Commentary on Rick Santorum putting sex back where it belongs, President Obama’s red line, PIGS’ money fleeing to safety, train terror, vive l'Écosse libre, and Ontario’s balancing act.

Louvre -- Subject from The Turkish Bath (1862).

Rick’s sex [sic] obsession.

New York Times -- Santorum and the Sexual Revolution
Rick Santorum wants to bring sexy back ... to the 1950s, when he was born.

Related.

New York Review of Books -- Santorum’s Arrested Development
Rick Santorum, who nearly defeated Mitt Romney in yesterday’s Michigan primary and remains close to him in national polls, says that President Obama wants to force colleges on everyone because “he wants to remake you in his image.”

 

President Obama makes the case about why Iran should not have nuclear weapons and what he is going to do about it.

The Atlantic -- Obama to Iran and Israel: 'As President of the United States, I Don't Bluff'
At the White House on Monday, President Obama will seek to persuade the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to postpone whatever plans he may have to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities in the coming months.

 

Great article chronicling the flight of money from troubled Euro members to safe locations.

Spiegel -- Capital Flight: Southern European Money Migrating North to Safety
More and more people in southern euro-zone countries are moving their money north amid fears of losing their savings in the crisis.

 

America’s deleveraging.

zerohedge -- The Relentless Household Deleveraging In Charts
While the narrower spreads in Europe created the unintended consequence of perversely reducing the urgency for banks to delever their over-stuffed balance sheets (and in fact in many cases likely make them worse thanks to the ECB), the US Household continues to (sensibly) slowly but surely reduce their leverage.

 

When trains changed the world.

Globe and Mail -- A disaster recalls how trains once terrified – and transformed – the world
In an age of globe-spanning flights, train travel might seem at best charmingly quaint, if not annoyingly slow and lumbering.

How Scottish separatism may put Labour in a permanent tailspin. (ed’s note – hmm, I wonder what Prime Minister Harper is thinking?).

London Review of Books -- The End of Labour?
The prospect before the Labour Party has changed very dramatically since the start of the year.

Fascinating case of business, the state, politics and cutting spending in Ontario. Thanks to David of London.

National Post -- McGuinty leaves Ontario racing industry in the lurch
Two weeks after being told its budget numbers were slightly off, and the provincial deficit would be $30-billion in 2017 rather than zero, the Ontario government has managed to come up with just two potential solutions: sell off the LCBO headquarters on Toronto’s lakefront for a one-time gain, and remove $345-million a year from the horse-racing industry.

Related.

National Post -- Did Dalton McGuinty accidentally stick a fork in the Ottawa Senators?
Ontario’s premier is facing a tough decision: What comes first, the economy or his hometown hockey team?