritt (London, ON); Allyson Mitchell (Toronto); Nadia Myre (Montreal); Liz Sargent (Ferndale, MI)

Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto Scarborough
Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky
September 13 to October 22, 2006

Textile Museum of Canada
55 Centre Ave (Dundas & University), Toronto
416.599.5321
www.textilemuseum.ca

The Koffler Gallery
Koffler Centre of the Arts
4588 Bathurst Street, Toronto
416.636.1880 ext. 268
www.bjcc.ca/koffler_gallery.html

Doris McCarthy Gallery
University of Toronto Scarborough
1265 Military Trail, Toronto
416.287.7007
www.utsc.utoronto.ca/dmg

Blackwood Gallery
University of Toronto Mississauga
3359 Mississauga Rd. N., Mississauga
905.828.3789
www.utm.utoronto.ca/services/gallery

Sony BMG settles over anti-piracy measures that opened computers to viruses

TORONTO (CP) - Music fans who bought CDs loaded with anti-piracy software that opened their computers to hackers and viruses have won compensation from Sony BMG.
An Ontario court approved a settlement deal Thursday that has the music giant offering $8.40, a replacement CD and free downloads of selected CDs to hundreds of thousands of customers who bought the affected discs.

Details on eligibility and benefits are on the Sony BMG website at www.sonybmg.ca. Those seeking compensation must fill out a form at the site or download the form and mail it to a Sony BMG administrator.

The settlement, which applies to all affected customers in Canada except those in Quebec and British Columbia, is similar to one reached in the United States earlier this year, said lawyer Harvey Strosberg, who represented customers in the Ontario class action.

"This was a case that was always about behavioural modification and I think that this was a good result for the Canadian public," Strosberg said, noting that Sony BMG promised not to use the offending software and that any future anti-piracy programs would be vetted for possible privacy infractions.

Lawyer Jason Young said those promises expire in 2008.

"What we're hoping is, that ... Sony BMG will have learned its lesson by that point," said Young, who represented the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) in the case.

Strosberg suspected the same terms would be extended to proposed settlements in two class-action lawsuits filed in Quebec and British Columbia. Settlement approval hearings have been scheduled for Sept. 28 in Montreal and Sept. 29 in Victoria.

A statement issued by Sony BMG said simply that the company was "delighted" the Ontario Superior Court settlement had been approved.

Dozens of lawsuits emerged in Canada and the United States after it was revealed that Sony BMG sold millions of copy-protected CDs worldwide that contained software known as XCP and MediaMax which effectively acted as spyware.

When an encoded CD was played on a computer, XCP surreptitiously placed what's known as a "rootkit" on Microsoft Windows PCs, rendering the computer vulnerable to attack by hackers and viruses.

The technology was also able to read and transmit IP addresses, thereby identifying the user and sending personal information back to Sony BMG, said CIPPIC's executive director Philippa Lawson.

The music company could then use that information to go after illegal file-sharers in Canada, said Lawson, whose group monitors policy and law-making on issues arising out of new technologies.

Thursday's settlement included promises by Sony BMG to destroy any personal information gathered through the software, said Strosberg.

Lawson, who had yet to see the final settlement agreement as of Thursday afternoon, said her group filed complaints earlier that day with the federal competition bureau and several consumer protection agencies accusing the music giant of violating privacy and consumer rights.

"We want the privacy commissioners to step in and clarify Sony BMG's obligations with respect to this personal information," she said.

Young said the settlement had no impact on CIPPIC's attempts to bring further scrutiny to Sony BMG's controversial tactics.

About 80,000 music CDs encoded with XCP were sold in Canada, while roughly 1.4 million CDs sold contained MediaMax. The CDs included selected music by artists including Ray Charles, Kasabian, Sloan, Alicia Key s and Roseanne Cash.

Sony BMG began encoding XCP into music CDs sold worldwide in March 2005, and MediaMax software in 2003.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

IBM to establish new software development center in India

NEW DELHI (AP) - IBM Corp. (NYSE:IBM) announced Thursday it will establish a new software development centre in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta, creating 3,000 jobs. The centre is expected to deliver Web-based technologies and business consulting, the company said in a statement. It didn't say when the centre would be fully operational or how much IBM plans to invest in it.

IBM Corp. has been aggressively expanding its Indian workforce, growing from 38,500 workers in December 2005 to 43,000 in June this year, the statement said.

The Calcutta centre will house IBMs second-largest pool of workers after Bangalore, India's key information technology hub in the southern state of Karnataka.

"Our new facility in Calcutta will further augment our vast global delivery network that spans three dozen countries, including India," said Shanker Annaswamy, managing director of IBM India.

IBM will also launch its continuing education program for the first time in India, enabling science graduates in West Bengal state to train with the company to receive a masters degree.

"Our exponential growth in Calcutta is a testimony to our commitment to develop India as a key location for our global delivery capabilities," said Amitabh Ray, vice-president of IBM India's consulting and application services.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

Thailand's military rulers to investigate, possibly seize, fallen PM's assets

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thailand's military rulers will investigate the vast assets of toppled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and confiscate those he may have gained from corruption and abuse of power during his nearly six years in office, a high-ranking official said Saturday. Members of Thaksin's family have stayed behind in Thailand although the former leader remains in London, an official said, amid speculation they want to protect a family fortune that soared in value after the telecoms tycoon-turned-politician took office in early 2001.

