For big donors, the light had drained a bit from Trump&#x27;s powerful aura in the wake of the chaos surrounding his 2020 loss at the polls to Joe Biden.

After Hush Money Conviction, Donald Trump Patches Up With Billionaire Donors

It is unclear when the former president has last held a gun, but his gun license for New York City was active at the time of his indictment in the hush money case in March 2023, according to the NYPD spokesperson.

Trump's gun license expected to be revoked after conviction in hush money trial

Trump and his team have said the statute of limitations may be an issue in appealing his convictions. Here&#x27;s what we know about the unusual timing.

Trump's hush money case and the statute of limitations, explained

Trump argues the ban must be lifted to allow him to campaign and participate in presidential debates.

Trump wants gag order lifted after hush-money trial verdict

Trump has repeatedly sought to get rid of the order instated by Judge Juan Merchan.

Trump asks judge to lift gag order in hush money case after guilty verdict

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said he wants to be able to answer his critics and speak about the trial as he campaigns.

Trump asks N.Y. judge to drop gag order after hush money conviction - The Washington Post

In an interview with the conservative outlet Newsmax, Trump seemed to float the possibility of imprisoning his political opponents if he becomes president again.

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A New York jury found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsified business records. Here, NPR breaks down the charges.

Here's what all 34 felony counts in Trump's hush money trial mean : NPR

Donald Trump on Tuesday asked the judge who oversaw his criminal trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star to lift a gag order on the case, in which the former U.S. president was convicted last week.

Trump asks judge to lift gag order after conviction in hush money case | Reuters

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Trump asks judge to lift limited gag order in his hush money case - ABC News

Hush

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Web3’s Real Challenge is Marketing, Not Adoption

Michael Saylor Wants To Turn MicroStrategy Into a Trillion-Dollar Bitcoin Bank

মাইকেল স্যালর মাইক্রোস্ট্র্যাটেজিকে ট্রিলিয়ন-ডলার বিটকয়েন ব্যাংকে পরিণত করতে চান

Michael Saylor will MicroStrategy in eine Billionen-Dollar-Bitcoin-Bank verwandeln

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Michael Saylor veut transformer MicroStrategy en une banque Bitcoin d'un milliard de dollars

माइकल सैलर माइक्रोस्ट्रेटजी को एक ट्रिलियन डॉलर के बिटकॉइन बैंक में बदलना चाहते हैं

マイケル・セイラーはマイクロストラテジーを1兆ドルのビットコイン銀行にしたいと考えている

Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy를 1조 달러 규모의 비트코인 은행으로 만들고 싶어

Michael Saylor quer transformar a MicroStrategy em um banco de Bitcoin de um trilhão de dólares

Майкл Сэйлор хочет превратить MicroStrategy в биткоин-банк стоимостью триллион долларов

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Michael Saylor muốn biến MicroStrategy thành một ngân hàng Bitcoin trị giá nghìn tỷ đô la

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変身開始、第2巻：クレシミエント・アレフのレビューとリスボンとタイでの第4四半期

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میټامورفوسس پیل شوی، vol2: Crecimiento Aleph Review & Q4 په لیزبون او تایلینډ کې

Metamorfosis qallarisqa, vol2: Crecimiento Aleph Revisión & Q4 Lisboapi, Tailandiapipas

Metamorphosis Yakatangwa, vol2: Crecimiento Aleph Ongororo & Q4 muLisbon neThailand

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Life in 2050 According to Jail-Broken GPT-4o 

