Today's Opinions

Even after the loss of her mother to ovarian cancer, and her aunt to breast cancer, Angelina Jolie’s recent decision to have a double mastectomy, because of a hereditary cancer gene, is still a brave one. And yet the decision that comes with it, regarding reconstructive surgery, is just as difficult for some. So why not turn a loss into a gain.
I’m one of those lucky gals, as some would say, who, when needing a new bra, heads over to the children’s department at the mall and chooses one with monkeys, or kittens, or bright pink dots for $5. I did venture into Victoria’s secret one day, on a whim, and marvel at all the voluptuous cups, lace and cavernous cleavages and it was mind-boggling. It was then that I thought, as someone at a high risk of breast cancer, that if I had to say goodbye, I would treat myself to a nice pair of double C’s.
Many of my friends have done the same after cancer, opted for a little push to nature’s own efforts. And some, I’m sure to the chagrin of their husbands, have decided to downsize. I can’t imagine that myself, but I’m told on very high authority that they can be a heck of a burden.

The New Mexico economy is “at an unusual inflection point,” Barbara Brazil, deputy Economic Development Department secretary told the recent New Mexico Tax Research Institute Tax Policy Conference. We need to start thinking differently about the economy, she said.
Our economic conversation is more than Brazil’s job. She has been in the chat for a long time. She is thoughtful and wise.
An inflection point, for those of us for who eighth grade geometry has disappeared, is where a curve changes direction, as from heading down to up.
Given our addition of a few new jobs the past couple of months — 7,900 from April 2012 to April 2013 — the economy may be at an inflection point. However, it is the thinking that I hope is changing direction. At minimum, we’ll see more public conversation about the economy and/or economic development (they are different).
A new interim committee of the Legislature is called “Job Growth.” Leadership and members are yet to be named. The big daddy of interim committees, the Legislative Finance Committee, plans an economy session at every meeting. On June 13, in Silver City, the LFC will consider “Labor Force Dynamics and Unemployment.”

Did you know that Memorial Day is commemorated in different ways and on different dates throughout our nation? The observance had its beginnings during the Civil War, which is a good hint that there would not be uniformity.
More than two dozen cities and towns lay claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day, and each had its own customs. There is evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War.
Following the war, towns in the North decided it would be a good idea to honor their military dead also. In 1868, “Decoration Day” was officially proclaimed. It was so named because the emphasis was on decorating graves of fallen soldiers.
By 1890, it had been adopted by all northern states. Most southern states refused to observe the national day because of lingering hostilities. They continued with their own state observances, spread throughout the year.
It wasn’t until after World War I that the South began recognizing the federal Decoration Day. Many men from both North and South gave their lives in that war, making unification finally possible.