Saturday, April 18, 2009

Joe Queenan

Joe Queenan has been avoiding indulging in self-pity his entire life। He doesn't know any other way of being; for this tough guy, it has been his survival mechanism - and for the most part, it has worked pretty well. Queenan was blessed with a sheer force of will and a ferocious desire to be noticed that prompted him to find a way out। He found other paternal and maternal figures to show him the way: teachers, nuns, uncles, priests and local merchants who let him work in their stores.
Queenan, 59, has spent decades cultivating a successful career as an author and somewhat cantankerous cultural critic, known for his scathing mockeries of figures as diverse as Madonna and Prince and Hillary Rodham Clinton। A few years ago, overwhelmed by a momentarily lapse of Irish guilt, he set up a Web site to apologize to everyone whom he had mercilessly parodied, except for Geraldo Rivera, whom he deemed beyond forgiveness, but soon abandoned the project.
Queenan bravely but cautiously drops the cool, sarcastic, funnyman persona in this shocking new memoir and looks back on his horrific childhood in Philadelphia. He was often beaten senseless by his tyrannical drunken father, who used to pull the boy from his bed at night and make him sit and listen to him rant about everything from the passing of the era of Kennedy's "Camelot" to the new dictates of the Catholic Church.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

John Madden

John Madden, Hall of Fame coach and the most honored broadcaster in sports television history, has decided to retire from broadcasting। "It’s time. I’m 73 years old. My 50th wedding anniversary is this fall. I have two great sons and their families and my five grandchildren are at an age now when they know when I’m home and, more importantly
It’s been such a great ride… the NFL has been my life for more than 40 years, it has been my passion – it still is। I appreciate all of the people who are and were such an important part of the most enjoyable, most fun anyone could have… that great life with the teams, the players, the coaches, the owners, the League… my broadcasting partners Pat and Al… the production people and the fans …is still great… it’s still fun and that’s what it makes it hard and that’s why it took me a few months to make a decision।
John Madden, Hall of Fame coach and the most honored NFL broadcaster of all time, has served as the game analyst for “NBC Sunday Night Football” since 2006. Madden, who has won an unprecedented 16 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Analyst/Personality, is renowned by football fans nationwide for his ability to analyze the details of the game with wit, candor and an inimitable style.

JP Morgan Chase

JP Morgan Chase reported better-than-expected quarterly profits after a record performance at its investment bank। It joined rival Goldman Sachs in saying it was ready to repay emergency bailout money received from the government last year. Increased losses from credit cards and other consumer debt have forced JP Morgan to set aside more money to cover bad debts in its consumer banking business।
JP Morgan made a profit of $2।1bn (£1.41bn), or $0.40 a share, in the first three months of the year. Although that was lower than the $2.4bn result achieved a year ago, it beat analysts' consensus forecast of a profit of $0.30 a share. Revenues climbed 50% to $29.9bn. At the start of the week, Goldman raised $5bn from investors in an effort to become the first major US institution to pay back its $10bn slice of the emergency government bailout।
However, Jamie Dimon, the chief executive, said the bank had enough cash to return the $25bn in taxpayer funds it received in October. "We could pay it back tomorrow," he said, adding that he was waiting for guidance from the government on when it could do so. He said money received under the troubled asset relief program (Tarp) had become a "scarlet letter" for banks.
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