Life in 2050 According to Gemini 1.5 Pro

Nigeria! Giant of Africa, as she is fondly called. It is the most populous black country in the world, with over 200 million people, a teeming youth population, and . That's about 100 million, mostly tech-savvy young people all over the internet struggling to wrest some money from the famed riches of cyberspace. It's no wonder the country is well known for internet fraud, with a world-famous fraudster from Nigeria named Hushpuppi recently jailed by the US government for swindling numerous Americans off millions of hard-earned dollars. While internet fraud has cast a bad light on Nigerians online, this single story must not be allowed to take root, however, because Nigerians have also found ingenious ways to use the internet constructively with world-reaching effects. over 50% aged from 15 to 60 years For example, are well recognized in the content creation industry with many well-know ones like Mark Angel, Emmanuela, Sabinus etc. having millions of followers from around the world whom they routinely entertain. Nigerian music has also dominated the global space in recent years, with the internet playing a critical role in this rise. Nigerian music has dominated Africa since the 2010s, but recently, Nigerian artists like Burna Boy, Rhema, and Ckay have released colossal global hit songs like Last Last, Calm down, and Love Nwantiti, respectively, reaching hundreds of millions and even billions of streams. This was only made possible through online streaming and video platforms like Spotify, YouTube, and TikTok. Nigerian comedians A relatively recent technology known as cryptocurrency has hit the internet, and Nigerians have not been left behind. The country was in crypto adoption around the world. This, of course, can be traced back to the country's relatively backward financial system, with Nigeria recording numerous economic crises over the years. happened just before the 2023 elections in the country, where the Nigerian Naira was not even available for people to withdraw. Basically, there was little cash in circulation, and protests erupted in Banks, with people demanding to withdraw the money they had deposited so they could handle day-to-day expenses. This cash shortage lasted for several weeks, and millions of Nigerians began adopting alternative financial systems for Nigerian banks. Through this crisis, a little-known Crypto trader in the country known as would rise to fame and fortune by introducing an app for financial transactions that completely circumvented the Nigerian banking system. Blord would also go on to introduce a crypto exchange company called Blord Group in the country to convert cryptocurrency to Naira. Many Nigerians adopted Cryptocurrency during this financial crisis. recently ranked second A particularly crazy financial crisis Blord What you should know about Nigeria is that even though it is a very gifted country with lots of natural and human resources, it is run by a very corrupt government with notable ethnic biases. This has created widespread poverty in the country, with most of the gigantic 200 million people in the country left to fend for themselves anyhow they can. But the youths have taken up Agency as autonomous individuals battling against classist and ethnic divides, plus a corrupt, powerful government with dictatorial tendencies to create comfortable lives for themselves as sovereign entities who would not meekly surrender to a British-imposed country that seems determined to keep them down. This Nigerian dream has united beautifully with the vision of cryptocurrency, which basically serves as a democratized financial system that will create a level playing field for anyone around the world to make money. This article dives deeper into the possible role of autonomy, Crypto, and DAOs in getting Nigerians out of poverty. Tribalism and Classism in the Nigerian Government Nigeria is a multi-ethnic country with about 250 different ethnic groups. However, there are three main ethnic groups by population: the Hausa-Fulani in the Northwest, the Yoruba in the South West, and the Igbo in the South East. These three ethnic groups have dominated the government of the country since it gained independence from the British in 1960. However, was fought in 1967, with the Igbo of the Eastern region trying to break away from the country due to an ethnic crisis. The Igbo lost the war and have never produced a president to date, with the Mostly Muslim Hausa Fulani dominating the government at that time. Hence, there's a lot of ethnic discrimination in Nigerian