Senate To Vote On Ending NSA’s Dragnet Metadata Collection – 29 July 2014

United States Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) introduced an updated version of his USA Freedom Act on Capitol Hill early Tuesday and urged his colleagues to use this “historical opportunity” to reform government surveillance.

Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, first introduced his surveillance reform bill last October, and that draft passed the House of Representative in May of this year. Privacy advocates warned that the House gutted some of the most important provisions from the senator’s initial bill, however, prompting Leahy to go back to the drawing board and reintroduce the act on Tuesday this week with added language that he says will protect Americans’ personal data from eavesdropping federal agencies.

If approved, the bill will roll-back some of the surveillance authorities exposed last year when Edward Snowden, a former contractor, leaked classified National Security Agency documents detailing how the government uses certain laws to collect, among other intelligence, bulk telephony metadata pertaining to millions of innocent Americans.

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Kiev Declares Cease-Fire At MH17 Crash Site Amid Russia’s Numerous Calls – 29 July 2014

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said Kiev is finally ready for a cease-fire at the MH17 crash site after Russia’s numerous calls. Kiev continued its military offensive even after the UNSC urged a halt to fighting in the area last week.

Poroshenko announced a unilateral cease-fire in a 20 km radius of the crash site of the MH17 flight in a telephone conversation with the PMs of Netherlands and Australia, according to his press-service.

Earlier in the day US Secretary of State John Kerry claimed Kiev was ready for a cease-fire “now,” following a meeting with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in Washington.

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UK Colum News – UK Governed By MUPPETS! – 29 July 2014

ZeroHedge – EU Announces New Washington-Pleasing, Russia-Wristslap Sanctions – 29 July 2014

After unleashing a 10-page report of the death and destructive economic impact they could have on Russia via sanctions, the European leaders have agreed to issue travel bans, some asset-freezes, and trade curbs on various new individuals and business entities. The Goldilocks sanctions… just enough to please Washington, not enough to infuriate Putin into ‘boomerangs’.

• *EU AMBASSADORS’ MEETING ON RUSSIA SANCTIONS REACHES DEAL: FT

Via DPA,

EU ambassadors have reached agreement on a new round of travel bans and asset freezes in response to the crisis in Ukraine, diplomats say.

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ZeroHedge – Banco Espirito Santo Plunges: Shareholder Meeting Cancelled Due To “Unexpected Facts” – 29 July 2014

With all other operating holdcos having already declared bankruptcy, the anxiety over Banco Espirito Santo is growing (despite DE Shaw and Goldman Sachs recommending investors buy the shares). Despite Bank of Portugal reassurance last night that “BES is able to raise capital), the stock is plunging on news of “unexpected facts” this morning…

• *BANCO ESPIRITO SANTO SAYS SHAREHOLDER MEETING WAS CANCELLED DUE TO “UNEXPECTED FACTS”
• *BANCO ESPIRITO SANTO FALLS MORE THAN 13% IN LISBON TRADING

Remember, this is systemic (as the Portugues President has warned), and the contagion is potentially global… not “contained.”

3 down, 1 to go?

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ZeroHedge – The Panic Containment Team Speaks: Ebola Poses “Little Risk” To The US, CDC Claims: Is It Wrong? – 29 July 2014

In the aftermath of the news from the past week that at least two US citizens have been infected with the Ebola virus, a very unpleasant if nagging question has appeared: can the virus spread to the US? According to NBC, “the Ebola virus, which has infected two U.S. humanitarian workers in Liberia, is only a short plane ride from any city on Earth. But federal health officials say it’s not a big worry for most Americans.”

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Nearly 2 Mn Young Adults In England Still Live With Parents – Report – 29 July 2014

An estimated 1.97 million people aged between 20-34 still live with their parents in England – a quarter being in long-term employment, data collected by the UK’s leading housing & homelessness charity Shelter has revealed.

The survey, titled “The Clipped Wings Generation” also found that nearly half of that group lived with their parents not out of choice, but because they can’t afford to rent or buy a home.

“The clipped wing generation are finding themselves with no choice but to remain living with mum and dad well into adulthood, as they struggle to find a home of their own” said Campbell Robb, CEO of Shelter.

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White House Oficially Accuses Russia Of Violating Intermediate-Range Nuclear Treaty – 29 July 2014

United States President Barack Obama has formally accused his Russian counterpart of violating a 1987 nuclear weapons treaty, the White House said on Tuesday.

Pres. Obama wrote Russia’s Vladimir Putin, White House press secretary John Earnest said during a routine briefing Tuesday afternoon, informing him that the US has determined that Russia has violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a pact signed by Presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev nearly 30 years ago.

Hours earlier on Monday evening, the New York Times reported that the Obama administration would accuse Russia of violating the agreement upon completion of a Department of State annual report on international compliance with arms control agreements.

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Top Russian Diplomat Expects No New Reset In Relations With US – 29 July 2014

Russia’s deputy foreign minister says relations with the US will not improve in the near future, as Washington’s sanctions policy has already gone too far.

“Of course, there will be no new ‘reset’ like the one that happened a few years ago, and that yielded some positive results, I am still sure that this period was marked with a number of positive changes in Russian-US relations. But now I cannot foresee or expect anything like this,” Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with the Russian media.

“It is unlikely, because Washington has gone too far in its anti-Russian rhetoric and the constant urge to punish us for something, now it will be difficult to ‘rewind’ the situation,” he noted.

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Jon Rappoport – FBI Terrorists Among Us: The 1993 WTC Bombing – The Mind-Boggling Role Of The Bureau – 29 July 2014

There seems to be a rule: if a terror attack takes place and the FBI investigates it, things are never what they seem.

Federal attorney Andrew C McCarthy prosecuted the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing case. A review of his book, Willful Blindness, states:

“For the first time, McCarthy intimately reveals the real story behind the FBI’s inability to stop the first World Trade Center bombing even though the bureau had an undercover informant in the operation — the jihadists’ supposed bombmaker.