NATO jets scrambled more than 400 times in 2014 due to Russia aerial provocations

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- NATO jets were scrambled more than 400 times in 2014 in response to Russian aerial provocations near unauthorized airspace, the alliance's secretary general reported Thursday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discussed NATO's mandate "to protect and defend our Allies" during a visit Thursday to Estonia's Amari Airbase. During a meeting with Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas, the secretary general spoke about the substantial increase in Russian air activity "all over Europe."

"NATO jets have been scrambled over 400 times close to NATO airspace -- 50 percent more than last year. This pattern is risky and unjustified. So NATO remains vigilant. And we are ready to defend all Allies against any threat."

Of those 400 intercepts, 100 of them were conducted by NATO's Baltic air police, triple the number of incidents in the region last year.

"They are not filing their air flight plans. They are not turning on the transponders. And they are not communicating with the civilian air traffic control," Stoltenberg said.

"We are calling on Russia to conduct their military air activities in a responsible way and respecting international norms for this kind of air activity," he added.

Earlier this month, the London-based European Leadership Network released a report that found the incidence of encounters by Russian military planes is at Cold War levels. 2014 marked "the first time since the end of the Cold War that Russia has been rather openly treating NATO and its partners as potential opponents, training accordingly and testing our defenses."

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NATO jets scrambled more than 400 times in 2014 due to Russia aerial provocations

NATO jets are scrambling more for Russians

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(CNN) -

NATO has scrambled fighter jets more than 400 times this year to intercept Russian military flights close to alliance members' airspace in Europe, the alliance's secretary general said this week.

That's a 50 percent increase in Russian air activity over last year and the kind of activity that harkens back to the days of the Cold War, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a visit to NATO member Estonia on Thursday.

"This pattern is risky and unjustified. So NATO remains vigilant. We are here. And we are ready to defend all allies against any threat," he said at Amari Airbase in Estonia, where U.S., German and Estonian troops were gathered.

Stoltenberg said few of the Russian flights had actually violated the airspace of NATO nations, but he said the way the Russian planes operate threatens civilian aviation in the region.

"They are not filing their air flight plans. They are not turning on the transponders. And they are not communicating with the civilian air traffic control," he said.

"We are calling on Russia to conduct their military air activities in a responsible way and respecting international norms for this kind of air activity," Stoltenberg said.

In a report earlier this month, the European Leadership Network listed more than 40 "close military encounters between Russia and the West" that took place in the eight months from March to October of this year.

Three of those, including a near collision between a Russian military plane and a Swedish passenger aircraft carrying 132 people, were classified as "high-risk" incidents that could have led to direct military confrontation between Russia and the West, according to the report, titled "Dangerous Brinksmanship."

Russia also has said it will expand its military flights, with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu saying this month that Russian military aircraft would be flying along U.S. coasts and even into the Gulf of Mexico.

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NATO jets are scrambling more for Russians

ALERT! For the First Time NSA Admits China and Others Can Cripple US Power Grid! – Video

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ALERT! For the First Time NSA Admits China and Others Can Cripple US Power Grid!
http://www.undergroundworldnews.com The head of the National Security Agency warned Congress on Thursday that China and one or two other nations currently possess the capability of crippling...

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ALERT! For the First Time NSA Admits China and Others Can Cripple US Power Grid! - Video

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NSA chief warns Chinese cyber attacks could shut U.S. infrastructure

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China and "probably one or two" other countries have the ability to invade and possibly shut down computer systems of U.S. power utilities, aviation networks and financial companies, Admiral Mike Rogers, the director of the U.S. National Security Agency, said on Thursday.

Testifying to the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on cyber threats, Rogers said digital attackers have been able to penetrate such systems and perform "reconnaissance" missions to determine how the networks are put together.

"What concerns us is that access, that capability, can be used by nation-states, groups or individuals to take down that capability," he said.

Rogers said China was one of the countries with that capability, but that there were others.