politics with the Igbo, who number up to 40 million, and other Christian groups, with tens of millions of people mostly kept away from the presidency of what is supposed to be a democratic country. This discrimination in government has far-reaching economic impacts as the government of the day often favors their region in resource distribution. So, Nigerian Christians are often at a political disadvantage. a bloody civil war Classism is another major factor in Nigerian politics, with the mega-rich corrupting the voting system with their money and routinely rigging elections to maintain their hold on power and maltreat the poor (who are the majority) however they see fit. Hence, poor people in Nigeria who bear the brunt of the suffering hardly have a way to fix the country since their votes may not even count. This has led to a lot of crime around the country, with fraudsters, kidnappers, cultists, and sex workers being rampant. Nigerian Government Versus Autonomy The , through a federal system like the American government with executive, legislative, and Judiciary, does not practice true federalism. Simply put, the executive, who is led by the president, is too powerful, and through widespread corruption, they can control the lawmakers and judiciary, who are supposed to checkmate their excesses. This is also true for the state and local governments, who are often arm-twisted into doing the will of the federal government because the federal government has overall control of resources in the country. Hence, the Nigerian government is often anti-autonomy! Nigerian government Many groups have risen in the country to demand more autonomy and resource control at the regional level, but the federal government usually puts them down by force. This is mostly against the will of the people who always find ways to fight against the tyrannical control of the federal government. Basically, Nigerians want more autonomy to utilize their resources for a better life, as the federal government doesn't seem capable of delivering basic amenities like good roads, running water, and electricity. This has remained a constant cause of conflict in the country, with many lives lost. Nigerian Government Versus Wealthy Citizens As with any tyrannical system, the government in Nigeria seems determined to keep the people poor; hence, they are unable to fight for their rights. This is more rampant in the North, where despite hundreds of millions of Naira being allocated to education yearly. [Nigerian minimum wage](https://nigerian minimum wage), as at the time of this writing, is a meager 30,000 Naira (about $22) for a full month. That's way below the minimum wage in most countries and has made Nigeria a poor country for about a hundred years of its existence now. This is, of course, a deliberate act of corrupt politicians who prefer to cart away huge sums of money from budget allocations while leaving the people to fight for scraps. Hence, the people are kept poor and uneducated, so they can't really do much against these wealthy leaders who keep impoverishing them. A wealthy, educated population will, of course, be quite difficult to swindle as you please. millions of children are out of school Nigerian Government Versus the Internet During the Coronavirus crisis, Nigerians were locked up at home like others around the world, and palliatives released by international groups to ease the suffering of Nigerians were hoarded in several warehouses instead of being distributed to the people. Also, police personnel in the SARS unit went on a rampage, harassing tech-savvy Nigerian youths who were making money from the internet as fraudsters without much investigation. Nigerian youths responded by protesting on Twitter using hashtags and proceeded to coordinate themselves and break the curfew into a real Nationwide Street protest that came to be known as the #endsars protest. Millions of Nigerian youths took to the streets around the country and gained global coverage. Also, secessionist groups like , who were clamoring to break away from Nigeria, used online platforms like Facebook and Twitter to gather and communicate with millions of followers. The Nigerian government then effectively responded by banning Twitter in the country but soon canceled the ban after it failed, as citizens were using VPN apps to circumvent the ban. Hence, the Nigerian government has tyrannically tried to suppress the internet in Nigeria without regard for the millions of people who have found employment online. IPOB Nigerian Government Versus Crypto Expectedly, the Nigerian government