I’ve never had an abortion and I can’t say I am personally involved in this fight.  I AM PRO-CHOICE, however.  It’s aggravating that the dispute …

I’VE NEVER HAD AN ABORTION

Weekly Wisdom 7 June

Buttigieg, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, as well as hundreds of others political and business leaders took part in the Mackinac Policy Conference last week on Mackinac Island in northern Michigan. The Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, organizer of the conference, announced Monday it is “aware of 15 individuals” who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the days following the event.

Source: Buttigieg, 14 others attending Mich. event test positive for COVID-19 – UPI.com

In a television debate 10 days ago on India’s rightwing news channel Times Now 1, Sharma made derogatory comments about Muslim worship and the prophet Muhammad and mocked her Muslim debate opponent. Following an outcry over the comments, Jindal posted a tweet about the prophet – that he has since deleted – which also caused anger.

The Indian ambassador to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, was summoned and given an official reprimand “expressing the disappointment of the State of Qatar and its total rejection and condemnation to the controversial remarks made by an official in the ruling party in India against Prophet Muhammad”.

Qatar demanded an apology from the Indian government, accusing it of provoking “a cycle of violence and hate”. Lolwah al-Khater, Qatar’s assistant foreign minister, said India was reaching “dangerous levels” of Islamophobic discourse.

Kuwait’s foreign ministry also summoned its Indian ambassador, Sibi George, to express its “categorical rejection and condemnation of the insulting statements” made by the BJP spokespeople.

Oman’s grand mufti, Ahmad bin Hamad al-Khalili, waded in with strong words, condemning “the insolent and obscene rudeness of the official spokesman for the ruling extremist party in India against the messenger of Islam”.

Pakistan’s new prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, who had recently sent conciliatory messages to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, said the comments were an example of how “India under Modi is trampling religious freedoms and persecuting Muslims”.

As calls for a boycott of Indian goods began to gain traction in the Gulf, an important trading and energy partner for India, the BJP government tried to dismiss the comments as “fringe elements” within the party and said they “do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the government of India”.

Source: Prophet Muhammad remarks embroil India in row with Gulf states | India | The Guardian

Majority-Republican counties experienced 73 more COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people than their Democratic counterparts, suggests an observational study today in Health Affairs.

A team led by University of Maryland researchers analyzed COVID-19 death and vaccination data and 2020 presidential election returns from 3,109 US counties from Jan 1, 2020, to Oct 31, 2021. The researchers hypothesized that partisan differences in attitudes toward the pandemic and compliance with local mask, physical distancing, and vaccine policies would lead to differences in death rates.

“Political ideology has long been known to affect health-related behaviors, attitudes, and risk perception,” the researchers wrote. “At the root of conservative ideologies is the notion that health is an individual responsibility that government should have little to no power in regulating or intervening. Conversely, liberal ideologies have often promoted the role of government to enforce stricter public health regulations to protect the health of citizens over the right of individuals to make their own choices.”

Source: Republican US counties saw more COVID-19 deaths | CIDRAP

Source: Ukrainian medic seized and held captive in Russia for helping evacuate the wounded from Mariupol

An artificial skin developed by the California Institute of Technology can give robots the ability to experience changes in temperature, pressure and even the presence of toxic chemicals through touch.

The new skin is used next to a robotic arm and sensors connected to human skin. With a system of machine learning, a human controls the robot using his own movements – and still receives a response in his own skin.

Nicknamed M-Bot, the multimodal robotic detection platform was developed in the laboratory of Wei Gao, professor of medical engineering at Caltech. His plan is to give humans more precise control over the action of robots, in addition to preventing them from putting themselves at risk.

Source: Artificial skin gives robots a sense of touch – Mágica Mistura を

“Forgiveness is one of the most fabulous and rich things in the earthly experience. It brings relief and joy, which only the forgiving person knows what it is.”

Source: Forgiveness … for Magic Mixture – Magic Mixture を