There’s talk of an internet sales tax in the Indiana General Assembly and even Blue Indiana isn’t excited at the prospect of the government taking more money out of our wallets.

I know I’m supposed to be the stereotypical tax-lovin’ liberal, but I won’t pretend to be all that excited about this piece of legislation.

Technorati Tags: Blue Indiana, internet, sale tax

The father of slain Baby Josiah Shaw who was arrested and named a “person of interest” by police — won’t be charged, say police to the media.  The father had been arrested on a warrant by Portage police and Gary SWAT for another unrelated matter.

Reports Christine Kraly in the Northwest Indiana Times:

The father of a 13-month-old boy shot to death Monday is expected to be released from custody Thursday after being held as a person of interest in the case, Gary police said.

Terry L. Bethel, 34, of Portage, was arrested in Portage on an unrelated warrant Tuesday and has been in the custody of Porter County authorities since. Bethel will not face any charges related to the shooting death of Josiah Shaw, said Gary police Cmdr. Samuel Roberts.

Meanwhile, the Post-Tribune’s Lori Caldwell details the dramatic  9-1-1 call that was made to police reporting the carjacking that wounded Baby Josiah’s mother and killed Josiah Shaw.

“Somebody just stole my best friend’s truck with her baby in it and I think he shot her,” Kwana Shaw’s friend told a Gary police dispatcher Monday night. “Please hurry up.”

Technorati Tags: carjacking, crime, Gary Police, Josiah Shaw, Kwana Shaw, SWAT, Terry Bethel, Terry Noel

The New York Times is reporting that the Chinese maker of all RU-486 abortion pills distributed in the United States — Shanghai Hualian — is mired in a tainted leukemia drug scandal involving 200 injured cancer patients.

Chinese drug regulators have accused the manufacturer of the tainted drugs of a cover-up and have closed the factory that produced them. In December, China’s Food and Drug Administration said that the Shanghai police had begun a criminal investigation and that two officials, including the head of the plant, had been detained.

The drug maker, Shanghai Hualian, is the sole supplier to the United States of the abortion pill, mifepristone, known as RU-486. It is made at a factory different from the one that produced the tainted cancer drugs, about an hour’s drive away.

The United States Food and Drug Administration declined to answer questions about Shanghai Hualian, because of security concerns stemming from the sometimes violent opposition to abortion. But in a statement, the agency said the RU-486 plant had passed an F.D.A. inspection in May. “F.D.A. is not aware of any evidence to suggest the issue that occurred at the leukemia drug facility is linked in any way with the facility that manufactures the mifepristone,” the statement said.

Expect websites to pop up soon asking if people have been injured by RU-486 aka mifepristone when the trial attorneys get back from the American Association for Justice’s 2008 winter convention in sunny San Juan.

Technorati Tags: FDA, Food and Drug Administration, health, medicine, mifepristone, RU-486, Shanghai Hualian, tainted drugs

Former President Jimmy Carter isn’t formally endorsing anyone to be the Democratic nominee in this year’s presidential campaign, but Carter does sound like he really likes Barack Obama. (H/T to DripperUnderground).

Jimmy Carter says he’s not formally endorsing any candidate, but in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the former president lavished praise on Barack Obama, calling his campaign “extraordinary”

“Obama’s campaign has been extraordinary and titillating for me and my family,” Carter told the newspaper in an interview published in its Wednesday edition. According to the paper, Carter was particularly praiseworthy of the Illinois senator’s rhetorical skills, comparing them to those of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Democratic primary, Election 2008, Jimmy Carter

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