has not reacted very well to Cryptocurrency technology in the country, though the people have welcomed the decentralized finance system with open arms. in the country as the government tries very hard to clamp down on global crypto agencies like Binance. Even the earlier mentioned millionaire crypto trader in the country (Blord) was arrested and charged with internet fraud even though he was able to come out victorious. The government predictably hates Crypto as they can't really control it. They complain that terrorists and fraudsters use Crypto for financial transactions though they've not really done much about the corrupt politicians who use the actual banking system in the country to loot Country funds. Crypto has created jobs for many Nigerian youths who work online as crypto traders, forex traders, software developers, writers, content creators, etc., and earn decent wages from foreign customers. Crypto has been banned, unbanned, and banned again The Role of Autonomy, Cryptocurrency, and Daos in Potentially Lifting Nigerians From Poverty With the country divided between several tribes and two major religions (Christianity and Islam), tribal and religious sentiments have often been used by malicious politicians to keep Nigerians fighting against each other and refuse to unite in fighting against the corrupt leaders who are the real problem. Tribal and religious crises often mar Nigerian elections to the benefit of politicians who capitalize on such crises to rig elections and discriminate in government. Also, leaders who steal often defend their tribesmen from anybody who may try to prosecute them. This is a huge problem in the country, with many jobs and industries often being based on tribe instead of qualification. Autonomy: To solve this fundamental problem, Nigerians must start thinking of themselves first as individuals instead of as members of a tribe or religion. They must prioritize their welfare as citizens in voting and making other electoral and job related decisions in order to get competent leaders and office holders who will transform the country. Regional autonomy must be prioritized over the current seemingly unworkable "federal system" which has only created much infighting. Autonomy is critical to the development of Nigeria! When Satoshi Nakamoto released Bitcoin, he was trying to create a decentralized financial system that would make financial opportunities fairly available to everyone around the world instead of to just a few members of the elite class who capitalized on the unfair legacy centralized system to get ahead of the rest of the population. Such a system is sorely needed in Nigeria, where inequality is even worse from widespread poverty and illiteracy. Many Nigerians use mobile phones, and with a little knowledge of Cryptocurrency, they can invest and get out of poverty without having to depend on a government that doesn't really seem to care about them. Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency could be the best opportunity for Nigerians to benefit from the financial system. Many Nigerians have never really experienced a free and fair election in their lifetime. This is due to widespread electoral malpractice that seems to have become the norm. Just like Twitter, which provides a global voice for the Nigerian people, which the government cannot forcefully shut down, DAOs will provide an even more decentralized platform for Nigerians to unite, organize, plan, and execute digital infrastructure for the good of the country. DAOs will allow Nigerians to practice democracy and governance in a free and safe virtual environment for education and networking purposes. Also, DAOs will allow Nigerians to influence the development of Web 3 to enable the developers to come up with software that is better suited to the Nigerian environment. DAOs: DAOs will provide a more sophisticated, unstoppable cyber voice for Nigerians around the world. Conclusion Nigerians have been held down by a corrupt, tyrannical government that seemingly would prefer to keep the people divided, poor, and uneducated. However, the Web 3 vision of democratizing the Internet and financial system is in complete opposition to such a system. With crypto concepts like autonomy, individualism, and sovereignty encapsulated in DAOs, Nigerians have a global technological movement they can leverage to come out of the country's economic crisis. is a groundbreaking DAO technology that Nigerians (and anyone around the world) can use to opt out of a corrupt leadership system that doesn't really represent them. Auth Labs