"We will investigate his assets and use existing laws to confiscate them and money he gained from corruption and abuse of power. The assets and money he had before he became prime minister will not be touched," said the well-placed official who demanded anonymity because the investigation has not yet been made public.

At the same time, the military reiterated Saturday that Thaksin can return home.

"We still consider him a Thai citizen and he is welcome to return to Thailand," a spokesman for the coup leaders, Lt. Gen. Palanggoon Klaharn, told a news conference.

He said telephone tapping had been banned and violators would face severe penalties. The spokesman declined to give reasons for the move, but Thaksin's regime was accused earlier of tapping the phones of opponents, including a number of senior figures in the country.

Palanggoon criticized some foreign reporting on the coup, including articles regarded as insulting to the monarchy, saying the Foreign Ministry would take "proactive steps to correct false perceptions."

The country's ruling military council, which toppled Thaksin on Tuesday in a swift, bloodless coup, faces a host of urgent tasks including restoration of peace in southern Thailand, where a Muslim insurgency has killed more than 1,700 people.

On Saturday, four police officers were injured in the first attack since the coup, when a bomb exploded along a road in Pattani province as they prepared security ahead of a visit later in the day by Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, said police Capt. Thaweesak Thengworawith.

With Thaksin's ouster, many in Thailand are hoping some headway can be made in quelling the bloody separatist insurgency since Thaksin's iron-fisted policies in the south were seen as exacerbating the rebellion. Coup leader and army commander Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin - himself a Muslim - is expected to be more flexible in dealing with the rebels.

A spokesman for the ruling group said Thaksin's wife Pojamarn and two of his children remained in the Thai capital.

"They all have the basic right to stay and lead normal lives here. They are living in freedom and without any disturbance, control or restrictions," Palanggoon told The Associated Press. The Nation newspaper speculated that Pojamarn, known to have wielded powerful influence on her husband, stayed behind to protect some of the family fortune.

Thaksin remains in London with his third child, a daughter.

An official close to Thaksin's family said his son Phantongtae, 26, was still living in the family residence while his wife and second daughter were at a "safe house" in an air force compound under the protection of Kongsak Watana, the former interior minister and one-time air force commander.

The official, who demanded anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said Pojamarn would remain in Thailand until at least next week when her daughter takes her final examination at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

Asked about the investigation into Thaksin's assets, Klanarong Chanthik, a member of a nine-member anti-corruption commission appointed Friday, told AP, "At this moment the National Counter Corruption Commission is empowered to perform its duty within the framework of the law . . . I can't make comment on any specific case."

Thaksin's family was among the wealthiest in Thailand, and in 2004 the American magazine Forbes ranked Thaksin as the 16th richest man in Southeast Asia. In January, the then prime minister sold the centrepiece of his empire - telecoms giant Shin Corp. - to Singapore's state investment company, Temasek Holdings, for US$1.9 billion.

The head of the country's central bank, Pridiyathorn Devakul, was quoted in The Nation as saying that the proceeds from the sale were probably still in the country.

"I estimate that no large amount of Thai baht has been converted into overseas currencies. However, I don't know whether the money could have been packed in suitcases and taken abroad," he said.

Palanggoon said Friday that the ruling military council would work to eliminate "loopholes" in a new constitution. The 1997 constitution, which the coup makers scrapped, was supposed to usher in democratic reforms, but instead allowed Thaksin to accrue great powers for himself.

The coup, carried out while Thaksin was abroad, met no open resistance, and was generally welcomed by the public in Bangkok, where tens of thousands of people demonstrated earlier this year seeking Thaksin's resignation for alleged corruption and abuse of power.

The military announced it would hand over power in two weeks to an interim civilian prime minister, and that a new election would be held by October next year.

It has assumed all security, administrative and legislative powers and placed restrictions on the media, instructing news organizations to co-operate in maintaining order.

The military council also announced it has appointed nine people to a reconstituted anti-corruption commission to investigate wrongdoing by the Thaksin government.

The revived National Counter Corruption Commission includes Klanarong, who was secretary general of the anti-graft body in 2001 when it unsuccessfully prosecuted Thaksin for allegedly concealing assets.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

South Korea picks gay-themed 'King and the Clown' for Oscar bid

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea has picked a gay-themed movie that became an unexpected box office hit as its candidate for the best foreign film category at the Academy Awards, the country's state-run film agency said Thursday. "King and the Clown," a tale about an effeminate male clown caught between the affections of a despotic king and the love of a fellow performer, is the No. 2 film in all-time ticket sales in South Korea. It only lost the top spot this month to "The Host," a thriller about a family's fight against a mutant monster.

The Korean Film Council said it reviewed the two films and another - "Time" by internationally renowned director Kim Ki-duk - and decided to pick "King and the Clown" because it was believed to have a better c