On Memorial Day,.....

A few things to remember,

• Today isn't just "the official start of the summer season"
• It isn't just an excuse to grill burgers, hot dogs and chicken with family and friends
• And it CERTAINLY isn't an excuse for high-school graduates to drive to Wildwood and make drunken asses of themselves!!

However,

• It is time to honor those who came before us, from the birth of our nation to the current global hostilities.
• Whether they came willingly, or were chosen, given a gun and told "keep America safe!" they did it.
• You can fly flags and place wreathes on memorials and cemeteries. But even better, go to a VA Hospital and buy a vet "a cup o' Joe." It the least you can do for for someone who did more with less and keeps you free even to this day.
  

Racist Hispanics?? What Next?

Racist TV Skit Draws Protest, Apology From Network

LOS ANGELES (May 30) -- A television skit about the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament that drew on African stereotypes has sparked outrage among black activists and earned an apology from the Spanish-language network Univision.

The skit aired Friday on the morning show "Despierta America," or "Wake Up America," and included hosts wearing Afro wigs, hoisting small spears and dancing to what Los Angeles civil rights activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson described as a "faux jungle music beat. They seem to be thoroughly enjoying their romp through every vile, vicious and offensive stereotype that's come down the pike on Africans."

Univision officials apologized Saturday for the skit. "It is completely unacceptable and against our policies, standards and practices. We sincerely apologize to our viewers and all who were offended."

Hutchinson told the Los Angeles Times he was pleased by Univision's rapid response and quick recognition of the problems with the skit. "They took corporate responsibility," Hutchinson said. "They acknowledge there was a major problem about a show on Univision promoting stereotypes about Africans."

"Despierta America" airs from Miami. The skit was meant to tie-in with the start of the World Cup, a quadrennial tournament of national teams that is one of the most popular sporting events in the world. It begins June 11 and runs for about a month.

And again,..THIS is why soccer will never be a dominant sport in the US!!

These Colors STILL Don't Run!

Wisconsin Army Veteran Allowed to Keep Flag on Display

A Wisconsin Army veteran -- who faced eviction this week for flying the American flag -- will now be allowed to keep the flag up for as long as he wants.

Under mounting nationwide protest, Charlie Price, 28, of Oshkosh, Wis., and officials at Midwest Realty Management struck a "mutual agreement" that allows the veteran to continue displaying the patriotic symbol, according to a statement posted on the company's website on Thursday.

Price and his wife, Dawn, 27, were previously told they had to remove the flag -- which hangs in a window inside the couple's apartment -- by Saturday or face eviction due to a company policy that bans the display of flags, banners and political or religious materials.

"It means the world to me," Price told FoxNews.com. "The way it happened wasn't the right way because the staff members were getting threatened and we didn't want any violence out of this, but I'm glad we did come to a compromise."

Randy Rich, the apartment complex's property manager, told FoxNews.com that Midwest Realty Management received nearly 4,000 e-mails and thousands of phone calls in connection to the controversy.

From His Cold, Dead Hands!

Wisconsin Veteran Must Remove Flag After Memorial Day, Wife Says
By Joshua Rhett Miller

Published May 26, 2010
FOXNews.com

An Army veteran in Wisconsin will be allowed to display an American flag until Memorial Day, but the symbol honoring his service in Iraq and Kosovo must come down next Tuesday, his wife told FoxNews.com.

Dawn Price, 27, of Oshkosh, Wis., said she received a call from officials at Midwest Realty Management early Wednesday indicating that she and her husband, Charlie, would be allowed to continue flying the American flag they've had in their window for months through the holiday weekend. The couple had previously been told they had to remove the flag by Saturday or face eviction due to a company policy that bans the display of flags, banners and political or religious materials.

"It's basically an extension so we can fly the flag on Memorial Day," Price told FoxNews.com. "It does need to come down after that."

Charlie Price, 28, served tours of duty as a combat engineer in Iraq and Kosovo, his wife said. To honor his eight years of service, she began decorating their apartment during Veterans Day in November. An American flag topped off the display, she said.

Proud to Be An Orange-Shirted Orangutan!

Unlike these two well-behaved Canadiens!!




