Dog sniffs out grammar

A border collie takes command of sentence rules

By Bruce Bower

Web edition: May 21, 2013

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COMMAND PERFORMANCE

A border collie named Chaser participates in an experiment testing her ability to understand commands given before she can see any of the objects named in those directives. After hearing a four-word command, Chaser consistently turned around and carried the correct item from the head of the bed to the living room, where she placed it next the appropriate object.

Credit: Courtesy of J. Pilley

Chaser isn?t just a 9-year-old border collie with her breed?s boundless energy, intense focus and love of herding virtually anything. She?s a grammar hound.

In experiments directed by her owner, psychologist John Pilley of Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., Chaser demonstrated her grasp of the basic elements of grammar by responding correctly to commands such as ?to ball take Frisbee? and its reverse, ?to Frisbee take ball.? The dog had previous, extensive training to recognize classes of words including nouns, verbs and prepositions.

?Chaser intuitively discovered how to comprehend sentences based on lots of background learning about different types of words,? Pilley says. He reports the results May 13 in Learning and Motivation.

Throughout the first three years of Chaser?s life, Pilley and a colleague trained the dog to recognize and fetch more than 1,000 objects by name. Using praise and play as reinforcements, the researchers also taught Chaser the meaning of different types of words, such as verbs and prepositions. As a result, Chaser learned that phrases such as ?to Frisbee? meant that she should take whatever was in her mouth to the named object.

Exactly how the dog gained her command of grammar is unclear, however. Pilley suspects that Chaser first mentally linked each of two nouns she heard in a sentence to objects in her memory. Then the canine held that information in mind while deciding which of two objects to bring to which of two other objects.

Pilley?s work follows controversial studies of grammar understanding in dolphins and a pygmy chimp.

It?s hard to know what a dog or other nonhuman animal is actually thinking about when responding to commands, comments dog researcher and psychology graduate student Krista Macpherson of the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. Debate about whether these animals understand that the meaning of commands rests on abstract rules will continue with Chaser?s behavior, in her view.

Chaser started sentence training at age 7. She stood facing a pair of objects she knew by name. An experimenter would say, for instance, ?to ball take Frisbee.? In initial trials, the experimenter pointed at each item while saying its name.

After several weeks of training, two experiments conducted in Pilley?s living room tested Chaser?s grammar knowledge. A college student sat with the dog facing two pairs of objects. Chaser had to choose an object from one pair to carry to an object from the other pair. The student read commands that included words for those objects. Only some of those words had been used during sentence training, including ?to sugar take decoy.? To see whether Chaser grasped that grammar could be used flexibly, Pilley had the student also read sentences in the reversed form of ?take sugar to decoy.? In 28 of 40 attempts, Chaser grabbed the correct item in her mouth and dropped it next to the correct target.

Another experiment tested Chaser?s ability to understand commands when she couldn?t see the objects at first. Pilley stood at the end of a bed where Chaser sat facing him, with two objects behind her at the other end of the bed. After hearing a command, Chaser turned around and nabbed one of the objects. She then ran to the living room and delivered the item to one of another pair of objects. She succeeded on all 12 trials.

Border collies achieve similar grammatical insights when working with farmers to learn sheep-herding commands, Pilley speculates. With enough training, other dog breeds could also get a paw-hold on grammar, he predicts.

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/350585/title/Dog_sniffs_out_grammar

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Donchez wins close Democratic primary for Bethlehem mayor

In a nail-biting primary Tuesday that likely will decide the next mayor, veteran Bethlehem City Councilman Robert Donchez took an early lead over J. William Reynolds and held it, but the margin of victory was so slim he declined to declare victory early Wednesday morning.

According to unofficial election results, Donchez won by just 296 votes with all precincts reporting at 12:30 a.m.

"It's a close race, and I'm not ready to declare victory," Donchez said. "We'll wait until tomorrow and see what the final numbers are."

Donchez commended Reynolds and his volunteers on a well-fought campaign. Donchez had 2,651 votes and Reynolds tallied 2,355, according to unofficial results. Reynolds won in the Lehigh County part of the city.

Reynolds said, "I'm proud of the campaign we ran and will wait to see what the results are tomorrow."

If Donchez's lead holds, he will likely become the city's 12^th mayor when the term-limited Mayor John Callahan steps down at the end of the year, barring a third-party or write-in candidate. No Republicans filed to run.

Donchez would likely work with a council that will include at least two new faces. With four seats up for election, council members Eric Evans and Karen Dolan and newcomers Bryan Callahan and Adam Waldron were leading among the six Democrats running. In November, the four top vote getters in the council race will face Republican Christopher Morales, owner of Bethlehem's lone hot dog cart, Easy Weenies.

The mayoral contest pitted Donchez, a 63-year-old retired teacher and legislative aide, against Reynolds, a 31-year-old teacher and former legislative aide. The two had very similar records on council but diverged widely on style.

Donchez emphasized his experience, suggesting Reynolds wasn't ready to be mayor. The son of a former city police detective, Donchez had an early look at the inner workings of City Hall and his campaign experience is nearly as old as the city's strong mayor form of government. He's been on council for 17 years, serving as its elected president nearly half that time.

But Reynolds called Donchez an insider and questioned Donchez's maturity, once confronting him at a debate with a negative mailer Donchez had sent out. One mailer included an old photograph of Reynolds with his hat turned backward.

Reynolds got an 11^th-hour endorsement Friday from Callahan, who said he intended to stay neutral but was persuaded to make a public endorsement after the mailers.

Donchez's campaign issued a statement calling Callahan "the ultimate hypocrite," noting Callahan's negative campaign when he became mayor in 2003. Donchez had also questioned how Reynolds could call him an insider when he had the support of the sitting mayor.

Reynolds, the youngest city councilman ever elected, had spent much of the campaign comparing his energy and philosophy to Callahan, who was elected at 34, and former Mayor Don Cunningham, who was elected at 31.

