Michael Hanley, GM Autoworker, Commutes 1,000 Miles To Keep Job

JANESVILLE, Wis. — In the early dawn, after another week building cars, Michael Hanley leaves his job in Kansas. He quickly zips into Missouri, then heads up a ribbon of highway past grain silos and grazing deer, across the frozen fields of Iowa, over the Mississippi River and into the rolling hills of Wisconsin. Finally, he pulls into his driveway – 530 miles later.
It's one heck of a haul: more than 1,000 miles roundtrip, 16-plus hours of driving, every week.
"I like to say I gave up an eight-minute commute for an eight-hour commute," he says wearily, running a hand though salt-and-pepper hair as he watches his two sons play basketball for the first time this season.
After the aging General Motors plant where he worked for 23 years was idled about a year ago, Hanley faced a Hobson's choice: Stay with his family and search for an autoworker's salary ($28 an hour) in a county where more than 40 percent of its manufacturing jobs disappeared from 2006 to 2009. Or hang on to his GM paycheck and health insurance and follow the job, no matter where it leads.
In his case, it led to Fairfax, Kan., the same place his brother and two brothers-in-law – also GM workers, and now his roommates – landed. For others, it has been Indiana or Texas.
The long commute is not just a story of hard times, tough choices and a shrinking American auto industry. It's also a case study of what happens when an aging industrial town loses an anchor, when workers too old to start over and too young to retire are caught in a squeeze and when economic survival means one family, but two far-flung ZIP codes.
___
Hanley is not one to complain.
"GM has been good for us," he says. "This whole town knows that."

