US Navy’s misplaced priorities, ‘gender-affirming care’ dangers

Science desk: ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ Dangers

“After our hospital began offering hormonal interventions” for teens questioning their gender, notes Finnish psychiatrist Riittakerttu Kaltiala at The Free Press, “we began to see that the miracle we had been promised was not happening.” Some 90% “of our patients were girls,” and “the vast majority presented with severe psychiatric conditions.” Yet “no one was saying anything publicly.” And “instead of acknowledging the problems” (which Kaltiala and colleagues described in a paper), the field “became more committed to expanding these treatments.” “Gender transition has gotten out of hand. When medical professionals start saying they have one answer that applies everywhere” and that they can cure “all of life’s pains, that should be a warning to us all that something has gone very wrong.”

Neocon: Admit the Houthis Are Terrorists

The Yemen-based, Iran-backed Houthis have launched missiles at Israel at least three times in recent days, observes Jonathan Schanzer at Commentary, the latest as a Saudi delegation visits Washington to discuss the Gaza war. “The Biden White House has an opportunity here. The administration infuriated the Saudis back in 2021 when it de-listed the Houthis from the sanctions list against terrorist groups,” even though the Houthis met the criteria “in spades.” Plus: “The group has launched more than 1,000 attacks against Saudi Arabia in recent years, and the Saudis have expressed frustration that the Biden White House has been seemingly indifferent to this.” Re-listing them now “would send an unequivocal message to the Iranians and the wider Middle East” that “the U.S.-Saudi relationship is back on track, and a revitalized U.S.-led regional alliance — one that includes both Israel and the Saudis — is taking shape.”

Libertarian: Uncle Sam’s Empty Offices

“The federal government is sitting on millions of square feet of unused office space,” reports Reason’s Joe Lancaster, as the Government Accountability Office just “found that, on average, 17 of the 24 agencies surveyed used” 25% or less “of the available space in their headquarters buildings,” and “even agencies on the higher end only averaged” 40%-49%. The GAO notes the agencies surveyed “spend about $2 billion a year to operate and maintain owned federal office buildings.” Snarks Lancaster: While 18.9% of DC private office buildings also sit empty, “the situation is obviously very different when the taxpayers are the ones footing the bill.”

Military beat: US Navy’s Misplaced Priorities

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro’s “updated strategic guidance” on modernizing his service branch makes combatting climate change a top priority, frets Rear Adm. (ret.) Tim Gallaudet at RealClearDefense. The “questionable connection between emissions reductions and combat capability is” bad enough, but worse is that it “nowhere” mentions China and “our urgent need to outcompete” it in the “race for maritime superiority.” The Navy’s focus on “emissions reduction is a dangerous distraction,” but perhaps Del Toro sought to “support” Team Biden’s “appeasement approach to authoritarian regimes.” Meanwhile, ironically, “China is determined to reinforce its role as the world’s top emitter of greenhouse gasses.”

Campus watch: Harvard’s Free Speech Shame

“Once upon a time, journalists and scholars on both the left and right were staunchly devoted to free speech and academic freedom,” laments City Journal’s John Tierney. Instead, at Harvard and other elite colleges, journalists and scholars have adopted a rule of “free speech for me, but not for thee.” The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression gave Harvard an “ ‘Abysmal’ rating for its speech climate” based on “a series of censorship incidents at the school,” its students’ answers in a national survey and Harvard’s “refusal to adopt a strict policy guaranteeing free speech.” In defending the rights of students pilloried for their anti-Israel statements, three professors seemingly oblivious to “Harvard’s double standard for free speech” closed an op-ed asking: “If thoughtful discourse cannot prosper here, where can it?” Answers Tierney: “Actually, just about anywhere else.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board