Reynolds emphasized his grass roots and proposed several initiatives, including changing some of council's at-large seats to district seats, and creating neighborhood committees to meet with department heads. He vowed not to marry any one until everyone ? regardless of sexual orientation ? could marry in Pennsylvania.

Donchez has described himself as taking a deliberative approach where he would convene a task force of business and finance experts to analyze how City Hall operates and search for better budgeting practices. He may make the rare move and ask council to reopen the 2014 budget after he is sworn in to make changes based on the task force's recommendations.

He said he would schedule regular office hours where residents could drop in, and hold town hall meetings in each section of the city.

He's called for bringing more economic development programs in house and naming a point person to help guide the effort. He would also explore creating the Christmas City Economic Development Corp., supplanting Bethlehem Economic Development Corp., and possibly merge it with the Redevelopment Authority.

On public safety, he would consider returning a fire pumper to the Dewberry station, which is now an EMS site, and gradually bring the police officer ranks from 149 to 155.

He said he would explore sponsorships for city facilities and create better access for the elderly at paths and pet-friendly parks.

Donchez had the backing of several well-known Democrats, including campaign chairs Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli and state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton.

Donchez took an early fundraising lead with $112,000 in the bank by Jan.1. Donchez had $167,600 to spend on the campaign during this year, a little more than twice what Reynolds had.

Nicole.mertz@mcall.com

610-778-2253

Source: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-bethlehem-mayor-election-20130521,0,2395042.story?track=rss

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Everything New Is Old: Benghazi & Co. (OliverWillisLikeKryptoniteToStupid)

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UK first in EU to get Merck's new Schmallenberg vaccine

LONDON (Reuters) - British farmers will be the first in Europe to get a vaccine against Schmallenberg virus, a new livestock disease that hit the continent in 2011.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said on Tuesday that MSD Animal Health, a unit of Merck & Co, had been issued a licence for the new vaccine after an accelerated assessment to make it available this summer.

As a result, farmers will be able to vaccinate sheep and cattle before most of them become pregnant, which is important as exposure to the virus can cause damage to foetuses.

Schmallenberg virus - named after the German town where it was first detected - infected sheep and cows on at least 2,600 farms in eight EU countries in 2011.

It is particularly harmful to the offspring of animals infected during early pregnancy, resulting in stillbirths and malformations such as brain deformities, twisted spines and locked joints.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by David Cowell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-first-eu-mercks-schmallenberg-vaccine-230726651.html

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A new gamepad for a new game console: Microsoft's next-gen wireless controller revealed

Despite the few protestations gamers have with the Xbox 360 wireless controller, Microsoft is apparently updating its much-loved input device for the next-generation, Xbox One. At first glance, the controller looks rather similar to its successor, though there are definitely some design tweaks in tow. For starters, the renowned "Xbox button" has been moved up a bit, making room for a couple of buttons in the central place where it used to be located.

What's more, and in what's perhaps the biggest change, the triggers now have a built-in rumble system, which Microsoft's calling "Impulse Triggers." There's now also a redesigned d-pad that takes on a more traditional "cross" look, while the thumbsticks are slightly shorter and have a textured design around the edge, which, presumably, should help keep your thumbs gripped with more ease. The battery compartment, meanwhile, is much smaller than the previous version. We're likely to hear more about the One's gamepad soon, so we'll be updating this post as more info comes in.

Ben Gilbert contributed to this report.

Gallery: Xbox One controller

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/3AMlwxYMM5I/

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Ari Folman animates Robin Wright in 'The Congress'

CANNES, France (AP) ? Hollywood is hell.

That's an idea to set tongues wagging at the Cannes Film Festival, and it's the distinct impression left by Israeli director Ari Folman's head-spinning part-animated feature "The Congress."

Fittingly, Cannes provided the inspiration for the director's dystopian vision of the entertainment business, which stars actress Robin Wright as, well, actress Robin Wright ? a 40something performer whose career is on the slide.

Folman conceived the kernel of the film when he came to the festival in 2008 with "Waltz With Bashir," his Academy Award-nominated animated film about his experiences as a young Israeli soldier in Lebanon in the 1980s.

The director said he was walking through the bustling movie marketplace at Cannes when he saw an elderly woman.

"And my sales agent asked me, do you recognize this lady? And I said no," Folman said. "And he told me her name and I was shocked, because she was this goddess American actress from the 70s. She was in her 70s, and no one recognized her. And this is Mecca for cinema, this place!

"And I thought, she's got in front of her, everywhere, the image of her young, stolen forever in the movies. And here she is and she has to live with her image forever young, but she's getting old."

Folman diplomatically declined to name the actress. But he said the episode gave him a way to realize a long-held dream of adapting "The Futurological Congress," a satirical sci-fi novel by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem in which pharmaceutical overlords keep the population hooked on hallucinogenic drugs.

In the movie, Wright agrees to become a "scanned actor," a digital avatar owned by her studio. The digital Wright can be endlessly, agelessly used in new movies ? the studio makes her "Agent Robin" in a sci-fi action series ? while the flesh-and-blood person grows old in obscurity.

The film's live-action first half is an entertainingly bleak depiction of Hollywood, with an on-the-ropes Wright berated by her agent (a delicious Harvey Keitel) and bullied by her studio boss (a malevolent Danny Huston).

Wright has been called brave for taking on issues of aging and image so directly. But Folman said he didn't see it that way when he offered the role to the actress after sitting across from her at an awards ceremony and thinking she looked sad.

"I think it's a great role," he said. "She is Robin Wright, she is Agent Robin in the movie, she's an animated character, she's an old Robin at the very end, she sings two songs ? it's a great role.

"Although Harvey Keitel told me one day on the set, 'Man, she is so brave. You could have offered me the world, I would never do what she does in this movie.'"

Wright has said she doesn't think she is playing herself, even though she and her screen character share a name and many biographical details, including roles in "The Princess Bride" and "Forrest Gump."

Once Wright has been digitally scanned, the movie switches to animation as the character visits a conference at a luxury hotel ? where her films screen endlessly and she goes unrecognized ? and learns of a sinister plot to make the power of celebrity even more addictive.