For 90 years, the sprawling plant – it started out building tractors – became a different kind of family business. Through the decades, sons followed fathers onto the line, sometimes rubbing shoulders as they built Chevy Cavaliers, Caprices, Tahoes, Suburbans and more.
Hanley's father and brother worked there. So did his father-in-law, two brothers-in-law and an assortment of uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.
But as GM's financial troubles mounted, car and SUV sales fell and gas prices climbed, the automaker closed several plants, eliminating thousands of jobs.
Janesville – then the oldest of GM assembly plants – ended production of SUVs in December 2008, months before the automaker received billions of dollars in government loans and filed for bankruptcy. (The factory is on standby status; some hold out hope it will reopen one day.)
Some of about 1,200 remaining workers took buyouts or retired; some began new careers. Hundreds more stayed with GM, relocating, commuting or just waiting for an opening. The automaker has about 6,500 laid-off workers nationwide.
Even before the doors closed, Hanley began preparing for life after GM. He returned to college to complete two credits he needed for an accounting degree, but an offer in Kansas came first.
He didn't hesitate. Auto work these days is like playing musical chairs. You grab an opening where you can.
Hanley didn't want to lose his health insurance while his wife, Laura, was receiving costly chemotherapy treatments for a blood disease that will likely lead to cancer. The medical bills last year, she says, were in the tens of thousands of dollars.
"There's no way I could possibly go through one treatment without him having insurance," she says.
Like many other divided GM families, the Hanleys decided even though the job was important, there were reasons not to uproot everyone: Laura works at their sons' Catholic school, the boys are immersed in band, Scouts, basketball and church, and the sale of a house was an iffy and perhaps money-losing proposition.
Hanley knew it would be a trade-off – financial security for a lonely existence.
His eyes mist as he talks about what he misses: dinner with his family, coaching basketball, going to the YMCA with his boys, wrestling with them at night, attending their concerts and games, watching them grow up.
"It's an adjustment, not being home," he says. "I probably sounded cruel because I said I wouldn't miss my wife as much because she's going to be there when I come back, when I retire. But those years with the kids aren't going to be there. That's the hard part, not being able to be around them. ... I don't know if I really appreciated it before."
Hanley plans to commute another 18 months, until he turns 50, hoping for a retirement package then – something, he says, he "prays about every night."
Laura, meanwhile, does double duty as a single parent. It's all overwhelming – working, shuttling her sons around, keeping an eye on her elderly mother and worrying about her husband's long commutes.
"The kids are tired of seeing mom cry because she's stressed and seeing dad cry when he needs to go back to work," she says. "We're really close – the four of us. You can't talk to a lot of people, either. They have no sympathy. They say at least he's working."
And that's nothing to take for granted in this southern Wisconsin county where unemployment has been in the double-digits for more than a year.
For every one of about 4,500 GM and auto supplier jobs that disappeared, another was lost outside the industry, says Bob Borremans, head of the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board. The ripple effect was enormous: About 9,000 of the county's 75,000 jobs vanished.
The plant, itself, had long been a polarizing presence in the community, he says.
"Because of the benefits, the working conditions, the pay ... it was THE coveted job in the area," he explains. "In many cases, people, because of who they knew, were able to walk in and get a job there. That created animosity."
"There are those people who worked there who have lost something they thought would be around forever and provided them with a real good lifestyle," he adds. "But there are others, I would say, who were jealous of folks who had that opportunity. And they don't have a lot of sympathy for the stress the (GM) people are feeling these days."
___
After seven months of commuting, Brad Morrison measures his world in numbers.
_169,000 miles: The odometer reading on his 2002 Silverado.
_$180: The cost of gas for weekly trips between Fairfax (just outside Kansas City) and Wisconsin.
_Six years, two months. That's when Morrison will have 30 years at GM and can retire with a full pension. He'll be 49 then.
Morrison started at GM as a teen, married his high school sweetheart, Sarah, and they had three children. With "two in college and one in braces," he says, he didn't consider changing careers.
"I'm kind of trapped now," he says.
With his shock of white-blond hair, Morrison looks a decade younger than 43 but says 24 years of stooping, lifting car parts and standing have taken a toll – three surgeries on his knees, one on his left shoulder, another on his left wrist.
Now, he says, there's a grueling Monday to Friday work schedule, heading home at 2:40, arriving around 10 p.m., often too wired to sleep. On Saturdays, it's reconnect-with-the-family time. And that can mean more driving: His 15-year-old son's recent choral competition put him on the road five more hours one Saturday.
On Sundays, he heads back at about 1 p.m. – 39 hours after arriving.
"I'm worn down," Morrison says. "You never get any rest. You're always on the move. ... It's hard to have a family life or marriage. Try to be a husband or father at 500 miles away."
