Life of Smiley

I've always been against the war in Iraq, but not because I lack patriotism, or conviction. Precisely the opposite is true. I've been against it from the outset for a very basic and specific reason. When the UN Security Council found insufficient basis to warrant an invasion in 2003, the US government formed a "coalition of the willing," basically stating that we were going to take our ball and play somewhere else. How ironic that we chose to set aside the outcome of that democratic process and make an essentially unilateral decision to invade Iraq, under the pretense of fostering democracy there. At that moment I felt ashamed to be an American. Since that time I have watched with disgust as our government has participated (or failed to participate) in a series of events ranging from the childishly stupid to the globally tragic , to say nothing of the insidious erosion of our civil liberties at home. I realize there is a tendency to overstate current problems ...

Police: Man Shoots Self During Robbery KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) — A man accidentally shot himself in the groin as he was robbing a convenience store Tuesday, police said. A clerk told police a man carrying a semiautomatic handgun entered the Village Pantry demanding cash and a pack of cigarettes. The clerk put the cash in a bag and as she turned to get the cigarettes, she heard the gun discharge. Police say surveillance video shows the man shooting himself as he placed the gun in the waistband of his pants. The clerk wasn't injured. A short time later, police found 25-year-old Derrick Kosch at a home with a gunshot wound to his right testicle and lower left leg. Kosch was released from the hospital Tuesday and booked into the Howard County jail on a charge of armed robbery, criminal recklessness and battery. He is being held on a $100,000 cash bail. A jail official did not know if he had retained an attorney Wednesday.