The movie's audacious shifts of tone, and its swirling, psychedelically tinged animation, have elicited diverse reactions at Cannes, where "The Congress" opened the Director's Fortnight competition.

Many saw it as original but uneven. It's inarguably a strikingly original work by a director who is both amused and despairing about the modern entertainment business.

Folman, a genial, bearded 50-year-old sporting a gold medallion and an earring, says he fears the sort of movies that inspired him ? the director-driven American cinema of the 1970s ? is dying, soon to be found only in cinema museums.

And don't get him started on 3-D, CGI and the other digital tricks that, Folman thinks, are ruining movies.

"The role of the director is completely different (today)," he said. "Until recently the urgency on the set to make a movie was huge. Today, it's only part of the job, because you can fix everything afterwards. The set is blue screens, and then you build it and you can fix it. And sometimes it's for the good, but I can give you examples where it's terrible.

"My favorite sci-fi movie ever is 'Blade Runner.' This film was done with hand-made crafts."

For the movie, director Ridley Scott "built the sets ? it's wood and paper and plastic and aluminum. I see this movie every few months on a big screen at home and it will live forever.

"Same guy did 'Prometheus' last year. Who saw it?"

Folman is keeping the flame burning for an older form of cinema ? but it's a slow and laborious process. "The Congress" took five years to make, and slightly under an hour of animation required two years of work by animators in nine countries.

"I try not to look at myself as this nostalgic (person)," Folman added, pausing a second before adding: "But."

"I don't say we will have scanned actors. I think the human side will win. I am a true believer in that.

"But if I look at my kids and the way they use everything ? iPads and electronics and everything ? I have to be honest with myself and say, if my kids, in 15 years' time, see a movie with scanned characters, they won't give a damn."

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ari-folman-animates-robin-wright-congress-120523130.html

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How To Overcome The Fear Of Public Speaking - Coaching And ...

Yesterday I got to watch Diversity leader Ashley Banjo?s Secret Street Crew program, where he teaches some of the most unlikely people to dance.

Dinner ladies, teachers, firemen, dart players? have got from practically zero dance skills to performing rather difficult routines in front of unexpectant big audiences.

With a bit of help from the expert, they get to learn 2 key elements ?great dancers display:

?

1. Technique

2. Performance

?

Interestingly, the same 2 elements I teach my clients when they come to me for help with public speaking fears.

It?s a common fear I?ve personally overcome.

A lot of people dread speaking in front of an audience. Some people are OK with a couple of people, but more than that and they freeze. Some have jobs that require giving presentations. Some even dread work meetings where the attention is on them. I?ve even worked with people who were lonely because they couldn?t bring themselves to meet new people.

This can be a very debilitating fear that can result in a range of symptoms, from sweaty hands, jelly legs, red hot faces, trembling hands, shortness of breath, and even going completely blank. If you?ve ever experienced any of these you know it?s not fun at all.

In the past I used to feel physically ill just thinking about having to speak in from of a bunch of people. It?s kind of funny because at age 17 I was the front singer in a rock band and seemed to have no problem singing and dancing like a lunatic at concerts!

My public speaking fears arose when I got a little older and started to second guess myself and focus on all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons.

Thankfully I realized this. I got help, and with time and practice I got to not only conquer my fears, but now I teach seminars and workshops all the time, and speak with the media no problem at all, in fact I really enjoy it!

I love helping people overcome their fear of public speaking. It?s one of my favorite things to do because results often happen very quickly, so it?s extremely rewarding for my clients, and for me too.

Whether you?ve trouble approaching people, speaking in groups, or giving presentations, here are 3 top tips to help you overcome your fears and become a more confident speaker:

1#? PIMP YOUR ATTITUDE

Remind yourself that public speaking is a skill you can learn and get better at, just like all the other skills you?ve mastered in your life: smiling, walking, reading, writing? what will help is when you consciously switch from focusing on the problem to focusing on the solution. Ask yourself: how can I solve this?

You can improve how you dress to feel more confident, you can improve your posture, the way you carry yourself, the way you walk and move? you can also change the way you speak to yourself and to others, you can learn to be more composed and impactful with your tone, pitch, pace and choice of language? all of this you can learn and get better at, as long as you begin to focus on the solution.

2# DON?T GO COMPARE

We can always learn by watching other accomplished speakers in action, but avoid comparing yourself to them. Comparisons often lead to disappointment and bad feelings. Great speakers compare themselves to themselves. Like I said before, public speaking is a skill you can and will get better at when you focus on what matters. The more you practice the better you?ll get, as long as you keep asking yourself: how much better am I getting?

3#? FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS

When you think about yourself speaking in public, change how you see yourself in your mind, so you see what you want to see, i.e. a composed, confident and commanding you. What would you look like if you were at your very best? Also, change how you talk to yourself inside your head so you get to feel better. If you want to feel confident and at ease, speak to yourself in a confident and calm tone. When you feel more at ease, now you can change your focus from your stomach to the people in front ofyou.

And remember that no matter who you?re talking to, or what you?re talking about, when you concentrate on making people feel good around you, straight away they get to like you more.

Want to conquer your fear of public speaking? Ask me about my ConfidenceSquared program at anna@delite.ie

Source: http://dublinnlplifecoach.com/4603/how-to-overcome-the-fear-of-public-speaking/

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Economists predict increase in consumer spending

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Consumer spending is likely to pick up this year, while government spending declines at a faster rate, according to a survey of business economists.

The economists predict that the U.S. economy will grow 2.4 percent this year and 3 percent next year. That's unchanged from their forecast in February.

But they are more bullish on consumer spending and housing than they were three months ago, in part because of a more positive view about unemployment.

The survey was released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics, which periodically surveys economists for banks, manufacturers and universities.

The 49 economists who were questioned between April 16 and April 30 predicted that consumer spending will rise 2.3 percent this year, up from a forecast of 1.9 percent in February. They were also more upbeat about auto sales, predicting 15.4 million vehicles sales, an increase of 1 million over 2012.

