March 19, 2012 – Smriti "Simmi" D. Isaac

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Simmi D. Isaac — Leave a comment

On This Day: March 19

Updated March 18, 2012, 2:28 pm

On March 19, 1920, the United States Senate rejected for the second time the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 49-35, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed for approval.
Go to article »

On March 19, 1891, Earl Warren, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969, was born. Following his death on July 9, 1974, his obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1860 William Jennings Bryan, secretary of state and three-time Democratic presidential nominee, was born in Salem, Ill.

1891 Earl Warren, the 14th chief justice of the United States, was born in Los Angeles.

1917 The Supreme Court upheld the eight-hour work day for railroads.

1918 Congress approved daylight-saving time.

1920 The U.S. Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles for a second time.

1931 Nevada legalized gambling.

1945 Adolf Hitler issued his so-called “Nero Decree” ordering the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands.

1953 The Academy Awards ceremony was televised for the first time.

1962 Bob Dylan’s self-titled debut album was released.

1987 Televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as chairman of his PTL ministry organization amid a sex-and-money scandal involving a former church secretary, Jessica Hahn.

1988 Two British soldiers were shot to death after they were dragged from a car and beaten by mourners attending an Irish Republican Army funeral in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1995 After giving up an attempt to become a major league baseball player, Michael Jodan returned to pro basketball with the Chicago Bulls.

2001 California officials declared a power alert, ordering the first of two days of rolling blackouts.

2003 Mahmoud Abbas accepted the new position of Palestinian prime minister.

2011 The U.S. fired more than 100 cruise missiles from the sea while French fighter jets targeted Moammar Gadhafi’s forces from the air, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war in support of an uprising.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actress Glenn Close (“Damages,” “Fatal Attraction”) turns 65 years old today.

AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Actor Bruce Willis turns 57 years old today.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

1925 Brent Scowcroft, Former national security adviser, turns 87

1930 Ornette Coleman, Jazz saxophonist, turns 82

1933 Philip Roth, Author, turns 79

1936 Ursula Andress, Actress, turns 76

1946 Ruth Pointer, Singer (The Pointer Sisters), turns 66

1952 Harvey Weinstein, Movie producer, turns 60

1958 Andy Reid, Football coach, turns 54

Historic Birthdays

Earl Warren 3/19/1891 – 7/9/1974 14th chief justice of the United States (1953-69).Go to obituary »

