John Oliver: Shitty U.S. Visa Process Traps Translators in Afghanistan

The U.S. military relies on local interpreters in Afghanistan to do important, possibly life-saving things like translating warnings about IEDs. And, in return, the Afghan translators get targets on their backs and the chance to live in fear of the day NATO pulls out and insurgents capture and behead them. John Oliver…
U.S. Army Mistakenly Mails Israel Missile Agreement to a Gawker Reader
Last night, Gawker got a tip from a longtime reader: "I get a lot of emails for a different person with the same name as me," the message said. "Someone who works in some capacity in the government. I don't know if this one I just received about Israel, missiles, etc is even a thing." Yes, it's a thing.
Homeland Security Took Michael Arrington's Boat Because 'America Is Myspace'
All TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington wanted was a simple life, with a simple boat, so that he might draw out his remaining days in peaceful aquatic seclusion. Chartering retired couples and young honeymooners on day trips, resolving the quarrels of local fisherman, nibbling on sponge cake and watching the sun…
The SEC's Madoff Report is the Starr Report of Finance: Hysterical, Embarrassing, Sad
The SEC's inspector general finally released the full 477-page internal audit on Bernie Madoff's misdeeds and how the SEC completely missed the mark on catching them. How badly did they completely screw the pooch on this one?
Meet New York City's First Gay-Married Couple
Two gay men, one of them dressed as a woman, sort of duped the city into granting a marriage license and performing an official ceremony for them, despite the fact that they both have male first names. [New York Post]
Eurowonks take fun out of open source
The European Commission's Software Quality Observatory for Open Source Software has released a "software quality checking platform" called Alitheia Core, designed to formalize quality control over open-source code. It doesn't boost my confidence that the demo site is throwing 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable…
New Yorkers' tax dollars at work lecturing Apple
Mindy Bockstein, chairwoman and executive director of New York's Consumer Protection Board has taken time out of her busy schedule to write a heartfelt missive to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Among her complaints: Apple's iPhone return policies are too restrictive, and the battery has to be replaced by Apple technicians.…