Nayantara Hensel, chair of the NABE survey and a business professor at National Defense University, said consumer spending will get a boost from gains in the stock market, home values and lower unemployment.

"Home prices are going up, and with also the improvement in the unemployment rate, people will be more willing to buy," Hensel said in an interview.

The economists predicted that home prices will rise 4.4 percent this year and 4 percent next year. Boosted by new construction, they predict a 15 percent jump in residential housing investment this year.

Housing starts hit a 5-year peak in March then fell in April, with most of the decline due to less apartment construction, which can swing wildly from month to month.

Applications for building permits hit a 5-year high in April, suggesting that the housing market will continue to recover from the recession. A recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders found continued optimism among builders.

The NABE economists, who were surveyed before April unemployment was reported at 7.5 percent, predicted that the rate will decline to 7.4 percent in the fourth quarter and 6.8 percent in late 2014.

Corporate profits after taxes are expected to rise 5.3 percent in 2013 and 7.5 percent next year. Both of those are more bullish forecasts than the economists offered in February.

While consumers might spend more, the government sector is expected to shrink 2.3 percent this year ? sharper than the 1 percent cut that the economists predicted in February, before a series of automatic federal spending cuts kicked in when Congress and the White House failed to reach a deal to avoid them. The economists expect government spending to decline a more modest 0.9 percent in 2014, but Hensel said the forecast could change to a bigger decline if it looks like the automatic cuts will continue into the next fiscal year.

Lower government spending, especially by the military, "has already had a sharp effect on GDP growth," she said. GDP, or gross domestic product, is the measure of the economy's total output of goods and services.

The NABE survey found little alarm about potential inflation. The economists expect the Consumer Price Index to rise 1.9 percent this year and 2.1 percent in 2014.

On Friday, the Conference Board reported that its index of leading economic indicators rose in April after dipping in March. A board economist said the economy was getting a lift from steady job gains and the housing market, offsetting government spending cuts.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-20-US-Business-Economists-Survey/id-2053c06eb581427097978ec3a83d508f

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Toots Hibbert injured by bottle thrown at concert

Celebs

Randee Dawn TODAY contributor

7 hours ago

Getty Images

Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals.

A Richmond, Va. area man was charged on Sunday with aggravated assault and public intoxication after throwing a bottle at reggae singer Frederick "Toots" Hibbert during a concert Saturday, reported The Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Toots, who fronts Toots and the Maytals, were performing at the Dominion Riverrock Outdoor Sports and Music Festival when William C. Lewis, 19, reportedly threw a glass vodka bottle from the crowd. The set ended early.

"I was on stage at the sound monitor desk when a clear glass liquor bottle struck Toots Hibbert in the head," said John O'Donnell, who works for Soundworks, which co-produced the event. "Blood was flowing heavily from his head."

A guitarist told the crowd that Hibbert was "going to the hospital with a busted head."

Workers discovered that a vodka bottle had disappeared from a bar, said Jack Berry, executive director of Venture Richmond, which co-produced the event.

Hibbert, 67, was treated at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, then released early on Sunday morning, and appears to hold no grudge against the area, according to festival manager Stephen Lecky.

"He was in good spirits and was very appreciative of Richmond," he said. "He said he wanted to come back, and he understood this was just one bad apple, basically."

Added Lecky, "He was one of the nicest men I ever met."

The band's Facebook page featured a post late on Sunday which read: "Toots would like to thank all his friends, fans and family who have reached out to him since the bottle throwing incident in Richmond Saturday Night. After 7 seven stitches and a little rest he was able to perform a wonderful show in Westhampton NY tonite as the 1st show of his acoustic tour. The youth who threw the bottle for no apparent reason is in custody and being charged. Being the soldier he is he will hopefully be able to continue the tour."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/toots-hibbert-injured-bottle-thrown-concert-6C9995714

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IRS Scandal: Celia Roady Planted Question - Business Insider

Washington tax lawyer Celia Roady acknowledged that at the behest of the IRS, she asked a question at a May 10 conference that would ignite the controversy over inappropriate targeting of conservative groups.

Four days before a damning Inspector General's report was due to be released, the IRS wanted to get out ahead and potentially defuse some of the backlash.?

Roady serves on the IRS Advisory Committee on Tax-Exempt and Government Entities. She?asked the planted question to Lois Lerner, the IRS' director of the tax-exempt division. Within minutes, it sparked shock and a firestorm that the IRS had revealed it inappropriately targeted certain groups, particularly with the words "Tea Party" and "patriot" in their title.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, the firm that employs Roady, released a statement on her behalf explaining her role in asking the question:

?On May 9, I received a call from Lois Lerner, who told me that she wanted to address an issue after her prepared remarks at the ABA Tax Section?s Exempt Organizations Committee Meeting, and asked if I would pose a question to her after her remarks.? I agreed to do so, and she then gave me the question that I asked at the meeting the next day. We had no discussion thereafter on the topic of the question, nor had we spoken about any of this before I received her call. She did not tell me, and I did not know, how she would answer the question.?

Outgoing Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller confirmed during testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday that the question had been planted.

That led to intense questioning from members of Congress, who wondered why Lerner did not reveal the news during testimony before the committee on May 8, two days before the conference.?

Miller said that the plan had been to simultaneously notify Congress after Lerner's public admission, but acknowledged that "didn't happen."

"She has been directly involved in this matter," Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) said on Friday. "She failed to disclose what she knew to this committee, choosing instead to do so at an ABA conference two days later.

"This is wholly unacceptable."

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/irs-scandal-celia-roady-planted-question-tea-party-conservatives-obama-2013-5

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Ex-NBA player stabbed, seriously injured in fight

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) ? Serbian police say Predrag Danilovic, who played for the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks, is seriously injured after being stabbed in a fight.

Police say Danilovic was hurt during a brawl early Saturday in a cafe in a residential part of the capital, Belgrade. Doctors say Danilovic underwent an operation to treat injuries to his abdomen, head and arms.

The reason for the brawl was not immediately known.