He never considers skipping a weekend. "I don't know how a wife or kids can be too much of a hassle," he says. "The hassle is just not having them with me."
Morrison and his wife, a school aide, talk several times a day. In between, they text each other with endearing "I miss you" and "I love you" messages. "We're hopeless romantics," he says. She concurs: "He's my best friend."
But living apart is more than an emotional strain. It's expensive, too.
Morrison refinanced his house to free up more money for monthly expenses that include gas – $720 when he drives alone – and $425 in rent and utilities for an apartment he shares with another Janesville transplant. (GM, in many cases, provides some compensation for workers who relocate.)
But this is just temporary.
The Morrisons decided they don't want to live this way; they plan to sell their Wisconsin house and Sarah and their youngest son, Austin, will move when the school year ends.
Though they'll be together, Morrison doesn't feel secure.
"This plant is no safer (from downsizing) than any other," he says. "I don't take my job for granted anymore. ... Do I regret working for them? No. It's good money. It was a good company back then. It still is."
"The auto industry is a lot like a roller coaster," he adds. "When the going is good and you're at the top, everything is boom. When it's times like this, you're at the bottom. But I still feel fortunate even to be there. I can still hold on. And I count my blessings for that."
___
John Dohner can be forgiven if he has that feeling of deja vu when he pulls into the parking lot of the GM plant outside Fort Wayne, Ind.
He has been there before. Decades ago.
Then a fresh-faced 20 year old, Dohner moved from Janesville to Indiana, following his job building pickup trucks. He returned to Janesville when a spot opened seven years later.
Now he's reversing course as a 44-year-old family man with a wife, three kids (21, 17 and 15), a house, a 13-acre farm and a good life almost 300 miles and one time zone away – a life he's not about to abandon.
Ditto for his job.
"I'm not going to walk away," he says. "I'm not giving them the satisfaction of giving them 25 years of my life and not get anything in return."
Like others, he has his eye on the prize: the 30-year finish line.
Dohner is among dozens of Janesville commuters who form a caravan every Saturday morning to make the 275-mile trek home. (He turned down a GM job in Kansas. The drive was too long, he said.)
Soon, one of his laid-off brothers will join him in Indiana; another still is waiting. Their father, John Sr., heads United Auto Workers Local 95.
With Dohner gone, his wife, Jane, has become skilled at everything from repairing water tanks to installing furnace filters. Her day starts at 4:45 a.m., when she and the kids feed the dogs, rabbits, cows, chickens and horses. The two boys take care of their dad's snow plow business. Dohner still keeps up his duties as chair of the tiny township (population 800), using vacation days to attend monthly meetings.
On Sundays, Jane gives her husband spaghetti casseroles, brownies and other dishes for the week, and waves goodbye.
It's much easier than last summer. She sat on the front porch and cried the first time he left. "You can't think of five years," she says. "I think I can't do it for so long. ... I just texted him Thursday night and said, 'This stinks.'"
But there seems no good solution.
"We built this place and worked so hard to get it to where it is, so do you want to leave?" she says, glancing outside at the tranquil snow-covered countryside where the dogs frolic and horses graze. "But some days," she says, "I think we should have all gone as a family."
___
Steve Kerl now knows about the rodeo, the Texas Rangers and traffic jams – all part of his new surroundings.
He works at the GM plant in Arlington, Texas. His home remains in Janesville, about 1,000 miles away, making it impossible to return more than a handful of times in the past year, though his wife, Kristy, and two children have visited.
When Kerl first drove down last March with his wife, they talked several times about turning around. He forged on, but his wife didn't like what she saw, so she returned home.
If it's any comfort, Kerl can look around the factory floor and see others who've picked up stakes, coming from Michigan, Tennessee, Missouri – and, of course, Wisconsin.
Kerl says he transferred to Texas because it was the only option then and auto jobs were fast disappearing. "I figured it would be better being on the inside looking out rather than the outside looking in," he says.
He wishes he could see his daughter's cheerleader activities and would have liked to have taken his son to college. "He's only going to be a freshman once," he says.
And yet, he's reluctant to gripe about his life.
"You can't put a negative spin on it and say you hate it. I'm working long hours, making good money," he says. "My kids' educations are being paid for. ... I can tell you right now that a lot of the people who took the buyouts are struggling now. They can't find a job anywhere."
It may get worse, too, this summer when health care and unemployment benefits expire for some former GM workers.
"I don't think the community has felt the entire blow yet," says the elder Dohner, the UAW local president. When the benefits are gone "and it's time to build roads and keep the schools open, everyone is going to realize there's a big, big hole."
Now 43, Kerl has seven more years to reach the 30-year milestone.
He doesn't expect he'll spend all that time in Texas. But that's fine.
"If they announced this plant was closing, I'd pack up my stuff and go to the next one," he says. "We'll get through it. I'm going to ride this to the end."
READ MORE - Michael Hanley, GM Autoworker, Commutes 1,000 Miles To Keep Job

