Algo Craps for Humanity
San Francisco 11.54pm
After more than two months, 25k of people have died in the conflict between Palestine and Israel. To date, the death toll has exceeded 25k, mostly Palestinian civilians. Critical infrastructure in Palestine, such as hospitals, schools, electricity networks, internet and waterways, have also reportedly been destroyed by the Israeli army.
Moreover, an independent report conducted by Human Rights Watch indicates that Israel has used white phosphorus bombs, which are prohibited in international humanitarian law, in densely populated areas.
The world has reacted strongly to the humanitarian tragedy now unfolding in Palestine. Waves of support for Palestine and an immediate ceasefire have emerged not only in Muslim-majority countries or the Middle East but also in European cities such as London and The Hague, as well as in New York, in the United States. Algorithm crap, for example in substack. With throttling you never see a preview of the article of substack. Having an email list is fantastic but when X or Twitter is your biggest source of eyeballs, it kills readership.
Gazans grandma killed by Israel bombing
Algorithmic technology rarely serves Palestine, but it can, if Palestinians have sovereignty over their data, language, models, land, and lives. For the last 75 years, since the creation of the State of Israel and the Nakba, Palestine has lacked sovereignty over all its basic living conditions.
Currently, most algorithmic technology serves Israel’s occupation and surveillance of every sphere of Palestinian existence. Even, legendary IT, legendary Silicon Valley, Paul Graham to be victim of surveillance just because his voice to support Palestine. Brit investor Paul Graham ‘hit’ by surveillance measure just because he’s vocal to defend Palestine. If renowned IT like Paul Graham facing surveillance, imagine ordinary people with very ‘few’ knowledge about IT.
Just as an example of how extreme the twitter throttling is for anything pertaining to Substack (whether it be a Substack link or even mention), some X / Twitter user who reposted her work -with substack link format, and she has 13,400+ followers, has had 60 views in 3 hours--that's [only] one view every 3 minutes.
Another extreme example, Rana Ayyub herself, 1,617,016 followers on twitter, when posted a substack link interview with Plestia Alaqad, from 12.09am [Dec 13, 2023] Melbourne time until 3.48am Melbourne time, around 99 minutes [or Dec 12, 2023 5.09am San Francisco - 8.48am San Francisco], only getting 6,482 views. Comparison with Rana’s tweet herself but without link substack, she already getting 3,4k views in 9 minutes.
ps: Rana, I’m sorry just free subscriber [appears Upgrade to paid, sigh]
This has nothing to do with whether people are interested in the content. This is the rate at which the twitter algos [algorithms] are placing this post in other people's feeds.
X / Twitter not only throttling substack links. X or Twitter throttling engagement for any tweets that include a link to substack [like mine, got shadowbanned in twitter, although try to translate (the late) Refaat Alareer’ poem with other twitter / X user].
The current algorithmic conditions imposed on Palestine, showing how Silicon Valley Big Tech firms collude with the occupation even as they develop programs for Palestinians claim technology itself can lead to liberation. Rejecting such tech solutionism, we show the promising work Palestinians currently produce and delineate next steps for a free and thriving Palestine that include an intentional use of technology on terms Palestinians set themselves.
We believe education and technology are essential to this end, and with a clear understanding of the many potential harms of algorithms. Will algorithms free Palestine? No. But they can help build a free Palestine, which could include the right of return and/or full sovereignty over our contiguous lands, free of Israel’s divisions, surveillance, and administration.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been greeted with similar messages every time I’ve opened TikTok. I don’t know exactly how this content found me. Sure, I’ve been following Palestinian activists on X for a few years now, but TikTok has always been my go-to platform for unpolitical, unplugging-my-brain sort of content. Ever since Oct. 7, pro-Palestinian creators have been flooding my feed, often showing perspectives on the crisis that are not represented in mainstream media.
There’s Bisan, Plestia Bosbos Alaqad, and Motaz Azaiza– all young journalists from Gaza filming life in the strip during the war, without shying away from sharing their own emotions (Plestia has recently fled Gaza, now in Melbourne).
still ‘not too many’ TikTok user [globally] got million viewed. More stark, she very rare using TikTok rather than other social media, under war, and still got million viewed. This is from TikTok of Plestia Bosbos Alaqad.
