I am stickler about my children not watching movies or television shows containing guns/shoot 'em up scenes. I would rather them watch a couple engaged in intercourse than an image of a person firing a weapon. For the most part it seems that the movies they watch are fairly rated when it comes to my requirements. However, it appears that there could soon be new hurdles for studios to jump through to get a desired rating. It seems smoking scenes will be part of the list taken into account when a movie rating is issued; movies with smoking scenes would receive more restrictive ratings than those without smoking.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is uncomfortable with the fact that smoking is increasingly becoming a socially unacceptable past time. With the concern of underage smoking in mind, the MPAA will review films with these questions in mind:

1. Is the smoking pervasive throughout the film?
   
2. Does the film glamorize smoking?
   
3. Does the historical content of the film merit a smoking scene?

I have to admit I have not given smoking in the movies a lot of thought. I do sometimes wonder if the actor smokes in real life or if he/she took it up for the role. I will be curious to see where this effort goes. What do you think? Good idea?

With over 30 celebrities including actor Cheech Marin, NFL MVP John Elway, World Series of Poker Champion Mel Judah, Hall of Fame Philly Mike Schmidt, Cock Blocker Clothing creator Mark James is raising money for the Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3Day Breast Cancer Foundation fundraiser by holding an eBay auction of celebrity-autographed Cock Blocker Clothing items. The auction is live now and will run through October 1, 2006 8PM (PST).

Supporting breast cancer research is personal for James of Cock Blocker Clothing, whose mother survives her own diagnosis of breast cancer. He wants to help other women who are going through the same struggles as his mother in contributing to something that can make a positive difference.

In addition to the celebrity-autographed Cock Blocker Clothing online eBay auction, James will be participating in Philadelphia's Breast Cancer 3Day fundraiser, where participants will walk 60 miles in three days, with each participant raising at least $10,000 dollars for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

To help with the cause, you can bid on celebrity-autographed Cock Blocker Clothing during the eBay auction, or donate directly to the 3Day event. The Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3Day Walk will take place on October 4 through the 6th.

"Please remember, all of us have the power to change lives and contribute to society," states James. Visit to learn more about the Cock Blocker Clothing fight against breast cancer.

Japanese-American actor Mako Iwamatsu, who received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor when he played the Chinese character Po-ha in the 1966 movie The Sand Pebbles, is credited for Hollywood's acceptance of Asian-Americans as serious actors, not merely caricatures or stereotypes. Last Friday, Mako died of esophageal cancer.

During Mako's career in film and theater, he co-founded the first Asian-American theater company, East West Players, where he trained aspiring actors and playwrights. Mako had roles in the films Conan the Barbarian, Seven Years in Tibet, Pearl Harbor and the Japanese film Owls Castle.

Mako was the voice of evil demon Aku in the animated series Samurai Jack, and as the parody of Aku, Achoo, in Duck Dodgers, as well as Uncle Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

According to artistic director Tim Dang of East West Players, "If it wasn't for Mako there wouldn't have been Asian-American theater. He is revered as sort of the godfather of Asian-American theater." Born in Kobe, Japan, Mako was the son of noted children's book author and illustrator Taro Yashima. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Mako was 72.

Diahann Carroll, an actress who started her career back in the 50s, and Oscar nominee who has starred in such TV shows as Dynasty, will be reaching out to older women in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness and the breast cancer risks they face. Carroll, who was diagnosed at the age of 63, spoke with CBS The Early Show's Julie Chen about the shock of being diagnosed with breast cancer when she had no family history for the disease. At the time, she said she was much more concerned about preventing age-related diabetes and heart disease.

According to recent surveys, so are most postmenopausal women. The results of a new Harris Interactive survey of nearly 20,000 women revealed that only 37 percent of women 55 or older are concerned about developing breast cancer as they age. The findings also show that three out of every four women don't know that being over 50 is the greatest risk for developing breast cancer. In fact, most women believe that the greatest risk factors are having a family member with the disease and inherited genetic mutations.

Carroll has been hired by Eli Lilly as the spokesperson for the launch the Strength in Knowing: The Facts and Fiction of Breast Cancer Risk campaign and website created to educate postmenopausal women about the real breast cancer risk factors. In the new fall TV season, Carroll will become a part of Grey's Anatomy. She would not give Chen any details. You can watch The CBS The Early Show interview with Carroll here.

Thank You For Smoking is a satirical movie featuring a cast of tobacco industry characters including a mass murderer, pimp, profiteer, and bloodsucker. The Ulster Foundation, UCF, a cancer charity, would like everyone to go see this movie when it comes to town.

According to Ulster Cancer Foundation's Gerry McElwee, ''For over 30 years UCF has been lobbying for stronger tobacco control measures and informing people about the dangers of smoking. This film shows, in a very clever way, how the tobacco industry deals in ill health and death and is expertly skilled in spin and double talk.

The film works so well because it uses dark comedy to highlight the reality of the tobacco industry – the importance of making money. I think it's fair to say that few smokers realize the multi-billion dollar industry their habit is feeding. I wish Thank You for Smoking had been made years ago because it highlights the lengths that tobacco companies will go to, to promote their products.''

I must confess I haven't seen the movie starring Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy and Robert Duvall yet, but I did find Thank You For Smoking director Jason Reitman's blog, the Thank You For Smoking website with movie trailer, and the Thank You For Smoking blogroll & spin contests.

In a feature published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Julietta Jameson asks the same question many of us have asked -- Is the compassionate celebrity the new public pest? If you are talking about Paris Hilton's insatiable self-promotion in grabbing one more photo-op by making a shallow meaningless promise to a charity for kids with cancer, the answer is a resounding yes. If you are talking about U2's Bono, who regularly meets with world leaders and often knows far more about the subject under discussion than the politicians do, then the answer is an emphatic no.

Then there are all the celebrities who fall between the extremes of Hilton and Bono, who lend their name and some of their time, for noble reasons and then too for the less-admirable ambition of keeping themselves in the news, to causes that need attention for the fundraising needed to keep the charity or cause going.

Can you teach empathy and compassion? If you are a parent, the answer is yes. As a parent, you teach empathy and compassion to your children by the example of treating them with empathy and compassion; and in involving them in acts of compassion in the care for others. I believe caring for a pet in the home is one of the traditional ways of helping children learn empathy and compassion. Another is family participation in volunteerism and community-betterment projects.

Can you teach empathy and compassion to medical students as a university course? Medical schools are willing to try, and are hiring actors to train doctors good bedside manners when they have to give bad news. "A lot of these medical students are brainiacs who can absorb all the information they learn in class, but they don't know how to talk to people,'' says Joshua Stager, program coordinator at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York.

I think that is an over-generalization, and slightly less-than-generous statement in reference to the character and demeanor of all medical students -- but then again -- if you have watched the television show House, maybe a course in bedside manner is a very good thing for some medical students. Medical schools see enough of a need for education in empathy and compassion they are requiring these classes as part of medical training. Interestingly, a new section of a medical student's national licensing exam now includes tests on bedside manner.