Mark Abraham

Boar’s Head plans to reopen troubled Virginia deli meat plant, but reports of sanitation problems persist The Boar’s Head deli meat plant at the heart of a deadly food poisoning outbreak is set to reopen.

Boar’s Head plans to reopen troubled Virginia deli meat plant, but reports of sanitation problems persist trib.al/zGrBLwl

U.S. plans to ease human rights criticism of El Salvador, Israel, Russia Leaked draft reports show the Trump administration is planning to eliminate or downplay accounts of prisoner abuse, corruption, LGBTQ+ discrimination and other claims.

The Trump Admin’s attempts to whitewash these reports don’t change the facts. Instead, they only undermine US credibility. These reports are supposed to tell the truth, not sugarcoat it. It’s the latest example of Rubio’s MAGA lobotomy as he dismantles our standing on human rights.

Graphic about survey

The 2025 DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey is underway! Over 53,000 randomly-selected adults in every #Connecticut town have participated in this annual survey. If you are selected to receive a call, mail, or message (text from 860 area code), please participate! Help us share this graphic.

Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.

Chocolate. Pistachio. Knafeh. Yum After working as a nurse and then as a panini cart vendor, Breanna Stevenson has started a new food business -- selling chocolate-pistachio desserts on…

"Stevenson was inspired to start the cart after she visited a restaurant with #DubaiChocolate in NYC, and quickly got addicted. She was traveling to visit it every weekend, and soon realized she was spending more on traveling than the $35 cup itself."
www.newhavenindependent.org/article/form... #nhv

Massachusetts governor proposes $400 million for colleges, citing federal ‘uncertainty.’

Massachusetts governor proposes $400 million for colleges: “There’s no fund to fall back on to... keep the important research going. So it’s really a relief that the governor is proposing at least this emergency fund to get us through a really hard time.” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/u...

image from study

New study: "In a randomized controlled trial involving nearly 17,000 students, we find that mandatory in-class phone collection led to higher grades --- particularly among lower-performing, first-year, and non-STEM students"
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... #k12 #education

Trump-aligned club for the ultra rich launches in Washington The launch of “Executive Branch” comes as Trump world looks to remake Washington.

5/ His family gets in on the grift too. His son is opening a new private club in DC - with a $500,000 entry fee. Donald Jr. markets it as the place to meet with his father's Cabinet. They don't even hide the access game, naming it "The Executive Branch".

Speaking of, did you know WA state just released its most accurate tsunami risk assessment to date? It concluded that a Cascadia Subduction Zone tsunami could cause 50,000–65,000+ casualties within the first hour. That's JUST from the tsunami.

Find more info & data here: mil.wa.gov/tsunami-reso...

Wow, weak July #jobsreport. Headline a touch softer than expectations, but real surprise is huge downward revisions to May & June.

-Payrolls grew just 73,000, below expectations
-Surprisingly large downward revisions to May (+144k to +19k) and Jun (+147k to +14k)
-Unemp up to 4.2%

#NumbersDay 1/

I'm not an expert on this. What happened in January 2025? #jobsreport

The Philanthropy Fighting Trump’s Budget Cuts Without Blaming Trump

About 1.5 million New Yorkers could lose access to Medicaid, and 300,000 could lose their food-stamp benefits.

“A thousand Robin Hoods couldn’t replace Medicaid,” Mr. Buery, the charity’s chief executive, said in an interview.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/n...

image

image, text on ctdatahaven.org/careers

We're hiring! More information on our website. (We are also looking for student facilitators and program participants). #Connecticut

Trump Administration Freezes $108 Million in Funds to Duke University The university was accused of racial discrimination in its health care system, the latest high-profile school targeted and stripped of federal funding.

The Trump administration has frozen $108 million in federal funds for Duke University’s medical school and health care system, according to two administration officials.

Not Great

Trump Administration Puts New Chokehold on Billions in Health-Research Funding The National Institutes of Health can’t award grants to outside researchers under a new White House restriction.