There’s Nuha, Subhi, Moe, Salma, Sarah Magdy, Awa Sanno and Wally Rashid – creators outside of Palestine reporting on breaking stories and on the history of the conflict. Maliha, Tony Vara, Lee, and James are all activists sharing strategies and organising through the platform. There's also Jourdan Johnson, Shumirun Nessa and Ahmad Alzahabi – creators gaming TikTok's monetisation programme to raise funds for Palestinian NGOs. And there’s Katie, Clio, Max Miller and Sim Kern – Jewish creators speaking out about Zionism. The list is simply too long.
This explosion of pro-Palestinian voices on one of the world’s largest social platforms has not gone unnoticed. With hashtags like #freepalestine garnering over 30 billion views, politicians in the US have accused TikTok of inciting hate and even called for a full ban. In response, TikTok issued a press release explaining that their algorithm “doesn’t take sides”: Their young user base simply tends to support Palestinian issues more than older generations, a finding backed by other independent polls.
Both TikTok and Meta have been under enormous pressure from the U.S., the EU and Israel to remove content allegedly containing disinformation or hate, and both platforms have overwhelmingly complied. As of Nov. 5, TikTok said it had taken down over 925,000 videos and closed over 14,000 livestreams – and the numbers have only risen since then.
“It’s like we’re building a whole alternative media to inform people about this crisis,” says creator Awa Sanno, 26, who is originally from Gambia but is now living in New York. Before Oct. 7, Sanno was already posting TikToks about fashion and life in the city, but then decided to make content about Gaza.
Gaza-born creator Salma Shawa, 26, who’s currently living in the U.S., has a more complicated relationship with the platform. For three years she’s had a TikTok account, where she’s been posting videos about Palestinian culture and fashion.
In the summer of 2021 and 2022, Shawa went back to Gaza to see her family. On both occasions, she documented everyday life in Gaza, as well as the aftermath of Israeli bombings. Shawa says her videos have never received as much traction as right now. “It makes me feel scared it had to go this far for people to finally pay attention,” she says. “I do fear that this might become a trend where people are posting about it now but might forget in a few days or when a ceasefire is announced.”
Since Oct. 7, Shawa has noticed a huge shift in her viewers, both in terms of their numbers and of their political opinions. When she was in Gaza, she filmed some scenes on the beach and in the countryside that were met with a lot of backlash. “My comment section was horrifying: bullying, harassment, Zionists telling me, ‘You'll be beheaded if you go to Gaza with short sleeves or your hair down like that’,” she says. But in the past few weeks, the hateful comments have all but disappeared.
Shawa rarely watches mainstream media’s reporting on Gaza, as she feels insulted by the frequent associations between Palestinians and terrorism. In her opinion, social media portrays a much more accurate picture of what the situation in Gaza is really like. “Women have really been at the forefront of what’s happening on social media,” she says. “Women in Gaza are so hard-working. They are going out at night, filming during bombings, pulling people from the rubble, working side by side with male colleagues. It’s becoming very difficult for Israeli and American Zionists to claim that women in Gaza are oppressed and to leverage these claims for invasions and bombings.”
Both scholars agree that Palestinian activism has been forever changed by social platforms. “In the era of mass media, Israel had a pragmatic advantage in the distribution of information, while Palestinian narratives couldn’t reach global audiences,” Cervi says. But that’s changed now everyone can pick up a phone and broadcast their story to the world.
