And it is important for us to make sure that they are not just going to the wealthy. They should be going to folks who are making $75,000 a year or less, and they should be going to folks who only pay payroll tax, but typically are not paying income tax. If we do that, then not only can we stimulate the economy, those are the folks who are most likely to spend money right away.

OBAMA: Well, I think that we are going to have to get some immediate money. What I do is I say, for a typical family, $500 for a tax rebate per family. But also, for senior citizens, get a supplement to their Social Security check, because they get that every month. We know exactly how to do it.

The Allusionist

It is no accident that some of his best and most popular works are variations: the Op. 24 Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, for piano, or the beloved Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a, which Mahler called "an enchanted stream."

But there is not always a lot of room, in these intense perforations, for air to get in. I have tended to respond to the compulsive part of Brahms, the composer who took 14 years to complete his first symphony, and wrote 20 string quartets before allowing one to see performance. To me, I think, it has communicated some of the aura of the cult of classical music: an intense self-satisfaction, an overworked, even overstuffed quality that reflects both the composer and the period in which it was written. And I am certainly not alone in finding the best Brahms performances to be those that let in some light -- like the piano concertos with Leon Fleisher and George Szell, a staple of the repertory.

Multiplayer Modes for Condemned 2: Bloodshot Revealed

Bloodshot ship for both systems, but it will include four multiplayer modes as well, all of which we've outlined below.

Leading things off, Condemned 2: Bloodshot will have a multiplayer mode called Crime Scene, a round-based competition to find and protect valuable evidence within the Condemned universe. One team will use its forensic tools to track and scan the evidence, while the opposing team will do everything in their power to keep the evidence hidden and protected. In a sense, it's like the multiplayer modes in the Splinter Cell games for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Bum Rush, meanwhile, will be a team-based race against time. With three minutes before one team can safely be evacuated, players must hold off an onslaught of attacks by the other team until the timer runs out in order to stand a chance of survival.

Councilman MikeK Recalls Knievel Action Figure

The card goes everywhere with me; it's one of my favorite things. Evel was a good person, demonstrated quite recently by the fact that he forgave the rapper Kayne West before he died. I guess that was one of his last acts. "Happy Landings," Evel. RIP/Brent Andrews.

Think before you ink

Roy Geronemus, director of the Laser & Skin Surgery Center of New York and spokesman for the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery. “There's no wavelength of light that will be absorbed by the color. Green is more resistant, too."

Dr. Dello Russo Introduces the New EYE-Q Lasik

NEW YORK, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- At a media event held today at the Dello Russo Laser Vision Center in Manhattan, New York, prominent lasik surgeons Drs. Joseph and Jeffrey Dello Russo introduced the most advanced eye laser by Swiss laser maker Alcon, which goes "beyond Custom-cornea".

.

Good news and bad for SNP: He's popular - but independence isn't

The results represent a mixed blessing for Mr Salmond. They confirm other poll findings which show he is popular among Scots and is seen to be standing up for Scotland - which many voters approve of. But it also shows the SNP is as far from achieving majority support as it has been for the last ten years. Mr Salmond knows his challenge is to convert support for the SNP and him into support for independence. This is why he spent much of his speech to the SNP conference on Sunday arguing that credibility in government will push forward the case for independence. The First Minister knows he will have to build up support for independence gradually by persuading sceptical Scots that, although the SNP government might be achieving things at Holyrood, it could d .

Coming Soon: SR to Release E-mail Exchanges ... (Not so fast...)

But I'm starting to wonder if the big cable boys from back East are taking care of business in North Idaho? We should all demand that they reduce our bills for the service lost today. BTW, I'm still waiting to post the e-mails we received yesterday. I might have to do it from home, if I can. You should check our regular Web site in the interim. It'll appear first there. Now, your Wild Card ...