Holy Kaw! All the topics that interest us Life-sized Twilight body pillows for sale

What’s creepier than a love interest who could suck your blood? How about a life-sized body pillow of a love interest who could suck your blood? Etsy’s sellin’ it.
Full story at Etsy (via io9).
READ MORE - Holy Kaw! All the topics that interest us Life-sized Twilight body pillows for sale

16 unusual facts about the human body


People will often say they know something "like the back of their hand" to indicate that they're familiar with it top to bottom. But how much do you actually know about your own body?
HowStuffWorks.com has 16 tidbits that will probably both shock and enlighten you. The next time someone says they know something "like the back of their hand" you should probably reply, "Oh really?"
  • Tongue Print: Don't stick out your tongue if you want to hide your identity. Similar to fingerprints, everyone also has a unique tongue print!
  • Bacteria: This may make your skin crawl: Every square inch of your skin has about 32 million bacteria on it, but fortunately, most of them are harmless.
  • Head Weight: No wonder babies have such a hard time holding up their heads: The human head is one-quarter of our total length at birth but only one-eighth of our total length by the time we reach adulthood.
Full list at HowStuffWorks.com
 
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READ MORE - 16 unusual facts about the human body

Meet Emily, the 4ft 10ins policewoman whose rifle is almost as big as she is

Meet Britain's shortest female firearms officer, PC Emily Miller, who applied to join the force after seeing a job advertised in Cosmopolitan magazine.
Emily is a firearms officer with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary - a squad of 750 cops dedicated to protect nuclear power stations and radioactive material - and stands at just 4ft 10ins. 
The 23-year-old even jokes how her Heckler & Koch assault rifle, which fires 750-rounds-a-minute, is almost as big as she is.
Small arm of the law: Firearms officer Emily Miller, who stands at 4ft 10in, is pictured with PC Bob Nagy at the Harwell science and innovation campus in Didcot, Oxfordshire
Short arm of the law: Firearms officer Emily Miller, who stands at 4ft 10in, is pictured with PC Bob Nagy in Didcot, Oxfordshire
Speaking to Police Review magazine today she said she applied to join the police after spotting an advertisement in Cosmo back in 2005.
 
She said that her height always attracts 'cocky comments', but that she is used to getting a ribbing from workers as she patrols her beat.
Emily told the magazine: 'A few of the site workers have said "That gun is nearly as big as you" - the usual banter. But I think they are used to seeing me now.'
And she revealed that other officers in her constabulary always know when she's been driving the police Land Rover because the driver's seat is so far forward.
She said: 'All I get is "Oh, Emily's been driving this car" just because they cannot get in it because the seat is so far forward." 
Short arm of the law: Emily is dwarfed by her police Land Rover
I'd prefer a mini, me: Emily is dwarfed by her police Land Rover
The weight of carrying full kit - including a pistol and machine gun as she patrols the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire - was initially a shock to the mini-PC.
She revealed: 'We have got a belt with a Glock pistol on a leg holster.  And with the body armour, tactical vest and G36 rifle, I think it is an extra stone and a half.' 
Speaking about problems that come with her height, she added: 'I found it difficult doing the firing range from the sitting and kneeling positions because when I kneel I am so much smaller than everyone else.  
'The target is a lot higher for me. I was trying to get myself into positions with the body armour on and I could not cross my legs and bend my arms in the right way.  
Sue Day
Robin Port
Partners against crime: Britain's smallest PC Sue Day and PC Damien Galley who towers over the 4ft 10in officer at 6ft 4in and, right, the smallest male officer Robin Port, who is 5ft, pictured alongside his 6ft boss Inspector Matt Lawler
'I managed to get around it though, get some extra training and find ways that work for me.' 
PC Miller said her height has never been an issue with the constabulary.  
She said: 'I have never heard "You cannot do it, you are too short", it has always been "Give this way a go see if it works for you. If not, we will try and find a different way".'
One officer, who did not want to be named, said: 'Emily may be little, but she's the last one of us you'd want to mess with.
'She's a tough cookie and doesn't suffer fools gladly. She'll let you get away with one or two digs about her height, but then she'll let you have it - and believe me you won't forget that in a hurry.'
PC Miller is the latest short cop to speak out after the UK's two smallest cops - PC Sue Day, who is just half an inch shorter than PC Miller, at Wiltshire Police, and PC Robin Port, a five foot tall cop in Devon and Cornwall Police - revealed themselves last month.
Most forces inthe UK required female recruits to be at least 5ft 4ins until 10 years ago, when the Macpherson Report ruled the height restriction discriminated against those from ethnic backgrounds such as the Chinese, who are shorter.
READ MORE - Meet Emily, the 4ft 10ins policewoman whose rifle is almost as big as she is