More diaper unloading from the Great White North:

MONTREAL – Here is all you need to know about this exercise in tedium between the Montreal Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers:


Through the first four games, the most compelling narrative by far has been the saga of Pat Hickey's Honda Accord, vandalized in Philadelphia even as it nears the 600,000-kilometre mark – presumably by one of those orange-shirted orangutans you see banging on the glass at the Wachovia Centre.


The fate of Pat's Honda is a yarn worth following. The Habs-Flyers series has been so stultifying it wouldn't be worth mentioning, except that the winner gets a berth in the Stanley Cup final.

A Reminder of Why Americans Will NEVER Embrace Soccer

Italian Soccer: A Matter Of Life And Death?
May 24, 2010 - 6:40 AM by: Greg Burke

Italians are essentially crazy about three things: food, fashion and football. Football, of course, being what Americans call soccer.

People don’t normally kill each other over food and fashion, but in Europe, at least, they do over football, and it happened this weekend in Italy.

The Champions League final was played in Madrid between the Milan-based Internazionale and Bayern Munich. Internazionale won the game 2-0 with two beautiful goals by the Argentine striker Diego Milito.

A lot of people in Italy hate Internazionale, also known as Inter, especially fans of cross-town rival A.C. Milan and the one-time powerhouse Juventus, based in Turin.

For two grown men watching the game at a bar in Turin, the tension was just too much. One was an Inter fan; the other a passionate follower of Juventus, which just finished a horrendous season, not winning a thing.

Inter had just sewn up its third title of the year with the Champions League victory, so when the Juve supporter said that Inter wasn’t really an Italian team, since its coach and almost all of its starting line-up were foreigners, that was just too much for the Interista.

After some pushing and shoving, the Interista took out a knife and stabbed the other man. A 63-year-old was dead, and a 60-year-old hauled off to jail.

It brought back to mind a quote attributed to former Liverpool coach Bill Shankly: “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

Separated at Birth?

If you only listened to Calderon's Congressional rant,...



Yeah, it's a cheap shot, but that's what you get for coming to OUR country and chiding us for handling YOUR problems!

Wait,...It's YOUR Problem, But,..

You don't like OUR solution????

Calderon Criticism of Arizona Law Overlooks Mexico's Tough Immigration Policy

FOXNews.com

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has been ripping into Arizona's immigration law as he tours Washington -- while appearing to disregard the way his own country cracks down on immigrants along Mexico's southern border.

Mexico repeatedly has been cited by human rights groups for abusing or turning a blind eye to the abuse of migrants from Central America. Until recently, Mexican law made illegal immigration a criminal offense -- anyone arrested for the violation could be fined, imprisoned for up to two years and deported. Mexican lawmakers changed that in 2008 to make illegal immigration a civil violation like it is in the United States, but their law still reads an awful lot like Arizona's.

Arizona's policy, which Calderon derided on Wednesday as "discriminatory," requires law enforcement to try to determine the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant -- provided they are already in contact with that person. They can't randomly stop people and demand papers and the law prohibits racial profiling.

Na-na-na-na, Hey-hey, Goodbye,......

With apologies to Auric Goldfinger: No, Mr. Obama, I don't expect you to change policies, I expect you to be defeated!

Sestak Defeats Specter in Pennsylvania Democratic Primary

FOXNews.com

Rep. Joe Sestak sent Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter into retirement Tuesday with a stunning come-from-behind victory in the Democratic primary.

Specter becomes the third incumbent member of Congress in two weeks to lose his job, after Republican Sen. Bob Bennett lost the GOP nomination at the party's Utah convention and Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan lost a primary in West Virginia.

In November, Sestak will face Pat Toomey, who won the Republican nomination.

Specter, after calling Sestak to congratulate him, delivered a concession speech in which he thanked his campaign and his supporters.

"It's been a great privilege to serve the people of Pennsylvania," Specter said to a round of applause. "And it's been a great privilege to be in the United States Senate, and I'll be working very hard for the people of the commonwealth in the coming months."

HEY, WASN'T JAMES BOND A RETIRED NAVAL COMMANDER, TOO??

GASP! Whatever will Michael Snarkisonovibich have to talk about on 1210 anymore??

Maxim Releases Its Annual NOT 100

Why the NOT 100?

Close to 100 deserving babes on the list and NO MENTION of,......




The closest thing to perfection currently in existence - Christina Hendricks????

