If a church broadcasts the word of God on TV without closed captions, it risks incurring the wrath of the FCC.
Some 300 small- to medium-sized churches can expect letters from the commission within the next few days explaining why their closed captioning exemptions were lifted for TV shows like “Power in the Word” and “Producing Kingdom Citizens.”
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The FCC has been mailing the letters for the past few days to churches from Maine to California, explaining that the hundreds of exemptions are now rescinded and giving the programmers 90 days to reapply.

The churches were granted FCC exemptions from the closed captioning requirement under a 2006 commission decision known as the “Anglers Order” for the Anglers for Christ Ministries program that had argued for exemption from the rules.

While the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau used the Anglers Order as the model to grant at least 298 other exemptions, the full commission overturned that decision Oct. 20 after objections were raised from a coalition of organizations for the deaf and hard of hearing.

The churches may still be eligible to win an exemption from the rules if they can prove they can’t afford closed captioning, but they now have to make their case individually.

“This was a process that went awry,” said Craig Parshall, senior vice president of the National Religious Broadcasters, an international association of Christian communicators. “Now, we are going back to Square One.”

Advocacy groups for the deaf contend that the bureau erred when it granted the exemptions en masse because that created a virtual blanket exemption for nonprofit organizations. Under the closed captioning law, programmers can win an exemption if they can prove that the cost of the captioning will cause an undue economic hardship.

The groups wrote to the FCC asking commissioners to overrule the bureau order arguing that the order “improperly and unilaterally established a new class of exempt programming.”

While the commission’s decision has an immediate impact on churches across the country, it isn’t directed at religious organizations in particular, Parshall said. Small- and medium-sized churches just happened to apply for exemptions under the closed captioning law’s exception for TV shows where paying for captioning is an undue economic burden, Parshall explained.

Advocates for the deaf said they were pleased the commission was taking action on the issue, and hoped that it would make more programming accessible to the deaf and hearing impaired.

“Now, we look forward to viewing more TV shows that were not captioned before,” said Jim House, spokesman for Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. “It is our hope that those producers affected by the decision would see the positive benefits of making their shows accessible to more and more viewers and find that it is the right thing to do.”

Religious broadcasters want to reach the deaf community, but requiring churches across the country to close caption their TV programs could force the programming off the air, Parshall said.

“We believe our message needs to get out to the deaf and disabled communities,” Parshall explained. “All we want is a sensible regulatory structure that recognizes the plight of the small Christian broadcaste

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/67260.html#ixzz1cPKAWoDn

CHECK THIS OUT

In new book, Shaq explains how his relationship with Kobe went sour

By Eric Freeman

If you've followed basketball for any amount of time over the past decade, you are probably well aware that Shaquille O'Neal(notes) and Kobe Bryant(notes) don't get along with each other particularly well. Even before Shaq was traded to the Heat in 2004, it was common knowledge that their relationship had become untenable. Since then, there have been profane freestyle raps, barely veiled insults, and plenty of other incidents. It's the feud that won't die. The NBA even promoted it as its top rivalry for years after Shaq had lost his status as one of the best big men in the game.
Now that O'Neal is retired and a full-time media personality, he's written a new book about his life and career with the help Hall of Fame writer Jackie MacMullan called "Shaq Uncut: My Story." Not surprisingly, there are several stories about Kobe. Deadspin has several excerpts, which we have excerpted even further after the jump.

So I'm on edge because I don't have a new deal, and Kobe is on edge because he might be going to jail, so we're taking it out on each other. Just before the start of the '03-'04 season the coaching staff called us in and said, "No more public sparring or you'll get fined." ... Phil was tired of it. Karl Malone and Gary Payton were sick of it. ... So what happens? Immediately after that Kobe runs right out to Jim Gray and does this interview where he lets me have it. He said I was fat and out of shape. He said I was milking my toe injury for more time off, and the injury wasn't even that serious. (Yeah, right. It only ended my damn career.) He said I was "lobbying for a contract extension when we have two Hall of Famers playing pretty much for free." I'm sitting there watching this interview and I'm gonna explode. Hours earlier we had just promised our coach we'd stop. It was a truce broken. I let the guys know, "I'm going to kill him."
Kobe stands up and goes face-to-face with me and says, "You always said you're my big brother, you'd do anything for me, and then this Colorado thing happens and you never even called me." I did call him. ... So here we are now, and we find out he really was hurt that we didn't stand behind him. That was something new. I didn't think he gave a rat's ass about us either way. "Well, I thought you'd publicly support me, at least," Kobe said. "You're supposed to be my friend."
Brian Shaw chimed in with "Kobe, why would you think that? Shaq had all these parties and you never showed up for any of them. We invited you to dinner on the road and you didn't come. Shaq invited you to his wedding and you weren't there. Then you got married and didn't invite any of us. And now you are in the middle of this problem, this sensitive situation, and now you want all of us to step up for you. We don't even know you." ...
Everyone was starting to calm down when I told Kobe, "If you ever say anything like what you said to Jim Gray ever again, I will kill you."
Kobe shrugged and said, "Whatever."
[...]
From that day on, I was done dealing with Kobe. I was done dealing with Jim Gray, too. What goes around, comes around. When he got fired, he actually had the nerve to call me and ask me to help him out. What, did you lose Kobe's number?

