President Discusses Marriage Protection Amendment  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all.  Please be seated.  Good afternoon, and welcome to the White House.  It is a pleasure to be with so many fine community leaders, scholars, family organizations, religious leaders, Republicans, Democrats, independents.

Show Me the Bodies  —  FOR war photography, Vietnam remains the bloody yardstick.  During the Tet offensive, on Feb. 9, 1968, Time magazine ran a story that was accompanied by photos showing dozens of dead American soldiers stacked like cordwood.  The images remind that the dead are both the most patient and affecting of all subjects.

Canadian Terror Probe Expands to 7 Nations  —  TORONTO (AP) - Police said Monday more arrests are likely in an alleged plot to bomb buildings in Canada, while intelligence officers sought ties between the 17 suspects and Islamic terror cells in the United States and five other nations.

Bush press secretary says gay marriage amendment civil rights measure; Stumbles when asked to define civil rights  —  At the White House press briefing today, Bush press secretary Tony Snow signaled that Bush considers an amendment barring same-sex marriage a "civil rights" matter …

Supreme Court to hear schools race case  —  WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether public schools can consider skin color in student assignments, reopening the contentious issue of affirmative action in a major case that will turn on the votes of President Bush's new justices.

The Hell of War  —  Why Haditha isn't My Lai.  —  Unjust though the assumption may prove to be, let us imagine that the Marines of Kilo Company did indeed crack up and cut loose in Haditha that day.  Something like this has certainly been waiting to happen.

The ties that bind 17 suspects?  —  SURYA BHATTACHARYA, NASREEN GULAMHUSEIN AND HEBA ALY  —  In investigators' offices, an intricate graph plotting the links between the 17 men and teens charged with being members of a homegrown terrorist cell covers at least one wall.

House at Stake, Midterm Election Gets Early Start  —  WASHINGTON, June 5 — Congressional campaigns have begun early and with unusual intensity this year in many districts across the country, reflecting a consensus in both parties that Republicans could lose control of the House and perhaps the Senate.

Apocalypse tomorrow?  666 arrives  —  Is tomorrow's date — 6-6-6 — merely a curious number, or could it mean our number is up?  —  There's a devilishly odd nexus of theology, mathematics and commercialism on the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year.

And Now For Some Good News  —  By now Americans know the litany: The nation is engaged in a difficult and costly war in Iraq; Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon; gas prices are high; the costs of reconstructing the Gulf Coast region are huge; illegal immigration is a major problem — and more.

Reward for the Hereditary Elite . . .  It doesn't matter if you are liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican.  There is no possible excuse for doing what Congress is poised to do this week: Abolish the estate tax.  —  The federal government faces a future of expanding deficits.

Intelligence behind raid was wrong, officials say  —  Vikram Dodd, Sandra Laville and Richard Norton-Taylor  —  Senior counter-terrorism officials now believe that the intelligence that led to the raid on a family house last Friday in a search for a chemical device about to be used …

Lieberman faces showdown over Iraq  —  MERIDEN, Connecticut (Reuters) - After years of ardent support for the Iraq war, Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman (news, bio, voting record) could become that conflict's first big political casualty in a Democratic primary race fueled by rising anti-war anger.