From His Lips to,...Well, Whomever Hollyweirdos Worship,...

Woody Allen says President Obama should be granted dictatorial powers (seriously)

Woody Allen has a strange take on the democracy that allowed him to become rich and famous.

The "Scoop" director said it would be a cool idea for President Barack Obama to be dictator for for a few years.

Why?

So he could get things done without all the hassle of opposing views getting in the way.

In an interview published by Spanish language newspaper La Vanguardia (that we translated), Allen says “I am pleased with Obama. I think he’s brilliant. The Republican Party should get out of his way and stop trying to hurt him.”

But wait - there's more!

The director said "it would be good…if he could be a dictator for a few years because he could do a lot of good things quickly."

Of course, Allen has a famously strange relationship with reality. The director took nude photos of his lover Mia Farrow's teen-age adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, and then ended up marrying her after separating from Farrow.

Farrow also said he molested their seven-year-old adopted daugther, Dylan. A judge refused to act on the charges, but called his relationship with Soon-Yi "grossly inappropriate."

Perhaps that judge has an opinion on Allen's "dictator" comments?

Is The Pope Catholic?

And the spirit of Carrie Prejean lives on,....

Was Miss Oklahoma Sandbagged by Arizona Question?

FOXNews.com

Miss Oklahoma Morgan Elizabeth Woolard told Miss USA judge Oscar Nunez that she supported Arizona's right to pass a tough illegal immigration law -- and then finished second. Was Woolard set up?


And the winner?

The perfect liberal, apologist model: an Arab-American Catholic multiculter who gave the answers only a Socialist could love:

Fakih, a Lebanese immigrant, told pageant organizers her family celebrates both Muslim and Christian faiths. She moved to the United States as a baby and was raised in New York, where she attended a Catholic school. Her family moved to Michigan in 2003.

During the interview portion, Fakih was asked whether she thought birth control should be paid for by health insurance, and she said she believed it should because it's costly.

"I believe that birth control is just like every other medication even though it's a controlled substance," Fakih said.

Oh,..the Evils of an Advanced and Constitutionally-Protected Open Society!!

Courtesy of Haystack Commentary:

Obama: iPods, iPads, Xbox, Playstations are messing with his ability to Rule

HAMPTON, Virginia — US President Barack Obama lamented Sunday that in the iPad and Xbox era, information had become a diversion that was imposing new strains on democracy, in his latest critique of modern media.

Obama, who often chides journalists and cable news outlets for obsessing with political horse race coverage rather than serious issues, told a class of graduating university students that education was the key to progress.

“You’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank all that high on the truth meter,” Obama said at Hampton University, Virginia. (Can you say "CeeNoNews" or CeeBS?")

“With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation,” Obama said.

He bemoaned the fact that “some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction,” in the clamor of certain blogs and talk radio outlets. (You mean like "hoping our economy would get better and hoping our enemies would just go away??)

“All of this is not only putting new pressures on you, it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy.”(Because a free democracy will always expose the Emperor's New Clothes!)

Bruins in Ruins!!

Phil Sheridan: Team embraces the impossible

BOSTON - Impossible wasn't tough enough for them. The Flyers had to stack a three-goal deficit on top of the three-games-to-none mountain they'd already climbed, just to see if they could overcome that, too.

Stunningly, they did just that. The Flyers finished the Ultimate Comeback in this playoff series with a spectacular comeback in a hypertensive Game 7 Friday night.

"This is like a storybook," said Ed Snider, the man who brought hockey to Philadelphia. "How can you go down, 3-0, in their barn and come back and beat them, 4-3? How can you come back from 0-3 in games and beat them 4-3? These guys are unbelievable. They just won't quit. They're incredible."

It happened because, down 3-0, coach Peter Laviolette called a time-out and settled his players down.

"After the time-out," Leighton said, "he said to me, 'Leights, settle down. Shut the door. We're going to score some goals.' "

Oh,..the Irony!

By now, everyone has heard that Beau Biden, son of VP "Slow Joe" "Absorbine Jr" Biden, is being treated for a stroke.

