What constitutes an "international airport?"

The sign greeting air travelers in the hub city of the South Plains proudly proclaims its name: Lubbock Preston Smith INTERNATIONAL Airport.

Ok, so the all caps version of "international" was my added emphasis.

But, it was that word that sparked an interesting discussion around this little corner of heaven recently.

Just what DOES an airport have to do or have to qualify as an "international" airport?

LPSIA, as I fondly abbreviate it, has NO international flights. But, it is not alone. Other similarly lacking airports claim the name, apparently as a reflection of their future plans and ambitions. (i.e. Gary/Chicago International Airport in Indiana)

Still other airports that one would think had international flights, do not: London's Heathrow, Detroit's Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and (my favorite) George Bush Intercontinental.

Another presidential namesake, Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan, claims the status as a result of part-time customs/immigration staff on site.

I guess, all of this goes to show that an airport can pretty much name itself whatever it wants--even after some obscure Texas governor. Truth in advertising rules need not apply!

RIP Jack Kemp (1935-2009)

I was sorry to hear yesterday of the passing of Jack Kemp, who apparently had been battling cancer recently.

Ye socks may remember him from his pro football days, or from his distinguished career in public service (US Congressman, HUD Secretary, etc.)

Personally, whenever his name is mentioned, I always think back to the presidential campaign of 1996, when Kemp came to rally the troops at the Lake Eola bandshell in downtown Orlando.

I don't remember exactly the words he used, but I sure do remember the enthusiasm he brought to what otherwise was a dismal campaign. Many of us in the crowd then, and today even more, wonder what might have been if Kemp had been the party nominee instead of Bob Dole that year.

He was certainly a man of big ideas, more than just a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution as the party's most recent failed presidential candidate is so proud of claiming.

No, Kemp wasn't just a good trooper, he was actually coming up with ideas to tackle the economic mess we inherited from Jimmy Carter's malaise. And, he implemented many more as he served in the first Bush administration's cabinet.

Gone too soon, Jack, gone too soon.

Ranking the Presidents

It seems like this day every year, a bunch of liberal eggheads try to spoon feed us their rankings of all the presidents. C-SPAN is offering a prime example today.

I decided to examine the list and rank them myself. Disclaimers: No one got any style points for looking good in a tux or for having a flashy smile. Also, no points were awarded for martyrdom. I only graded on what was accomplised AS PRESIDENT. What happened before or after was not considered.

And, of course, I examine everything from a conservative perspective the aforementioned eggheads will probably never quite grasp.

Ok, so here goes:

1. Ronald Reagan
2. James Monroe
3. Calvin Coolidge
4. James K. Polk
5. Abraham Lincoln
6. Theodore Roosevelt
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. George Washington
9. Dwight D. Eisenhower
10. Harry Truman
11. George H.W. Bush
12. William McKinley
13. Andrew Jackson
14. Ulysses S. Grant
15. Rutherford B. Hayes
16. James Madison
17. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
18. George W. Bush
19. John F. Kennedy
20. Gerald R. Ford
21. Millard Fillmore
22. Bill Clinton
23. William H. Taft
24. Woodrow Wilson
25. John Tyler
26. Chester Arthur
27. John Adams
28. Richard Nixon
29. Grover Cleveland
30. John Quincy Adams
31. Martin Van Buren
32. Lyndon Johnson
33. Jimmy Carter
34. Warren Harding
35. Benjamin Harrison
36. Franklin Pierce
37. Andrew Johnson
38. Herbert Hoover
39. Zachary Taylor
40. James Buchanan

Well, at least we all agreed on Buchanan being the worst.

Note:
Three names were left off the list due to incomplete records:
* James A. Garfield - assassinated only a few months after inauguration.
* William Henry Harrison - died of pneumonia a month after taking office.
* Barack Hussein Obama - current commander-in-chief (shudder!)

Myth vs. Reality

It really irritates me when history is purposely distorted, or downright fictionalized.

Case in point, "Chief Seattle's Letter."

I am not going to waste my socks' time regurgitating the drivel I'm sure you've probably already seen. I'm sure you know the diatribe I'm talking about. It's the one that glorifies AmerIndian traditions at the expense of Judeo-Christian values and culture, ending with the trite phrase, "We are all brothers."

Whatever. I mean, if you're "in" to drinking that Kool-Aid, go ahead. But, at least have the decency not to bastardize history in the process.

The FACT of the matter is that Seattle was never so eloquent. The so-called "letter" was actually lifted from a screenplay written by a New York City drama teacher named Ted Perry in the early 1970s. He, incidentally, is mortified that his work of FICTION has been passed-off as truth by others, and has spent a lot of time trying to set the record straight.

But, it's an uphill battle, mostly because those who pervert our history in the name of ecology and secular humanism have seen fit to reprint it ad nauseum on t-shirts, postcards, websites, etc. It has even been quoted (unwittingly, I hope) in the works of the late Joseph Campbell and the former President George H.W. Bush.

So, my plea to ye socks in the dryer is, when you hear something you know is a bunch of malarkey, stand up for the truth! And, if confronted by this particular example of buffoonery, tell the purveyors that Chief Seattle was a confirmed Roman Catholic, converted by French missionaries, and saw to it that his entire tribe attended regular Mass and joined together in prayer every morning and every evening. The chief accepted Jesus Christ as his savior, acknowledged His virgin birth, and knew God as the Blessed Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He didn't worship twigs and branches or pray to rocks.

Would that some others would follow his TRUE example.