The things I would like to see.
I would like to see them not play football at Penn State. I was surprised that they played last Saturday in the wake of all the atrocities that came to light regarding their football program's leadership foibles. But after assessing the situation, I came to the conclusion that this was just another case of the old Too Big to Fail syndrome. Football rules Penn State, not the other way around.
They refused to cancel the season or suspend the program and jeopardize the biggest business on campus.
The students attending the game took up a collection and raised $135,000 to assist the seven to as many as 40 victims of former assistant coach Sandusky's perverted desires. One could assume Penn State's share of the gate, television and radio receipts from the game would be placed in a foundation to assist the victims, but apparently not. The receipts went to the Happy Valley football squad and by next week, things will pretty well be back to normal, except for the victims.
At least the university's president had the fortitude to step down, unlike coach Paterno, who had a hand in the cover-up. He had to be fired. I guess he thought he was too big to go too. Sick and sad, is all I can add.
On to happier news.
It seems the federal NDP and Liberal parties are no closer to selecting a leader than they were last month. I guess that's good news if you're a Harperite.
The provincial NDP party is attempting to set the stage for the selection of their new leader. My guess is it will be someone who is not presently a member of the legislative assembly.
More happy news.
The House of Commons is being expanded to include 338 members in the near future, up from the current 308. That means getting more of the same, with a higher price tag. What's not to love about that!
It seems Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and B.C. will be sending more MPs into the Common House. We'll still get our usual allocation of 13 Conservatives and Ralph.
Do we need more MPs? Apparently so. I look at it this way. The Congress in the U.S. Has 535 members and they have 360 million people to represent. Canada will have 338 MPs to represent 34 million people. I'll leave you to do the math.
I'm worried about where these new people will sit. The Common House is already filled up. Of course they all have desks. We could eliminate desks and make more space. That's what they did in England. One speaker's podium and a bunch of crossed ankles sitting on stiff benches. I don't think they'd go for it here. Our representatives are too used to the cushy chairs and big desks. Besides where would they hide the sunflower seeds?
Maybe they'll allocate an additional $45 million to build newer, smaller desks and then spread them out to snuggle closer to the speaker's little throne thing there. They could take that middle table out, and park the sceptre in the corner. Maybe they could open the back doors and spill a few newcomers into the hallway. Really, I don't know where they're going to put 30 more people with desks, binders, candy and notepads. Maybe they could build a new deck. Or they could do the same thing as school boards do and build a relocatable House of Commons II and hook it up to House of Commons I via Skype.
I guess there are solutions, but I do believe there is a logistical problem surfacing here. I know what! The government can appoint a committee to look into it!
