The Annunciation Shooting and Transgenderism

Last week’s shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church followed a tragically familiar pattern. Robin Westman, a transgender-identifying man in the grips of anger and delusion, committed an act of unspeakable violence—in this case targeting children. 

This should come as no surprise, argues Christopher F. Rufo. “The trans movement lures troubled young people . . . with promises of love, affirmation, self-esteem, and authenticity. But it is predicated on a lie: that a man can become a woman and achieve fulfilment through name changes, cross-sex hormones, and genital surgeries.”

Rufo writes that American institutions must abandon their commitment to transgender ideology and the systems of rewards and punishments that perpetuate it. Otherwise, transgenderism “will continue to catch troubled young men like Robin Westman in its web of delusion, and more innocent people will suffer.”

In July, New York released its Draft 2025 Energy Plan. Its authors favor electrification and zero-emissions policies, which they claim will reduce energy costs and create thousands of jobs by 2040. According to Jonathan Lesser, these projections are pure fantasy—and the proposed policies would devastate the state’s economy.

The plan contains numerous dubious assumptions and projections, argues Lesser. The authors understate the costs of transforming New York’s energy system.

“With rising costs and growing demand, the Empire State cannot afford bureaucratic make-believe,” he writes. “It needs real energy solutions—and policymakers committed to pursuing them.”

As wildfires swept through Los Angeles this January, news emerged that the city had cut funding for the fire department due to budget shortfalls. One of the sources of that fiscal crunch, writes Steven Malanga, was hundreds of millions of dollars in “unexpected legal payouts.”

Los Angeles is just one of many municipalities whose budgets are groaning under the weight of sharply rising liability costs. The list also includes Chicago—with $160 million in judgments this fiscal year alone—and New York City, which is on the hook for nearly $1 billion in annual special-education claims relating to a 1990s judgment.

The costs have been driven in part by “bad legislation, unfavorable court rulings, and officials’ eagerness to settle,” notes Malanga. Read his story from the Summer 2025 issue here.

President Trump’s May executive order on drug pricing seeks to pressure companies to offer U.S. customers their products at prices that match the lowest found in other developed countries.

While its aim is worthwhile, the order’s effects on U.S. drug prices will be sharply limited, argues Manhattan Institute director of research and City Journal contributing editor Judge Glock.

The administration—and the American people—would be better served by strengthening competition: accelerating FDA approvals, increasing imports, and expanding the ways consumers can buy drugs, such as “direct-to-consumer sales.”

“Unleashing competition is the only way to bring costs down,” writes Glock.

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