While we wish him every bit of good luck, let's look at how non-Obama-worthy this incident has become:

1. He was initially treated at Christiana Hospital in Northern Delaware. Christiana is the state's top trauma center and yet he was transferred to Jefferson's Hospital for Neuroscience (The area's BEST place for stroke care, in the Bitter American's opinion). Would that have happened under Obamacare? Or would only those high up in the Socialist,...errr,...Democratic Party be afforded such a luxury? Hell, will JHNS even exist under Obamacare?
2. He was transported by ambulance, for better than 45 miles, surrounded by a cadre of official state vehicles. Hello-o-o? Carbon footprints? All that wasted fuel? Air pollution? Wasn't that one of the backbones of the Obama campaign?? Hell, Algore must be having a stroke of his own right now!!

I'M THE BITTER AMERICAN, THAT'S MY OPINION AND YOU'RE ENTITLED TO IT!

First Victory in AZ!

AG Holder and your leash holder, the Mighty Obamessiah, should take note:

Ariz. Referendum Drives Targeting New Law Dropped
Associated Press

The two proposed referendum drives challenging Arizona's new sweeping law targeting illegal immigration are being abandoned, organizers said Monday.

Andrew Chavez, a professional petition circulator involved in one of the efforts, said its backers pulled the plug after concluding they might not be able to time their petition filings in such a way as to put the law on hold pending a 2012 public vote.

Jon Garrido, the chief organizer of the other drive, attributed its end to a belief that the law would have been subject to legal protections under Arizona's Constitution if approved by Arizona voters.

The law takes effect July 29 unless implementation is blocked by court injunctions requested under at least three of the four pending legal challenges already filed by an Hispanic clergy group, police officers and other individuals.

Its provisions include requiring that police enforcing another law must question a person about his or her immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that the person is in the United States illegally. It also makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally.

On the Swiftboat to Unemployment?

And how much begging and pleading will Smerconish do for his reach-around??

Poll: Specter Trails After Attack Ads
Rasmussen Reports Poll: Sestak Ahead By 5 Points

PHILADELPHIA - A detailed look at new Rasmussen poll data shows Sen. Arlen Specter trails in the Democratic primary because his campaign offended liberals and conservatives.

In particular, younger voters, conservatives and liberals have swung to Rep. Joe Sestak in a big way after weeks of Specter campaign ads that attacked Sestak’s military record as an Admiral and his payment of campaign workers.

In the latest Rasmussen polling data taken last Friday, Sestak has 47 percent of the primary vote among Democrats, while Specter has 42 percent. About 8 percent of likely Democrat voters are still undecided.

About 35 percent of likely voters had a negative opinion of Specter’s campaign, including attack ads about Sestak’s military record.

See Topline Poll Results

Less Stormy Weather,...

Legendary Singer Lena Horne Dies At 92
VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Lena Horne, the enchanting jazz singer and actress who reviled the bigotry that allowed her to entertain white audiences but not socialize with them, slowing her rise to Broadway superstardom, died Sunday. She was 92.

Horne died at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, according to hospital spokeswoman Gloria Chin. Chin would not release any other details.

Horne, whose striking beauty and magnetic sex appeal often overshadowed her sultry voice, was remarkably candid about the underlying reason for her success.

"I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept," she once said. "I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked."

In the 1940s, she was one of the first black performers hired to sing with a major white band, the first to play the Copacabana nightclub and among a handful with a Hollywood contract.

In 1943, MGM Studios loaned her to 20th Century-Fox to play the role of Selina Rogers in the all-black movie musical "Stormy Weather." Her rendition of the title song became a major hit and her signature piece.

Did That Ump Just Yell "Gay Ball??"

In the world of the politically correct, just how correct do you have to be to stay in bed with the politicians who enumerate the rules of political correctness?

Bloggapalooza 2010,...

OK,..it wasn't just all our hot air causing the windstorm today,...

But seriously, it was good to put faces to names today and finally meet Captain America, Wyatt, Smite A. Hippie, RT, Old NFO and Ms Crankipants.

And Now: The Story behind The Story,.....

What you didn't hear about this incident last week,....



This tool being chased by Philly's Phinest is really a Mutts fan and, of course, deserved to be tased.

HT to Wyatt for the pic,....

Open Mouth, Insert Foot,....

How's that Absorbine, Jr, tasting today, Arlen?



If you look over at the Potomac, you can see the USS Swiftboater slowly sinking into DC swampland,....

STILL Fiddling While Rome Burns??