Empowering Nigeria With Web3: Exploring Autonomy, Cryptocurrency, and DAOs as Pathways to Prosperity

-𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎. -𝙳𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎. Year 2048. The first words I ever heard were in a facility for kids. We were five, the golden children of humankind. From the age of 2, we could fire darts with precision, and it wasn’t weird. We never had anyone new join us; we were always alone, together. Father called us geniuses; he called us creatures beyond humanity. Father never hid the truth from us, and he treated us with utmost respect. We never saw Mother. Not even once. We only knew she existed because Father mentioned her from time to time. Father loved us, and he told us that we were his only hope. Father hid nothing from us; he believed in being straightforward. “ ” Father said one day, as he stared pointedly at the five of us, me being some sort of leader, according to Father. Father was a large man with tribal marks of jagged lines adorning his face, giving him the look of a warrior, but the lab coat he always wore conflicted with his weathered face, making him look like a cross between a villain and a doting father. The world will one day see all you can do. Until then, forgive me. We didn’t know what we had to forgive Father for; he was always there when we needed him, along with two others. Father called them his underlings, yet he was so friendly with them; the camaraderie was beautiful. We were treated well and didn’t have a cause to question our existence. Names were not given to us, and we lived with codes. Father said names were outdated and called us in codes. I was 0i. Father said codes were vital because we were different from the rest of the people in the books we read. Father made us feed on Socrates, Plato, and so many other ancient philosophers. His favorite was Friedrich Nietzsche, who spoke about the abyss. Father spoon-fed us knowledge, saying we needed to understand how the world worked. “ ” You’re only useful when you choose to be. The power you wield lies in your willingness to wield it. Man is a creature of willpower, and once willpower is taken away, nothing remains of man. A fate worse than death. Father’s favorite quote was a personal one. He never ceased to remind us of what would happen if our willpower was taken away. Father was the only god we knew. We didn’t exactly worship him; we loved him. He was all we knew, the light in our overwhelming darkness. A man worthy of the title, father. 0ii, one of the girls in our midst. She was sharp-eyed, her mouth rarely opening up to speak. With an oval face and a perfect nose, 0ii became fascinating. I once asked Father why she wasn’t the leader since I didn’t think I was fit. Father was calm when he replied, but I could hear the underlying fury in his tone. “ ” 0ii is none other than your subordinate. Your birth marks you as a leader, and your prowess doesn’t matter. She is below you; she always will be. You were born a light that even others cannot but bow to. You are the one who will herald humanity into the new age. You are 0i. Do not forget. I never brought it up again after that. We knew that Father loved us and Father’s word was law. So, we let go of sentimental things and focused on being the best, making Father proud. Oiii was next. Another girl. She wasn’t as charming or as beautiful as 0ii, but what she lacked in those aspects, she made up for it in smartness. She had hooked teeth and self-esteem that caved with the slightest criticism. Father called her a fond name: 𝐵𝑎𝑏𝑦 𝑅𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑡. She was the only one who had a name in five of us. When I asked him why, Father laughed heartily and spoke to me in the most jovial tone ever. “ ” What is she? Isn’t that what she looks like? I’m only calling her as I see it. Father was wise beyond his years; I admired him so much. We all did. He knew so much about everything, much more than we did. 0iv was the bookworm in our midst. He consumed all the books in the library, but still, Father paid him no heed. With his glasses perked on the bridge of his nose, 0iv did everything to get Father’s attention, but it was to no avail. I asked Father about it once again. “ ” Those who seek attention are like dogs begging for scraps. They’re unworthy of it. That’s why they demand it from others. I was the only one whom Father talked to so openly, so I spoke for us. We were the golden children humanity had been waiting for; Father said so. But when we were 9, Father introduced the blades. They were beautiful blades with edges sharp enough to sear through a human. “ ” These are the gifts I’ll be giving all of you for your 9th birthday. Use them well. Father didn’t explain anything to any of us, but I understood. We had read stories of assassins, and we understood what was required of us. Father was all-knowing, training us in the Art of the blade even though he was never there to see. It didn’t matter; 0v excelled at it beautifully. He was the only one out of us. Father never said anything bad about him. Truthfully, Father never said anything about him at all. It was as though he didn’t exist. 0v never complained, either. He was even more beautiful than 0ii, yet his gaze was even chillier than Father’s. The day 0iii died, Father didn’t bat an eyelid. 0v was playing with two sets of blades, and 0iii dared to approach him in that mode. I always knew he was darker than he let on, but watching 0iii grip her bloodied neck, eyes widened in disbelief as she dropped to the floor in a thud made me finally understand. Father was passing by when it happened, but he didn’t spare her a glance. The rest of us were shocked by what we’d seen, but 0v kept twirling the blades in the air, a bored expression on his beautiful face. “ ” I screamed for the first time at Father. But Father didn’t look as though he was bothered. He walked away. Father didn’t look back for the first time. Father! 