Florida Dem Alan Grayson has introduced a bill into Congress proposing that companies with more than 100 employees should be required to give paid vacations of approximately 7 days to all employees.  Grayson finds it outrageous that Americans work longer and harder than Europeans, and believes federally mandated vacations would help the average American worker relax as well as stimulate the economy because it would become a source of income for companies working in the holiday industry.

It is unclear why companies with 99 employees or less are exempt, and may instead fuel a rapid increase in companies with just under 100 employees.  Moreover, Grayson’s own constituency of Florida, a vacation hotspot, may stand to gain most from such a bill should it pass.  For all others, such a bill may instead end up becoming a cost, partly passed onto consumers by the companies themselves.

The UK newspaper Telegraph is reporting that the North Korean missile launch this week was captured by U.S. satellites.  In photos, the exhaust trail of a rocket streaked across the sky can be seen against the backdrop of East Korea Bay in North Korea.  North Korea launched what was ostensibly a rocket for satellite-delivery, which has been widely perceived as a thinly veiled display of its ability to project intercontinental ballistic missiles across the Pacific ocean.  The story is complicated by the fact that no satellite was detected post-launch, and the latter stages of the rocket fell far short of reaching North American soil.  However, most world leaders have expressed deep concerns with North Korea’s continuing activities in developing nuclear weapons, given its history of trading away missile technology to so-called “rogue states”.

In 2006, North Korea previously launched a missile over Japanese territory, causing tremendous alarm and consternation in both the Japanese and South Korean governments.  The United States, since World War II, has assumed the role of defender for Japan and continues to station troops in South Korea.  The launch of what could be an intercontinental ballistic missile seemingly places American interests at jeopardy.

In a race that was supposed to be decided Tuesday night, the vote count is much too close to call. Democratic candidate Scott Murphy has the edge of a mere 59 votes over Republican candidate Jim Tedisco.  Given that the total vote count is 154,629, the razor thin margin just 0.03% of all votes.

Although the 20th Congressional District has been solidly Republican in recent years, the changing fortunes of the Republican party meant that Murphy, a venture capitalist with no experience in politics, has a solid chance of snatching the election from his opponent.

In all likelihood, absentee ballots will now decide the race, but as of Wednesday none of them have been counted.  It is said that 10,000 of the absentee ballots were sent out, and of those, 6000 have been returned.  These remaining ballots are expected to be counted by April 13th.

The New York Times reports that both candidates have spent heavy sums of money in this election.