Call me crazy, but I see a pattern here:

While Oil Slick Spread, Interior Department Chief of Staff Rafted with Wife on "Work-Focused" Trip in Grand Canyon

Though his agency was charged with coordinating the federal response to the major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Department of the Interior chief of staff Tom Strickland was in the Grand Canyon with his wife last week participating in activities that included white-water rafting, ABC News has learned.

Other leaders of the Interior Department were focused on the Gulf, joined by other agencies and literally thousands of other employees. But Strickland’s participation in a trip that administration officials insisted was “work-focused” raised eyebrows among other Obama administration officials and even within even his own department, sources told ABC News.

Strickland, who also serves as Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, was in the Grand Canyon with his wife Beth for a total of three days, including one day of rafting.

Obama’s top counterterror official kept skiing after Christmas bomb attempt

But the MSM insists this is not the Obamessiah's Katrina moment. Why? Because hundreds of poor, black Democrats aren't dying because of the actions of another dumb, black Democrat (the last time is was Mayor "Chocolate Town")!

How Do You Say "Goldman-Sachs" in French?

Banking troubles in our semi-Socialist neighbor to the North? And the Obamessiah wants to emulate them?

Bank of Montreal alleges huge mortgage fraud

The Bank of Montreal is suing hundreds of people in Alberta, including lawyers, mortgage brokers and four of its own employees, in what is one of the largest alleged cases of mortgage fraud in Canadian history.

Legal documents obtained exclusively by CBC News allege the bank was the target of a sophisticated fraud operated by 14 inter-connected groups. The documents allege the scheme generated at least $140 million, about $70 million of which was for phoney mortgages.

The bank has estimated it may lose as much as $30 million.

Toronto forensic accountant Al Rosen said he has never seen anything like it.

"This is massive in the sense that it is so broad and so deep," Rosen said Tuesday. "This is [allegedly] a huge fraud. I can't think of any situation that has so many people involved and over a period of time like this one."

But wait! There's more! A possible terror funding angle?

In one case, a house in the Bearspaw district of Calgary was bought for nearly $900,000 and in three years, its value was inflated to $2.3 million, a profit of $1.4 million for the alleged fraudsters. An Edmonton house is alleged to have netted the scheme nearly $180,000.

During its investigation, bank investigators seized records that showed millions of dollars from the alleged scheme have been transferred to such countries as Lebanon, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.

Remember Bush's "Jackbooted Thugs??"

Hmm,..seems the shoe,...er,..boot is on the other foot now!

Obama Administration Presses BP to Settle Oil Spill Cleanup Costs

FOXNews.com

BP vowed on Monday to pay "all necessary and appropriate clean-up costs" from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as the Obama administration called on the energy giant to clarify how it plans to do so.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday that the administration will put its "boot on the throat of BP" to ensure that they're doing "all that is necessary" to contain the oil spill and minimize harmful effects on the Gulf's fragile coastline. He also said the law requires BP to pay for all economic losses, including those suffered by local fisherman.


Oddly enough,..NO ONE in MSM-land sees the comparison!!

A Good Definition of WHY Tea Parties Exist

Shelby Steele on Obama's blind charge to the "with me or against me" front:


Barack The Good
The big government liberalism that Mr. Obama uses to make himself history-making also alienates him in the center-right America of today.

A historic figure making history, this is emerging as an over-arching theme—if not obsession—in the Obama presidency. In Iowa, a day after signing health care into law, he put himself into competition with history. If history shapes men, "We still have the power to shape history." But this adds up to one thing: He is likely to be the most liberal president in American history. And, oddly, he may be a more effective liberal precisely because his liberalism is something he uses more than he believes in. As the far left constantly reminds us, he is not really a true believer. Rather liberalism is his ticket to grandiosity and to historical significance.

Of the two great societal goals—freedom and "the good"—freedom requires a conservatism, a discipline of principles over the good, limited government, and so on. No way to grandiosity here. But today's liberalism is focused on "the good" more than on freedom. And ideas of "the good" are often a license to transgress democratic principles in order to reach social justice or to achieve more equality or to lessen suffering. The great political advantage of modern liberalism is its offer of license on the one hand and moral innocence—if not superiority—on the other. Liberalism lets you force people to buy health insurance and feel morally superior as you do it. Power and innocence at the same time.

