Saturday, November 5, 2011

Shakira is Scheduled to Receive Her Own Star in Hollywood?s Walk Of Fame

This post is about Shakira is Scheduled to Receive Her Own Star in Hollywood?s Walk Of Fame, you can find updated information for November in this Shakira is Scheduled to Receive Her Own Star in Hollywood?s Walk Of Fame titled article.



Colombian singer Shakira is scheduled to get her very own star on Sunday, just a few hrs ahead of becoming honored together with the ?Person from the Year? award, as a part of the 2011 Latin Grammys ceremony.

In a ceremony to happen Sunday, across the street in the W Hollywood Hotel in California, Colombian singer Shakira are going to be presented with her very own star within the Hollywood stroll of fame.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce posted the news on its web site Tuesday in addition to an considerable biography and checklist of accomplishments from the singer, the most beneficial promoting Colombian artist of all time.

Only just a few hrs following obtaining her star, Shakira is going to be is going to be honored in the 12th annual Tribute Gala in Las Vegas for her artistic and philanthropic contributions; close friends of Shakira and internationally renowned artists will spend tribute to their pal by singing her songs throughout the gala.

Shakira will develop into the youngest individual to ever obtain the ?Latin Grammy Man or woman in the Year Award.?

She is nominated for 3 Latin Grammys, so do not miss the award display subsequent Tuesday on Univision.

Shakira

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Friday, November 4, 2011

What to watch in Nicaragua's election Sunday

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is poised to easily win the race, despite many claims that it is unconstitutional for him to run for re-election.

Two pieces of analysis you should know about the Nicaragua election this Sunday

Skip to next paragraph

1. President Ortega is the favorite to legitimately win the most votes in the Nov. 6 election in Nicaragua. He leads in all the polls. Barring a 10 point swing in the final week or a 15 point hidden "gueguense" vote (both are possible, but not likely) the president should win in the first round by a decent margin. Why is he leading? The economy is doing relatively well and many people feel they are doing better today than they were five years ago. It certainly helps Ortega that the opposition has been divided, run a poor campaign and has uninspiring leadership

2. President Ortega has rigged the system to help him win the election. He has used his control over the courts to run for reelection in spite of constitutional restrictions. He has maintained control of the Supreme Electoral Council and left in a corrupt official to run it. The government has been selective with distributing new identity cedulas, creating controversy. The government is not allowing full international observation, only "accompaniment." A number of local civil society organizations say they are unable to properly monitor the election given the government restrictions. Recently, the government has threatened to disqualify a number of opposition candidates for Congress, which could create a controversy in the weeks following the election.

The combination of those two points raises a pretty clear question, one that is hard for many outside observers to understand: Why would Ortega bend the rules and manipulate institutions if he's capable of winning fairly?

  1. He wants to be certain to win. Ortega led all the polls in 1990, only to lose on election day. He doesn't want that to happen to him again.
  2. He wants to win big. It's not enough to just barely squeeze a win past a divided opposition as he did in 2006. Ortega wants to win big to claim a mandate for his policies.
  3. He wants to win at all levels. It's not enough to just win the presidency. He wants to fully control the legislature as well as the courts and local levels of government. Ortega understands the importance of controlling all levels of government (which also explains the electoral fraud in the 2008 municipal elections), not just creating a super-empowered executive branch.

Here's what to watch on Sunday:

  1. Does Ortega win in the first round as expected and by how large of a margin?
  2. How does the opposition respond to an Ortega victory? Some have threatened to protest the problems with the election, However, they will have a hard time arguing that the presidency was "stolen," given that Ortega is expected to win a plurality of votes.
  3. In the event that Fabio Gadea wins enough votes to force a second round, how does Ortega respond?
  4. What happens to the Congress?
  5. Are there allegations of fraud and are they credible?
  6. How are domestic and international groups attempting to observe the election treated and are they restricted?
  7. What are the statements from the US and European countries who condemned the 2008 municipal elections and cut off aid in response to that event? Do they accept Ortega's victory fully, with some hesitation or not at all? Do they offer to return some aid or do they threaten to cut even more?

