There are a number of reasons why I support term limits. First, it forces a change in leadership periodically, thus bringing fresh blood to the legislative bodies. It creates a large pool of leaders needed in any party, if that party wishes to easily find candidates to run for the many elected positions in the state, counties, cities, and towns.

There are some negatives to term limits. It may not eliminate the career politician, as it wouldn’t restrict those that wished to run for another office after their term in their current position expires. It may also force out those elected officials who do a good job, but in balance it would force out those that aren’t doing the job well.

Here is a proposal I have for term limits for state offices. There are some compromises built in that may make it appealing to a larger audience.

Across the board there would be a limit of three consecutive terms for every elected office, excluding the governor which would remain at the current two term limit. Partial terms brought about by special elections would not be a factor in the term limit count.

After serving in an office for three terms the candidate would be restricted from running for that office for one term, a “cooling off” period. After the cooling off period is satisfied, the candidate could again run for that office, being subject again to the three term limit. There would be no restriction on the candidate to run for any other office in the state during the cooling off period.

Once the term limit legislation was passed and signed into law, it would come into effect ten years after it became law. Any elected official serving at that time would have their term limit count set to “0″, giving the sitting candidate three terms to serve their district or state.

Most of us that support term limits would like to see them happen now. This proposal brings it to pass but requires some wait time. Of course it doesn’t mean that term limits can’t be applied at the polls, voting out those that have served for maybe too long.

Recently the Day of The Dead was celebrated. It is better known by ACORN as Voter Registration Day.

*groan*

(stolen from Jay Leno)

Food Lion is recalling some ground beef:

Fairbank Farms notified Food Lion LLC today that our company received a portion of fresh ground beef products that are part of Fairbank Farms’ national product recall. The recall is isolated to 93/7 ground beef purchased at Food Lion stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

Looking at Fairbank Farms web site tells more:

Fairbank Farms issued a voluntary recall for approximately 545,699 pounds of fresh ground beef on October 31. The product, which was produced between Sept. 14 through Sept. 16, 2009, is possibly linked to E.coli O157:H7.

and further:

Fairbank Farms says that any customers from northeastern or mid-Atlantic states, who have identified recalled ground beef products (refer to the specifically labeled list below), should remove the product from their freezers and return it to their stores for full reimbursement. Retail outlets include: ACME, BJ’s, Ford Brothers, Giant Food Stores, Price Chopper, Shaw’s, and Trader Joe’s.

Based on the dates produced, it is likely that a lot of that meat has already been consumed. It leaves me wondering if there’s a lot of folks ill from the meat which led to the recall. The ground meat in our freezer is either ground turkey or deer so I think we are safe. Hope your family is too.

My wife and I must plan for Halloween every year since we moved into Laurel. We previously lived out in the middle of somewhere, which means very few little children with pumpkin-shaped baskets and pillowcases saying things such as “give me candy or I’ll take your soul”. We usually hit up Walmart or Happy Harry’s for some deals on treats.  This year we were prepared for the crowd that we usually get. The crowd never showed, so we’ve got some sweets to tempt us every time we walk by them.

As you might see, there’s a hand already reaching for them…

This is the winner for the best costume tonight.

(courtesy Right Condition via Judson Bennett)