I rest my case,....

Another Reason to Stand By Arizona,....

Don't Play Ball With State of Arizona
4/26/2010 7:49 PM ET By Kevin Blackistone

About 10 years ago, the NCAA made one of its most bold and upright decisions: it refused to allow any more of its postseason tournaments, like March Madness, to be held in South Carolina until the state stopped flying the banner of the long defeated racist Confederacy in the face of 21st century societal progress.

NCAA spokesman Bob Williams explained at the time that the organization wanted to "ensure that our championships are free from any type of symbolism that might make someone uncomfortable based on their race." (And yet the NCAA has no problem with a school's nickname like "The Running Rebels;" clearly recalling the same Confederates who approved of slavery?)

As such, it is time for the governors of college athletics -- and the officials who control the BCS -- to expand their postseason ban. Arizona should be next, immediately. (That would be the same sham "championship" where revenue trumps talent, right?)

The University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., should lose the BCS National Championship Game scheduled to be played there next January unless Arizona legislators rescind soon and for good an anti-immigration law they just passed that gives police the right to stop and search for documents anyone police suspect of being in the country illegally.

After all, that law means racially profiling people who appear to be Hispanic, no matter what Arizona lawmakers claim. That means making an entire group of people, as the NCAA spokesman said, uncomfortable in Arizona because of their heritage. That's unquestionably wrong.

We all should be uncomfortable with that, however. As Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles wrote earlier this month, comparing the law to Nazi Germany: "The Arizona legislature just passed the country's most retrogressive, mean-spirited, and useless anti-immigrant law. The tragedy of the law is its totally flawed reasoning: that immigrants come to our country to rob, plunder, and consume public resources." (No disrespect, Cardinal, but that's EXACTLY what ILLEGAL immigrants do, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not!)

The NFL should toss out a bid it received recently from Arizona to host the Super Bowl in 2015. The PGA Tour, which held two events in Arizona in February, should scratch any Arizona stops from its 2011 calendar to prove it is more inclusive than it appears.

And Major League Baseball -- out of respect to the 29 percent of its players, four managers, one general manager and one owner who are Hispanic or from Latin America -- should certainly heed the call of an embryonic protest movement in Arizona and pull its 2011 All-Star Game from the Diamondbacks' stadium in Phoenix. (And guess what: none of them came to the US through illegal means!)

Its Happened Again!

Minn. Officer Killed in Ambush, Sets Off Manhunt

ST. PAUL, Minn. (May 1) -- A suburban St. Paul police officer was killed during an ambush Saturday, setting off a massive manhunt that ended with one suspect dead and another in custody, authorities said.

Maplewood Police Sgt. Joseph Bergeron, 49, was fatally shot while responding to a reported carjacking early Saturday morning.

A jogger on a nearby trail heard the shot that killed Bergeron, a married father of two and a 26-year police veteran, and turned back around to see two suspects fleeing. The jogger used the officer's radio to call for help, and the carjacking victim warned police that at least one of the suspects was armed, police said. (That jogger is a hero)

"We're all grieving," Maplewood Chief David Thomalla said. "He's one of the finest people I know, and he was murdered today senselessly."

The attack set off an hours-long search by more than 100 officers from over a dozen law enforcement agencies. Officers brandished automatic rifles and police helicopters circled overhead as they searched a wooded area and neighborhoods east of Lake Phalen, near the shooting scene.

Nearly four hours after the shooting, a man darted out of the woods holding a toolbox and an officer tried to question him. The two scuffled, and authorities said the officer shot the man multiple times.

Police said the 21-year-old man was one of the shooting suspects, but his name hasn't been released. (Who cares - I hope his wounds eventually become fatal!)

The officer suffered a broken nose and possibly a fractured eye socket, St. Paul police chief John Harrington said. His name hasn't been released, which Harrington said is standard in an officer-involved shooting.

About two hours later, police closed in on the second suspect at a nearby apartment near the border of St. Paul and Maplewood, in a middle class, blue-collar neighborhood dotted with small storefronts and well-established older homes.

The man threatened and tried to commit suicide, but was taken into custody with non-life threatening injuries, authorities said. His name and what charges he faces have not been released. (The police should've allowed the scumbag to off himself and save the state money!)

Bergeron was the 17th officer to die in the line of duty in the state since 2000.