Google Fashion Line Debuts: PHOTOS Of The Collection

What's Google's next frontier? It could be fashion.
Google just debuted several high-end Google-inspired pieces created by finalists from the Fashion Fund for emerging fashion-designers.
Google explains,

Each [designer] was asked to create a one-of-a-kind item that was inspired by Google, whether it be the logo's colors, technology, or access to information. Anything was possible. The three designers featured here are Google favorites and their original designs have been reproduced for sale for a limited time. They are available for purchase in our online online Google Store. [sic]
The three designers whose work was chosen were Gary Graham,, Ohne Titel and House Of Waris' Waris Ahluwalia.
See pictures and descriptions of the winning Google-themed items in the slideshow below.
Proceeds from the sale of the items, which range from $85 to $300, goes to support the designers and the Vogue/Council of Fashion Designers of America Fashion Fund.

This 100% cotton, hand silk-screened tee shirt takes its inspiration from the Google map point and search results graphics. Gary has reinterpreted the map point -- a point of destination -- as a global symbol for where we are and where we're going by enlarging the map point, making it look “worn” away, and placing it over a backdrop of search results for the word ‘Peace.’ The distressed, vintage-looking tee shirts were hand silk-screened by Devil’s Rainbow in Providence, Rhode Island. ($85) (Description from the Online Google Store)
READ MORE - Google Fashion Line Debuts: PHOTOS Of The Collection

Want to buy a kidney? That’ll be $40,000, please


Theoretically, living without certain organs (or pieces of some organs) is possible without interfering with a long, happy life. Some surgeries, however, are easier than others; it’s a much less complicated procedure to donate a kidney than a lung.
Kidneys are big on the black market. Based on the World Health Organization’s estimates of off-the-books deals, a kidney in India goes for about $20,000; in China, $40,000; in Israel, $160,000. Of course, the organ donor doesn’t collect all the money—there are plenty of fees that go along with an illegal donation. Then again, when an eBay user puts his kidney up for auction and the bids reached nearly six million dollars… The price might just be right.
DISCLAIMER: Selling your organs is currently illegal in the United States, and is tremendously risky anywhere. But you can always become a donor
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Full story at Popular Science


Pure Salon & Spa Koramangla, Bangalore

Led by veteran hair stylist Pure Salon & Spa offers various services from the simple hair cut and styling for women, men, kids, and brides, to vibrant hair colours, conditioning treatments, and Brazilian blowouts. Located at the heart of Koramangla, Bangalore, the salon has been around since 2015, providing professional hair treatments in a relaxed ambience. This is definitely one of our favourite hair salons in Bangalore.

READ MORE - Want to buy a kidney? That’ll be $40,000, please

Breaking down men's mag's “who’s hot?” numbers


Dudes + hot chicks + math = graphs of hotness. Who says math can’t be sexy?
Asylum compared the celebrity hotties lists from Maxim, AskMen, and FHM to figure out the who makes the loins of men tingle the most. Averaging rankings from all three lad mags, Megan Fox topped the list, followed by Jessica Alba and model Marisa Miller.
The study in dudeism didn’t stop at crowning the queen of sexy as “researchers” broke the numbers down further to determine all sorts of tantalizing tidbits.
Full story at Asylum
 
. Oodles of news for dudes
 
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READ MORE - Breaking down men's mag's “who’s hot?” numbers

Fans refuse to watch leaked first hour of the new series of Lost online

Many viewers refusing to watch online, waiting for TV airing

By James Hibberd

(No spoilers within!) The first hour of the final season of ABC's "Lost" has leaked online, and the reaction is not what industry insiders expected.

Though preview content for heavily serialized dramas such as "Lost" is typically frantically consumed online, the sixth season of the ABC hit has managed to build to such an epic level of anticipation that many fans are doing the unthinkable: refusing to watch the leaks.

When the opening scene from the premiere popped up online after a fan promotion Friday, users of one popular social network site voted to "bury" the video.