"There's probably one or two others," he said, declining to elaborate in a public setting.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the Chinese government "forbids" cyber hacking and that it is often a victim of such attacks that originate from the United States.

"The Chinese government resolutely cracks down on these activities. This reality is irrefutable," Hong told reporters at a regular press briefing on Friday.

Rogers testified two days after a bill to overhaul the NSA's bulk collection of telephone records failed in the Senate. Privacy advocates will probably now have to start over to pass a law to reform U.S. surveillance rules.

He said at the hearing that telephone companies are still providing those records to the NSA, but under stricter rules than when the program was exposed in 2013 by former contractor Edward Snowden.

Rogers said the agency, anticipating passage of a new law, would wait before moving forward with technological changes. He said the agency, and telephone companies, would rather wait and see what might be included in any new law.

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NSA chief warns Chinese cyber attacks could shut U.S. infrastructure

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NSA director: China can damage US power grid – VIDEO: NSA head pushes for offensive strategy

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Published November 20, 2014

WASHINGTON The head of the NSA issued a blunt warning Thursday to lawmakers: China can shut down the United States.

The grim forecast came from Admiral Michael Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency and commander of the U.S .Cyber Command.

Rogers said he believed China along with one or two other countries had the capability to successfully launch a cyber-attack that could shut down the electric grid in parts of the United States.

Rogers reiterated that if the U.S. remains on the defensive, it would be a losing strategy.

Speaking to the House Intelligence Committee, the NSA director said the cyber threat was so real, and that agreeing to an international code, a sort of laws of law in the cyber realm is urgent.

The possibility of such cyberattacks by U.S. adversaries has been widely known, but never confirmed publicly by the nation's top cyber official.

At a House hearing, Rogers says U.S. adversaries are performing electronic "reconnaissance," on a regular basis so that they can be in a position to attack the industrial control systems that run everything from chemical facilities to water treatment plants.

Outside experts say the U.S. Cyber Command also has that capability, which in theory should amount to mutual deterrence.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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NSA director: China can damage US power grid - VIDEO: NSA head pushes for offensive strategy

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First Amendment Allows Google to Organize Its Search Results – Video

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First Amendment Allows Google to Organize Its Search Results
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Holder announces new guidance to law enforcement officers ahead of Ferguson decision

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Attorney General Eric Holder announced Friday that the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services will provide law enforcement officers with a new guide that will compile information, tools, and best practices to maintain public safety while safeguarding constitutional rights during First Amendment-protected events.

TheJustice Department encourages law enforcement officers in every jurisdiction to work with the communities that they serve to minimize needless confrontation, Holder said.

The announcement was made in a video released Friday morning. Holder didnt mention Ferguson by name in the video, but a grand jury decision on whether to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown is expected to come within the next few days.

The grand jury is examining whether the Aug. 9 shooting was justified. Potential charges against Wilson could range from first-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter, though many protesters in the St. Louis suburb are anticipating that Wilson will not be indicted.

Over the past few months, weve seen demonstrations and protests that have sought to bring attention to real and significant underlying issues involving police practices, implicit bias and pervasive community distrust, Holder said in the video. In most cases, these demonstrations have been both meaningful and responsible and have brought vital issues to the attention of the public at large.

Similarly, I want toemphasize this, the vast majority of law enforcement officers have honorably defended their fellow citizens engaged in these peaceful protests.

Holder said that peaceful protests have the potential to spark a sustained and positive national dialogue, but cautioned that as weve seen, durable relationships between the police and their communities do not develop overnight.

He also addressed First Amendment demonstrators in his message, saying that the most successful and enduring movements for change are those that adhere to nonaggression and nonviolence. He encouraged demonstrators to act in a way that respects the gravity of their subject matter.

In a new video released Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced "a new guide" to help law enforcement officers "maintain public safety while safeguarding constitutional rights during First Amendment-protected events." (Department of Justice)

[This post has been updated.]