Danilovic is currently the general manager of Serbian basketball club Partizan Belgrade.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-nba-player-stabbed-seriously-injured-fight-120326654.html

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Denmark favorite to win Eurovision Song Contest

Emmelie de Forest of Denmark performs her song "Only Teardrops" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Emmelie de Forest of Denmark performs her song "Only Teardrops" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Bonnie Tyler of Britain performs her song "Believe in Me" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Cezar of Romania performs the song "It's My Life" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Cezar of Romania performs the song "It's My Life" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Anouk of the Netherlands performs her song "Birds" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

MALMO, Sweden (AP) ? An ethno-inspired flute and drum tune from Denmark is the bookmakers' favorite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest, which also features a bizarre opera pop number from Romania and an Armenian rock song written by the guitarist of Black Sabbath.

Yes, it's that time of the year again.

The televised pan-European extravaganza, known for its kitschy shows, bad taste and bizarre offerings, is still expected to be seen by about 125 million television viewers worldwide Saturday.

This year's contest is being hosted in Malmo, southern Sweden, following the victory of the Nordic country's contestant Loreen last year.

According to bookmakers, the hippie-chic Emmelie De Forest of Denmark is the favorite to win, driving the song "Only Teardrops" with her deep, Shakira-like voice. Her main challenge comes from the clean-cut techno pop tune "I Feed You My Love" by Norway's Margaret Berger, who rose to fame at home after becoming the runner-up in Norway's version of Pop Idol in 2004.

"I will be nervous before going on stage," De Forest said Friday. "I think we have a really good song that can take us far, but let's see, anything can happen."

Finland's Krista Siegfrid provided this year's controversy, ending her bouncy bubble-gum pop number "Marry Me" with a girl-on-girl kiss that some have interpreted as a stance promoting gay marriage. While the show will not raise eyebrows in most parts of Western Europe ? where Eurovision has long been a bastion of gay culture ? the act may jar sensitivies in parts of eastern and southern Europe.

"The fact is that Finland is the only country in the Nordic countries where gay marriage is not allowed, and I think that's wrong," Siegfrid told The Associated Press. "It's 2013 now and ... I can kiss anyone I want to. It shouldn't be a problem."

This year's competition also sees the return to the international stage of two seasoned European stars. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" singer Bonnie Tyler is representing Britain with "Believe In Me" while Anouk, whose song "Nobody's Wife" was a big hit in Europe in the 1990s, is singing the song "Birds" for The Netherlands.

Among the more notable performances is the Ukraine's Zlata Ognevich with her song "Gravity." Ognevich is carried onto the stage by the tallest man in the U.S. ? Ukrainian-born Igor Vovkovinskiy. Vovkovinskiy ? who stands 7 feet 8 inches (234 cms) ?wobbles onstage in a fur and feathers, placing the fairy-like Ognevich on a rock where she stands for the rest of the performance.

There is also Armenian rock group Dorians, whose gloomy song "Lonely Planet" has been written by Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi.

Romania's Cezar, who resembles a Dracula reborn as a high-pitched vocalist, is apparently a reputable opera singer, but is attempting a crossover opera pop number with techno beats and pyrotechnics. Three muscular male dancers in red body paint are delivered out of a large red cape.

Two semifinals this week have whittled down the contestants from 40 to 26. The winner is picked by juries and television viewers across the continent, and the winning nation will stage next year's event.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-18-Sweden-Eurovision/id-76cb6cb4a1804816a0d328728857df4f

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Japan PM sets targets in latest growth strategy tranche

By Kaori Kaneko

TOKYO (Reuters) - The latest tranche of Japan's growth strategy will aim to triple infrastructure exports and double farm exports by 2020, as well as boost private investment, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday.

The government will set a target for domestic private-sector investment of 70 trillion yen ($687 billion) annually, Abe said in a speech to business executives and academics, the level before the 2008 financial crisis and up about 10 percent from the current figure.

Measures to promote growth constitute what Abe calls the "third arrow" in his policy quiver as Japan battles to end 15 years of deflation and generate sustainable economic growth. The first two arrows of "Abenomics" are massive monetary easing and a burst of government spending.

Abe has promised that structural reform including deregulation will be a key part of the package of steps, to be fully unveiled in June. But it also includes a significant role for government in generating investment and innovation in key sectors, a stance some critics see as outdated and ill-advised.

The monetary and fiscal stimulus already sparked Japan's fastest economic growth in a year in the first quarter, but corporate investment has yet to follow suit.

Promising to be a "top salesman" for Japanese infrastructure exports, Abe vowed to promote private-sector investment at home and asked corporate Japan to do its bit to pass on the benefits of "Abenomics".

"The government will broadly implement a growth strategy starting with making it easier to invest, and I would like you business executives to pass on the fruits of this to working people in the form of jobs and compensation," he said.

Politicians in Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) worry that, while share prices are up and the yen's value is down, boosting corporate profits, Japanese households have yet to see the benefits in the form of higher wages, although prices are starting to rise.

Abe, who took office in December after a big LDP election win, has said he wants to unveil the growth strategy before a June 17-18 Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland. That would also come ahead of a July upper house election his party needs to win to cement its grip on power and set the stage for a long-term government.

JAPAN AS NUMBER ONE

Noting Japan's economy has begun to show signs of recovery, Abe reiterated his pledge to free the economy from the "spell" of prolonged deflation and lost confidence.

"This is an era in which you cannot survive tough competition unless you are No. 1 globally," he said, promising that the government would make it easier for companies to invest on a scale needed to compete with foreign rivals.

Abe said the growth strategy would focus intensively on boosting domestic private investment over the next three years, triple infrastructure exports by 2020 and double farm, fisheries and marine exports to 1 trillion yen by the same date.

In a nod to the farm lobby, which was upset by Abe's March decision to join talks on the U.S.-led Transpacific Trade Partnership free-trade pact, Abe also pledged to double farmers' income over the next 10 years. That would ease the pain of scrapping the high tariffs that currently protect many farmers.

