HEADLINES FROM RECENT DAYS

• CAN PASHTUN TRIBAL ELDERS CONTROL THE TALEBAN INSURGENCY IN PAKISTAN? A day after Pakistani government raid in Orakzai district of two Taleban hideouts, 2000 tribesmen assemble to discuss a Pashtun "force" to operate against the Taleban. A suicide bomber attacks the assembly, killing 32. (This as U.S. officials are insisting that Pakistan must "do more" to fight the insurgency if it wants continued U.S. assistance.)

• BETWEEN OBAMA AND McCAIN. WHO WOULD BE TOUGHER ON IRAN AND MORE FRIENDLY TO ISRAEL? Israeli newspaper Haaretz describes a stand-off between them on this question as both pledge unswerving support for Israel; on Iran, Obama threatens "dire consequences" of Iran's acquiring of nuclear weapons, while McCain says he would not wait for UN approval to launch an attack on Iran if American interests seemed to require such attack.

• ROBERT COOK ON HOW TO SAVE THE U.S. ECONOMY. The Global Research columnist says that the Wall Street bailout is NOT the way, that in fact: "the pumping in of credit or liquidity by Treasury or the Federal Reserve (is useless) because it is no more than new debt to roll over old debt." The scheme is based on thoroughly discredited "supply side" economics when in fact the world financial crisis is based on inadequate "demand" that would create truly productive enterprise rather than more debt. As a recipe for "saving" this economy, Cook advocates a program of demand-side measures that include not only tax cuts for people in lower income brackets but the once much-discussed "negative income tax" to provide tax "rebates" to those who don't pay income taxes.

• IS BIG THREE IN U.S. AUTOMAKING ABOUT TO BECOME THE BIG TWO? Chrysler and General Motors enter into merger talks which one insider says have a "50-50 chance" of success. This comes as both companies are struggling, GM in particular as it faces possible bankruptcy as its stock has fallen from $43 a year ago to $5 today.

• THE HOMELESS ARE "EVERYWHERE" IN PUBLIC SPACES IN FORT LAUDERDALE. That is the perception of many in the city, as vagrants "infest" Riverwalk and "every cranny and bush," and calls are issued to remedy the situation, including the requiring of persons and agencies with public feeding programs to clean up the messes they leave. (Before they demonize the homeless, they might want to check conditions in vicinity of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium after a Gators football game.)

TODAY'S STORIES:

• As VP Cheney visits Georgia, White House unveils plan for $1 billion in aid two Georgia: both moves may serve to "inflame" Russia.

• Copenhagen Council proposes, and teachers' union opposes, the idea of teachers monitoring their students' "extremist" views as part of the war on terrorism.

• Neighborhood resistance leads to abandoning of plan to build a bridge on the west side of Ottawa

• Tens of thousands of people remain stranded in aftermath of flood in Bihar, India

• "Reverse redlining" charged in Texas as Baytown woman she was granted a "predatory loan" because she is black.

• Recyling of water used in creating a wintertime "Snow Mountain" back into park lake at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia is a new plan to revisit a project rejected because of Georgia drought conditions

• 3400 ballots gone missing between vote and recount of August 26 election election in Palm Beach County are still missing, as final deadline for certification of results of contested recount in a judges' race looms.

• Florida reaches agreement with Sysco food services to stop marketing other fish that are erroneously labelled as "grouper."

• Unversity of South Florida in Tampa tries to stop daytime drinking of students and employees as hours for sale of beer at campus bar and grill are cut.

• Residents of Golden Gates Estates, in a suburban area outside Naples, protest plans to build a solid waste disposal plant in their area.

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