New York (The Osgood File) -- New Twists in Afghanistan's Presidential Vote
Afghanistan's election commission has canceled next Saturday's presidential runoff --- and has declared President Hamid Karzai the winner.
This a day after Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai's only opponent in the runoff, pulled out.
"I protest the government's wrongdoing, I will not participate in the elections..." Abdullah said.
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was hoping for a concession statement from Abdullah that did not question the legitimacy of the election.
"I don't think it has anything to do with the legitimacy of the election --- it's a personal choice..." Sec. Clinton said.
Instead, he came out with exactly what the United States did not want to hear.
"The legitimacy of the process was damaged." Abdullah said.
By several things, he says --- including the fact that the new election would be run by the same commission that ran the first, corrupt one.
"There are a lot of concerns, including the Independent Election Commission --- which, as I put at some other time, the only thing 'independent' about it is the name." Abdullah said.
The reason Abdullah Abdullah decided to pull out of the election is something he'd been complaining about since the U.S-backed runoff was announced: the same commission, he says, would produce the same result.
"I have not called for a boycott, but what I could do was not to participate myself --- because I knew what we were up against."Abdullah said.
President Obama's senior adviser David Axelrod, senior White House adviser, on CBS News "Face The Nation" says it was Abdullah's right to withdraw, if he so chose.
"Many ballots were thrown out, a runoff was called. Now, Mr. Abdullah has exercised his rights as a candidate --- he's made a political decision to withdraw from this contest. And that doesn't markedly change the situation," Axelrod said.
"We are going to deal with the government that is there --- and obviously, there are issues that we need to discuss such as reducing the high level of corruption there --- these are issues we'll take up with President Karzai," Axelrod said.
Chapter 11 Woes for Key Retail Lender CIT
Yesterday, after months of struggling to avoid collapse, CIT Group filed for bankruptcy protection. That is bad news for small business.
"CIT is the biggest small-business lender," Howard Davidowitz, retail consultant said.
Or they were, anyway. But like so many companies, CIT lost its way in recent years, says Davidowitz.
"This is another one of these financial institutions that took tremendous risk, destroyed themselves. The government won't put in any more money --- they're already put in two-and-a-half billion, they won't put in any more," Davidowitz said.
CIT, as it once operated, was a boon to small retailers who were in need of credit.
But something happened along the way, says Jill Schlesinger, editor-at-large of CBS MoneyWatch.Com.
"CIT got into the same credit crunch that has affected so many of our financial institutions. And frankly, CIT got out of the business of extending credit to the types of companies that it had been doing business with --- small businesses, a lot of small retailers --- and really extended itself into some of the more 'exotic' areas, and lending money probably to some start-ups and some borrowers that they shouldn't have lent money to..." Jill Schlesinger, editor-at-large of CBS MoneyWatch.Com said.
Schlesinger says the 2.3 billion taxpayer dollars extended to CIT is likely to vanish altogether, or get pennies on the dollar. On the other hand,
"They could survive. Listen, if you go into bankruptcy and you strip away all those payments, you can survive once you get out of from under all the debt that's piling in on you..." Schlesinger said.
Tracking the H1N1 Flu Vaccine and its Concerns
The H1N1 flu is now widespread in 48 states, and children are dying --- 19 children died of it in the week between October 17th to the 24th.
As for vaccine, "Demand for the H1N1 vaccine continues to exceed supply, but the CDC is closing the gap. As of Friday, 26.6 million doses were available --- that's 10.5 million more doses than the week before," Hari Sreenivasan of CBS News reported.
Even where it is available, the lines are long.
"Five hours --- it's worth it for me..." Karen Dubicke said.
But some parents are in no hurry, it seems.
"I don't see it as a big beast. I'm not flippant about it. I don't want my kids or anybody else's kids to be a statistic, but it isn't something that's making me run for the shot," Michelle O'Brien said.
Michelle O'Brien is a registered nurse, and says she's being vigilant for any sign of flu in her three kids.
"We watch 'em like hawks --- they're probably very annoyed with their parents," O'Brien said.
Health officials are saying...
"Have your kid take the vaccine, get vaccinated yourself --- and recognize that 114 deaths compared to zero deaths from the vaccine tells us that this is a safe and effective vaccine," Dr. Martin Makary, Johns Hopkins Hospital said.
"If the spike in deaths and severe illnesses goes up, then we revisit," Dr. Makary said.
"This is a younger people's flu. In a usual flu season, 90% of the deaths are among people over the age of 65. In H1N1, 90% of the deaths are in people under the age of 65," Dr. Thomas Freiden, director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said.
Cashing in on California's New "Gold Rush"
Supply and demand are the two factors that control the price of anything --- whether its food, fuel, or any commodity.
In the State of California --- whatever its economic problems might be --- the price of produce from artichokes to mushrooms, from melons to grapes to zucchini --- is as endlessly fascinating as the price of oil.
But Brent Shock, with Gold Prospecting Adventures doesn't care that much about those things.
"We're not the Mushroom State or the Artichoke Capital --- the Golden State!" Shock said.
Ah, gold! In California, you see, there's gold in them thar hills. And the price of gold --- which was 660 dollars an ounce two years ago --- is now over a thousand an ounce.
That's why Brent Shock's phone is ringing a lot. He's isn't in the business of teaching people how to grow things in the ground but how to prospect for gold.
"You know when the price of gold goes up, your phone is gonna start ringing," Blackstone said.
"The phone's gonna ring, yes, exactly. It's great, because everybody gets to make money!" Schock said.
Tourists like Kathi Martin love panning for California gold with Brent Shock.
"That's what we're looking for!" Schock said.
"That's right!" Kathi Martin - a tourist - panning for gold together, said.
"Now, that's not a little speck!" Schock said.
So, she's caught the fever.
"I have gold fever. When I see that gold in my pan, it's like: 'Ahhh, there it is!'" Martin said.
John Gurney does it for a living.
"If you do it for a living, you have to sell your gold. This'll pay this bill, this'll register your truck, and --- so you sell your gold as quick as you get it." Gurney said.
And right now, there's lot's of folks in California looking for work, just like in 1849.
"Prices are high, there's no job out there --- yeah, might as well get some gold and pay my bills!" John Bonilla said.
John Blackstone asked John Bonilla...
"When gold goes to 1,000 an ounce, does the atmosphere change around here?" Blackstone said.
Oh, for the people it does, especially the tourists. I mean, they come in left and right, and they want to find what the prospectors have been finding." Bonilla said.
Not easy, though.
"As Brent Shock gives lessons to novice prospectors, he also warns that it's hard work. After all, if it were easy to get rich this way, would he be sharing his secrets?" Blackstone said.
No...
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