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Plestia Alaqad and her documentary ‘before war’
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I know a lot of high-ranking media, such as New York Times, Guardian, Anadolu, BILD, Spiegel, Financial Times, Strait Times, Washington Post etc subscribed my substack. Plestia ‘Bosbos’ Alaqad ready to be your Stringer or Keynote Speaker or Source about [everything related] Gaza, as Global Opinionator the Washington Post Rana Ayyub Rana Ayyub doing around 75 hours ago or 15 hours ago interview with Egyptian activist Zein Rahma, please contact Plestiaa2011@gmail.com or collab@plestiaalaqad.com
RanaRana Ayyubis the first Indian to be an honorary member of the US National Press Club. Interview with Plestia maybe around [Dec 11] 1pm New Delhi and 8pm Melbourne [Plestia] —— 1 day after Plestia’s birthday. Plestia evacuated to Melbourne after eyewitnessing horror [at least] until 49 days of war in Gaza. As of now 13/12 [Dec 12], is Day 68 of war
Toddler with Plestia, before war, living in Northern Gaza and they evacuated to Southern Gaza. Since Friday, Oct 13, when Israel announced to every Gazans from northern move to southern, more than 5,000 killed in southern, not counting barbaric bombing in northern Gaza. Northern Gaza is being depopulated, while even residents in the south are ordered to evacuate as the israelis implement their ethnic cleansing. Refugee literally fulfilled Israel warning, and still killed with barbaric bombing by Israel. Documentation by Plestia Alaqad
Subscribed
110+ languages of poem Refaat al Areer ‘IF I MUST DIE’
link YouTube Brian Denis Cox CBE [Logan Roy “SUCCESSION”] reads ‘IF I MUST DIE’
English —- original post by Professor Refaat Al Areer
Arabic / Arab, Refaat’s mother tongue ===== twitter [at]tameeolivefern
Ottoman Turkish (لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, Osmanlı Türkçesi, or عثمانليجه Osmanlıca) === twitter [at]IsmailogluF
Yiddish [German dialect which uses many Hebrew words but with a very distinctive Ashkenazic pronunciation — not Hebrew] === twitter [at]antimaskilic
Hebrew ==== twitter [at]nookyelur
Subscribed
Gaeilge / Gaeilge na hÉireann / Irish === twit [at]ColmDelaney1
Gaeilge / Gaeilge na hÉireann / Irish [2nd version] === twit [at]RoscCatha
Kalenjin languages, family of a dozen Southern Nilotic languages spoken in Kenya, eastern Uganda and northern Tanzania === twitter [at]emmanuel_tunen
Bislama / bichelamar / English-based creole language in Vanuatu === twitter [at]specificisland
Haitian Creole / kreyòl ayisyen / créole haïtien, commonly referred to as simply Creole, or Kreyòl in the Creole language in Haiti ==== twitter [at]DangImole
Seychellois Creole ==== twitter [at]elia_damasy
Somali [1st version] ==== twitter [at]sefkheta
Somali [2nd version] ==== twitter [at]hausofriya
Tamachek / Tamashek / Tamasheq language, variety of Tuareg, a Berber macro-language widely spoken by nomadic tribes across North Africa in Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso ==== twitter [at]Amajagh
Quebec Ojibwe (/oʊˈdʒɪbweɪ/ oh-JIB-way) also known as Ojibwa (/oʊˈdʒɪbwə/ oh-JIB-wə) Ojibway / Otchipwe / Ojibwemowin / Anishinaabemowin, an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian language family. The language is characterized by a series of dialects of Ojibwemowin are spoken in Canada, from southwestern Quebec, through Ontario, Manitoba and parts of Saskatchewan ==== twitter [at]greatlakesqueer
Québécois French ===== twitter [at]politicxt
Canadian French (French: français canadien) === twitter [at]rosas_chismosas
French ==== twitter [at]tearfulparadise
Chinese / Mandarin [1st version] ==== twitter [at]blkpaws ===== she / he started initiative across globally to translating Refaat Alareer’s poem
