On the human-interest side of things, NSA leaker Edward Snowden was understandably vague about his personal life. The Guardian did report that he had a girlfriend in Hawaii, who knew he was leaving town, although not why — “That is not an uncommon occurrence for someone who has spent the last decade working in the intelligence world,” he said.
But as Snowden probably could have told her, it was only a matter of time before she was tracked down online.
Identified as Lindsay Mills, she blogged extensively and with many photos of herself on the website L’s Journey, “Adventures of a world-traveling, pole-dancing super hero.” She wrote for the last time, in a post called “Adrift,” just yesterday and then deleted the site, but it lives on through Google cache, because PRISM or something. Along with a photo of a woman in her underwear staring at a tiny globe, she wrote of the Snowden situation in misty terms:
For those of you that know me without my super hero cape, you can probably understand why I’ll be refraining from blog posts for awhile. My world has opened and closed all at once. Leaving me lost at sea without a compass. Surely there will be villainous pirates, distracting mermaids, and tides of change in this new open water chapter of my journey. But at the moment all I can feel is alone. And for the first time in my life I feel strong enough to be on my own. Though I never imagined my hand would be so forced. As I type this on my tear-streaked keyboard I’m reflecting on all the faces that have graced my path.
The ones I laughed with. The ones I’ve held. The one I’ve grown to love the most. And the ones I never got to bid adieu. But sometimes life doesn’t afford proper goodbyes. In those unsure endings I find my strength, my true friends, and my heart’s song. A song that I thought had all but died away, when really it was softly singing all along. I don’t know what will happen from here. I don’t know how to feel normal. But I do know that I am loved, by myself and those around me. And no matter where my compass-less vessel will take me, that love will keep me buoyant.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/06/edward-snowden-girlfriend-lindsay-mills-blog.html
Edward Snowden: will Russia offer whistleblower asylum?
As Snowden vanishes, the girl he left behind writes: ‘Sometimes life doesn’t afford proper goodbyes’
Gone to ground: The 29-year-old checked out of the Mira Hotel in Hong Kong hotel on Monday hours before a media pack descended on the island “desperate to track him down”, says The Guardian. A reporter from the Washington Post visited the hotel in the Tsim Sha Tsui quarter of the city, just across the harbour from the main island. The receptionist confirmed that “a guest named Edward Snowden had been staying there” but gave no other information.
Next move: The whistleblower’s future is “anyone’s guess”, says the Guardian. The Post says that in an email to the paper on 24 May Snowden said Iceland was an asylum option because it has “strong internet and press freedoms”. Now The Times says Snowden could turn to Russia in his quest for asylum. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Kommersant paper: “If we receive such a request, we will consider it.”
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