Brad Pitt's Family Has Made Him A Better Person:

Brad Pitt may be ... well, Brad Pitt ... but that doesn't mean his life isn't complicated.
In the new issue of Esquire magazine, the 49-year-old actor admits he's a little bit of a loner and has some trouble when it comes to forming friendships.
"I have very few friends," he tells Esquire. "I have a handful of close friends and I have my family and I haven't known life to be any happier. I'm making things. I just haven't known life to be any happier."
In actuality Pitt, who has six children -- Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne -- with his fiancee Angelina Jolie, 37, always wanted a big brood to fill that empty space.
"I always thought that if I wanted to do a family, I wanted to do it big. I wanted there to be chaos in the house," Pitt shares, adding, "there's constant chatter in our house, whether it's giggling or screaming or crying or banging. I love it. I love it. I love it."
"I hate it when they're gone," he continues. "I hate it. Maybe it's nice to be in a hotel room for a day –- 'Oh, nice, I can finally read a paper.' But then, by the next day, I miss that cacophony, all that life."
Before all the "chaos," Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston -- they divorced in 2005 after he met Jolie on the set of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" -- and has admitted in the past that he was his own worst enemy. Not only did he dabble in drugs, but he let his dreams and goals drift away from him. Pitt even confesses that he was just one paper away from earning his college degree.
"I'd get so far and then want to do something else. I mean, I'm two credits short of graduating college. Two credits. All I had to do was write a paper. What kind of guy is that?" he asks. "That guy scares me –- the guy who always leaves a little on his plate."
"For a long time I thought I did too much damage -– drug damage. I was a bit of a drifter. A guy who felt he grew up in something of a vacuum and wanted to see things, wanted to be inspired. I followed that other thing," Pitt adds to Esquire. "I spent years f**king off. But then I got burnt out and felt that I was wasting my opportunity. It was a conscious change. This was about a decade ago. It was an epiphany -– a decision not to squander my opportunities. It was a feeling of get up. Because otherwise, what’s the point?"
Read more in the June/July issue of Esquire magazine, on newsstands May 28.
 

Jay-Z is shutting down the rumors

Jay-Z is shutting down the rumors that he’s about to become a father again. The media and all of the blogs went crazy on Friday when the news broke that the couple were expecting another child.
Bey took to her Instagram over the weekend to address the rumors and today Jay wants us all to know that his wife is not pregnant. Ebro Darden, the programming director of NYC radio station HOT 97 reached out to Jay over the weekend and offered his congratulations. Ebro said Jay replied and confirmed he and his wife of five years, Beyonce, are not expecting.
Guess we’ll have to wait another 6 months or so to know for sure!
The Mrs. Carter Show tour hits the U.S. next month and we will be on baby bump watch!

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in Oklahoma

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in Oklahoma as the state recovers from a massive tornado that ripped through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, killing dozens and flattening entire neighborhoods.
Obama has ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts. Individuals and business owners affected by the disaster may apply for federal grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs.
The president promised federal assistance in a phone conversation earlier Monday with Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (FAL'-ihn). The Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent a special team to Oklahoma's emergency operations center to help out and dispatch resources.
Below, the full declaration from The White House:

Walmart Future?

Walmart tried to put a positive spin on its disappointing earnings report Thursday, which showed declining U.S. sales. But a survey released Friday contains another bad sign for America's wealthiest company and largest employer: just 38 percent of employees think Walmart's business outlook is good.



The report from Glassdoor.com, the employment review website, looked at people's expectations for their employers for the coming six months. Walmart didn't perform significantly below average, but it got a lower score than other major U.S. brands. Forty-three percent of Target workers gave their employer a positive outlook, and a solid majority of Home Depot and Whole Foods workers (61 and 62 percent, respectively) said their companies were on the upswing.

