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Initiative 957, an initiative requiring all married couples to file “proof of procreation�? within three years of a marriage, was filed by the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance in response to a ruling made by the Washington Supreme Court last year stating gay and lesbian couples could be prevented from marrying by the state because Washington has a legitimate interest in preserving marriage for couples who can procreate. I-957 has been accepted by Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed.

A press release from the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance states that I-957 would:

• add the phrase, “who are capable of having children with one another�? to the legal definition of marriage;
• require that couples married in Washington file proof of procreation within three years of the date of marriage or have their marriage automatically annulled;
• require that couples married out of state file proof of procreation within three years of the date of marriage or have their marriage classed as “unrecognized;�?
• establish a process for filing proof of procreation; and
• make it a criminal act for people in an unrecognized marriage to receive marriage benefits.

I-957 needs 224,800 signatures by July 6th to make it on to the November ballot.

On the one hand I don’t think this is the right way to fight right-wing bigotry, on the other hand, only when a majority recognizes that tyrannizing minorities has consequences for them will the costs of bigotry be properly accounted for.

Credit : Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA

What if you saw your shadow on Mars and it wasn’t human? Then you might be the Opportunity rover currently exploring Mars. Opportunity and sister robot Spirit have been probing the red planet since early 2004, finding evidence of ancient water, and sending breathtaking images across the inner Solar System. Pictured above, Opportunity looks opposite the Sun into Endurance Crater and sees its own shadow. Two wheels are visible on the lower left and right, while the floor and walls of the unusual crater are visible in the background. Opportunity and Spirit have now spent over three years exploring the red world, find new clues into the wet ancient past of our Solar System’s second most habitable planet.

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The transcript of the tape recording reads like a B-movie script. Jefferson County Treasurer Mark Paschall, a notorious holier-than-you politician, asks for a kickback from an extra-large bonus he has arranged for a political appointee.

Paschall, whose political and moral sanctimony knew no limits while he was a state representative or county treasurer, is neither subtle nor apologetic. The tape transcript shows he wants a third of the more-than-$25,000 bonus he cooked up for employee Kathy Redmond.

“I figured a third for taxes,” Paschall says, according to a felony indictment handed down Monday. “… A third, and then a third and a third. You know?”

“OK,” Redmond answers. “I see. So a third going to taxes, then the third to me and the third to you.”

“Right,” says Paschall.

Wrong.

Wrong especially for a guy who constantly lectured Coloradans on values and the evils of big government during his time in office.

As a member of the Colorado House of Representatives for four terms, Paschall practiced what turns out to be a particularly ironic form of piety. He proclaimed himself a guy who wanted to “restore the idea of limited self-government and self-determination.”

And, of course, he talked about those “family values” that the right wing invokes as a claim to moral superiority over the rest of us. Paschall railed against homosexuality as perversion. He prayed against “multiculturalism” and abortion rights on the floor of the House in a performance so inflammatory that it sparked a walkout by other representatives. After Columbine, Paschall pushed to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms across Colorado. He fretted over a judicial system that was destroying “traditional moral values.”

Like bringing to justice those who try to steal nine grand from the Jefferson County coffers?

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An Aberdeen woman who asked for her bank statement was sent details of 75,000 other customers.

Stephanie McLaughlan, 22, was sent the financial details by Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).

She received five packages each containing 500 sheets of 30 customers’ names, sort codes and account details.

HBOS apologised and said it was carrying out an investigation. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it would probe the “negligence”.

Ms McLaughlan said: “These packages were just dumped on my doorstep one day and I was really shocked because it was obvious the bank did not have a clue they had left them in my house or their contents.

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The official Web site of Dolphin Stadium, home of Sunday’s Super Bowl XLI, has been hacked and seeded with exploit code targeting two known Windows security flaws.

In the attack, which was discovered by malware hunters at Websense Security Labs, the server hosting the site was breached and a link to a malicious JavaScript file was inserted into the header of the front page of the site. Visitors to the site execute the script, which attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities.

According to Dan Hubbard, senior director, security and technology research at Websense, the malicious site hosting the script has been taken offline by law enforcement officials but the hacked Dolphin Stadium site — which is attracting a lot of Super Bowl-related traffic — is still hosting the malicious JavaScript.

A visitor to the site with an unpatSource code of hacked Dolphin Stadium Web site.ched Windows machine will connect to a remote server registered to a nameserver in China and download a Trojan keylogger/backdoor that gives the attacker “full access to the compromised computer,” Hubbard said.