Truthout roundup 10/23

Obama Woos Virginia Before Heading to Visit Grandmother
http://www.truthout.org/102308J
Robert Barnes and Anne E. Kornblut, The Washington Post: "Democrat Barack Obama swept through Virginia yesterday trying to overturn nearly half a century of presidential history, continuing a march through red-state America before taking an unprecedented break from the campaign trail to visit the ailing grandmother who helped raise him."

McCain Is Faltering Among Hispanic Voters
http://www.truthout.org/102308K
Larry Rohter, The New York Times: "In the early days of the presidential campaign, Senator John McCain seemed to be in a good position to win support among Hispanic voters. He had sponsored legislation for comprehensive immigration overhaul in Congress, made a point of speaking warmly about the contributions of immigrants and was popular among Latinos in Arizona, his home state, which borders three battleground states here in the Southwest: New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada. But less than two weeks before Election Day, those advantages appear to have evaporated."

GOP Pulls the Plug on Bachmann
http://www.truthout.org/102308L
The Associated Press: "National Republicans have yanked TV advertising for Minnesota GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann's re-election bid after she suggested Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may have 'anti-American' views and urged an investigation of unpatriotic lawmakers."

Antonia Juhasz Big Oil's Last Stand
http://www.truthout.org/102308M
Antonia Juhasz, Foreign Policy in Focus: "Without viable and accessible alternatives, entire economies suffer when increasing proportions of national budgets must be used to purchase oil. And on an individual level, families, facing the same lack of alternatives, forgo basic necessities when gasoline prices skyrocket.... And the political tyranny exercised by the masters of the oil industry corrupts democracy and destroys our ability to choose how much we will sacrifice in oil's name."

Pakistan Stares Into the Abyss
http://www.truthout.org/102308N
Andrew Buncombe, Anne Penketh and Omar Waraich, The Independent UK: "Pakistan was locked in crisis last night, with the government pressed by Washington to deepen its conflict with Islamic militants in the lawless regions on the Afghan border, and obliged to call in the International Monetary Fund to stave off financial catastrophe.... A new US intelligence estimate meanwhile has warned that the renewed insurgency, coupled with energy shortages and political infighting, means that Pakistan, which is the only Muslim nation with nuclear weapons, is 'on the edge.'"