56 Johannes Magnus 3/19/1488 – 3/22/1544
Swedish Roman Catholic archbishop and historian

66 Alonso Cano 3/19/1601 – 9/3/1667
Spanish painter, sculptor and architect

81 Elias Hicks 3/19/1748 – 2/27/1830
American Quaker minister; advocated the abolition of slavery

42 Nikolay Gogol 3/19/1809 (OS) – 2/21/1852 (OS)
Ukrainian-born Russian humorist, dramatist and novelist

60 David Livingstone 3/19/1813 – 5/1/1873
Scottish missionary and explorer; opened Africa to the West

69 Sir Richard Burton 3/19/1821 – 10/20/1890
English scholar, explorer, writer and translator

80 Wyatt Earp 3/19/1848 – 1/13/1929
American frontiersman; became lawman and gambler

80 Alfred von Tirpitz 3/19/1849 – 3/6/1930
German admiral and chief builder of German navy before World War I

65 William Jennings Bryan 3/19/1860 – 7/26/1925
American Democratic and Populist leader

100 James Van Fleet 3/19/1892 – 9/23/1992
American commander who led troops in Normandy on D-Day in World War II

58 Frederic Joliot-Curie 3/19/1900 – 8/14/1958
French Nobel Prize-winning physicist; shared prize with his wife, Irene

74 Jo Mielziner 3/19/1901 – 3/15/1976
American stage designer

88 John Sirica 3/19/1904 – 8/14/1992
United States district court judge; presided at trial of Watergate burglars (1973)

76 Albert Speer 3/19/1905 – 9/1/1981
German Nazi minister for war production

56 Adolf Eichmann 3/19/1906 – 5/31/1962
German Nazi war criminal hanged by Israel

1860	William Jennings Bryan, secretary of state and three-time Democratic presidential nominee, was born in Salem, Ill.
1891	Earl Warren, the 14th chief justice of the United States, was born in Los Angeles.
1917	The Supreme Court upheld the eight-hour work day for railroads.
1918	Congress approved daylight-saving time.
1920	The U.S. Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles for a second time.
1931	Nevada legalized gambling.
1945	Adolf Hitler issued his so-called “Nero Decree” ordering the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands.
1953	The Academy Awards ceremony was televised for the first time.
1962	Bob Dylan’s self-titled debut album was released.
1987	Televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as chairman of his PTL ministry organization amid a sex-and-money scandal involving a former church secretary, Jessica Hahn.
1988	Two British soldiers were shot to death after they were dragged from a car and beaten by mourners attending an Irish Republican Army funeral in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1995	After giving up an attempt to become a major league baseball player, Michael Jodan returned to pro basketball with the Chicago Bulls.
2001	California officials declared a power alert, ordering the first of two days of rolling blackouts.
2003	Mahmoud Abbas accepted the new position of Palestinian prime minister.
2011	The U.S. fired more than 100 cruise missiles from the sea while French fighter jets targeted Moammar Gadhafi’s forces from the air, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war in support of an uprising.

1925	Brent Scowcroft, Former national security adviser, turns 87
1930	Ornette Coleman, Jazz saxophonist, turns 82
1933	Philip Roth, Author, turns 79
1936	Ursula Andress, Actress, turns 76
1946	Ruth Pointer, Singer (The Pointer Sisters), turns 66
1952	Harvey Weinstein, Movie producer, turns 60
1958	Andy Reid, Football coach, turns 54

56	Johannes Magnus 3/19/1488 – 3/22/1544 Swedish Roman Catholic archbishop and historian
66	Alonso Cano 3/19/1601 – 9/3/1667 Spanish painter, sculptor and architect
81	Elias Hicks 3/19/1748 – 2/27/1830 American Quaker minister; advocated the abolition of slavery
42	Nikolay Gogol 3/19/1809 (OS) – 2/21/1852 (OS) Ukrainian-born Russian humorist, dramatist and novelist
60	David Livingstone 3/19/1813 – 5/1/1873 Scottish missionary and explorer; opened Africa to the West
69	Sir Richard Burton 3/19/1821 – 10/20/1890 English scholar, explorer, writer and translator
80	Wyatt Earp 3/19/1848 – 1/13/1929 American frontiersman; became lawman and gambler
80	Alfred von Tirpitz 3/19/1849 – 3/6/1930 German admiral and chief builder of German navy before World War I
65	William Jennings Bryan 3/19/1860 – 7/26/1925 American Democratic and Populist leader
100	James Van Fleet 3/19/1892 – 9/23/1992 American commander who led troops in Normandy on D-Day in World War II
58	Frederic Joliot-Curie 3/19/1900 – 8/14/1958 French Nobel Prize-winning physicist; shared prize with his wife, Irene
74	Jo Mielziner 3/19/1901 – 3/15/1976 American stage designer
88	John Sirica 3/19/1904 – 8/14/1992 United States district court judge; presided at trial of Watergate burglars (1973)
76	Albert Speer 3/19/1905 – 9/1/1981 German Nazi minister for war production
56	Adolf Eichmann 3/19/1906 – 5/31/1962 German Nazi war criminal hanged by Israel

via learning.blogs.nytimes.com

Posted on March 19, 2012April 10, 2013 by Simmi D. Isaac — Leave a comment

March 19

MORNING

“My beloved.”
Song of Solomon 2:8

This was a golden name which the ancient Church in her most joyous moments was wont to give to the Anointed of the Lord. When the time of the singing of birds was come, and the voice of the turtle was heard in her land, her love-note was sweeter than either, as she sang, “My beloved is mine and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.” Ever in her song of songs doth she call him by that delightful name, “My beloved!” Even in the long winter, when idolatry had withered the garden of the Lord, her prophets found space to lay aside the burden of the Lord for a little season, and to say, as Esaias did, “Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard.” Though the saints had never seen his face, though as yet he was not made flesh, nor had dwelt among us, nor had man beheld his glory, yet he was the consolation of Israel, the hope and joy of all the chosen, the “beloved” of all those who were upright before the Most High. We, in the summer days of the Church, are also wont to speak of Christ as the best beloved of our soul, and to feel that he is very precious, the “chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely.” So true is it that the Church loves Jesus, and claims him as her beloved, that the apostle dares to defy the whole universe to separate her from the love of Christ, and declares that neither persecutions, distress, affliction, peril, or the sword have been able to do it; nay, he joyously boasts, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

O that we knew more of thee, thou ever precious one!