The NIH can’t award ANY grants to outside researchers under new WH restriction, reports @wsj.com.

The pause came in the form of a footnote from OMB Director Vought, in a document that doles out federal funds to the NIH.

Prelude to rescissions, especially after his comments over the weekend?

Bring back the walkable #urbanism of #Syracuse in 1852

Unpacking the MAHA mirage: Trump guts healthcare while preaching wellness "They're moving us back almost into the Dark Ages."

"MAHA" is a mirage. While RFK Jr. rebukes ultra-processed foods, the Trump Admin has simultaneously:
▪️ cut 2,100 NIH grants
▪️ withheld $140M fentanyl addiction crisis
▪️ enacted a law that will strip health insurance from 16M
▪️ slashed $186B from food aid
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

We have a relatively small team of researchers, but have talked about creating a similar policy. Staff seem very much in favor of following an approach like the one you’ve outlined, for the reasons you describe.

It is almost as large as Manhattan, and uses far more energy (the entirety of NYC peaks at 10GW during the worst heat waves).

What Will Funding Cuts Do to NPR and PBS?

"Nationwide, up to 30 percent of listeners would lose access to NPR programming." @npr.org www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/b... #civichealth

Afghan Interpreter Seized By ICE Federal immigration officials on Wednesday seized an Afghan immigrant -- a father of five who had served as an interpreter for the U.S. military -- in the…

“Shinwari was at the USCIS center on Wednesday to submit biometric information for his green card application. When he exited into the parking lot, six balaclava-clad ICE agents surrounded him and forced him into an unmarked van.”

www.newhavenindependent.org/article/35_y...

DOGE Put Free Tax Filing Tool on Chopping Block After One Meeting With Lobbyists A key operative from DOGE initiated plans to potentially kill Direct File, the free tax filing tool developed by the IRS, after offering assurances it would be spared from cuts.

SCOOP: DOGE moved to kill Direct File, the IRS's popular free tax filing tool, days after meeting with private tax filing software lobbyists.
www.wired.com/story/doge-d...

“Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up about her 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility—and the generous and compassionate women she met.

"This narrative of human suffering, set in 2025, is filled with tears and resilience. It is a story of women. It is our story. It could very well be your story too."

A stunning essay from Rümeysa Öztürk on the 45 days she spent in an ICE detention center just for speaking her mind

YouTube video by Sony Pictures Releasing UK After The Hunt - Official Trailer - Only In Cinemas This October

Students with "Shame on Yale" signs attack Julia Roberts, but she gets to enjoy local New Haven Three Sheets, Bonchon, and Atticus swag www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-2L... #nhv #connecticut

New @ncrpcommunity.bsky.social #philanthropy report
"1 in 12 foundations [especially larger ones?] have censored themselves, having made changes to websites since the 2024 election that removes language related to concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion..." ncrp.org/2025/07/hidi...

Window Heat Pumps Could Change the Game A new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has some exciting data for anyone attempting to retrofit a multifamily building.

NYC experimented with new window heat pump models in some public housing units. in winter, "The window unit-heated apartments used a whopping 87% less energy than the rest of the building’s steam-heated apartments did, cutting energy costs per household in half."

heatmap.news/sustainabili...

Data manipulation within the US Federal Government A US Department of Veterans Affairs dataset compiling veteran health-care use in 2021 was quietly amended on March 5, 2025. A column titled gender was renamed sex, and the words were also switched in ...

NEW: Data manipulation within the US Federal Government

"Only 15 (13%) of the 114 altered datasets logged or otherwise indicated that the change had occurred."

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Agencies plan to decommission hundreds of .gov websites following GSA review Thomas Shedd, commissioner of GSA's Technology Transformation Services, directed agencies to eliminate the “low-hanging fruit” of unnecessary federal websites.

Federal News Network: Agencies plan to decommission hundreds of .gov websites following GSA review federalnewsnetwork.com/it-moderniza...