Additionally, the story will continue beyond Sunday night. The court battles over candidates and ballot counting will take time, even if the initial election results are announced and accepted.
?
Additional items to read: BBC, McClatchy, TicoTimes and be sure to check out The Nicaragua Dispatch and Confidencial for more coverage of everything going on.

--- James Bosworth is a freelance writer and consultant who runs Bloggings by Boz.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of Latin America bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/2hlN9cTHK5E/What-to-watch-in-Nicaragua-s-election-Sunday

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Bank of America backs down on $5 debit card fee

This photo taken Oct. 14, 2011, shows a customer at a Bank of America ATM in Hialeah, Fla. Bank of America Corp. is scrapping its plans to charge a $5 monthly debit card fee. The bank's decision to drop the fee came after a roar of customer outrage in recent weeks over the fee. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

This photo taken Oct. 14, 2011, shows a customer at a Bank of America ATM in Hialeah, Fla. Bank of America Corp. is scrapping its plans to charge a $5 monthly debit card fee. The bank's decision to drop the fee came after a roar of customer outrage in recent weeks over the fee. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

In this photo taken Nov. 1, 2011, Molly Katchpole, a 22-year-old Washington D.C. resident, started an online petition asking Bank of America to cancel its $5 debit card fee. The petition had more than 306,000 supporters by Tuesday when the Bank Of America announced plans to scrap the fee. (AP Photo/Jess Kutch)

Bank of America Corp. is scrapping its plan to charge a $5 monthly fee for debit card purchases after outraged customers threatened an exodus.

The about-face comes as customers across the country petitioned the bank and mobilized to close their accounts in favor of credit unions and community banks. The outcry prompted other major banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., to cancel trial tests of their own debit card fees.

Bank of America, the nation's second largest bank, said it reversed course after listening to customers. Anne Pace, a spokeswoman for Bank of America, declined to say whether there was a spike in account closures following the September announcement that it would start charging the fee early next year.

Higher fees have become a fact of life for bank customers in recent years. But this one touched a nerve because it hit so close to home; many Americans have come to rely on debit cards to manage essential expenses such as groceries and gas.

At the same time, there's still lingering resentment over the role that banks played in the 2008 financial meltdown and the ongoing home foreclosure crisis. That anger has come to surface in recent weeks with the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The banks have countered by saying that efforts in the past two years to regulate the industry have forced them to raise or introduce new fees to stay profitable. That made the march to higher fees seem almost inevitable ? and makes the rare victory by consumers in this case even more remarkable.

"When I heard about the fee, it was the last straw for me," said Molly Katchpole, a 22-year-old nanny whose online petition urging Bank of America to drop the debit fee captured more than 300,000 signatures. "I'm living paycheck to paycheck and one more fee was just too much."

Katchpole said she already closed her account and moved her money to a community bank in Washington, D.C. For her, the damage has been done. She said Bank of America's decision won't win her back.

It's still too early to say whether the bank's gross miscalculation of consumer sentiment will have a lasting impact. But Bank of America is also dealing with a host of other troubles, including the potential for large mortgage-related settlements to drain its capital and plans to cut 30,000 jobs to reduce expenses. Last quarter, the company lost its standing as the nation's largest bank by deposits to Chase.

The news of the debit card fee meanwhile drew criticism from even President Barack Obama and sparked a movement called "Bank Transfer Day" that urged customers to close their accounts by this Saturday.

"This is Bank of America's Netflix moment," said Mark Schwanhausser, a banking analyst with Javelin Strategy & Research. "It misjudged what consumers would bear. It was the wrong fee at the wrong time." The bank's actions echo the reversal of Netflix to split its DVD-by-mail and streaming video services after vehement consumer complaints.

The uproar over a potential debit card fee was particularly strong because it's fundamentally a fee for customers to access their own cash at a time when consumers are trying to cut back on borrowing, he said.

Diane Abela, a 38-year-old Manhattan resident, said she had been waiting to see if Bank of America would back down on its plan before closing her account.

