Looks like Granny gets to keep her job, as the NY State Department of Health has ended its mandate for health care workers to get flu vaccines – for both H1N1 and the seasonal flu. Governor Blinky is attributing this to a shortage of vaccines (supposedly the entire seasonal flu vaccine has been distributed, and drug companies have only managed to produce 23% of the anticipated amount of H1N1 vaccine), but I suspect its more like they thought everybody would roll over for them, and when there was resistance (and law suits), they decided it wasn’t worth it. They’re not giving up on the idea, though, intimating that they may bring the mandate back next year – providing there’s enough vaccine to go around. As for the lawsuits currently pending, they’re a little up in the air, now. Hopefully they’ll continue.

Speaking of Swine Flu, turns out you can catch it from living with a pig.

Rep. Joe Wilson’s wife Roxanne has been diagnosed with swine flu, the congressman’s office confirmed to CNN on Thursday.

Chuck Schumer, among others, will be in town today to officially announce that Indian car company Reva (the world’s largest manufacturer of electric cars) will be opening its first US manufacturing plant here. They plan to begin building their NXR model (introduced at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show) here. It’s a 2-seater which runs on lithium-ion batteries, does 65 MPH, and has a range of about 100 miles on a charge. It takes 8 hours to charge up, but has a 15-minute “quick charge” (good for about 30 miles) as well. That would cover pretty much all of my driving. They’re a bit on the pricey side (looks like they’re going for about €15,000 – about $22,500) for a 2-seat car, though. They’ll be starting out small – only employing 120 people to start – but hopefully these things will catch on. Aside from the obvious irony that now India is outsourcing jobs to the US, we could use the jobs around here.

Ever wished you were homeless, but have just gotten too darn accustomed to having heat, a roof over your head, indoor plumbing, and an actual bed? Well, now you’re in luck, as Dutch By Design is offering bedding to make it look like you’re sleeping on pavement with cardboard boxes for blankets. Don’t worry, 30% of gross (so to speak) profits on the rather overpriced goods go to a charity for homeless youth. And, really, what a chic way for those with a home and roof over their heads to simultaneously support and make fun of the homeless (or, if you’re not an asshole you could just donate directly, I guess).

You might have heard about an off-year special election taking place this year in one of my neighboring congressional districts – the NY 23rd. A special election was required when John McHugh stepped down to become Secretary of the Army. This district hasn’t been represented by a Democrat in a long time (it’s pretty hard to tell just when, what with all the redistricting that’s gone on over the years – NY’s districts have been severely gerrymandered by Republicans). This year, Democrat Bill Owens is running against “moderate” Republican Dede Scozzafava, and we’ve been subjected to a great deal of negative campaign commercials – particularly snotty ones paid for by the NRCC. What’s interesting this year, of course, is that Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman is simultaneously running against both Owens and Scozzafava. And now Sarah Palin has decided to weigh in on the race, throwing her support (for whatever that’s worth) behind Hoffman. All of which is good news for Owens, who’s in a good position to win the seat (for a year, anyway) with a decidedly small percentage of the vote. And with the census coming up, guess who gets to gerrymander now?

This just in: it’s illegal to be naked in your own home. In Virginia, at least. Now, I was pretty sure I once read that what you do inside you own home was up to you, and there was no way you could be charged with indecent exposure, whether you had your curtains closed or not. In fact, I thought it was quite the opposite – that there were “peeping Tom” laws that made it illegal to peer through the windows of private residences.

Big day today. Not only is it Friday, but we have 3 tons of wood pellets being delivered tonight. That ought to keep us nice and warm this winter. It ought to keep me nice and warm this weekend, too, as I’ll have to drag all three tons from the garage and down the stairs to the basement. That’s 150 round trips, which means my back will probably be a little sore by this time Monday morning.

Oh well, time to go.