Shaq adds:

He was so young and so immature in some ways, but I can tell you this: everything Kobe is doing now, he told me all the way back then he was going to do it. We were sitting on the bus once and he told me, "I'm going to be the number one scorer for the Lakers, I'm going to win five or six championships, and I'm going to be the best player in the game." I was like, "Okay, whatever." Then he looked me right in the eye and said, "I'm going to be the Will Smith of the NBA."
My first Lakers season we had a couple of rookies, and we hazed them pretty badly. We were dogging them out constantly. It was "Go get my bags, go get me something to eat." It was kind of a rite of passage in the NBA that a lot of teams do, but we probably went a little too far with it. One of the rookies—Derek Fisher(notes)—just took it. The other rookie—Kobe Bryant—ratted us out to Jerry West.

There's more in the Deadspin post, including some tough-guy talk aimed at Jim Gray and a very silly, unnecessary story about snail-mail correspondence with Halle Berry during Shaq's time at LSU. The Kobe passages are the clear headline grabbers here.
The specifics of their falling out are interesting, even if their feud is old news for NBA fans.  Lakers fans will be especially interested, I'm sure. But who outside of Los Angeles still harps on these he-said, he-said tiffs? Now that Shaq's retired, does Kobe even care anymore?
We'll find out if Shaq's book doesn't sell many copies. With stories like this one, it's the market that ultimately determines relevance.

Related:  

RECIPE OF THE DAY  
APPLE CRISP

Ingredients

• 10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
•  
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
2. Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

                            

RECIPE OF THE DAY

Fun, simple, and easily modified, wraps have become as popular in American cuisine as the sandwich. Turn a modest peanut butter sandwich into the envy of the lunchroom by adding sweet apple and crunchy granola, then roll it up into a swirl. Now try these easy, bite-sized dessert morsels made with fresh fruit and tortillas.

Top ideas for dinner tonight:

ingredients

• 4 7- to 8-inch flour tortillas
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup chopped apple
• 1/4 cup low-fat granola

directions

Spread peanut butter over each tortilla. Sprinkle with apple and granola. Tightly roll up tortillas. Cut in half. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Pack in insulated containers. Makes 4 servings.

recipe source

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Advocates for the needy and hospital executives say the moves will restrict access to care, force hospitals to absorb more costs and lead to higher charges for privately insured patients.

States defend the actions as a way to balance budgets hammered by the economic downturn and the end of billions of dollars in federal stimulus funds this summer that had helped prop up Medicaid, financed jointly by states and the federal government.

• STORY: Optional Medicaid benefits face state cuts

Arizona, which last year stopped covering certain transplants for several months, plans to limit adult Medicaid recipients to 25 days of hospital coverage a year, starting as soon as the end of October.

Hawaii plans to cut Medicaid coverage to 10 days a year in April, the fewest of any state.

Both efforts require federal approval, which state officials consider likely because several other states already restrict hospital coverage.

Private health insurers generally don't limit hospital coverage, according to America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group.

Rosemary Blackmon, executive vice president of the Alabama Hospital Association, said "for the most part hospitals do what they can" to provide care to Medicaid patients despite the limits.

In Arizona, hospitals won't discharge or refuse to admit patients who medically need to be there, said Peter Wertheim, spokesman for the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association. "Hospitals will get stuck with the bill," he said.

Driven by higher enrollment and medical costs, Medicaid spending was projected to rise an average of 11.2% in fiscal 2011, which ended in June, from $427 billion in 2010, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.

For fiscal 2012, the association estimated state Medicaid spending will rise 19%, largely because of the end of the federal stimulus dollars.

The program served 69 million people last year.

Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, said the hospital coverage limits reflect how states are "desperately looking for any and all levers to reduce Medicaid costs" within the law.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is working with states to "provide them with flexibility to run their Medicaid programs and reduce their costs," Medicaid director Cindy Mann said in a statement. At the same time, "we must also ensure the Medicaid program continues to meet the health care needs of the children, people with disabilities and the elderly whom it serve

  BERLIN — The eurozone bailout fund's firepower is set to be leveraged to more than euro1 trillion ($1.39 trillion), German opposition leaders said Monday following a briefing with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Governments from the 17-nation eurozone hope that the euro440 billion European Financial Stability Fund, or EFSF, will be able to protect countries like Italy and Spain from being engulfed in the debt crisis.

