Commentary on bank bailouts, why zebras have stripes, Japan`s intergenerational rebuild, America`s contraception war, and will Canadian immigrant enclaves keep evolving?

China moves to rescue their banks.

Financial Times -- China extends loans to avoid mass default
A mountain of debt is coming due and the principal is unpayable, so governments have agreed to extend maturities.

Related.

Financial Times -- Debt: Argument over burden divides experts
Few issues divide China bulls from bears as sharply as government indebtedness.

Mummy when I come back in another life, I want come back as a bank. The ECB postpones the banking crisis. Thanks to David of Victoria.

New York Times -- Economists Warn of Long-Term Perils in Rescue of Europe’s Banks
Few would begrudge Mario Draghi his boast last week that he and the European Central Bank had prevented a disastrous credit crisis by showering banks with cheap loans in December.

Why not just let Greece and Portugal go bankrupt.

Financial Times -- Why Greece and Portugal ought to go bankrupt
Two years ago, most European policymakers still believed that Greece would pull through.

Why do zebras have stripes?

Economist -- Horse sense
Are zebra stripes just an elaborate insect repellent?

Rebuilding for tomorrow. Thanks to Jeremy of Tokyo.

New York Times -- As Japan Works to Patch Itself Up, a Rift Between Generations Opens
At age 39, Yoshiaki Suda, the new mayor of this town that was destroyed by last March’s tsunami, oversees a community where the votes, money and influence lie among its large population of graying residents.

America`s patch work health care system endangers women by forcing the contraception conversation back on the front burner framed by the issue of religious freedom instead of ensuring access to preventive medical technologies. (ed`s note – what is the Catholic Church`s view on Viagra?)

Contraception and the cost of culture wars
Politicized culture wars are debilitating because they almost always require partisans to denigrate the moral legitimacy of their opponents, and sometimes to deny their very humanity.

Mixing in.

National Post -- Canada: As immigration booms, ethnic enclaves swell and segregate
More than 600 newcomers per day have arrived in Canada since 2006, and many of them have settled in neighbourhoods like Richmond, B.C.