0iii is dead! Once we were five, then we became four. Father stopped talking to me after that. 0v acted normally, while 0ii and 0iv steered clear of him. 0v offered no explanations for his actions, and one day, Father stopped coming to see us. He usually went away for days, leaving his underlings with us sometimes. But this time, Father left us alone. I counted the days. I was the leader, and I had to tell the others what to do. It wasn’t exactly a good experience. But strangely, 0v didn’t show any sign of distress. It was as though he didn’t have emotions. “ ” You must do your share of the work, or we’ll starve. I decided to face him one day, already livid. 0iii was dead, and he couldn’t even act remorseful. He didn’t care, plain and simple. He grew up with us yet grew apart from us. It was like he was in his universe, unperturbed by everything around him. He was human yet acted so differently, I wondered, too. “ ” Starve? Okay, starve. That was all he said as he stood up from where he sat, his hair shielding his eyes. His hair had been an afro since I’d known him, adding to the mystery his personality created. I was tired of being scared of a person who was just like me. It was irksome and unnecessary. We weren’t made of fear. I placed my arms on his shoulders to pull him back, but the next thing I saw was a dagger heading straight in the middle of my face. It was too fast for me to dodge, and I saw my life flash before my eyes. His wrist movements were perfect, with no single flaw in the swing of his blade. It was funny how I was thinking about that while facing my inevitable death. As soon as it began, it ended. I was alive. But I could hear gurgling sounds as my eyes I once closed opened to see someone in front of me. It was 0iv, and the hilt of a dagger was protruding from his mouth. “ .” I said, starve 0v drew his dagger out of the open mouth of 0iv as 0iv fell to the ground, much like 0iii did. The dagger reached the back of his throat as 0v drew it out, placing his tongue on the flat of the dagger, licking the blood on it while staring at me with the coldest eyes I’d ever seen. I tried to stop my body from shaking, but it was hard. 0iv did what he did to shield me, and he lay there, choking on his blood. 0v just walked away as 0ii ran to the toilet to puke. I just stood and stared. Hell had been unleashed in the form of a beautiful boy. Once we were five, then we became three. Father returned a week after that incident, and he said nothing about the disappearance of 0iv. I didn’t explain either. I needed to find a way out of there with 0ii. Father tried to talk to me again, but it was no use. 0v was a demon, one he let roam. Father wasn’t to be trusted. I spoke hushedly with 0ii, not letting 0v into our conversation. But he didn’t mind, and it was as though he wasn’t even there. He kept fiddling with daggers, paying us no heed. That night was meant to be the night of our escape. I prepared 0ii, and in the dead of the night, we tried to sneak out. I regretted it. It was all fine and good, and we were making progress. Since everybody was asleep, we moved stealthily. 0iii would have loved it; she was the smartest of us. I still had no idea why 0iv protected me; he was book-smart. He knew the implications of playing the hero. Yet, he died for me. If I had one thing to say, I wish I’d died with them. 0ii needed to be protected at all costs. We made it past the door of Father, and at that moment, I was elated. We could finally leave. Until the lights came on. They were blinding, and I held on to 0ii, fearing the worst. “ ” Finally, let the game begin. I heard the voice of Father as he smiled sinisterly at me, 0v coming from right behind him, holding a dagger and staring at me with lifeless eyes. Then, hell began. Protecting 0ii was hard, and shielding myself from stab wounds was harder. I could hear booming sounds from the speakers that miraculously materialized around me. They were making bets on us. 0v came after me, swinging the dagger dangerously close to my face, but I evaded. Then he went after 0ii, but she showed some skill by dodging his attacks. Even in the cramped space of the facility, we fought for our lives. I saw Father approaching me, and 0v stopped swinging his dagger and stood still. “ ” I tried to reach him, but he slapped my hands away. It felt even worse than losing 0iii and 0v. Father… “ ” Don’t you dare call me that. I’m not your father, and I’ll never be the father of freaks. Here, we harvest your abilities and sell them to the world. You’re not special; you’ve never been. You never had a father, just a childish imagination and daddy issues. I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know what happened, but I could hear ringing in my ears and a voice screaming at me from afar; it was muffled as though it was coming from a distance. The ringing sound in my ears got louder as 0ii screams came out in muffled gasps, but I was too far away to hear. Far away in my head. I could listen to the sound of a blade rending through flesh; I could smell the sickening odor of blood. But, I was rooted at that spot. Nothing could make me move as I stared with despair at the man I called Father. “ ” I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, 0i. You always were the best of us. I was too weak; I believed them. 0v eyes were filled with tears as he turned the blood-stained dagger on himself. Even then, I didn’t react. Even when his screams filled the room, and the ringing in my ears faded like background noise. Once we were five, then we became one. I was left alive. Not like I could die. They didn’t kill me; they just made me live every day in remembrance of those I killed. We weren’t the golden children of humanity, we were livestock. Not all is as it seems. But hell is on earth. When I called him Father, I unleashed it. I didn’t die. I didn’t live either. I was in oblivion. It was truly damnation.