"I'm unemployed and $5 makes a big difference," said Abela, who learned of the bank's reversal just before heading into a job interview. "When you're working on a budget every week, it's the last thing you need."

Unlike Chase and Wells Fargo, Bank of America's announcement that it would start charging customers a monthly debit card fee came without any testing in the marketplace.

Pace, Bank of America's spokeswoman, said the decision to roll out the fee was instead based on internal customer surveys. She declined to detail the nature of those surveys but said that in the past couple of weeks "customer sentiment changed.

The high-profile retreat could signal that the specter of a debit card fee has been extinguished for the time being. But it doesn't mean customers won't continue to see higher fees elsewhere.

This past spring, for example, Bank of America raised the monthly fee on its basic checking account to $12, from $8.95. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank is also testing a new menu of checking accounts with monthly fees ranging from $6 to $25 in select states. Pace said the pilot program is getting good results and that the bank plans to move ahead with its rollout sometime next year.

Other, smaller fees may be nicking away at customer accounts as well. In September, the bank instituted a $5 fee to replace debit cards, with overnight rush delivery costing $20. Both services had previously been free.

Chase and Citi also hiked fees on their basic checking accounts this year, to $12 and $10, respectively. Chase said it will end a test in Georgia of a basic checking account that charged an even higher $15 monthly fee, however.

And like many other banks, Wells Fargo ended its debit rewards program earlier this year.

In rolling out such unwelcome changes, banks have largely blamed a new federal regulation championed by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. The law, which went into effect last month, caps the amount banks can charge merchants whenever customers swipe their debit cards.

JPMorgan has said it would lose $300 million each quarter as a result of the regulation; Wells Fargo said it would lose $250 million a quarter.

For now, Bank of America said it doesn't have any new fee hikes in the works to make up the lost revenue. "We will continue to initiate moves that mitigate loss revenue," Pace said. She added that the bank will also introduce products that "bring us more business from customers and reward them for doing so."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-01-Debit%20Fees-About%20Face/id-5c011f7d6a6e45adbb63a7929512edad

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Herman Cain Sexual Harassment Accuser Speaks Anonymously

WASHINGTON -- GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain faces accusations from a third woman, who considered filing a complaint against him over sexually suggestive remarks and gestures.

The allegations are similar to accusations of unwanted behavior that led to separate settlements in the late 1990s with two other women who went on to pursue successful careers after leaving the organization Cain once headed.

The latest allegations come from a woman who said in interviews with The Associated Press that Cain was aggressive and inappropriate with her, even extending a private invitation to his corporate apartment when she worked with him at the National Restaurant Association. The woman said Cain's behavior occurred at the same time two co-workers had settled separate harassment complaints against him while he was leading the association.

Those two women, now the focus of an intensifying scrutiny after their settlements became public, moved on professionally and personally after their time at the restaurant association. One woman thrived in her pursuit of her communications career and the other moved up in positions focusing on political outreach and public policy.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Republican Party said Thursday the furor surrounding Cain won't damage the GOP's chances of defeating President Barack Obama next year.

"I don't know what's true and what's not," Reince Priebus said, telling NBC's "Today" show the key issue is that the public wants change at the top, and saying that sentiment will not fade.

"I'm not going to get in the middle it," he said of the Cain brouhaha. "We're not the Sherlock Holmes of the presidential primary field."

Cain's third accuser was located and approached by the AP as part of its investigation into harassment complaints against Cain that were disclosed in recent days and have thrown his presidential campaign into turmoil. She spoke only on condition of anonymity, saying she feared losing her current job and the possibility of damage to her reputation.

The woman said she did not file a formal complaint against Cain because she began having fewer interactions with him. Later, she learned that a co-worker ? one of the two women whose accusations have rocked Cain's campaign ? already had done so. She said she would have felt she had to file otherwise.

She said Cain told her that he had confided to colleagues how attractive she was and invited her to his corporate apartment outside work.

His actions "were inappropriate, and it made me feel uncomfortable," the woman said.

