Friday mini-digest

- All the mindless Tory Kool-Aid drinkers are jumping up and down about the defection of Mississauga MP Wajid Khan. While I think it's disgraceful that new Liberal leader Stephane Dion has put blind partisanship above collegiality, everyone needs to remember that Khan was the Ontario campaign chair for one Joe Volpe as recently as six weeks ago, to say nothing of the stink of floor-crossing in general. I think that those who find they have more in common with a party other than the one they are currently with should first sit as an Independent and then run for the nomination of the new party in the next election. To do otherwise reeks of cynicism and turns people off of the political process in general.

- This blogger does an excellent job paraphrasing an Economist article about how "fair trade" food products actually keep people like coffee farmers poor because the subsidy undermines any incentive to both change crops and reduce the oversupply of product in the marketplace (original here.) Do yourself a favour and read it.