“My sole possession is thy love;

In earth beneath, or heaven above,

I have no other store;

And though with fervent suit I pray,

And importune thee day by day,

I ask thee nothing more.”

EVENING

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church.”
Ephesians 5:25

What a golden example Christ gives to his disciples! Few masters could venture to say, “If you would practise my teaching, imitate my life;” but as the life of Jesus is the exact transcript of perfect virtue, he can point to himself as the paragon of holiness, as well as the teacher of it. The Christian should take nothing short of Christ for his model. Under no circumstances ought we to be content unless we reflect the grace which was in him. As a husband, the Christian is to look upon the portrait of Christ Jesus, and he is to paint according to that copy. The true Christian is to be such a husband as Christ was to his church. The love of a husband is special. The Lord Jesus cherishes for the church a peculiar affection, which is set upon her above the rest of mankind: “I pray for them, I pray not for the world.” The elect church is the favourite of heaven, the treasure of Christ, the crown of his head, the bracelet of his arm, the breastplate of his heart, the very centre and core of his love. A husband should love his wife with a constant love, for thus Jesus loves his church. He does not vary in his affection. He may change in his display of affection, but the affection itself is still the same. A husband should love his wife with an enduring love, for nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” A true husband loves his wife with a hearty love, fervent and intense. It is not mere lip-service. Ah! beloved, what more could Christ have done in proof of his love than he has done? Jesus has a delighted love towards his spouse: He prizes her affection, and delights in her with sweet complacence. Believer, you wonder at Jesus’ love; you admire it–are you imitating it? In your domestic relationships is the rule and measure of your love–“even as Christ loved the church?”

via view.lists.biblegateway.com

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Simmi D. Isaac — Leave a comment

The movie poster says it all: a Muslim-looking man with a (Jewish) bagel in his mouth. What could be more improbable?! The concept of a moderate Muslim man in Britain who discovers his Jewish identity upon the death of his mother is sure to go down as a major mid-life crisis for anyone, no matter who they might be or where they live. This guy happens to live in the seaside city of Brighton, U.K., and this discovery– radical as it is– couldn’t have come at a worse time in his life even as his young son is planning to wed the daughter of a well-known Islamic cleric.

What ensues is nothing short of a comedy of errors as the drama unfolds in how our Muslim-Jew man attempts to come to terms with his new identity. Part comic, part tragic, there’s lots of laughs and certainly a lot to consider in this short film that attempts to use humor to present a subject that can be dealt sanely only with humor– any other way might lead to another set of the Crusades or the Holocaust.

The ending is a somewhat improbable one, but perhaps making a clear statement was too difficult for all concerned. Regardless, it provided kosher entertainment throughout, with plenty of references to Jewish icons and customs in the pop-culture.

Posted on March 19, 2012January 19, 2013 by Simmi D. Isaac — Leave a comment

Rann, 2010

By Bollywood standards, this is serious cinema. An expose of the Fourth Estate, aka, the media, this is a story of the ‘rann’ or battle that is underway in the heart of India’s television news channels where there is more an inclination to create a news story as opposed to reporting it.

Strong performances by Big B, aka Amitabh Bachhan, and a host of other newbies whose names I don’t know, unfortunately. Paresh Rawal is the most impressive in his role as the slimy politician who is skilled only at talking the talk but never walking it.

Rann is a thoughtfully made movie that opens with a great deal of promise, loses steam toward the middle, but then picks up nicely to finish off with a real ‘sting’ in the story and a somewhat long-winded monologue by Mr. Bachhan.