Chinese / Mandarin [2nd version] === twitter [at]weiyuanottawa
Chinese / Mandarin [3rd version], Cantonese / 廣東話 / 广东话; Jyutping: Gwong2 dung1 waa2; Cantonese Yale: Gwóngdūng wá) part of Chinese Sinitic branch ==== twitter [at]palestine_zh
Chinese / Mandarin [4th version], Simplified Mandarin ===== twitter [at]chenchenzh
Mongolian [ˈmɔɴ.ɢəɮ xiɮ] language === twitter [at]naiad_R
Western Apache (Nḏéé biyáti’) ===== a Southern Athabaskan language spoken among the 14,000 Western Apaches in Mexico in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua and in east-central Arizona. ==== twitter [at]ShoSheepy
Shona / chiShona / Central Shonic varieties (comprising Zezuru, Manyika, Korekore and Karanga) or specifically Standard Shona in Zimbabwe ==== twitter [at]assata_burner
Wolof / Wolof làkk / وࣷلࣷفْ لࣵکّ language of Senegal, Mauritania, and the Gambia, and the native language of the Wolof people == twitter [at]drlandislife
Coptic (Bohairic Coptic: ϯⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, timetremǹnkhēmi), in detail Sahidic Coptic / Saidic Coptic ==== twitter [at]pterandydon
Ndebele / isiNdebele saseNyakatho / specific Zimbabwean Ndebele [because another language ‘South Africa Ndebele] / North Ndebele, associated with the term Matabele ==== twitter [at]NcubeBokang
Yoruba / Èdè Yorùbá / عِدعِ يوْرُبا language spoken in West Africa, primarily in Southwestern and Central Nigeria === twitter [at]ayoTweetz
Ogadēn / Somali Ogaadeen / ውጋዴ/ውጋዴን / Ogaden Language === twitter [at]FarhiaFarah
Kurdish language === twitter [at]stfuerdogan
Carribean Spanish [the translator from Cuba] twitter [at]midnucas
Puerto Rican Spanish / Español puertorriqueño —- twitter [at]mojitodeparcha
Latin America Spanish / Mexican Spanish / Español Mexicano === the translator from Mexico, twitter [at]aleximenez
Latin America Spanish / Mexican Spanish / Español Mexicano === the translator from Mexico, twitter [at]Adrialg212
South American Spanish / Chilean Spanish / castellano chileno / español chileno === the translator from Chile, twitter [at]alexbaez
Castilian Spanish ==== twitter [at]adrianaperezgr2
Catalan === twitter [at]DeeVee53657246
Valencian language / Valencian Catalan language (llengua valenciana) ==== twitter [at]davidsegarra
Basque / Euskara ==== twitter [at]leiredeitzenaiz
Danish language / dansk sprog ==== twitter [at]TakingMyZzzs
Macedonian / македонски јазик, makedonski jazik. ==== twitter [at]lofidelica
Italian [1st version] ==== twitter [at]namilait
Italian [2nd version] ==== twitter [at]TarsieroRosanna [detail: Liguria / Tuscany, or if you use wikipedia, Ligurian (/lɪˈɡjʊəriən) or Genoese (/ˌdʒɛnoʊˈiːz) (locally called zeneise or zeneize)
Italian [3rd version] ==== twitter [at]danielukes
Italian [4th version] / L’alfabet furlan / Eastern Friulano language === twitter [at]GioFassetta
Latin (lingua Latina [ˈlɪŋɡʷa ɫaˈtiːna] or Latinum [ɫaˈtiːnʊ̃]), classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages, originally spoken in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome ==== twitter [at]arielwroteit
Georgian / Kartvelian / ქართული ენა / kartuli ena ==== twitter [at]avtoism
Circassian (/sɜːrˈkæʃən/ sur-KASH-ən), also known as Cherkess === twitter [at]art_emissss
Eastern Armenian Language / Արևելահայերեն === romanized: Arevelahayeren
twitter [at]Karmir_Kovkas
Western Armenian Language Արեւմտահայերէն, romanized: Arevmdahayeren === twitter [at]komitas1_5
Swahili / Kiswahili [1st version] ==== twitter [at]DoktorYakub
Swahili / Kiswahili [2nd version] ==== twitter [at]catherine_amayi
Igbo / Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò language ====== twitter [at]Ani_Kayode
