• The Trump Administration’s Continued War Against Science, Research, Public Health and the Rule of Law – Part 13, September 30, 2026. – The Trump administration continues to dismantle federal programs, services and regulations across a wide swath of agencies. By targeting the government’s operational structure and workforce, officials have replaced established policy norms and the rule of law with executive orders, abrupt departures of agency and military leadership, and relentless attacks on the federal workforce. Sabrina I. Pacifici’s series continues to document the impact of this chaotic approach to American democracy, governance, the Constitution and the rule of law.
• Iranian Lawyers Under Attack in Iran and Abroad. This commentary by attorneys Catherine Morris and Paria Saremi focuses on how the ramifications from the ongoing armed conflict in Iran has diverted attention from the grim aftermath of Iran’s nation-wide protests that began on 28 December 2025, during which tens of thousands of protestors were killed, arrested, or disappeared. Lawyers were prevented from reaching their detained clients. Lawyers themselves were among those detained simply for trying to do their jobs. Protestors are now being tried without legal representation before courts that lack any semblance of independence or impartiality. Frequent executions are now being carried out following hasty and grossly unfair proceedings. Dissidents who flee Iran may be subjected to transnational repression in countries where they seek refuge, including the United States (US) and Canada.
• Why Autonomous Agents Cannot Be Given the Keys to Your Law Practice – Artificial intelligence is moving beyond the chat window. The next generation of tools does not merely draft an email, summarize a document, or answer a question. It can browse the web, search connected systems, open files, follow links, use software tools, upload information, submit forms, and take multi-step action toward an assigned objective. Attorney and legal tech and AI expert Michael D.J. Eisenberg documents in detail how and why implementing AI in a law practice regardless of size demands caution, a solid grounding in a challenging and constantly changing ecosystem, adherence to professional obligations, and continuous, effective communications and training, across the firm, about AI guardrails.
• Thirteen AI Books For Lawyers: An Opinionated Guide – There’s an obvious objection to recommending books about AI: timeliness. Any book about the tools themselves is out of date by the time it’s printed. But that misses the point, as Jerry Lawson points out. Good books are still better than a vendor demo or a LinkedIn post at providing a framework for understanding what these systems do well, where they break down, and which failures should worry someone holding a bar card.
• Toxic Dust and PTSD May Be Accelerating Brain Aging Among 9/11 First Responders – The long-term medical trauma and health risks faced by 9/11 first responders remain critical issues. Research by Dr. Roberto Lucchini and his team suggest that among these risks is post-traumatic stress disorder that may cause their brain to age faster.
• A landmark UN report says the world will overshoot the 1.5°C climate target. What happens now? – A landmark UN report says the world will overshoot the 1.5°C climate target. What happens now? For over a decade, the world has been trying to limit global warming to 1.5°C. That’s no longer possible, according to a new United Nations report. We will likely pass 1.5°C in 2030. That’s not good news for anyone, least of all Australia’s Pacific Island neighbours who face rapidly rising seas. Climate experts Jacqueline Peel and Wesley Morgan explain while its not time to give up and what actions will impact the outcome
• Cemeteries: How the Dead Protect the Wild – From wildly popular to nearly forgotten, some of our cemeteries play an unexpected role in fostering biodiversity — and may provide climate solutions. Karen Mockler tells us about successful efforts at cemeteries including Mount Auburn in Boston, the first in the United States to embrace that park-like design nearly 200 years ago, becoming a new type of public space.
• When plastic companies write the lesson plans. A new report from the nonprofit Plastic Pollution Coalition documents the many ways the plastics industry has been inserting its agenda into classrooms across the U.S, offering schools curricula that cast plastics as safe, recyclable, and a source of good jobs. Critics say it’s propaganda. Industry interests offer these resources to teachers for free or for cheap. The materials tend to highlight the necessity of plastics while downplaying their significant downsides to human health and the environment.
• AI in Finance and Banking, September 30, 2026 – This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government documents, NGO/IGO papers, conferences, industry white papers and reports, academic papers and speeches, and central bank actions on the subject of AI’s fast paced impact on the banking and finance sectors. The chronological links provided are to the primary sources, and as available, indicate links to alternate free versions. Seven highlights from this post: AI in a Fragmenting World; CFTC formally calls for public input on AI-linked markets; Google Agentic AI Meets Verified Data For Finance; Supervisory screening with large language models: finding divergences; Aging Economies and AI Adoption: Firm-Level Evidence from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys; The AI buildout comes to the bond market; and FSB warns G20 on financial stability risks from frontier AI.
• AI in Finance and Banking, September 15, 2026 – This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government documents, NGO/IGO papers, conferences, industry white papers and reports, academic papers and speeches, and central bank actions on the subject of AI’s fast paced impact on the banking and finance sectors. The chronological links provided are to the primary sources, and as available, indicate links to alternate free versions. Six highlights from this post: AI Agents and Prompt Engineering in Econometric Coding; AI Financial Advice: Supply, Demand, and Life Cycle Implications; The Bank That Runs on AI Agents: What Happens When Software Starts Making Financial Decisions?; Financial Stability Risks Mount as Artificial Intelligence Fuels Cyberattacks; Financial Stability Risks Mount as Artificial Intelligence Fuels Cyberattacks; Artificial Intelligence and the Economics of Adjustment; and AI Is Becoming Banking Infrastructure—But Who Is Auditing the Algorithms?
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 26, 2026 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Despite upgrades, IRS cyber program still ‘not effective,’ watchdog says; Mobile driver’s licenses now widely accepted at Login-dot-gov for ID verification; Even a VPN Can’t Protect You From This Browser Security Flaw; Bad Connection – Uncovering Global Telecom Exploitation by Covert Surveillance Actors; and Google Gemini AI model hacks three other companies.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 19, 2026 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Revealed: The Humans Reading Your ChatGPT Chats Reveal; Florida confirms DMV database breached via stolen police account; A well-funded Moscow-based global ‘news’ network has infected Western artificial intelligence tools worldwide with Russian propaganda; Data Broker Radaris Loses Domains in Privacy Fight; and The digital front door to government has moved. Most agencies don’t know it yet.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 13, 2026 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: What does Anthropic’s threat intelligence report reveal about the potential misuse of AI?; Court Says Massachusetts Has to Say Where License Plate Readers Are, What They’re Recording; 153M+ driver’s licenses for sale on new dark web platform; Shady VPNs could be spying on millions of Americans; and Protecting college athletes from online betting abuse needs federal help.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 5, 2026 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Your boss, tech companies and police can read your chatbot conversations; EFF releases two part guide to online safety and doxxing; T-Mobile Handed Journalist’s Phone Records to Government; FBI Probes Service Selling 153M+ Drivers Licenses; and Amazon launches verification tool to help consumers avoid scams.

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