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Holder announces new guidance to law enforcement officers ahead of Ferguson decision

Bitcoin tipping sees giant growth: ChangeTip exceeds 10,000 tips in one day

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Yesterday, Bitcoin tipping service ChangeTip announced that it had exceed 10,000 user generated bitcoin tips in one day, marking a milestone in the phenomenon of microtransacted bitcoin tipping across the Internet.

As a currency that can be broken down into extremely tiny fractions and still traded, Bitcoin has always had an ephemeral edge when it comes to the potential for microtransactions. There may be potential problems with transaction fees (which are tiny) but it still stands out as an excellent method for remitting very small amounts. This makes Bitcoin perfect for tipping.

This led to the rise of tip botsone of the most notable is the Reddit BitcoinTip bot, which has since been consumed by the ChangeTip bot.

The ChangeTip service enables users to tip others with bitcoin via many social media outlets by simply leaving a comment that triggers the service. The bot works on Reddit, YouTube, Twitter, GitHub, Google Plus, Tumblr, and StockTwits. Tipping actions can be customized as well allowing users to set tip amounts to symbols (or words) such as @changetip 1 beer if beer were set to 50 mBTC or something similar would then tip that amount.

There will be a 1% fee to withdraw tipped funds from ChangeTip beginning January 15, 2015.

Tipping has been a function of the Bitcoin community for some time now, but recently its gained a great deal of traction and ChangeTip has been reaping the benefits.

Aside from breaking the 10,000 tips per day milestone, ChangeTip also reported that it has built up a userbase of over 34,000 user accounts.

Our community extends from San Francisco to New York, from Tokyo to Buenos Aires and its growing quickly, says Nick Sullivan, ChangeTIp CEO. We are proud that this growth has come organically, primarily through word of mouth.

Right on the cusp of this surge in bitcoin tipping, Bitcoin wallet Coinbase released its own tipping mechanism. However, instead of going the social media route, Coinbase offers a type of donate button that can be attached to web pages.

In the social media tipping market, ChangeTip is still leaderand fairly much the only show in townbut it likely wont be long for others to catch up.

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Bitcoin tipping sees giant growth: ChangeTip exceeds 10,000 tips in one day

Why Some Retailers Are Accepting Bitcoin

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Some of the virtual currency's unique characteristics have proven attractive to some businesses.

Bitcoin's broadest impact might happen outside payments, but some retailers are already finding value in accepting Bitcoin for goods and services. A panel of businesses that are taking Bitcoin payments discussed their experiences with the virtual currency at a Money2020 panel this month.

Surprisingly, security was one of the biggest benefits of Bitcoin for two of the businesses represented on the panel: Amagi Metals, a trading site for precious metals, and Newegg, an online computer and electronics retailer.

Typically, fraudsters want to use stolen credit card credentials to buy goods that can be a store of value (like gold, silver, or high-end electronics). Stephen Macaskill, Amagi's CEO, said his company is a constant target for fraudsters. "We always have people trying to make orders with fraudulent credit cards. We have to have a whole department to make sure that all of our credit card transactions are legitimate, so it is expensive for us. We catch people on a weekly basis."

Amagi was hit with chargebacks from fraudulent card transactions in 2012, and it started accepting Bitcoins that year. Thanks to the Bitcoin Blockchain, it doesn't have to worry about any chargebacks with its Bitcoin transactions. The Blockchain, a public ledger of all Bitcoin transactions, makes it impossible to counterfeit Bitcoins. Each transaction recorded in the Blockchain is verified by a third party.

[For more on the Bitcoin Blockchain, check out: Banks, Bitcoin & the Blockchain]

"I don't see a way to end credit card fraud and we have the highest rate of credit card fraud in precious metals," Macaskill told the audience. "With Bitcoin, we don't ever have to worry about chargebacks."

