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June 11, 2013 | | The Spy Who Loved Me She describes herself on her blog as a ''world-traveling, pole-dancing super hero.'' But Lindsay Mills is something else: the girlfriend of NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Caroline Linton examines her digital footprint. Plus, Nick Gillespie on how partisanship gave rise to Big Brother. OCCUPY GEZI Thousands of Turkish protestors were dispersed after police stormed Istanbul's Taksim Square, the heart of the two-week-long protests against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. The governor of Istanbul wrote on Twitter that the police had arrived only to remove banners, but witnesses reported that police pushed past the protesters' barricades and fired water cannons and tear gas to break up the crowds. The demonstrators responded by throwing Molotov cocktails, rocks, and fireworks. Meanwhile, Erdogan told his party's M.P.s that the protests have hurt the country's image and economy. Protests in Taksim Square started on May 31 as a demonstration against plans to raze Istanbul's Gezi Park but soon spread across the country as a more widespread call to action against Erdogan's government. ANOTHER WHISTLEBLOWER A drug ring near the American Embassy in Iraq; a U.S. ambassador's "endemic" trysts with prostitutes; sexual assault by a security official in Beirut; thwarted investigations. These are just a few of the alleged juicy bits in an internal memo from the State Department's Office of the Inspector General detailing potentially widespread misconduct by staff during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of State. The memo, given to CNN by a whistleblower who worked under Clinton, could add fuel to the fire surrounding the Benghazi scandal, sully her reputation as SOS, and block any further political aspirations. But if anyone knows sex scandals need not get in the way of political goals or getting the job done, it's Hillary. Meanwhile, the ambassador accused of engaging with prostitutes has vehemently denied doing so. Asylum Russia may imprison their own whistleblowers and protesters, but they'll welcome American ones with open arms. After a spokesman for Vladimir Putin said that they would consider an asylum request from Edward Snowden, Russian politicians are praising the idea. "In this case, Snowden, like Assange, is a human-rights activist," said Alexey Pushkov, head of the Duma's international affairs committee. In 2010 the Kremlin suggested Julian Assange should be nominated for a Nobel prize, and later gave him a talk show on the state-sponsored television network. Meanwhile Iceland, which seems to be Snowden's country of choice, is reacting more coolly to the idea of granting asylum, stating that Snowden would have to apply from within the country's borders, not from an embassy. Delayed Reaction Didn't Edward Snowden quit when he leaked top-secret documents and fled to Hong Kong? In any case, his former employer Booz Allen Hamilton fired him yesterday. "Snowden, who had a salary at the rate of $122,000, was terminated June 10, 2013, for violations of the firm's code of ethics and firm policy," the company said in a statement. "We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter." Snowden, 29, had worked at Booz Allen for less than three months, stationed in Hawaii. Kryptonite 'Man of Steel' Falls Flat The Superman blockbuster Man of Steel is a monotonous CGI extravaganza devoid of any humanity, says Marlow Stern. | | 
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