Moroccan Darija / al-ʻArabiyyah al-Maghribiyyah ad-Dārija / Maghrebi Arabic / العربية المغربية الدارجة ==== twitter [at]alsahrawiya
Berber languages /Amazigh languages / Tamazight / تَمَزِيغت / Tamaziɣt === twitter [at]HamidOuyachi
Nkore / Nkole / Nyankore / Nyankole / Orunyankore / Orunyankole / Runyankore / Runyankole, Bantu language spoken by the Nkore ("Banyankore") of south-western Uganda in former province of Ankole, as well as in Tanzania, the DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi ==== twitter [at]CKyobutungi
Harshen / Halshen Hausa / هَرْشٜن هَوْسَ, Chadic language spoken by the Hausa people in the northern parts of Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern parts of Niger, Chad and Sudan, with significant minorities in Ivory Coast ==== twitter [at]HausaTranslator
Welsh / Cymraeg / y Gymraeg === twitter [at]bradwres95
Kernewek / Kernowek / Cornish === twitter [at]NiwlenSter
Bengali / Bangla / বাংলা === twitter [at]joonknowles
Kannada / ಕನ್ನಡ / Canarese / Karnataka language [India] ==== twitter [at]faintlamps
Telugu / తెలుగు / language in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana India === twitter [at]abhignarigala
Pushto / Pashto / Pashtun / پښتو, Pəx̌tó ====twitter [at]miguel3o2
Punjabi / Panjabi presenting in shahmukhi and roman === twitter [at] MeeMmarvel
Maldivian also known by its endonym Dhivehi / Divehi / ދިވެހި, ==== twitter [at]ishahr
Marathi (/məˈrɑːti/;] मराठी, pronounced [məˈɾaːʈʰiː] / Maharashtrian / Maharashtra India === twitter [at]chamelea22
Galician === twitter [at]desdeoturonio
Albanian (shqip [ʃcip] or gjuha shqipe [ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ]) === twitter [at]Gentanishku
Czech / Czechia / čeština / Bohemia / lingua Bohemica ===== twitter [at]marundersea
Hungarian / magyar nyelv ==== twitter [at]Sz_Giulia
Azerbaijani / Azərbaycan dili / آذربایجان دیلی / Азәрбајҹан дили === twitter [at]NAmeetsCaucasia
Maori New Zealand / te reo Māori ===== twitter [at]aotearoalib / Haimana Hirini
Amharic / አማርኛ / Amarəñña / Ethiopian Semitic language === twitter [at]flipkoin2
Chewa / Nyanja / Chichewa / Chinyanja (spelled Cinianja in Portuguese) === twitter [at]ElizaMbamba
Fanti / Fantse / Mfantse, one of the four principal members of the Akan dialect continuum. principally spoken in the central and southern regions of Ghana as well as in settlements in other regions in western Ghana, Ivory Coast, as well as in Liberia, Gambia and Angola. ==== twitter [at]DaughterApraku
Tswana / Setswana, and previously spelled Sechuana, a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa ==== twitter [at]kgmgobozi
Polish ==== twitter [at]kamilmozel
Serbian ==== twitter [at]weird__sister
سِنڌِي / सिन्ध [sɪndʱiː] / Sindhi language === twitter [at]DeTrop_
Bangla [1st version] ==== twitter [at]luv_dkz
Bangla [2nd version] ==== twitter [at]brotigupta
Hindi / Devanagari / मानक हिन्दी / Mānak Hindī ==== twitter [at]moonchildbichen
മലയാളം / Malayāḷam language === twitter [at]vinayaravind
Gujarati / ગુજરાતી, romanized: Gujarātī ===== twitter [at]imrevelationist
नेपाली / Nepali language ==== twitter [at]timothyaryal
Sinhala / සිංහල / Siṁhala / Sinhalese === twitter [at]_vajra
Telugu language / తెలుగు ===== twitter [at]abhignarigala
Romanize Telugu language / తెలుగు ===== twitter [at]abhignarigala
Saraiki ( سرائیکی Sarā'īkī; also spelt Siraiki, or Seraiki) / Multani, is a Western Punjabi Language ==== twitter [at]TanveerMohana
Tagalog Filipino / Philippines ==== twitter [at]horchoffee
Cebuano / Visayan / Bisaya, Southern Philippines language ===== twitter [at]maglawod
Hiligaynon / Ilonggo / Binisaya / Bisaya nga Hiniligaynon / Inilonggo, an Austronesian regional language spoken in the Philippines === twitter [at]mooIahz