The AP confirmed that the employee worked at the restaurant association with Cain during his time there, that she has no party affiliation in her voter registration in the past decade and that she is not identified as a donor in federal campaigns or local political campaigns. Records show she was registered as a Democrat at one point previously.

Asked for comment about the accusations, including the most recent, Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon said, "Mr. Cain has said over the past two days at public events that we could see other baseless allegations made against him as this appalling smear campaign continues." Gordon added, "He has never acted in the way alleged by inside-the-Beltway media, and his distinguished record over 40 years spent climbing the corporate ladder speaks for itself."

Meanwhile, another woman who worked with Cain at the restaurant association said, "I found him to be a good boss." Christina Howard, a former lobbyist for the association, said, "I felt no problem going into his office and asking for his advice."

She said she didn't recall allegations about Cain during his tenure and added, "I'd roll my eyes at anyone who would make that allegation."

But Chris Wilson, a pollster who did work for the restaurant association during Cain's tenure, said in an interview that he witnessed the businessman making inappropriate comments and gestures toward a young woman who worked for the group during a dinner at a hotel in Arlington, Va., in the late 1990s. Wilson declined to discuss more specifics without the woman's permission, but said it was not one of the two women who settled complaints against Cain and it was not the third woman interviewed by the AP.

Cain's behavior with women was well known, Wilson said.

"I'm surprised that it hasn't come up before," said Wilson, whose firm, Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research, does polling for a political action committee backing a Cain rival, Rick Perry. Wilson said he has not been the source of information on the accusations against Cain.

Cain calls the two sexual harassment complaints that led to settlements "totally false" and baseless. The two women have declined dogged media requests to speak out, including requests from the AP. A lawyer for one of the women has said he will ask the restaurant association to lift a confidentiality agreement prohibiting comment after Cain insisted he did nothing wrong, suggesting that at least one of the women may have been terminated.

But his client is having second thoughts, concerned about how the frenzied attention she'd probably receive will affect her career, her family and her life today, a person close to the situation said Wednesday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the accusations and the fact that the incident has become public is very unsettling to the woman.

The AP confirmed the identity of the two women who received settlements but is not revealing their names.

One of the women continued her education after earning her college degree. She has handled political outreach and fundraising in the private sector and for trade organizations.

The other woman earned her master's degree before moving into her current communications career. She started a media career in Washington soon after graduate school, working in the private sector and in the federal government. She and her husband live in suburban Maryland.

In response to the latest allegations against Cain, his campaign also decried a "smear campaign" as he is riding high in opinion polls and accused Perry's operation of being behind the original stories.

Perry's campaign denied any involvement ? and suggested the campaign of yet another candidate, Mitt Romney, might be a source. Romney's campaign said that wasn't true.

Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan called the Cain campaign's assertions against Perry "both reckless and false."

Cain himself, in an interview with Forbes, said he believed a Perry consultant gave information about the allegations to Politico, which first disclosed the settlements with the two women. After denying earlier this week that he knew about any settlements, Cain said Wednesday that he outlined the allegations of a woman to the consultant, Curt Anderson, when Anderson was helping him on an earlier campaign.

Anderson said in a statement to AP: "I was one of several consultants on his Senate race in 2004 and was proud to help him. I never heard any of these allegations until I read about them in Politico, nor does anything I read in the press change my opinion that Herman is an upstanding man and a gentleman."

____

Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt, Brett J. Blackledge and Mark Sherman in Washington, writer Beth DeFalco in Trenton, N.J., and news researcher Judy Ausuebel in New York contributed to this report.