Abe also said the growth strategy would aim to boost the number of annual foreign visitors to Japan to 20 million a year from about 8 million now and triple the overseas sales of "Cool Japan" content such as anime in five years.

Experts have said policy measures announced so far contain some positive steps but fall short of a sweeping overhaul of Japan-style capitalism with "Big Bang" deregulation.

Among the areas where the final package is expected to fall short are steps to free up Japan's rigid labor market to make it easier for firms to shed dying businesses, improvements in corporate governance, and addressing the touchy question of immigration to make up for Japan's shrinking population.

($1 = 101.9600 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japan-pm-sets-targets-latest-growth-strategy-tranche-095919014.html

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What Games Are: Cometh The Hour, Cometh The Xbox?

With Xbox 360 having started well but ended in a very confused state, I worry that Microsoft is about to carry over much of its baggage to the new console. Will the company make the same mistake of not listening to the market that it has often made in recent years? Will it continue to believe that there is a burgeoning market for an everything box? Or will it refocus on what matters?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/EsqSi43GSG4/

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GPS solution provides three-minute tsunami alerts

May 17, 2013 ? Researchers have shown that, by using global positioning systems (GPS) to measure ground deformation caused by a large underwater earthquake, they can provide accurate warning of the resulting tsunami in just a few minutes after the earthquake onset. For the devastating Japan 2011 event, the team reveals that the analysis of the GPS data and issue of a detailed tsunami alert would have taken no more than three minutes.

The results are published on 17 May in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, an open access journal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU).

Most tsunamis, including those in offshore Sumatra, Indonesia in 2004 and Japan in 2011, occur following underwater ground motion in subduction zones, locations where a tectonic plate slips under another causing a large earthquake. To a lesser extent, the resulting uplift of the sea floor also affects coastal regions. There, researchers can measure the small ground deformation along the coast with GPS and use this to determine tsunami information.

"High-precision real-time processing and inversion of these data enable reconstruction of the earthquake source, described as slip at the subduction interface. This can be used to calculate the uplift of the sea floor, which in turn is used as initial condition for a tsunami model to predict arrival times and maximum wave heights at the coast," says lead-author Andreas Hoechner from the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).

In the new Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences paper, the researchers use the Japan 2011 tsunami, which hit the country's northeast coast in less than half an hour and caused significant damage, as a case study. They show that their method could have provided detailed tsunami alert as soon as three minutes after the beginning of the earthquake that generated it.

"Japan has a very dense network of GPS stations, but these were not being used for tsunami early warning as of 2011. Certainly this is going to change soon," states Hoechner.

The scientists used raw data from the Japanese GPS Earth Observation Network (GEONET) recorded a day before to a day after the 2011 earthquake. To shorten the time needed to provide a tsunami alert, they only used data from 50 GPS stations on the northeast coast of Japan, out of about 1200 GEONET stations available in the country.

At present, tsunami warning is based on seismological methods. However, within the time limit of 5 to 10 minutes, these traditional techniques tend to underestimate the earthquake magnitude of large events. Furthermore, they provide only limited information on the geometry of the tsunami source (see note). Both factors can lead to underprediction of wave heights and tsunami coastal impact. Hoechner and his team say their method does not suffer from the same problems and can provide fast, detailed and accurate tsunami alerts.

The next step is to see how the GPS solution works in practice in Japan or other areas prone to devastating tsunamis. As part of the GFZ-lead German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System project, several GPS stations were installed in Indonesia after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami near Sumatra, and are already providing valuable information for the warning system.

"The station density is not yet high enough for an independent tsunami early warning in Indonesia, since it is a requirement for this method that the stations be placed densely close to the area of possible earthquake sources, but more stations are being added," says Hoechner.

Note

Traditional tsunami early warning methods use hypocentre (the point directly beneath the epicentre where the seismic fault begins to rupture) and magnitude only, meaning the source of the earthquake and tsunami is regarded as a point source. However, especially in the case of subduction earthquakes, it can have a large extension: in Japan in 2011 the connection between the tectonic plates broke on a length of about 400km and the Sumatra event in 2004 had a length of some 1500km. To get a good tsunami prediction, it is important to consider this extension and the spatial slip distribution.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/ivC5m9wJeyc/130517085819.htm

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Column: Does inequality help growth - or hurt it?

By Chrystia Freeland

SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - One of the most urgent questions in economics today is the connection between inequality and growth. That is because one of the big economic facts of our time is the surge in income disparity, particularly between those at the very top and everyone else. The other big fact is the recession set off by the financial crisis and the consequent imperative to jump-start economic growth. Figuring out the relationship between these two tent-pole issues is therefore a good way for economists to spend their time.

There are two main and contradictory ideas about how that relationship might work. One is that inequality is the price of robust economic growth. If the private sector is thriving, the most successful capitalists will be getting very rich. Creating a system that allows - indeed, encourages - the best and the brightest to pull away from everyone else is how you shift your economy into its highest gear.

There is, however, another theory, and it has been winning adherents in the aftermath of the financial crisis. In this view, rising inequality is not a symptom of a fast-growing economy or an incentive that will help create one. Instead, too much income inequality crushes economic growth.

There are different arguments for why that might happen. One is that high income inequality creates an unstable system that is vulnerable to costly booms and busts. Another is that when too much of the income goes to the very top and not enough goes to the middle, spending slumps - how many yachts does a plutocrat need? - putting a brake on growth.

David Howell, a professor of economics at The New School in New York, has written a draft paper for the Center for American Progress, a progressive research group, that investigates the first argument. Howell argues that the United States and Britain have acted over the past three decades on what he calls the laissez-faire theory, that the equation of rising inequality and increasing gross domestic product is correct.

As Howell puts it, "the laissez-faire case for high inequality is grounded in the belief that growth in output and employment depends mainly on strong incentives to work and invest."

Howell tested that view by comparing the United States and Britain to their peers. He asked whether "compared to other rich countries, U.S. income inequality has paid off in relatively high growth." His answer: not particularly. He finds that "there is no simple correlation between our measures of growth and income inequality."

