Courtesy of Danny Stewart and Pete MercurioDanny Stewart found a baby abandoned in a New York City subway station in August 2000. He and his now-husband, Pete Mercurio, were given the option to adopt that baby. Courtesy of Danny Stewart and Pete MercurioThe questions pile up: What does it mean to be a parent? Courtesy of Danny Stewart and Pete MercurioWhen a social worker arranges a visit with the baby, Danny holds him and flashes the biggest, widest smile you’ve ever seen. Pete Mercurio (left), Danny Stewart (right) and their son together during a "family morning at school" in 2007.

The U.S. Army is marking its 250th birthday with a military parade including roughly 6,600 troops, 150 vehicles, and over 50 aircraft. The parade, which coincides with President Donald Trump's 79th birthday, is designed to tell the history of the U.S. Army. AdvertisementIt followed the two-hour parade down Constitution Avenue, during which Trump primarily sat, appeared bored, but occasionally stood to salute the passing troops and military hardware. And attendance at Trump’s parade was dwarfed by the millions who showed up at roughly 2,000 anti-Trump “No Kings” protests in cities and towns all over the country. Trump, who avoided military service during the Vietnam War thanks to a doctor’s note diagnosing him with “bone spurs,” has wanted a military parade since he took office.

David McNew via Getty Images Should you bring your phone to a protest? This weekend, Hina Sabatine will protest President Donald Trump’s administration in Los Angeles and they won’t bring their usual phone. That’s why one of the big questions you need to ask yourself is whether you should bring your phone to a protest. “This should ideally prevent some level of tracking and the creation of data linking you to these protests,” Ruizesparza said. In these cases, privacy experts strongly recommend disabling biometrics like fingerprint recognition and Face ID if you bring your phone to a protest.

Just admit you haven't gotten your talking points from your KBG handlers yet. pic.twitter.com/UFEenKl7Fi — Poker and Politics (@PokerPolitics) June 14, 2025“Trump for King” banner spotted outside White House pic.twitter.com/Rl4BLBv9E3 — PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) June 13, 2025Looking very orange yesterday pic.twitter.com/Ec90BinftX — PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) June 13, 2025Looking for some background on the QAnon movement? We recommend Travis View’s excellent article at New York magazine as a place to start. THE LOWDOWN is our blog for news, the QAnon phenomenon, and other subjects not related to our coverage of the Church of Scientology. If it’s our Scientology coverage you re looking for, please use this bookmark for our latest stories.

Is my skin dry, normal or combination, you ask? Enter Augustinus Bader – the skin care company whose products Dua Lipa ‘can’t live without’, so much so that their Eye Patches and The Rich Cream have a permanent place in her handbag. AdvertisementAdored by makeup artists and beauty editors, The Eye Patches deliver an instant refresh and visible glow, while their award-winning Rich Cream works to hydrate, plump and renew for soft, even, radiant skin. My skin also looks lifted, fresher and I feel great about going make up free. They feel full and you’d never be able to tell I’m shattered, I can see why Dua feels more together after wearing a pair.

Judge Denise J. Casper of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts said in Friday’s order that the states had a likelihood of success as to their legal challenges. The ruling is the second legal setback for Trump’s election order. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., previously blocked parts of the directive, including the proof-of-citizenship requirement for the federal voter registration form. The order is the culmination of Trump’s longstanding complaints about elections. The order also would require states to exclude any mail-in or absentee ballots received after Election Day and puts states’ federal funding at risk if election officials don’t comply.

“I don’t feel like a king,” Trump told reporters at the White House. Reporter: There are several no kings protests planned across the country on Saturday, as well, what are your thoughts on that? Trump: I don't feel like a king, I have to go through hell and get things approved. The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. “We’re showing up everywhere he isn’t — to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”“No Kings” protests are scheduled in 50 states and 1,500 cities across the country, but not in Washington.

A couple weeks ago, we talked about how the GOP’s Big Beautiful BillTM included a stray attack on preliminary injunctions. Against all odds, the roughly 1,100-page ostensible budget package included a small paragraph refining Rule 65(c) to require anyone seeking to enforce an injunction to put up a bond in the event the federal government eventually wins. How does one put a dollar value on “maybe don’t disappear innocent people off the street”? One could, as one judge told me, order the plaintiffs to put up a peppercorn in the interest of protecting access to justice. The GOP bill tried to turn Rule 65(c) into a mandate but allowed a sliver of wiggle room.

Roughly a quarter of all students in the Los Angeles Unified School District are undocumented. We see students who (usually) are a pleasure to teach, and parents who are grateful for teachers’ efforts. The average person in Los Angeles interacts with them continually in myriad ways — and without a thought to their immigration status. It is particularly egregious in Los Angeles, where between this and the local surcharge, we pay 9.75%. Glenn Sacks teaches government, economics, and history in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Illustration: Kelly Caminero/HuffPost; Photo:Getty ImagesI am a Chinese woman, a daughter of immigrants, who voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. They still felt so un-American to me, and U.S. politics felt like it didn’t belong to them, or to us. When I share now that I voted for Trump in 2016, it drops like a bomb every time. Courtesy of Julia WuI wonder sometimes how long it would have taken me to get here had Trump not won the election in 2016. Everyone I love either loves someone who voted for Trump or is someone who voted for Trump.

LOADING ERROR LOADINGThe administration of President Donald Trump swiftly sought to downplay a Thursday incident in which Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was roughly pinned to the ground and briefly handcuffed during a press conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles. Video of the interaction, however, shows Padilla stepping to the front of the press conference as she spoke about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in some of the communities Padilla represents. He said later that he was initially there to watch the press conference “peacefully,” but that at one point, he had a question and wanted to demand an answer. Support HuffPost Already contributed? Support HuffPost Already contributed?

Republicans argue the $9.4 billion in spending cuts are necessary to address the nation’s mounting debt even though last month they passed a package of tax and spending cuts that could add an extra $3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. The cuts passed Thursday, if approved by the Senate, would amount to less than a hundredth of a percent of projected federal spending for this year. Thursday’s vote represents the first attempt by Congress and the White House to take Musk’s work and make it official. Senate Republicans have suggested they’d like to change the provision, but LaLota expressed confidence that wouldn’t happen. Rescission requests, which are initiated by the White House, cannot be filibustered in the Senate, meaning they require a simple majority to pass.

xKristi Noem: "We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city." Sen. Alex Padilla is then forcibly removed!

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he plans to phase out FEMA after this year's hurricane season. AdvertisementFlorida received over $1 billion from FEMA following Hurricane Ian in 2022. Support HuffPost Already contributed? Support HuffPost Already contributed? Hurricanes have made up the largest category of DRF spending, according to the CBO, followed by other natural disasters like flooding, severe storms, wildfires, tornadoes and earthquakes.

Then I Saw An Old Photo — And What I Discovered Next Left Me Shaken. I didn’t know what she looked like. Her mental illness was like a thick fog; I didn’t know how to navigate around it to see her. In the photo, a young white woman with a beehive hairdo looked at the camera with a wide, dimpled smile. “She was a white woman on the block, not scared, not worried about being attacked, not looking over her shoulder.