____

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/03/herman-cain-sexual-harassment-accuser_n_1073413.html

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Thursday, November 3, 2011

St. Paul's chooses talk over eviction for protest

A woman reacts as a protestor wearing a skeleton mask walks past her outside St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. The Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London on Monday became the second high-profile clergy member to step down amid mounting controversy over anti-capitalist protests on the church's grounds. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A woman reacts as a protestor wearing a skeleton mask walks past her outside St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. The Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London on Monday became the second high-profile clergy member to step down amid mounting controversy over anti-capitalist protests on the church's grounds. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A protestor dressed as a zombie walks past tents outside St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. The Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London on Monday became the second high-profile clergy member to step down amid mounting controversy over anti-capitalist protests on the church's grounds. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Protestors dressed as zombies are seen outside St Paul's Cathedral in London, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. The Dean of the cathedral, The Very Reverend Graeme Knowles resigned Monday amid criticism of the handling of the Occupy London protests. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Protestors dressed as zombies are seen outside St Paul's Cathedral in London, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. The Dean of the cathedral, The Very Reverend Graeme Knowles resigned Monday amid criticism of the handling of the Occupy London protests. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Oct. 30 2011 photo of the Dean of London's St Paul's Cathedral Graeme Knowles, who has announced Monday Oct 31 2011 that he was resigning, as the anti-capitalist protest outside the cathedral continued. His resignation follows that of Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Giles Fraser who had stood up for the protesters. (AP Photo/Sean Dempsey/PA ) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES

LONDON (AP) ? St. Paul's Cathedral officials said Tuesday they have rejected legal moves to evict anti-capitalist protesters camping around the vast landmark and want to address the issues they have raised.

The cathedral's governing body said it had unanimously agreed not to join in legal action against the Occupy London camp after consultations with the bishop of London, Richard Chartres ? reversing a Friday announcement that such a move had "regrettably become necessary."

The two-week standoff over the scores of tents set up outside the iconic cathedral near the River Thames has been an embarrassment for the church, but an attention-getting bonanza for protesters.

Canon Michael Colclough said the cathedral was now committed "to engage constructively with the protest and the serious issues that have been raised, without the threat of legal action hanging over us."

Chartres has invited a high-profile banker, Ken Costa, to lead an initiative aimed at "reconnecting the financial with the ethical." Costa, a 62-year-old South African, is a former chairman of UBS Europe and of Lazard International.

Rev. Giles Fraser, who resigned as canon chancellor at St. Paul's last week to protest the possibility violent eviction, will be part of the effort to reach out to protesters, the cathedral said.

Fraser's resignation was followed on Monday by the resignation of the cathedral's dean, the Right Rev. Graham Knowles. A part-time chaplain, Fraser Dyer, also resigned last week, saying he was "embarrassed" by the decision to resort to legal action.

Protesters had aimed to stage their occupation outside the London Stock Exchange beginning Oct. 15, but were evicted from private property and moved on to the nearby cathedral.

After first being hospitable to the protesters, cathedral leaders last week closed the 300-year-old church for the first time since German planes bombed the city during World War II, citing health and safety issues. The cathedral reopened on Friday after a public outcry.

The Daily Telegraph headline front-page headline on Tuesday declared: "St. Paul's branded a national joke."

The cathedral statement made it clear that Chartres had taken command, though Anglican cathedrals traditionally enjoy a wide degree of independence from their bishops.

"The resignation of the dean," the statement said, "has given the opportunity to reassess the situation, involving fresh input from the bishop."

"The alarm bells are ringing all over the world. St. Paul's has now heard that call," Chartres said.

"Today's decision means that the doors are most emphatically open to engage with matters concerning not only those encamped around the cathedral but millions of others in this country and around the globe," he said.

The cathedral's latest move puts it at odds with civil authorities including the Corporation of London, which governs the City of London financial district.

Home Secretary Theresa May said earlier Tuesday that she hoped "that the St. Paul's authorities, the Corporation of the City of London and the police will work together to ensure the protesters can be moved as soon as possible."

Last week, the planning and transportation committee of the Corporation of London resolved to go to court to move the protest.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-01-EU-Occupy-London/id-d8d3423195a54a44b4f41f7d7f5c2a59

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Gil Cates led with wit, charm and confidence (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Anytime veteran Oscar producer Gilbert "Gil" Cates booked another superstar for the big show, he banged a giant golden gong outside his office.

Gong! Jamie Foxx. Gong! Jennifer Aniston. Gong! Sandra Bullock.