Security might not be the first benefit that comes to mind when people think about Bitcoin, after incidents like Mt. Gox this year. But the Blockchain technology gives the virtual currency security as a payment mechanism, even if some of the Bitcoin exchanges have proven far less secure.

Ted Rogers, chief strategy officer of Xapo, told Bank Systems & Technology that Bitcoin advocates need to provide a great deal of education about the security benefits of the Blockchain for payments.

"There's a security aspect that's partly educational. Our challenge is explaining why this technology is so secure," he said. "It is easier to steal the Mona Lisa than to steal a Bitocin in a cold wallet."

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Why Some Retailers Are Accepting Bitcoin

Comets Fall to Amerks 7-4

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November 22, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets Brandon DeFazio scored twice but it was not enough as the Utica Comets lost to the Rochester Americans 7-4 Friday night at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The loss snapped the Comets three-game winning streak.

Brandon DeFazio (2-0-2) netted two goals en route to third star honors. Tim Schaller (2-3-5) picked up first star honors with a five point night for the Amerks. Andrey Makarov picked his fifth victory of the season stopping 24 of 28 Comets shots.

The Americans scored early and often in the first period, and struck for the first time just 29 seconds into the game. Tim Schaller dug out the puck from a boardside scrum just inside the Comets blue line. Schaller feathered it over to Mark Pysyk who quickly fired a wrist shot on goal. The puck snaked its way through a crowd in front of Jacob Markstrom and found the back of the net for Pysyk's first goal of the year. Matt Ellis picked up the secondary assist.

Just over four minutes later the Amerks doubled their early lead. Hunter Shinkaruk wiped out a Comets power play after he picked up a slashing minor. The ensuing face-off, all the way back in the Comets zone, was cleanly won back to Joel Armia by Schaller. Armia slid the puck over to Matt MacKenzie who fired a wrist shot that pinged off the post and across the goal line.

With just 52 seconds left in the first period, the Amerks again upped their lead over the Comets. With the Amerks on the power play, Jake McCabe took a feed from Pysyk let loose a shot from the point that went wide. The puck ricocheted off the end boards and into the feet of Armia. Armia collected the puck, spun, and fired a shot over the shoulder of Markstrom.

The Comets cut the Amerks lead to two with a power-play goal in the second. Dustin Jeffrey unleashed a shot from the hashmarks. Makarov made the save, but the rebound settled at the top of the crease. Hunter Shinkaruk and Jeffrey each took whacks at it before it squirted loose and onto DeFazio's stick. DeFazio all alone, buried it into the gaping net.

With the Comets set-up with another power play, and looking to cut the lead to one, a fortuitous bounce led to an Amerks short-handed goal. Dustin Jeffrey one-timed a cross ice pass into the shin pads of an Amerks defender. The rebound rocketed all the way back to the Comets blue line. A streaking Nick Petrecki picked up the puck, skated it into the Comets zone and wristed a shot on goal. Markstrom turned aside the Petrecki shot, but Schaller was there to put in the rebound.

Under a minute later DeFazio cut the Comets deficit to two once again. DeFazio niftily sliced his way through two Amerks defenders, as he drove to the net. Makaraov denied DeFazio's first shot, but DeFazio cleaned up his own rebound and tapped the puck through Makarov's legs, for his second power-play goal of the night. Peter Andersson and Henrik Tommernes recorded assists on the play.

The Comets cut the Amerks lead to one in the third period. At 11:11 of the third period Alex Friesen one-timed a pass from Ronalds Kenins for his first goal of the season, and his third point in the last two games.

It did not take long for the Amerks to re-establish their two-goal lead. Just 16 seconds to be exact. Schaller won the draw cleanly back to his defenseman, Jerome Leduc. Leduc blasted a slap-shot on net. Markstrom stopped the Leduc blast but Schaller tapped home the rebound for his third point of the night.

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Comets Fall to Amerks 7-4