Pastor who helped get ‘under God’ in Pledge dies

ALEXANDRIA, Pa. (AP) — The Rev. George M. Docherty, credited with helping to push Congress to insert the phrase “under God” into the Pledge of Allegiance, has died at 97.

Docherty died on Thanksgiving at his home in central Pennsylvania, according to his wife, Sue Docherty.

She said her husband of 36 years had been in failing health for about three years.

“George said he was going to live to be a hundred and he was determined,” she said in a telephone interview Saturday. “It’s amazing that he was with us this long.”

Docherty, then pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, just blocks from the White House, gave a sermon in 1952 saying the pledge should acknowledge God.

Full Article

Posted in Political, Spiritual | 1 Comment

Bag of Randomness

  • WifeGeeding and I successfully cooked a very flavorful and tender turkey . . . but it still wasn’t as good as my mother’s.  But there’s plenty of time for us to practice.
  • I don’t think there will ever be a reason or a sale so fantastic that I would be willing to wake up early on Black Friday and be part of the mayhem.
  • But I’m all about Cyber Monday.
  • However . . . it’s going to be a frugal Christmas in the Geeding household this year.
  • For those that live in DFW . . . that Winstar Casino “Rome” commercial is driving me bonkers.
  • The 2008 Bailout vs Other Large Government Projects.  Chart
  • I actually watched a two hour special I Tivo’d way back when over Einstein’s theory of relativity.  I wasn’t aware that it took a total eclipse to prove his theory, and that later in life he married his cousin.  Oh, and his first wife only granted a divorce after he said he would give her his Nobel prize money he was so confident he was going to win.  Funny thing is, he didn’t win it for his theory of relativity.
  • Oh, and I also finally watched an hour long special on the Lunar Rover.  It’s amazing how they were able to make it fold in a space less than five cubic feet.  And in case you didn’t know, there are three of them on the moon.
  • I also watched a History channel special on the White House and learned something new.  There was talk about moving the nation’s capitol from D.C. to Cincinnati after the British torched DC in 1814.  The thought being if the nation’s capitol was closer inland it would be better protected.
  • I hope the Christian church rememberd to pray for those involved in the terrorist act that occurred in Mumbai.
  • I’m not complaining, but it feels so weird being able to fill my gas tank up for under $25.
  • A bit long and nerdy, but creative.  Star Wars vs Star Trek (be sure to watch til after the credits)
  • Texas Tech has not looked like a top ten team in the last two weeks.
  • College football games are fun, but the BCS makes it difficult to be a fan.
  • It’s December, which means it’s time for the Cowboys to fold and flush all our hopes down the toilet.
  • I liked the way the Redskins honored Sean Taylor.
  • The NFL in 3D will be the next new thing.  Article Maybe that deserved its own separate post.
  • On a quiz show I learned the largest city in Missouri is actually Kansas City.  I would have thought it was St Louis.
  • Speaking of St Louis, here’s a video of the guy who changes the light bulb on top of the Gateway Arch.  He does it about once a year.  I have a fear of heights, I couldn’t do anything like that.
  • A somewhat interesting article on prayer websites.  Article
  • I found the perfect birthday card for a friend the other day, but his birthday recently passed, so I’m going to have to hold on to this card for a whole year.
  • Life sure can be stranger than fiction.  I most recently thought of that after reading about the story of Dan White.
  • I did a lot of electronic cleaning and discovered a have a lot of power cords that go to nothing, miles of telephone cords, lots of RCA cables, three old PCs I’ll never use, and a lot of other e-crap that needs to be recycled instead of being thrown out.
  • A world clock.  Link
  • It might be worth looking a the sky tonight.  Article
  • Snow Bear.  Pic
  • They’re brothers. They live six blocks apart. And for 80 years, neither knew the other existed.  Article [Thanks, Suzy!]
Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

Bag of Randomness

  • This is be the only post for the week.  I’m taking most of the week off from work and want to take a break from daily blogging as well.  My blogging batteries need to recharge.
  • The one thing I really appreciate about an ABC college football broadcast is the way they are able to incorporate the sounds of the game.  The do a great job of blending in the crowd noise, the band, and the occasional screams from the cheerleaders.
  • However, it still annoys me that the down and yardage to go doesn’t display right after a play.
  • Texas Tech sure didn’t look like a top five team on Saturday.
  • WOW.  McNabb got benched.
  • I just remembered that this year the annual Texas and Texas A&M football game will be played on Thanksgiving night, as opposed to the day after like the usually do.  So that means I get to watch my favorite pro football team and college football team play back to back for the first time ever.  But the truth is, I prefer the game to be played on Friday so I can spread my football watching out a bit.
  • Impressive: Florida State safety Myron Rolle earned a Rhodes Scholarship.  Link He actually had to miss part of Saturday’s game because of the scholarship interview, but was able to fly to the game and get on the field in the second quarter.
  • It seems weird that Joe Pa coaches from the press box.
  • When I see those Burger King commercials with someone dressed as the Burger King, I tend to think the person on the inside is a female just by looking at the legs.
  • With my mother gone and my sister now living in NYC, it’s up to me and WifeGeeding to cook our own turkey this year.  This should be fun, and I’ve already visited Butterball.com to do some preliminary research.  I found out you can even sign up for text messaging on their mobile site.
  • I absolutely love the bread at Outback Steakhouse.
  • Facial asymmetry.  Link
  • Einstein also had a messy desk.  Link
  • This is a really cool video about the California wildfires.  If anything, check out the 47 second mark just to see how close the fire was to the freeway. [Thanks, Warren!]
  • See cities in 360 degrees.  Link
  • Wordless interviews.  Link
  • Earth 31 million miles away, you even see the moon pass by.  YouTube
  • Pole Fitness (dancing) is taking over Utah and may become an Olympic sport.  YouTube
  • Stuff starts to slide everywhere on the rough seas when this cruise ship hits rough waters.  Video It’s a bit of a long video, but if you just watch the 1:47 and 5:21 mark you’ll see the chaos.
  • Bruce Lee plays ping pong with nunchucks?  YouTube
  • Great pranks between MIT and CalTech.  Link
  • The craziest dog and duck video you will ever see.  YouTube
  • This site provided an interesting analysis about this blog.  Just type “www.bagofnothing.com” and click Typealize.
Posted in Goofy | 7 Comments

A Little Bit of History That I Own

A couple of years ago my father-in-law and I were cleaning out a barn in East Texas and came across a garbage bag that included this newspaper.  It’s dated November 23, 1963 with the price of $0.05.  It’s now stored in a cool dry place.

If you are interested in a high-resolution version of the pic just click here.

On the radio the other day I heard that Lee Harvey Oswald’s daughter actually grew up in Dallas and graduated high school in 1980.  Can you imagine the amount of teasing that she received?

Posted in DFW, Interesting, Personal, Political, Pop Culture | Comments Off on A Little Bit of History That I Own