The gong ? like the Yiddish words and occasional expletives he used to pepper his speech ? hinted at the whimsy and charm Cates brought along with his leadership.

Cates died Monday at 77 after collapsing on the UCLA campus. The cause of death was not immediately known. Friends of Cates told the Los Angeles Times he recently underwent heart surgery.

Cates produced more Academy Awards telecasts than anyone else ? a record 14 times. He last produced the Oscar telecast in 2008, when the show was almost sidelined by the Writers Guild strike.

Cates was comfortable at the helm, calling the Oscar gig "an absolutely great job." He'd assemble his staff of loyal workers, many of whom had been with him for years, and go about the task he had done professionally for more than five decades: Putting on a show.

"You prepare, you get out there and something happens," he said in an interview before his 13th Oscarcast.

Cates, is credited with revitalizing the ceremony by bringing in comedians such as Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock and Jon Stewart as hosts and establishing a template for the show that has been followed for years.

Martin tweeted his condolences Tuesday. "So sorry to hear Gil Cates has died," the comedian wrote. "He helmed two Oscar shows I hosted. He was delightful, wise, canny and unperturbed. A great fellow."

Academy President Tom Sherak said Cates was a colleague, friend and a "consummate professional."

Cates "gave the academy and the world some of the most memorable moments in Oscar history," Sherak said in a statement. "His passing is a tremendous loss to the entertainment industry, and our thoughts go out to his family."

Though he was the boss ? a producer and director, founder of the School of Theater, Film and Television at UCLA, two-time president of the Directors Guild of America and member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ? Cates was an affable man with an easy smile. He never seemed rushed or stressed, despite the mountain of high-profile tasks on his plate at any given time.

In 2008, he prepared two Oscar shows (in case the writers' strike kept famous folks away), ran the Geffen Playhouse in West Los Angeles (which he founded in 1994), and led the directors guild's contract negotiations. Yet he still had plenty of time to have a relaxed lunchtime chat with a reporter and proudly show off the theater he helped create.

Cates produced and directed plays at the Geffen Playhouse, where he was regarded as "our founder, our leader and our heart."

"Gil has always referred to the staff of the Geffen Playhouse as his second family," board chairman Frank Mancuso said Tuesday. "And it is as a family that we mourn this tremendous loss. Gil built this theater and he will forever be at the center of it."

Cates, the uncle of actress Phoebe Cates, loved the world of entertainment, even with its prima donna celebrities and penchant for excess. He brought a sense of fun to the Academy Awards, once sending an Oscar up in the Space Shuttle Columbia. When Steven Spielberg honored George Lucas during the show, a satellite camera showed the golden trophy floating in space's zero gravity.

"That's the excitement of doing the show," Cates said. "It's big enough that you can do those things."

He was generous with his time and talent. He served as dean of UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television from 1990 to 1998 and remained on the faculty as a professor.

Dean Teri Schwartz called Cates as a "beloved mentor, colleague and friend."

"Today we mourn our great loss but also celebrate Gil's extraordinary vision and countless contributions, not only to (the school) as founding dean and distinguished professor but to the entertainment and performing arts industries and the education of our students." she said Tuesday.

When he was tested, he often voiced his thoughts in Yiddish, which removed any sting.

Once when prodded by a journalist for answers he was reluctant to provide, he playfully threw up his hands and pretended to end the interview, saying, ""Genuk! Enough already! It's time for my nap"

When this reporter admitted she didn't understand the Yiddish reference, he teased her for not being Jewish enough, then allowed the interview to continue for another 30 minutes.

Cates amassed dozens of credits in film, television and on and off Broadway. His film credits include 1970's "I Never Sang for My Father," which was nominated for three Academy Awards, and 1980's "Oh God! Book II" with George Burns.

He belonged to the Directors Guild for more than 50 years, and president Taylor Hackford said Tuesday that Cates embodied the organization.

