Links for the Day

I found this four page article on childbearing to be very interesting and informative. The article focuses on the importance of women having children at a younger age, rather than later, because doing so improves fertility rates and decreases various problems. The article says birth is optimal for women between the ages of 18 and 30, with fertility difficulties slightly increasing from 30 to 35, and a significant increase in difficulty after 35 years of age. The article touches on countless topics related to obstetrics, including egg cryopreservation, the process of freezing eggs for use at a later date, and "trisomic" anomalies, the cause of Down syndrome. An excerpt from the article:

The natural reduction in reproductive capacity can be considered an unavoidable part of being human. But in weighing the potential liabilities of delayed childbearing, the slings and arrows of personal fortune must also be considered. Every woman is an individual, and as all college students learn, statistics apply to populations, not people. Whether any particular woman will have difficulty conceiving if she delays childbearing depends in part upon her history and family heritage.

My favorite presidential candidate, Barack Obama, came out with a new health care plan, which the New York Times described in a short article. The plan is "aimed at covering the nearly 45 million uninsured Americans". Personally, I liked how his plan omits small business', which may be defined as 15 employees or less (still undetermined), from the potential health care rule.

Here is a list of tips for the shy and anti-social. This article gives readers suggestions on how to become more confident in social situations. It is basically a good outline on improving social skills and is full of many useful tips. As the articles says, which I strongly agree with, practice makes perfect. So, if you want to improve your sociability, get out there and mingle with people!

And, in technology news, Dell plans on entering the retail market by selling their desktops at Wal-Mart stores, beginning June 10th.

[Photos: operalynn, roxannejomitchell]