by B. R. GOWANI
Maryam’s false promises
On 26th February 2024, Pakistan’ most populous province of Punjab saw its first woman chief minister. Maryam is the daughter of three time prime minister Nawaz Sharif and is the neice of newly elected Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif (this is his second stint in that position). In her maiden speech, she promised all those things which the broken people of her province wanted to hear: a great many free things, including free WiFi in major cities of Punjab. She said she’ll be availabale 24/7 for students and others. Maryam Nawaz said she’ll invite “tech giants” and provide them free land & other facilities.
One thing she didn’t mention, how was she going to fund all her projects. Pakistan is in a very dire condition: economically it is in shambles, financially it is bankrupt, and politically unstable. Sharif dynasty, like Bhutto-Zardari’s and military have looted the country. Imran Khan was no better.
Saudi robot Muhammad misbehaves, rather malfunctions
VIDEO/The Free Press Journal/Youtube
On February 4, 2024, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the venue of the second edition of DeepFest, an AI related event, which witnessed a presentation of Saudi made humanoid robot named “Muhammad.” In the video, Muhammad is being interviewd by a couple of reporters, a man and a woman named Rawya Kassem.
Muhammad on himself:
“I am Muhammad, the first Saudi robot in the form of a man. I was manufactured and developed here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a national project to demonstrate our achievements in the field of artificial intelligence.”
But then something happened, Muhammad’s hand stretched a bit and touched Kassem’s back raising multiple questions:
Was it a malfunction? If yes, why didn’t the left hand malfunctioned where the male reporter was standing?
Could it be that Muhammad is a heterosexual robot?
Why did Muhammad’s hand reached to reporter’s rear and not hand or hair?
Could it be that Muhammad reognized the female voice and acted in such a manner?
Why didn’t any other part of Muhammad malfunctioned?
Or, most importantly
Could it be that Muhammad was being remote controlled by someone who intentionally or unintentionally made Muhammad act like that?
But it’s surreal to see what happnes in the video?
Note
In 2017, Saudi Arabia had granted citizenship to a female robot named Sophia.
Maryam worried about dupatta
Maryam , like Imran Khan and other politicians, went to English medium schools and also studied abroad but once they enter politics, they never tire of pretending to be pious Muslims.
Pakistan has so many problems but Maryam is worried about a police officer’s dupatta (stole, shawl, scarf) as can be seen in the above video. The police offier is an adult and not a child, if her dupatta slipped from her head she could have refixed it if she wanted to. In a conservative, and many a time violent in matter of religion and women’s dressing, country like Pakistan, Maryam’s intervention is an encouragement to those elements who would want women to cover up. This is also Maryam’s way to pander to the religious right.
Elon Musk nonsense
Elon Musk is the world’s richest person with one of the largest mouths and is a great sympathizer of white supremacists. As a member of the US ruling class, he openly advocates overthowing a government if he can’t get what he wants.
On March 6, 2024, Musk criticized MacKenzie Scott (formerly married to Jeff Bezos, world’s richest but now second richest person).
“Super rich ex-wives who hate their former spouse” should “be listed among ‘Reasons that Western Civilization died.’”
What action of MacKenzie Scott could be the death knell of Western civilization? Well, the beneficiaries of some of her charity are organizations that tackle gender/and or race connected isssues.
It is tough, nay, impossible, to make people like Musk understand that Western civilization’s termination will be caused by white men like him and not people like MacKenzie Scott. It’s people like her whose work provides oxygen to the dying Western civilization. Women and minority groups receiving money from her will add more flavor and variety to arts, culture, film, theatre, language, and so many such things which make up civilization.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com