It’s more than mere cloth. It’s a symbol of a nation, a people who came together from all over the planet Earth to one continent to forge a place where we could all live together in freedom. A place people sneak IN to, not out of. An imperfect place, as all things created by man tend to be, but we’re trying, and we fight to keep those freedoms again and again.

Many have died over the years in that fight to maintain our freedom, and today, we remember them. Our friends, family, neighbors, who were killed over the years in various battles from the microscopic: the roadside IED and ambush, to the gargantuan: the D-Day landings in Normandy, France or Battle for Iwo Jima. We remember them all.

We remember them not with pity, but gratitude. They didn’t die for some “imperial hegemony” or dictatorship: they died to keep this a free country, and likely are dying today as I write this, as they did on Memorial Day in 2009.

They died for each other, and they died for us, and today, we remember them.

We remember, Michelle. We remember…

Credit NASA

American Free enterprise picks up where NASA left off and ships cargo to the International Space Station:

At 9:56 AM Eastern this morning, astronaut Donald Pettit coaxed the International Space Station’s gangly robotic arm into grabbing the unmanned Dragon capsule, marking the first time a private spacecraft has docked with the station.

“Looks like we’ve got a Dragon by the tail,” Pettit said.

The move elicited plenty of hugs and handshakes both at NASA’s mission control facility as well as SpaceX’s operations center in Hawthorne, California. That initial burst of elation has passed though, and for the past hour the astronauts aboard the space station and their ground crews have buckled down to get some more work done.

That historical grapple maneuver was only the first part of the process. Over the next few hours, the Dragon capsule will be manipulated and berthed along the station’s Harmony module. From there, power and data cables will be connected up to the capsule, and the crew will begin the process of unloading nearly 1,000 pounds of consumables and clothing.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule is actually designed to handle more than 13,000 lbs of cargo, but as this was basically a test flight prior to their contracted 12 additional cargo flights over the next couple of years.

This is a “Big F’in Deal” years in the making, and NASA not having any self-delivery capabilities with the loss of the Shuttle program makes it all the more important the US finds another way to stay in the game.

Bill Whittle made a video last year that didn’t get a lot of views, but in making it he tells the story of NASA’s slow fade to irrelevance from it’s former glory with Obama’s cancellation of the Constellation program, and the hope of having a free enterprise system that can still come through if government will only get out of the way.

NASA may have lost its way, but out under the radar America has a bold, imaginative, successful and efficient Private Space Age starting to bloom. Find out what’s wrong with the current state of big-government, manned space exploration, how to fix it, and what private property is actually flying in space above your heads RIGHT NOW.

Related articles

• Space station astronauts enter SpaceX supply ship (ctv.ca)
• [Video] ISS Astronauts Climb Aboard the SpaceX Dragon Capsule (readwriteweb.com)
• SpaceX Dragon supply capsule receives astronauts on board (abclocal.go.com)
• ISS astronauts open SpaceX Dragon capsule (news.com.au)

Via Michelle Malkin, who has been on the very top of this:

Update III: Glenn Beck interviewed Patterico and Aaron Worthing this morning. Compelling segments left me in tears. The Blaze spotlights Kimberlin and his terror campaign against bloggers today in an important piece here, with the audio of Patterico’s swatting spotlighted.

Part 1, Glenn Beck with Patterico -

Part 2, Aaron Worthing joins Beck and Patterico -

Related articles

• Convicted bomber Brett Kimberlin threatens conservative bloggers (winteryknight.wordpress.com)
• Patterico, Brett Kimberlin, and the Super-Chilling of Free Speech (reason.com)
• ‘I could have been killed for blogging’: Conservatives highlight chilling political terrorism on ‘Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day’ (twitchy.com)
• “Speedway Bomber” Brett Kimberlin Threatens Blogger (atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com)
• Gateway Pundit Stands With Our Fellow Conservatives on ‘Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day’ (thegatewaypundit.com)

From Channel 10 in San Diego:

The amphibious transport dock USS San Diego was the first with the moniker of “America’s Finest City” to be stationed here. The ship bears Navy number LPD-22.

“With today’s ceremony, the Navy will commission the fourth ship to bear the name USS San Diego. From what I’ve been told, the ship being commissioned today is the most advanced amphibious ship in the world,” Mayor Jerry Sanders said. He said the city’s relationship with the Navy stretched back to 1921, when a Navy repair base was established.

Sanders presented the ship’s officers and the crew with the key to the city, “in honor of welcoming America’s finest ship to America’s Finest City.”

The commissioning ceremony is a naval tradition and historic event for a ship, marking the moment a new craft is placed in active service in the fleet.

Adm. Mark Ferguson, the vice chief of naval operations, said San Diego had been a great home to the United States Navy. He said expectations for the ship were high.

“The USS San Diego joins a Navy that has never been more in demand, never more needed and essential to ensure that our nation retains command of the seas,” Ferguson said.

The 684-foot long San Diego, the sixth ship in the San Antonio class, had its keel laid on May 23, 2007, at the Huntington Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. It was christened June 12, 2010, and delivered to the Navy Dec. 19, 2011.

The ship’s sponsor is Linda Winter, wife of former Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter. She gave the command to “Man our ship and bring her to life.”

The San Antonio class ship is designed to carry landing craft, fighting vehicles, helicopters and personnel. The ships have more capacity than their predecessors and use “stealth” technology that includes the shape of the hull and its superstructure. It is being called the most advanced amphibious ship in the world.

“Look at the size of it!” said veteran George Horton. “How would you like to paint it? My God.”

Horton, 88, has seen the ships grow over the years. Horton joined the Navy in 1942 and served on an older USS San Diego during World War II, just after his 17th birthday.

“Oh, this ship is so magnificent,” Horton said through tears. “[I] waited 60 years for this.”

Horton’s heart seemed to swell with pride as he looked up at the new USS San Diego.

“I just want to see this go to sea and let them know that whenever they release the anchor or let the lines go that my shipmates and I are going with them,” Horton said. “They treat me like a member of the ship and it’s really touching.”

More-

Sailors and Marines man the rails during the commissioning ceremony Sat. May 19, 2012

The San Diego’s Facebook page is here, and if you live there, you can cheer them on personally.

Related articles

• Navy commissions the high-tech USS San Diego (stripes.com)
• USS San Diego Comes Home (usnaorbust.wordpress.com)

h/t Doug Ross, who has more on the B. Hussein Obama BioHacking

h/t Rusty

h/t nessa (.001%er)

h/t Mark