"Through his decades of service, he guided the Guild gently and charismatically and with great wisdom, and perhaps more importantly, he established what it meant to be a leader of this organization and the entertainment community," Hackford said in a statement. "He was a fierce friend, an even fiercer negotiator and somebody you always hoped was on your side but respected even if he wasn't."

Ever the showman, Cates had a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, where flowers were placed Tuesday. Cates is survived by his wife, Dr. Judith Reichman, sister Florence Adler, four children, two stepchildren and six grandchildren.

At his office at the Geffen Playhouse, his computer monitor was framed by Post-It notes inscribed with inspirational quotes.

"My favorite," Cates once said, "is from Pablo Picasso, who said, `I am just an entertainer who understood his time.'"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111102/ap_en_mo/us_obit_gilbert_cates

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Deficit hawks urge deep cuts by supercommittee (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Four prominent deficit-cutters told Congress' bipartisan supercommittee on Tuesday that they should raise revenues and make major changes to expensive health programs on their way to a debt-reduction compromise that should exceed their $1.2 trillion, 10-year mandate.

But in an indication of the partisan divisions that have stalled the evenly divided panel, lawmakers on the committee spent much of their time touting their own plans for mopping up red ink and sparking the economy.

If the two parties prove unwilling to make concessions ? like Republicans accepting higher revenues and Democrats backing significant overhauls to programs like Medicare ? then "they are both complicit in letting America destroy itself," testified Pete Domenici, a former GOP senator from New Mexico who headed the Senate Budget Committee.

"I think it would be devastating," Alice Rivlin, a White House budget director under President Bill Clinton, said of the outcome should the panel fail. "We could face a long period of stagnant growth, another recession that would be worse than the one we're slowly climbing out of."

Erskine Bowles, a White House chief of staff under Clinton, said the public would reward the lawmakers "if you're bold and do it in a smart manner" ? a euphemism for going well beyond their goal of finding at least $1.2 trillion in savings.

But he sounded a note of pessimism: "I have great respect for each of you individually. But collectively, I'm worried you're going to fail."

All four budget experts urged the panel to go trillions beyond its savings target.

The testimony came with the supercommittee so far showing little sign of progressing toward a bipartisan deal. The panel has until Nov. 23 ? three weeks away ? to recommend proposals for savings. If it fails or if Congress does not enact a package by Dec. 23, $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts to defense and many domestic programs would begin in 2013.

Reinforcing the sense that the panel has been stumbling, many remarks by supercommittee members were aimed at their own favorite proposals.

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., asked about the impact on poor people of deep spending cuts while House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., asked about curbing taxes on profits U.S. companies earn abroad. Murray asked about a "balanced approach" to deficit reduction that relies on revenues and benefit program savings. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., inquired about the merits of raising revenue by spurring economic activity.

With Democrats insisting on tax increases as their price for accepting savings from Medicare and other major benefit programs, conservative anti-tax activist Grover Norquist came under fire from two quarters. Norquist has long circulated a pledge against raising taxes that scores of Republicans have signed.

Republicans, "these poor folks, are being led like puppets by Grover Norquist," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters.

And at the supercommittee hearing, former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., told the panel that Norquist "should run for president, there's no question about his power."

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, top Democrat on the supercommittee, said the panel is entering "the final critical phase" of its work. But she warned that both sides have to compromise ? a clear shot at Republicans who so far have been unwilling to accept higher taxes as part of a deal.

"Everyone needs to be putting some real skin in the game and offering serious compromises," Murray said.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, the supercommittee's No. 1 Republican, said expensive health programs like Medicare are the top budget problem and said "tinkering around the edges" with those programs would achieve little.

Asked afterward about evidence that Republicans are willing to compromise on taxes, Hensarling said, "Republicans want to raise revenue, we want to raise it through pro-growth policies."

Democrats want to raise revenue by making tax code changes that directly raise more money for the government.

Domenici and Rivlin produced a bipartisan deficit-cutting plan last year producing trillions in budget savings. Bowles and Simpson wrote a similar package. Both blueprints relied heavily on revenue increases and on savings from benefit programs.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111101/ap_on_go_co/us_supercommittee_debt

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