Father

Hi, readers, It’s Sisi again. The first time I heard of UNOS, it was on the steamy medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy.” I don’t even remember if they explained what UNOS stood for when they first mentioned it (it’s the United Network for Organ Sharing), but it was clear from context clues that the extremely beautiful doctors in “Grey’s” needed UNOS to greenlight their patients’ organ transplants. Younger me remembers a lot of doctors yelling, “Call UNOS!” and “Well, call them again!” But don’t hold me accountable for those lines showing up in the show. They’re just ingrained in my memory. From that moment on, I just assumed everyone knew about UNOS, the nonprofit organization that has overseen the nation’s organ donation system on behalf of the federal government for nearly four decades. Turns out, I was wrong. Because this week, when Markup reporter Malena Carollo and data journalist Ben Tanen published their , coreported with The Washington Post, into how, under new rules approved by UNOS for organ donations, poorer states are suffering, a lot of people—including some Markup reporters—learned about the organization for the first time. yearlong investigation The investigation’s roots go back to when Malena was trying to find a story about algorithms and their impact on people that anyone could appreciate on a visceral level. So when she found out that organs for life-saving transplants were allocated using algorithms, she started digging in. Then she started asking UNOS for an interview—one she wouldn’t get. But before I get too far into that, I want to first explain how organs travel within the U.S. and what Malena and Ben found in their investigation into this system. To help me do that, I’m also pulling in Ryan Tate (hi again!), one of the main editors on this piece. The rest of this newsletter is from both of us. Because there aren’t enough organs available for everyone who needs a life-saving transplant, there’s a whole network of organizations dedicated to making these transplants work. Hospitals do the transplants, and nonprofits work to see if families are willing to donate the organs of their dying loved ones. UNOS has the federal contract to oversee the whole thing, and it’s been doing so for nearly 40 years. The way transplants are allocated varies based on the organ in question. Livers, which can last only about 12 hours outside the human body, are first offered to the neediest recipients in an area around the donor and are then offered to recipients farther out and eventually across the country. The way these sharing areas are defined has been a matter of longtime debate and discussion, and in 2012, UNOS’s liver committee began trying to figure out how to fix the system, which at that time confined initial sharing of livers to “donation service areas” that critics found arbitrary. For example, livers collected in Newark, N.J., just across the Hudson River from New York City, would be offered throughout their home state before New York had a shot at them. To address the controversy around the liver-sharing system, the committee spent five years carefully gathering input from the transplant community and deliberating. It ultimately recommended a hybrid model where livers would be first offered to the neediest patients within 150 miles but kept the “donation service area” boundaries for sharing to other patients. Brushing past this carefully constructed plan was a group of transplant professionals from California, New York, and Massachusetts who wanted an even greater initial sharing radius. Those states had longer waiting lists for livers, at least partly because they did a worse job of obtaining livers from their own residents: Organizations responsible for collecting livers in parts of California and New York, including New York City, had for years been called out for poor performance. To achieve its organ sharing goals, the group of professionals from these states formed a lobbying group, advocated for congressional legislation, and recruited patients to a lawsuit (which some of the professionals then funded). Like-minded decision-makers exerted pressure within UNOS. The group won. In February 2020, UNOS implemented a policy that initially shared livers to recipients up to 575 miles from the donor. Malena and Ben analyzed data (much of it from public records requests) showing how livers traveled before and after this policy change. What they found was that the new organ sharing rules resulted in New York and California performing their highest number of liver transplants in more than a decade, while a handful of mostly poorer states in the South and Midwest saw sharp declines in transplants. The states with declines had already been struggling; their residents tended to have higher death rates from liver disease and had a hard time getting onto transplant waiting lists in the first place, lacking health insurance and access to health care. There’s so much depth to Malena and Ben’s work, and we highly encourage you to read our two investigations on the and . impact of this policy change how the policy change came about in the first place It took Malena and Ben a year to do this investigation. It required extensive interviews, time spent reading 600-page court documents, filing requests and fighting for public records, and performing , to say the least. six core data analyses During the reporting, Malena ran into something that’s typical in investigative reporting: One of the main subjects of the story—UNOS—declined to give her an interview. Over the course of about a year, she contacted UNOS via email, phone, and in person requesting this. Instead, spokespeople said the nonprofit would only answer questions in writing. Reporters often prefer interviews to written responses because a dialogue allows them to ask follow-up questions, get clarification immediately, and check their understanding. This is especially helpful when the subject is complex. Often, companies that decline interviews may not respond to written questions or decline to say what specifically they claim is incorrect about our analyses. UNOS, however, did respond to written questions. It provided detailed answers in writing with statistics from its own analyses, which we incorporated throughout the articles. In an email, its interim CEO, Maureen McBride, said, “I’m proud that UNOS distribution policies are today saving the lives of the sickest Americans no matter where they live, and we are now leading more improvement to further increase efficiency, accuracy and transparency across the system.” Malena’s experience with the organization is a good representation of two ends of the spectrum that we see a lot in our work as investigative journalists. On the one hand, UNOS’s response was unusually lengthy and detailed. On the other hand, declining interviews over 11 months, no matter what we tried, is also unusual—even though, in some ways, we’re pretty used to it. One final note to leave you with. Malena’s and Ben’s work published on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the federal government a big move: It wants to end UNOS’s monopoly on the nation’s transplant system. Instead of one contractor being in charge of everything, the government wants to break the contract into multiple pieces that different organizations can bid for. announced The proposed changes need to move through Congress, though the federal health agency said it has the power to act independently if needed. UNOS’s contract is up for renewal this fall. Sincerely, Sisi Wei Editor-in-Chief The Markup and Ryan Tate Editor The Markup P.S. Last week we mistakenly said that the National Institute of Standards and Technology regulates standards and measurements. It develops voluntary standards. By & Sisi Wei Ryan Tate Also published here Photo by on Hush Naidoo Jade Photography Unsplash

