Mark Memmott

"The defining sound of the Occupy Wall Street" protests in Manhattan, as Weekend Edition Sunday's Audie Cornish has said, is "the never-ending drum circle."

Saying that it "reorders the way they do business in Washington by reinventing the tax code and restoring our nation to fiscal health through balanced budgets and entitlement reform," Texas Gov. Rick Perry is this hour unveiling his "cut, balance and grow plan" on taxes.

"Oakland police arrested dozens of people at a plaza outside City Hall and at a second, smaller camp nearby early this morning, two weeks after the protesters launched efforts as part of the nationwide Occupy Wall Street movement against corporate greed and economic inequality," The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

A sharp drop in a widely watched gauge of consumer confidence has brought that key economic barometer to a low "last seen during the 2008-2009 recession," Conference Board director of consumer research Lynn Franco says in a report released by the private research group this morning.

The board says its consumer confidence index fell this month to 39.8, from 46.4 in September. Other measures of consumer sentiment, about current conditions and expectations, also declined.

If you need a break from the "real news:"

The Washington Post's Justin Jouvenal is "live-tweeting" from the so-called #no2trial today in Fairfax, Va.