Posts by Anthony Fleg

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley recently wrote to the State’s Medical Assistance Division (MAD) expressing his Tribe’s opposition to cuts in Tribal health, with Pueblo and Apache leaders voicing concerns as well.

UNM students gathered in the Student Union Building on the Columbus Day federal holiday with a clear request for their school’s administration – honor the Indigenous people and cultures of New Mexico by changing the 2nd Monday in October to “Indigenous Day” on UNM’s campus.
Since 1934 the U.S. has officially recognized Columbus Day, though not without [...]

Concerns are being raised over the University of New Mexico’s recent statement that it will not allow undocumented residents of Bernalillo County to register for UNM Care, its safety-net insurance program for the indigent.

Forty-five years after the 1964 release of the Surgeon’s General Report on Smoking and Health that linked smoking to lung cancer, this week’s signing of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act marks another milestone in the time line of commercial tobacco in the United States.

This past week was for health care reform junkies and activists like the first week of April for baseball fanatics — a kind of opening week to the political games, policy debates and maneuvering that are sure to unfold over the summer months.

One month after being dubbed one of the most endangered historic places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, New Mexico’s majestic Mt. Taylor has a new lease on life.

I love hearing about colors I never knew existed each time I go to the airport, pretending to know the difference between “level fusia” and “level lemon-lime.” I love knowing that these Homeland Security experts are taping me everywhere I go to make sure I am not a terrorist, ’cause I have always been photogenic.

“But why do we focus on ‘Why did she stay?’ instead of asking ‘Why did he abuse her?’” ENLACE Comunitario Outreach Associate Blanca Pedigo asks, pointing out that the current magazine headlines choose to focus on whether Rihanna will stay with her partner instead of asking why Chris Brown decided to attack her.

This year, comprehensive health care reform has been the topic of lots of talk in New Mexico. But there seems to be little sense of urgency in Santa Fe these days.

Using inspiration from a dream, Nambe Pueblo’s Georgia Perez crafted story books that use the Native American tradition of telling stories to address a very modern health challenge. In four books, the author and diabetes educator weaves together stories of eagles, coyotes, spinning tales of a return to traditional ways of living that bring about wellness and health.

Throughout this year, we will surely focus on the economic plight of our country, but this holiday reminds us that our wealth as a nation rests primarily in our collective ability to work for a just, caring, humanistic, equitable society.

A voluntary decision by pharmaceutical companies to stop giving doctors gifts branded with drug names could save the state millions; critics say the free stuff encourages docs to prescribe more expensive drugs.

The way we continue to tell the history of this land, including this week’s holiday celebrating its “discovery” perpetuates much of the inequities and discrimination of the past.