Here's What We Learned About UNOS: Why It's Important You Should Know About It Too

“Do you think that was good enough, Allen? I am tired of rehearsing our lines. I am having a beer,” said the man with the USA cap as he sat down by the fire. He pulled a stick from behind a rock and put a marshmallow on it. He handed it to his companion. “Thank you, John.” The man called Allen pulled his alien mask off and replied, “I don’t know anymore, to be honest. How good does it really have to be?“ Allen continued as John sipped his beer. “Despite what I think, we are paid to create plausible information noise for the DIA. “ John pushed his marshmallow deeper into the fire and ruminated. “I used to believe in the mission, but I’ve begun to wonder. I felt like we were doing something when we’d do this dog and pony for visiting dignitaries or foreign military envoys. It made sense to create this illusion of enormous military and technological advantage when the gap did not exist at all. “ Allen nodded, “I know. I feel like we’ve helped keep the Chinese military in check through our efforts here. They believed we had a huge technological advantage, but their AI is finally beginning to see through the veil. They don’t even bother to come out on these ‘tours’ any longer.” Let’s cap our beer consumption and practice the script a bit more,” John suggested. Allen had started a rant, though. John knew what would follow. Allen began his rant predictably. “You know, when I first started this gig, the SR-71 Blackbird was the world’s fastest aircraft. Now, so many decades later, the SR-71 is supposed to be the fastest aircraft. The SR-71 was first flown in 1964!” Do you know the United States Air Force still claims to need the U-2 spy plane? It was first flown in 1956. That was decades before I was even drafted into this enterprise, John.” “Allen, you know this is terrible for your blood pressure. Why don’t you just retire now?” John asked plaintively. “Nope! They’re gonna pay my full retirement!” Allen was adamant about getting his righteous retirement. John knew this well. Allen began a familiar rationalization for the charade they were about to engage in. “You know, John, the Army has somehow lost six trillion dollars. I know they say it’s just a computer glitch. I am worrying. I just want to get to full retirement by the end of next year and bail out. The last audit of the Pentagon uncovered trillions more missing. These accounting errors caused by computer glitches are very concerning. “ “Allen, please!” John pleaded with his old friend to hush. “You are going to get yourself booted without ANY retirement. Don’t let that happen!” He advised his friend with a finger to his lips. “Now, let’s practice this script again,” John insisted. “After I lead the group into the hologram hangar and they see you appearing to operate one of the craft….then what?” “OK, OK, I appear to land one of the craft nearby you. I walk toward you. I take three steps toward the group and remove the mask. You then turn to the confused-looking Senators and say what?” “Yes, Senators, there might be aliens. These might be an alien craft, but we all know the real answer here. Maybe there are aliens, and maybe there are not, but there is a HUGE HOLE sucking up trillions in the Defense Department. The Pentagon admits this fact. “ Allen interrupted and said, “The Senators will start asking a lot of questions and perhaps shouting and jumping up and down. We have to maintain calm and follow the plot. It will work.” Allen continued. “Now, it will be my job to close the deal here, so I will say something like this.” Allen paused and put his hand to his chin. “ The Pentagon has other facts to consider. Remember, our enemies are gaining on us technologically. Technology determines who wins or loses any war in the 21st century. This is also a fact the Senate should consider. Another fact to consider is we have to keep this technology secret. Ergo, money must be siphoned off to maintain our technological lead in secret. We acknowledge there may be a personal ‘cost’ for each of you to ‘maintain secrecy,’ so the Pentagon has prepared a ‘secrecy stipend’ for each of you. Please step through here for your debriefing, Senators.” The two men looked at each other. Unspoken communication about reality occurred but was unrecorded by technology. Maybe that means it never happened? Allen put his alien head mask back on. The two men walked toward the hologram hangar. Also published . here

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