"Why spoil it now?" wrote one fan with the moniker MyWhiteNoise. "I'd rather watch it in hi-def and surround sound than ruin the surprise and watch some (low-quality) video."

To TV executives, such statements are like something from an alternative universe, the polar-bear opposite of how young, Web-savvy viewers typically respond to content. Fans usually embrace any short cut that skips the linear TV and advertiser-supported experience.

"We never had a show like 'Lost' before that had these kind of fans that love it so much that they don't want to know what happens before the premiere," said Michael Benson, co-executive vp marketing at ABC. "Fans feel like they own this thing, just like we do."

On Monday, fan commitment was given an even greater test when the entire premiere appeared on YouTube. The video was taken from hand-held cameras discreetly shooting during a fan screening on Oahu. The Hawaii event itself was a revelation -- can any other TV drama rally 12,000 fans to an island in the South Pacific? Some flew in to see just the 44 minutes of video that ABC will air Tuesday night.

Yet when the inevitable YouTube copies appeared on Sunday, many videos only received a few hundred hits as online fans registered their disinterest in crummy bootlegs.

"Are people so impatient that they would rather watch a cell phone camera version of the 'Lost' premiere than wait one day?" Kyool wrote on Twitter.

Indeed, the lavishly shot "Lost" is the original Must-See HD drama. Yet for its final bow, ABC's marketing effort has emphasized showing, well, nothing (at least, no new footage, which producers wanted to keep under wraps). Until last week, all trailers used material from previous seasons, which the ABC marketing team tried to turn into an advantage.

"We wanted to go back and retell the stories of the characters and the larger situation that they're in," said Marla Provencio, co-executive vp marketing at ABC.

Catching up viewers on the complicated drama has always a big part of the network's strategy with "Lost," but never more so than this year. After a serialized drama peaks, its ratings usually fall in a downward trajectory as infrequent viewers perceive themselves as being further and further behind the story. The season premiere of "Lost" has fallen each year since Season Two. Reversing that trend is a major challenge, and ABC has aired repeats (complete with on-screen pop-up information) and has circulated various forms of recap videos online.

Though viewers tend to tune in for a show's last episode, the final season as a whole typically isn't as fortunate. Industry estimates have "Lost" tracking about the same as last year, which would be a victory if the show manages to maintain its previous rating. But -- like with the online reaction to the video leaks -- ABC is hopeful that the "Lost" will surprise.

" 'Lost' is like 'American Idol,' it's not your everyday show," Benson said. "From the buzz we're seeing right now, there's an obsession with this show. So who knows?"

Surprise fan reaction to leaked 'Lost' hour

Many viewers refusing to watch online, waiting for TV airing

By James Hibberd
Feb 1, 2010, 08:01 PM ET
(No spoilers within!) The first hour of the final season of ABC's "Lost" has leaked online, and the reaction is not what industry insiders expected.

Though preview content for heavily serialized dramas such as "Lost" is typically frantically consumed online, the sixth season of the ABC hit has managed to build to such an epic level of anticipation that many fans are doing the unthinkable: refusing to watch the leaks.

When the opening scene from the premiere popped up online after a fan promotion Friday, users of one popular social network site voted to "bury" the video.

"Why spoil it now?" wrote one fan with the moniker MyWhiteNoise. "I'd rather watch it in hi-def and surround sound than ruin the surprise and watch some (low-quality) video."

To TV executives, such statements are like something from an alternative universe, the polar-bear opposite of how young, Web-savvy viewers typically respond to content. Fans usually embrace any short cut that skips the linear TV and advertiser-supported experience.

"We never had a show like 'Lost' before that had these kind of fans that love it so much that they don't want to know what happens before the premiere," said Michael Benson, co-executive vp marketing at ABC. "Fans feel like they own this thing, just like we do."

On Monday, fan commitment was given an even greater test when the entire premiere appeared on YouTube. The video was taken from hand-held cameras discreetly shooting during a fan screening on Oahu. The Hawaii event itself was a revelation -- can any other TV drama rally 12,000 fans to an island in the South Pacific? Some flew in to see just the 44 minutes of video that ABC will air Tuesday night.