Phasa Thai / Bahasa Thai / Thai language / ภาษาไทย === twitter [at]bangtanT4NNI3
Slovenian ==== twitter [at]gaiius_iunius
Greek / Ελληνικά, romanized: Elliniká === twitter [at]waitingfor2day
Korean / Hangul / 한글 ==== twitter [at]goroswe
Japanese / 日本語, Nihongo with HIRAGANA and ROMANIZE version === twitter [at]marevevivace
Japanese [2nd version] without Romanize version ==== twitter [at]NaokiQYamamoto
български език / bŭlgarski ezik / Bulgarian === twitter [at]idkonst
Romanian === twitter [at]elliebotoman
German / Deutsch === twitter [at]merlinonasunday
Basel German / Baseldytsch (Standard German: Baseldeutsch) === twitter [at]Burgi323
Russian / современный русский литературный язык – "sovremenny russky literaturny yazyk ==== twitter [at]fictionalizer
Ukrainian language / українська мова / ukrainska mova ==== twitter [at]tweegf
Icelandic language / íslenska === twitter [at]BragiPall
Afrikaans / Afrikaansch ==== twitter [at]jacksondayton_
Dutch ==== twitter [at]grafbanga
Turkish === [at]Karpuzcevirdegi
Farsi / Persian / (فارسی, Fārsī) ==== twitter [at]littlezab
Urdu / (Nastaliq: اردو; /ˈʊərduː/; ALA-LC: Urdū) ==== twitter [at]EeshaalU
Urdu but Romanize version ==== twitter [at]umkalra
Brazilian Portuguese === twitter [at]ribslyrics
European Portuguese === twitter [at]MargemSultejano
Norwegian / Norsk === twitter [at]andreas_ved
Swedish / (svenska [ˈsvɛ̂nːska]) === twitter [at]Nieszkas
Finnish / (ssuomen kieli / suomi) === twitter [at]mimisadore
Bosnian === twitter [at]namik_klaric
Slovak / slovenčina [ˈslɔʋentʂina] or slovenský jazyk [ˈslɔʋenskiː ˈjazik]) ==== twitter [at]taejinmono
hrvatski / Croatian language ==== twitter [at]simpforsurrera
Vietnamese / tiếng Việt === twitter [at]croissantmusain
Bahasa Indonesia / Indonesian language === twitter [at]SER0T0JIN
Bahasa Melayu / Malay language ==== twitter [at]sluffick
Jawi Alphabet / Jawi (جاوي; Acehnese: Jawoë; Kelantan-Pattani: Yawi; Malay pronunciation: [d͡ʒä.wi], Arabic Malay) ==== combination by twitter [at]_Ereshkigal666 for text version and twitter [at]carroteuk for brush version
Tamil / தமிழ் / Dravidian === twitter [at]ra9hu1
lingua de planeta, an international auxiliary language ==== twitter [at]st00perduck
Esperanto === twit [at]sintooth
I dont know this is essentials or not, but, Victoria Secret / VS Angel posted in her stories hours ago, which, she already on glamorous lifestyle, and then finally posted like this, imagine if you didn’t speak up for Palestine. For Gaza.
Ramy Abdu from EUROMEDHR
Statement Genocidal Netanyahu for International Crime Court
Gernika / Guernica, Spain
Plestia Alaqad in Gaza. Anne Frank in Germany
Plestia Alaqad
This is all concerning enough. But politicians, seizing on some evidence of antisemitic displays at pro-Palestinian protests to link Muslims and migrants with antisemitism, have taken the opportunity to advance an anti-migrant agenda.
In America, 82% of all U.S.-based respondents, incl. almost all assistant professors (98 %), said they self-censor when they speak professionally about the Israeli-Palestinian issue. 81 % of those said they primarily held back their criticism of Israel vs 11% of Palestinians. Can't possibly imagine why 98% of assistant Profs feel the need to do this.
motaz azaiza
2 Symbol of Gaza. Plestia Bosbos Alaqad and Motaz Azaiza. Both [even[ westernized. Motaz part of UNRWA USA. Plestia is Albert Schweitzer Scholars. As of minute-time, 1.57am Melbourne [Plestia] and 4.57pm Gaza [Motaz]
original Plestia’s pict used by Guardian, and poet Rupi Kaur. Rupi Kaur refused Divali invitation by Biden, most of reason, because [I believe] Plestia feed
Refaat Alareer after acknowledge that Rupi Kaur refused Divali’s White House party by Biden.