That may come as a surprise to many Americans, who are accustomed to hearing, as Howell explained, "that the U.S. middle class is doing relatively well, at least compared to Europe, because of productivity growth and because we allow higher inequality."

But the reality is that at least some of those allegedly sclerotic European economies, dragged down by their highly redistributive welfare states, have outperformed the United States.

"What we see is Sweden having really good productivity growth by all measures, despite much more modest increases in inequality and starting at a much lower level," he said.

"The U.S. is anywhere from an O.K. to middling performer in the Age of Inequality," Howell said, using his term for our era. But while his work suggests inequality is not needed to get growth, he does not show that inequality actually hurts growth either: "I don't show a strong measurable inverse effect."

Lars Osberg, an economist at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, takes on this second argument - the case that inequality, at least beyond a certain point, can stifle growth.

He, too, adopts a comparative lens, looking at Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Osberg argues that a growing chasm between those at the very top and everyone else imperils the overall economy. His worry is financial instability.

"The added savings of the increasingly affluent must be loaned to balance total current expenditure," he writes, "but increasing indebtedness implies financial fragility, periodic financial crises, greater volatility of aggregate income and, as governments respond to mass unemployment with countercyclical fiscal policies, a compounding instability of public finances."

This is a variation of an argument by Raghuram Rajan, a politically center-right professor at the University of Chicago, who has suggested that rising income inequality was one of the drivers of the financial crisis. As income inequality increased, and the incomes of the middle class stagnated, the U.S. government responded by increasing the consumer credit available to the middle class.

In the short term, that was a win-win solution: consumption, and therefore the economy, grew, and the middle class was quiescent because stagnating incomes were masked by increasing consumer debt. But in the medium term that Goldilocks scenario broke down - the middle class consumption bubble, and the Wall Street bubble it helped finance, popped with devastating consequences.

Both Howell and Osberg are skeptical, at best, of the value of rising income inequality as a driver of economic growth. When you put that conclusion together with the arithmetic of democracy - rising income inequality means a majority of voters are on the losing end of the deal - a political backlash seems inevitable.

"Go back to the 1920s or the 1870s and economists were worried about the stability of the capitalist system," Osberg said. "One of the things the 1930s experience teaches us is there are some catastrophic outcomes which can happen."

The investing class and the academic world are focused on those dangers. "Can capitalism survive?" is one of the trendiest conference topics among red-blooded capitalists and left-leaning professors alike. So far, at the ballot box and on the street, this question has not been as salient. That does not mean it will not be in the future - and in ways we cannot predict.

(Chrystia Freeland is the managing director and editor, Consumer News at Thomson Reuters. Prior, she was U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times. Before that, Freeland was deputy editor of the Financial Times, in London, editor of the FT's Weekend edition, editor of FT.com, UK News editor, Moscow bureau chief and Eastern Europe correspondent. From 1999 to 2001, Freeland served as deputy editor of The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper. Freeland began her career working as a stringer in Ukraine, writing for the FT, The Washington Post and The Economist.

She is the author of two books: "Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-rich and the Fall of Everyone Else," published by Penguin in 2012 and "Sale of the Century: The Inside Story of the Second Russian Revolution," published by Crown Publishing books in 2000.)

(Chrystia Freeland is a Reuters columnist. Any opinions expressed are her own.)

(Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/column-does-inequality-help-growth-hurt-183837739.html

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CBS Evening News: Republican Sources Caught Doctoring Emails (Little green footballs)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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Dell's dismal 1Q illuminates PC maker's challenges

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Dell's financial decay worsened during its latest quarter as the company slashed its personal computer prices in response to the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets.

The dismal performance announced Thursday provided the latest evidence of a technological shift that is making it difficult to sell laptop and desktop machines. Until recently, consumers had regularly replaced machines with faster ones every few years. The money is going instead to powerful, more convenient mobile devices such as phones and tablets. PC makers have had to cut prices sharply, obliterating their profit margins.

The trend also has hobbled another technology powerhouse, Hewlett-Packard Co., which is scheduled to report its latest quarterly numbers Wednesday.

If there's ever an opportune time for a company to flounder, it's right now for Dell Inc. That's because Dell's board of directors is trying to persuade shareholders to accept a $24.4 billion buyout offer from CEO Michael Dell and other investors. Some shareholders say the offer price of $13.65 per share is too low, but Dell's board contends it's a good deal in light of challenges facing the company.

The results for the fiscal first quarter, which ended May 3, should reinforce the board's point. At the same time, opponents of that proposal may question whether the Round Rock, Texas, company is deliberately finding ways to make the results look as bleak as possible in an effort to get the deal done.

Brian Gladden, Dell's chief financial officer, sought to debunk the conspiracy theories in response to a question posed on a conference call with analysts. "We have not changed the way we are running the business," Gladden said. "The strategy for the company has endured, and I would say we continue to adapt that strategy, given the market conditions."

Michael Dell didn't participate in Thursday's call. Before the buyout offer was announced in February, Michael Dell had regularly appeared on the call.

A shareholder vote on the buyout is supposed to be held by Aug. 2. Two of Dell's largest shareholders, billionaire Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management, are trying to block the sale to Michael Dell with an alternative proposal that would keep the company publicly traded. If Michael Dell's offer is accepted, it would end Dell's 25-year history as a publicly held company.

Both Michael Dell and the dissident shareholders believe the company can bounce back by expanding beyond PCs into more promising technology segments such as business software, services and, of course, tablets. The turnaround promises to be bumpy, and the two sides disagree on whether that is better done as a public company or as a private company that doesn't have to report quarterly numbers and can focus on long-term results. Icahn also doesn't believe Michael Dell, who founded the company 29 years ago, is the right leader. Michael Dell, the company's largest shareholders, would remain CEO under his buyout proposal.

Investors had originally been betting a higher offer would emerge for Dell after Michael Dell and his partners reached their agreement with the company's board in early February. That's not the case any longer, as illustrated by Dell's stock falling below the buyout offer. The stock fell 3 cents to $13.40 in Thursday's extended trading, after the results came out. That's 25 cents below Michael Dell's offer price.