Tech companies at the top and the bottom: The top five performers were all software or Internet companies: Google, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, SAP, and Amazon. But most of the worst performers were also in the tech space. Just 35 percent of Microsoft employees gave their company a positive outlook, as did 32 percent of workers at Hewlett-Packard, 31 percent at Intel and 22 percent at Dell.

More: Walmart Organizers Claim Victory In Little Heralded Announcement

Why Walmart workers are so pessimistic: On Glassdoor.com, Walmart employees repeat the same complaints: poor communication from upper management, low pay, no merit-based raises, and favoritism that pummels morale. Many lower-level workers strike the same note as this sales associate from Dillon, S.C.: "Not a job to make a career out of." They also frequently cite staff shortages, an issue that Bloomberg News reported on earlier this year. Customers wrote in complaining about poorly stocked shelves and missing inventory. Some said that they were driving farther to avoid their local Walmart.

Best Dressed: Taylor Swift 8 BILLBOARD AWARDS

Best Dressed: Taylor Swift wore the most electrifying shade of blue on the BLUE carpet, which we love! Taylor ditched the typical white and her signature red to rock out a brilliant blue cut out gown that had some really interesting detailing, including plenty of sheer back action.
Taylor also talked about her performance of "22" at the awards show and why she chose that concept, saying, "we just kind of felt [it] would be so much fun with the song and also with Vegas, we had such incredible performers at our disposal."

As for her connection with her fans, Taylor said, "I don't know. I mean, you know, like I feel so lucky that I have such a personal relationship with my fans."

She added, "I feel so lucky that they want to follow me on Twitter, even though I just kind of tweet about my cat or Law & Order or food."

"It's been amazing. It's been an amazing friendship and bond that we've had over the last couple of years...I'm just very grateful to have it."

As for her reaction to Selena and Justin sharing a backstage kiss, well, a picture is worth a thousand words!
 


 

Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson was born into a family destined for greatness. As the youngest child of the Jackson clan, she was a toddler when her brothers began performing as The Jackson 5. The boys were wildly successful, and the family moved from Indiana to Los Angeles.
She didn't plan on entering show business from the start, but was thrust into the spotlight simply by having the Jackson name. She was on several

television shows from the mid '70s to early '80s, and signed a recording contract with A&M in 1982, gaining her personal fame after the release of "Control" in 1986, her third album.

Her lyrics are socially conscious, her music innovative. She's never been afraid to take a risk with her music or how she dresses, and we applaud her for her fearlessness. Through the years, she's had a penchant for menswear-inspired tops and dresses, and certainly loves to dress in black and white. She's had a few fashion hiccups along the way, but the youngest Jackson has certainly followed in her brother's footsteps, making a place to call her own in the entertainment and

fashion world.

Janet turns 47 today, May 16th, and in her honor we've take a look back at her style through the years. Click through the gallery above to see!

 

Multiple tornadoes swept through north Texas

Multiple tornadoes swept through north Texas on Wednesday, damaging dozens of homes and claiming several lives, NBC Dallas Fort-Worth reported.
At least six people were killed after a twister touched down southeast of Granbury, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth, Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds announced in a midnight press conference. Up to 100 more were injured, some critically, The Associated Press reported.
The Granbury neighborhoods of Ranchos Brazos Estates and DeCordova Ranch suffered the brunt of the damage.
"There were probably 75 homes in [the Rancho Brazos] subdivision that are totally destroyed,'' Deeds said. "We haven't had a bad one like this for a while.''
A mile-wide tornado reached 80 mph winds as it passed through the town of Cleburne, the Dallas Morning News reported. Injuries were also reported there, NBC reported.
Another twister hit about 40 miles west of Fort Worth in the town of Millsap, causing damage to buildings.
The tornadoes developed this evening out of a system of thunderstorms over the area. Grapefruit-sized hail also pelted the area around Mineral Wells.
A tornado warning issued earlier for southwestern Ellis County, north central Hill County and southeastern Johnson County has expired.
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