To do that, however, it needs to be bigger or see its lending powers magnified.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, parliamentary leader of the opposition Social Democrats, and the Greens' Cem Oezdemir said the chancellor informed them that the EFSF will be leveraged well beyond its current size.

That would be achieved through a combination of measures, Steinmeier said. It would insure investors against a percentage of possible losses on eurozone government bonds and also involve the participation of outside organizations such as the International Monetary Fund.

Because of the significance of the move, members of Merkel's party proposed that the change receive full parliamentary approval on Wednesday. Under German law, it would have been enough for parliament's budget committee to approve the plan.

The chancellor briefed lawmakers on Monday about the progress of the eurozone rescue plans following the weekend's EU summit.

German lawmakers are set to receive the detailed guidelines of the EFSF later Monday.

The German parliament is to sign off on the eurozone rescue plans and the EFSF's new powers before Merkel gives the final green light at a European Union summit in Brussels later Wed

MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) - Libya's interim rulers ended the public display of the bodies of Muammar Gaddafi, his son and army chief on Monday after four days in which thousands of Libyans came to see for themselves that the dictator was really dead.

Guards locked the gates to the compound surrounding the cold storage container where the grim parody of the lying in state typically accorded to deceased leaders had been played out.

That may signal a decision is near over how and where to bury the bodies or simply that they are seen as a health hazard. Two National Transitional Council (NTC) officials confirmed the decision to shut off the area to the public, giving no reason.

"That's enough," said one of the guards. "He's been causing us as much trouble dead as he did alive."

A steady stream of visitors filed in to view the spectacle on Monday before the closure, but far fewer than on previous days when crowds flocked to the container where the three rotting bodies were laid out on filthy mattresses.
There were still a handful disappointed however.
"Can I just bring my son in?" one old man pleaded.
"No, we're closed," the guard replied angrily.
Later, fresh guards came on duty and allowed about 100 people to see the bodies then shut the gates once again.

Fighters guarding Gaddafi's darkening body and that of his son Mo'tassim and his former army chief had placed plastic sheeting under them as fluids leaked into the market cold store in Misrata where they had been taken after their capture and killing near Gaddafi's home town of Sirte on Thursday.

With the door constantly opening to allow a procession of onlookers, the refrigeration unit failed to stop rapid decomposition. Guards handed out surgical face masks against the stench and had sprayed disinfectant over the corpses overnight.

Gaddafi and his son died after being captured, wounded but alive -- some of their final moments captured on video.
But few Libyans are troubled about either how they were killed or why they were exposed to public view for so long. Islamic tradition dictates burial within a day.
"God made the pharaoh as an example to the others," said Salem Shaka, visiting the bodies earlier on Monday. "If he had been a good man, we would have buried him.
"But he chose this destiny for himself."
Another man, who said he had driven 400 km (250 miles) to see the bodies, said: "I came here to make sure with my own eyes ... All Libyans must see him."
DISPUTE OVER BURIAL
The killing of fallen autocrats is far from a novelty -- in Europe in living memory, similar fates befell Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania in 1989 and Benito Mussolini, who had created modern Libya as an Italian colony a decade before he died in 1945.
However, some of the anti-Gaddafi rebels' foreign allies have expressed disquiet about the treatment of Gaddafi both after his capture and after his death and worry that Libya's new leaders will not uphold their promise to respect human rights.
The burials have been held up by wrangling between the emerging factions within the National Transitional Council over where they should be interred. NTC leaders want Gaddafi buried at a secret location so the place does not become a shrine.
Gaddafi's tribe, centered on the city of Sirte where he made his last stand, has asked for the body so they can bury it there. Gaddafi requested to be buried in Sirte in his will.
"There are different views," said an NTC official in Misrata. "Some people want them buried in the invaders' cemetery in Misrata," he said, referring to a place outside the city near the sea where hundreds of fallen Gaddafi fighters have been buried with some dignity and respect.
"Some people want to hand them over to his tribe, but we have some demands. Many people have been kidnapped and killed by people in Sirte since the 1980s. We asked them to give those bodies back. Since then they have been quiet," said the official who asked not to be named.
NTC head Mustafa Abdel Jalil said the council had formed a committee to decide the fate of Gaddafi's corpse and would follow guidance from Libya's religious authorities.
The official Egyptian news agency said Libya's office for fatwas, or religious decrees, had declared Gaddafi was not a Muslim as he had denied the teachings of Prophet Mohammad and so should not be given an Islamic funeral.
(Additional reporting by Tamim Elyan in Cairo; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Louise Ireland)