Dell Inc. earned $130 million, or 7 cents per share, in the latest quarter, compared with $635 million, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier.

If not for certain items unrelated to its ongoing business, Dell said it would have earned 21 cents per share. That figure was below the 35 cents per share expected on average by analysts polled by FactSet.

The shortfall doesn't come as a shock. Speculation that Dell missed analysts' earnings target mounted earlier this week after the company disclosed that it would release its results ahead of schedule. The report originally was supposed to be released next Tuesday.

Dell's revenue for the period dipped 2 percent to $14.1 billion, about $600 million above analyst predictions.

The company benefited from an improvement in its non-PC operations, where revenue climbed 12 percent from last year. Some of that came from the September purchase of Quest Software.

But nearly two-thirds of Dell's revenue still comes from PC sales. Even with drastic price cutting, PC demand weakened, particularly for laptop machines. Laptops aren't as inviting now that there are so many sleek smartphones and tablets on the market. The mobility portion of Dell's PC operations ? the part consisting primarily of laptops ? suffered a 16 percent decline in revenue to $3.6 billion in the latest quarter. Overall revenue in Dell's PC division dropped 9 percent to $8.9 billion from last year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-05-16-Earns-Dell/id-4b765b1909ae4354848a4ddf22e6a126

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Relationship troubles? Some sad music might help you feel better

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Consumers experiencing relationship problems are more likely to prefer aesthetic experiences that reflect their negative mood, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"Emotional experiences of aesthetic products are important to our happiness and well-being. Music, movies, paintings, or novels that are compatible with our current mood and feelings, akin to an empathic friend, are more appreciated when we experience broken or failing relationships," write authors Chan Jean Lee (KAIST Business School), Eduardo B. Andrade (FGV School of Administration), and Stephen E. Palmer (University of California, Berkeley).

Consumers experience serious emotional distress when intimate relationships are broken, and look for a surrogate to replace the lost personal bond. Prior research has reported that consumers in a negative mood prefer pleasant, positive aesthetic experiences (cheerful music; fun comedies) to counter their negative feelings. However, under certain circumstances, consumers in negative moods might choose aesthetic experiences consistent with their mood (sad music; tear-jerking dramas) even when more pleasant alternatives are also available.

In one study, consumers were presented with various frustrating situations and asked to rate angry music relative to joyful or relaxing music. Consumers liked angry music more when they were frustrated by interpersonal violations (being interrupted; someone always being late) than by impersonal hassles (no internet connection; natural disaster).

In another study, consumers were asked to recall experiences involving loss. Preference for sad music was significantly higher when they had experienced an interpersonal loss (losing a personal relationship) versus an impersonal loss (losing a competition).

"Interpersonal relationships influence consumer preference for aesthetic experiences. Consumers seek and experience emotional companionship with music, films, novels, and the fine arts as a substitute for lost and troubled relationships," the authors conclude.

###

University of Chicago Press Journals: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu

Thanks to University of Chicago Press Journals for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128266/Relationship_troubles__Some_sad_music_might_help_you_feel_better

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An Offer You Can't Refuse: Bitcoin Startup BitPay Raises $2M Led By Founders Fund (The VC Run By The PayPal Mafia)

BitPay, the startup with ambitions to become the PayPal of the bitcoin world, is today announcing that it has raised another $2 million. And in what is a kind of poetic justice, the round is led by none other than the Founders Fund, the VC started by what's commonly called the PayPayl Mafia.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Ffh3TA_jGoc/

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Brad Pitt 'quite emotional' over Jolie's surgery

Celebs

Randee Dawn TODAY contributor

13 hours ago

On Tuesday, Angelina Jolie announced she had preventive double mastectomy after being identified as the carrier of a gene that gave her a high probability of breast cancer; today, the reactions are wide and varied -- with her fiance Brad Pitt telling USA Today that he was "quite emotional about it, of course." But she may not be done with her medical procedures yet.

"She could have stayed absolutely private about it and I don't think anyone would have been none the wiser with such good results," Pitt told the newspaper. "But it was really important to her to share the story and that others would understand it doesn't have to be a scary thing. In fact, it can be an empowering thing, and something that makes you stronger and us stronger."

He revealed that for the past two months, Jolie was still taking care of her responsibilities and making appearances around the world, despite the surgery. "This was during Stage 2 (the double mastectomy)," he said. "Literally it was just weeks after she'd had truly major surgery."

Meanwhile, People magazine is now reporting that Jolie is planning further surgery, to remove her ovaries. Jolie's mother Marcheline Bertrand died of ovarian cancer at 56, and doctors told Jolie she had a high likelihood of contracting that disease as well.

Jolie's mother might have been her inspiration for her surgery, but her father Jon Voight (who, over the years has had a contentious relationship with Jolie) found out when nearly everyone else did -- when Jolie's firsthand account appeared in the New York Times on Tuesday.

Regardless, Voight told the New York Daily News that he respected her decision.

"My love and admiration for my daughter can't be explained in words," he said. "I saw her two days ago with my son Jamie. We all got together for his birthday, with her and Brad. But I didn't know. It wasn't obvious at all. I found out (Tuesday) morning. I was as surprised as anyone and deeply moved by the way she?s handled this."

He added, "I completely understand" her need for privacy. "I want the focus to be on the inspiration."

Back home, Pitt said he and the kids did their best to make Jolie's recovery easy and even enjoyable. "We set up our own little post-op recovery that became pretty fun. You make an adventure out of it," he said.

In the end, Pitt says he's happy that they've faced potential tragedy head-on, and have come out the other side. The experience, he said was "an emotional and beautifully inspiring few months. And I'll tell you, it's such a wonderful relief to come through this and not have a specter hanging over our heads. To know that that's not going to be something that's going to affect us. My most proudest thing is our family. This isn't going to get that."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/brad-pitt-quite-emotional-about-angelina-jolies-surgery-decision-1C9932706

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