Yet when the inevitable YouTube copies appeared on Sunday, many videos only received a few hundred hits as online fans registered their disinterest in crummy bootlegs.

"Are people so impatient that they would rather watch a cell phone camera version of the 'Lost' premiere than wait one day?" Kyool wrote on Twitter.

Indeed, the lavishly shot "Lost" is the original Must-See HD drama. Yet for its final bow, ABC's marketing effort has emphasized showing, well, nothing (at least, no new footage, which producers wanted to keep under wraps). Until last week, all trailers used material from previous seasons, which the ABC marketing team tried to turn into an advantage.

"We wanted to go back and retell the stories of the characters and the larger situation that they're in," said Marla Provencio, co-executive vp marketing at ABC.

Catching up viewers on the complicated drama has always a big part of the network's strategy with "Lost," but never more so than this year. After a serialized drama peaks, its ratings usually fall in a downward trajectory as infrequent viewers perceive themselves as being further and further behind the story. The season premiere of "Lost" has fallen each year since Season Two. Reversing that trend is a major challenge, and ABC has aired repeats (complete with on-screen pop-up information) and has circulated various forms of recap videos online.

Though viewers tend to tune in for a show's last episode, the final season as a whole typically isn't as fortunate. Industry estimates have "Lost" tracking about the same as last year, which would be a victory if the show manages to maintain its previous rating. But -- like with the online reaction to the video leaks -- ABC is hopeful that the "Lost" will surprise.

" 'Lost' is like 'American Idol,' it's not your everyday show," Benson said. "From the buzz we're seeing right now, there's an obsession with this show. So who knows?"
READ MORE - Fans refuse to watch leaked first hour of the new series of Lost online

Wall Street 'Fight Clubs' On The Rise

While some Wall Streeters may be buying guns for protection, others are simply learning to kick ass.

As the sport of mixed martial arts grows in popularity across the country, apparently many in the finance world are not content to be simply spectators.
In a scene straight out of Fight Club, bankers and traders are said to be trading in their gelled-hair and Armani ties for black eyes and cut lips at gyms around the city.

Max McGarr, a gym program director and professional fighter, told Bloomberg News, "We get a lot of finance guys. It's a good release from their job. If you lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, it's good to come here and get it out."

Richard Byrne, chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank Securities, also endorses the rise in popularity of the brutal sport, saying, "It's a great stress reliever."

One banker, John Cholish, even converted the top floor of his duplex apartment into a training gym.

Governor Paterson is currently lobbying to make MMA legal in New York, believing that it would add millions of dollars to the state budget.

And though he's not a banker, there's at least one New York teacher who'd probably agree.
READ MORE - Wall Street 'Fight Clubs' On The Rise

The 15 Worst Movie Taglines Ever Written

"Wow. Just wow." That's the tagline of this slideshow. When we set out to collect these, we had no idea how bad they'd be. Killer dolphins, math fails, title contradictions, they're all here. If you know of one we missed, shoot us an email!


The Day Of The Dolphin - "Unwittingly, he trained a dolphin to kill the President of the United States"
 
It's hard to believe this is a Mike Nichols film...it's also hard to believe you can accidentally train a dolphin to assassinate your political enemies.
READ MORE - The 15 Worst Movie Taglines Ever Written

Pajama Jeans: Stylishly comfortable

Do jeans make your legs feel stiff and trapped, but you can’t quite convince yourself to cross to the fashion dark side of a 24-hour sweatpants wardrobe? Well, banish that denim stress and invest in a pair of Pajama Jeans, pants that look like jeans, but feel like sweats. Actually, they look like ill-fitting yoga pants with pockets.
Let us remember the words of Jerry on Seinfeld, “You know the message you’re sending out to the world with these sweatpants? You’re telling the world, ‘I give up. I can’t compete in normal society. I’m miserable, so I might as well be comfortable.’”
(Via Trendy on a Dime)
READ MORE - Pajama Jeans: Stylishly comfortable