Trump uses lowercase to insult ‘supreme court,’ vows to impose new tariffs

President Donald Trump Monday insulted the “supreme court” by refusing to capitalize the name of the nation’s top court and vowed to resume his global trade war after the justices struck down most of the tariffs he imposed in a politically damaging ruling.

Even as Trump claimed the conservative Supreme Court’s ruling actually boosted him, he derided the majority justices as “incompetent” and worse for their 6-3 ruling against his signature economic policy.

“The supreme court (will be using lower case letters for a while based on a complete lack of respect!) of the United States accidentally and unwittingly gave me, as President of the United States, far more powers and strength than I had prior to their ridiculous, dumb, and very internationally divisive ruling,” Trump wrote on his social media site.

“Our incompetent supreme court did a great job for the wrong people, and for that they should be ashamed of themselves,” he added.

—New York Daily News

California’s highest paid state workers see salaries grow even larger

The most well-compensated state workers — apart from the football and basketball coaches of University of California teams — are the investment managers and executives of the Golden State’s public pension funds. And as of last year, those highly paid civil servants are making even more.

According to the latest payroll data, the top 10 highest-paid investment officers and executives of CalPERS and CalSTRS collectively took home $15 million in 2025 — nearly double what the public pension systems paid its most well-paid employees seven years ago.

Together, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System’s assets exceed $1 trillion, according to the latest valuations. That staggering amount is managed by investment officers and executives whose compensation is subject to scrutiny by the boards that oversee the retirement systems.

The reason for their massive pay packages comes down to the nature of investment officers’ work. To secure the best possible returns on public employees’ retirement contributions, the state agencies have said that they need to attract talented investment managers. Compensation for the public pension funds’ highest-paid employees has increased in recent years as the funds’ assets have similarly grown, though those increases have largely outpaced inflation.

—The Sacramento Bee

FDA cracks down on weight-loss drug alternatives as thousands sickened in Maryland

BALTIMORE — Popular weight-loss drugs, including Ozempic, Wegovy, Trulicity and Mounjaro, produced by independent pharmacy labs, sickened some 8,000 or more Marylanders a year by 2024. The Food and Drug Administration announced this month that it will crack down on compounded versions of GLP-1 drugs, including the popular Hims and Hers brand.

The FDA made the right call, Dr. Rozalina McCoy, a practicing adult endocrinologist and researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told The Baltimore Sun. These compounded drugs complicate her efforts to treat patients for diabetes and obesity.

“Compounded products are not the same thing as FDA-approved medicines. It’s not a generic version,” McCoy said. “What compounding pharmacies do is try to make that medicine in their own lab.”

As many as 12% of Americans are taking some form of glucagon-based drugs, according to a Rand news report. A national shortage caused by that popularity may have passed in early 2025, but the drugs’ prices still spur some to seek cheaper alternatives, McCoy said.

—Baltimore Sun

Afghanistan vows response to Pakistan’s cross-border strikes

Afghanistan’s Taliban government said it will respond to Pakistan’s series of cross-border air strikes along the country’s eastern border, renewing tensions between the neighbors that exchanged deadly blows last year.

“Last night, they bombed our civilian compatriots in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, martyring and wounding dozens of people, including women and children,” Zabihullah Mujahid, Afghanistan’s government spokesperson, said in a post on X on Sunday. “At the appropriate time, the necessary and measured response to this action will be given,” according to a statement by Afghan defense ministry posted by Mujahid on X.

The attacks at seven camps allegedly killed more than 80 militants, according to Pakistan’s unidentified security people, who are not authorized to speak with the media.

Tensions have been high ever since Islamabad accused the Taliban of hosting militant groups that plan attacks in Pakistan — an allegation denied by Kabul. The neighboring nations failed to extend a truce brokered by Qatar and Turkey in October last year, despite meeting twice to end cross-border attacks that killed several soldiers on both sides.

—Bloomberg News