Politics of the Altar  —  GOP leaders are putting gay marriage back on the agenda.  Will voters respond?  —  June 12, 2006 issue - Back in 2004, suburban Seattle pastor Alec Rowlands watched with dismay as gay couples in Massachusetts flocked to courthouses and churches, exchanged vows and walked away legally wed.

Canadian Border Proves Difficult to Secure  —  Tighter border controls between the United States and Canada are likely to be less useful than better domestic intelligence and information-sharing in detecting homegrown terrorist plots in North America, terrorism experts said yesterday.

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.

Army Manual to Skip Geneva Detainee Rule  —  The Pentagon's move to omit a ban on prisoner humiliation from the basic guide to soldier conduct faces strong State Dept. opposition.  —  WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Convention …

Uncovering Iraq's Horrors in Desert Graves  —  ON THE EDGE OF THE ASH SHAM DESERT, Iraq, June 3 — Among experts on the American-led team investigating Iraq's mass graves, the skeletal remains lying face-up at the rear of the tangled grave here have been given a name — the Blue Man …

The Truth, John Kerry, and The New York Times  —  Kate Zernike's story on the front page of the Memorial Day Sunday New York Times, "Kerry Pressing Swift Boat Case Long After Loss," is an unfortunate reminder of the Times's embarrassingly poor coverage of Kerry in the face of the Swift Boat Veterans …

Gunmen seize at least 50 at Iraq bus stops  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen in police uniforms raided bus stations Monday in central Baghdad, seizing at least 50 people, including drivers and passengers preparing to travel outside Iraq, an Interior Ministry official said.

Paul Bass  —  Seasonal Memory Lapses  —  Medical researchers have identified a host of causes for amnesia, from encephalitis to traumatic brain injury.  —  I've discovered another cause: political campaigns.  —  Exhibit A: The current campaign in Connecticut for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination.

Medical Privacy Law Nets No Fines  —  Lax Enforcement Puts Patients' Files At Risk, Critics Say  —  In the three years since Americans gained federal protection for their private medical information, the Bush administration has received thousands of complaints alleging violations …

Bar group will review Bush's legal challenges  —  WASHINGTON — The board of governors of the American Bar Association voted unanimously yesterday to investigate whether President Bush has exceeded his constitutional authority in reserving the right to ignore more than 750 laws that have been enacted since he took office.

In State Races, Tough Questions About Abortion  —  IOWA CITY, June 2 — Even in a room of sixth graders sitting cross-legged on the floor, usually the safest of venues for political candidates, the question emerged from one sweet face: What is your position on abortion?

Pluribus Sine Unum  —  Will the Senate impose race-based government on Hawaii?  —  America's motto is "E pluribus unum," Latin for "Out of many, one."  Some U.S. senators seem to be reading it backward.  This week the Senate will consider legislation that would create an independent, race-based government for Native Hawaiians.

When Sweet Statistics Clash With a Sour Mood  —  LAST Tuesday, when President Bush introduced Henry M. Paulson Jr. as his choice to replace John W. Snow as Treasury secretary, Mr. Bush rattled off a string of impressive economic statistics.  —  "In the first quarter of 2006 …

Florida: 'A Paradise Of Scandals'  —  Steve Kroft Talks To Columnist/Novelist Carl Hiaasen  —  (CBS) This story originally aired on April 17, 2005.  —  In a little less than a century, the state of Florida has been transformed from a largely uninhabited swamp to the fourth-largest state in the union.

For Deals, Jefferson Built Web Of Firms  —  On May 12, 2005, over dinner with business partner and FBI informant Lori Mody, Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) furtively scrawled the letter "c" on a sheet of paper, and next to it wrote some numbers indicating that he was demanding …