Hong Kong May Transfer Whistle-Blower: Edward Snowden, who has admitted leaking evidence of the NSA's PRISM data-collection program, is hoping to avoid extradition by hiding in Hong Kong. But the WaPo reports that his fate relies on the interpretation of a 16-year-old treaty:

The treaty says that Hong Kong can refuse to transfer a suspected criminal to the United States if giving up the person “implicates” the “defense, foreign affairs or essential public interest or policy” of the People’s Republic of China.

Experts said based on the facts so far, that did not appear to be the case — and if the United States wanted to charge Snowden with breaking espionage laws, Hong Kong was likely to transfer him to U.S. custody.

Is Amazon Admirable? While Apple and Microsoft reportedly assisted with PRISM (which they've denied), there haven't been reports of Amazon helping the federal spying program, "even though its data about online purchasing would be a rich vein for intelligence gathering," Geekwire points out. (Of course, the CIA reportedly has a $600 million deal with Amazon for cloud computing that may be used for storing galaxies of personal data—so there's that.)

Property Taxes to Fund Council Races: The Seattle City Council will take a gander today proposals to publicly finance campaigns (Seattle Times paywall). Cienna has covered this process in detail.

Time's Up: The trial has begun for George Zimmerman, who is facing murder charges for the death of Trayvon Martin in February 2012, after a judge, yet again, rejected his request for delays.

Life Imitates Cinema: "A Houston woman is being accused by authorities of stabbing a man to death with a stiletto heel in a high-rise condo."

Many Were in Their 90s: "Ten elderly women escaped unharmed when the limousine they were in burst into flames while idling in Northern California, authorities and a passenger said."

Penis Progress: Slog tipper "money (g)"—which is a great name—points out that the BBC has photos of a commotion-causing naked bike ride in Mexico City, including one pic of a dude's dong hanging out. "Did the BBC not notice or are they ok with a non-sexual photo of nudity?" asks money (g). "Hope it's the latter, because—progress!"

This Sounds Like a Terrible Idea: Lawmakers in Olympia have been so pleased by the speedy repair work of the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River, they've introduced a bill mandating that the state be speedy in the future—by fast-tracking environmental reviews of highway projects. After all, the Skagit River bridge is being repaired so quickly is because, by declaring an emergency, the state "suspended compliance with the State Environmental Policy Act," the Everett Herald reports.

It's Called "Setting Captives Free": Activists petition Google Play to remove an app that claims to cure homosexuality in 60 days.