Life is a relative term

Strictly speaking, Life does not mean forever, but rather "as long as". 

If someone promises to spend the rest of their life with you and suddenly dies, it was their forever, not yours. If you buy a lifetime warranty and the company goes out of business, the warranty is void. If you buy a lifetime membership and the company goes under, your membership expires.

So goes the LIFE memberships for Xanga.  If Xanga goes under in July, or a date in the future, the LIFE membership is void. 

Now, as a caveat, if Xanga changes how they do business, and goes to a completely paid blogger platform, it would seen that unless Xanga reorganized, the former LIFE memberships would be grandfathered in because those bloggers, bought premium membership for LIFE.

Hopefully Xanga will survive and honor the commitment it made to those of us who forked up the cash to belong for the life of Xanga. 

Losing a friend

Five years ago I got a great deal on a second car from a family member.  The body and interior were in great condition.  It got pretty good gas mileage and was inexpensive to insure as an extra vehicle, as my daughter had not yet reached driving age.

Four years ago, my wife got t-boned by an elderly woman, totaling her van.  The Sable, like a good back-up player on the bench, was put into service on a full time basis.  The years of not being used took it's toll and we replaced the drive train, first the engine, then the transmission.  She was put back on the bench when we bought the Passat.

About three months later, while leaving the mall, my Explorer was t-boned by a lady racing across the parking lot at the edge of the parked cars, totaling my Explorer.  I left the Sable on the bench, knowing my daughter would be learning to drive soon and bought another vehicle.

When we put her back into service, we replaced the electrical system and the brake system.  Basically over a couple years we had rebuilt the car for under 5k.  Of course, my daughter didn't want an older vehicle so ended up buying her Sebring Convertible.

Inspection time was due for my Blazer and it was decision time.  I took the rebuilt Sable off the bench.  In February, we had an ice storm, and the road was bad getting home. A single lane had been plowed up the center. Most people were driving 15-20 mph.  

Then came birthday boy doing 50 mph and then was unable to stop.

While I was hurt (and am still doing rehab), I was/am happy to be alive.  The Sable served us well and withstood the crash much better than I would have ever expected.  She has since been replaced, but not really.....

Primary Challenge for Governor Corbett ?

"Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor sent the Pennsylvania political community into a frenzy when he announced he was considering a primary bid against incumbent Governor Tom Corbett. It was hailed by some as the “most serious” primary challenge to any Governor in the history of the Commonwealth."

"Immediately after being sworn in as Governor, Tom Corbett demurred on the possibility of making Pennsylvania a Right to Work state and promptly went into hiding. As the fight for School Choice raged in the capitol, the Governor seemed to be in the Witness Protection Program."

The article outlines the Governors failure to lead and act on  Privatization of state liquor stores, Right to Work legislation, Strike Free education, School vouchers and Property Tax elimination.. 

It also recounts the Governor's political stunt last year: " the Governor summoned each state committee member, one by one, to a closed door meeting where he strong-armed them to support his choice for Senate. Some were threatened with primary challenges, others were told that they would not receive government contracts for their business. It was back room, machine politics at its worst." To say that this action resulted in the alienation of many of the state party members would be an understatement.

In fact, the Governor himself became an issue in the 2012 elections, 

" During the fall election season, the Democratic statewide row office candidates all campaigned on one thing: holding Tom Corbett accountable. The election was framed as a referendum on the Governor. The Democrats won by a healthy margin statewide and the Republicans lost three seats in the State Senate."

This can not be overlooked or under stated.  In the 2012 Primary, Democratic  primary voters were less than entused with their candidates for President and US Senate. President Obama had a 13% under vote (no challenger) and Senator Casey had a 20.7% under vote against an unknown challenger who spent $5000. on a statewide race.  

The race of interest which drew the most votes in the primary was for Attorney General.  The winner of the primary, Kathleen Kane, who had President Clinton stumping for her, made holding Governor Corbett to account her central theme.  And this race inspired voters to turn out in November and carried the ticket to victory.

What was Governor Corbett doing in the meantime? Alienating those who supported him.  In September, one of Corbett's big money donors came out slamming the Governor for his lack of leadership. 

 "Tom Corbett came to Harrisburg with no practical business experience," Wagner wrote. "He is an attorney who methodically worked his way through the political ranks by gaining favor with party leaders.

He continued: "The bottom line is this. There is no substitute for leadership. Successful business owners provide leadership every day. For the sake of PA’s prosperity, Gov. Corbett had better figure this out, or else a historic opportunity for our state will be lost, and he will be a one term governor."

The Governor's office turned around and issued the following statement to the press:

“In the last year and a half, Tom Corbett has closed a $4.2 billion budget deficit, passed two on-time state budgets, saved the unemployment compensation system, passed tort reform, saved the Philadelphia refineries, made strides in securing the first-ever ethane petrochemical plant in the northeastern United States, presided over the first growth in manufacturing jobs in a generation, and overseen an economy with 73,000 new jobs, all without tax increases."

“Scott Wagner’s inability to see this as progress," said Harley, "raises valid questions about his ability to identify leadership.”

If it was only the state party rank and file and a major donor, you may be able to shrug it off as acceptable collateral damage. But the Governor has also created his share of riffs with his intervention in negotiations in the Legislature on key pieces of legislation. One such example was with the Marcellus Shale Impact Fee legislation when the Governor came in to the negotiations and went straight to the bottom line.

Add in the firing of Joe Paterno and any part that voters may believe the Governor had, his role as Attorney General and the Sandusky case and you have Penn State alumni of all political stripes irate at the Governor for how they perceive he handled or mishandled the case. Understand , the facts in the how he handled the case are very secondary to the public perception.  Again, Mrs. Kane's promise to investigate his actions leave a perception that he bungled it.

In conclusion, the Pennsylvania Conservative cites a very relevant fact, "In mid January, Public Policy Polling found 49 percent of Republican Primary voters preferred someone other than Corbett to be their standard bearer."

This this high of a percentage of Republican voters dismayed with the Governor on the rebound of the 2012 election, I anticipate there to be serious grass roots efforts to gain control of the Republican State Committee in 2014.  If the party endorses the Governor in a strong arming display similar to 2012's, look for Chairman Gleason to be the next target.

The stage is set for a serious primary challenge to the Governor.  Whether it will be Bruce Castor or someone else remains to be seen.  Whomever it is, if anyone, will first need the cash to be able to run a statewide campaign complete with media. Until that occurs, there is no serious challenge, just rumbling and grumbling.

She...rare version

The International City