On January 27, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade held a hearing on “The Evolution of Terrorist Propaganda: The Paris Attack and Social Media.” The purpose was to explore the question of whether U.S. companies like Twitter, YouTube, and Facbook are doing enough to stop or limit social media use by terrorists. Subcommittee Chair Ted Poe (TX-R) said that groups like ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) “have hosted press conferences, raised money on Twitter, and other social media,” likening such practices to “letting our enemies take out an ad in the New York…

On November 11, during his visit to China, President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping jointly announced a landmark agreement on climate change that sets ambitious carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction targets for each country. Under the agreement, the United States will double its current pollution reduction, which so far has seen CO2 emissions fall roughly 10 percent below 2005 levels. The new target will be a reduction of 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. China has pledged to reach peak CO2 emissions “around 2030” and to “increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption…

Legislation recently introduced in both houses of Congress would allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons across State lines. 
The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act has been introduced by Senator John Cornyn (TX-R) as S. 498 and by Representative Richard Nugent (FL-R) as H.R. 402. Under the bill, gun owners with concealed carry permits from their State would be able to bring their firearms to any other State with concealed carry laws. All 50 States and the District of Columbia have some form of “concealed carry” — which generally refers to the practice of carrying a concealed firearm on one’s…