WASHINGTON — Former Defense Secretary and author Robert Gates can add one more title to his growing resume: walking quote machine. The charismatic leader who stood next to two presidents during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and sparked controversy with his new book criticizing President Barack Obama, showed off his lighter side during an appearance Thursday night at Politico’s cocktail evening at the Mayflower Hotel.

Gates strolled onto stage in a neck brace and took aim at everyone and everything from himself, Washington, Obama and his critics. He started by poking fun at himself and his clumsiness. He then moved on to mock North Korea’s dictator family, the Kims, saying each one is swimming shallower and shallower in the gene pool. Dozens of Tweets were posted during the informal public speech. One audience member even posted on Twitter: “Gates has one of the best senses of humor I’ve observed of cabinet officials.” Here’s a roundup of some of Gates quotable Twitter quotes.

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After very public anti-privacy campaigns and a threatened veto from the president derailed the proposal, a bill that may strongly resembles it, aimed at beefing up U.S. cyber security threat information sharing between private companies and the government, may be reintroduced in the Senate. Supporters say U.S. national security is threatened by cybercrime and cyber espionage and fighting the threats requires sharing information to help shore up defenses.

The bill has been resurrected twice since it was proposed in 2011 by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich. The most recent activity was a passage in the House in April.

The goal of the bill is to make it easier for private companies to share information with the government and vice -versa — in real time — regarding potential cyber threats. Opponents fear the new legislation would give the government the authority to pluck people’s personal information without any obstruction.
However, panic over recent disclosures of the National Security Agency’s surveillance program involving millions of phone records and data locations of Americans stalled progress on the bill.

“I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to get cyber threat information sharing legislation passed into law this year,” said Rogers, chairman of House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in a news release in April after the House 288-127 vote.

Last month, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., and top Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia said they’re close to introducing the Senate version of the CISPA bill. Chambliss has said that if the Senate passes it — it would most likely be merged with Rogers’ House version.

After the House passed the information-sharing bill in April, the White House said, “Senior advisers would recommend that he (President Barack Obama) veto the bill,” citing privacy concerns.

The new Senate bill is still being written, but Feinstein and Chambliss have said the language would be similar to the House bill, although the scope of the information that could be shared would be narrower.

According to a report by cyber security giant McAfee Inc. and the Washington Center for Strategic International Studies, the cost of cybercrime and cyber espionage to the U.S. could reach $100 billion annually.

“The Chinese are stealing information at an alarming rate,” said Rogers’ spokeswoman Kelsey Knight.

Steven Krisfalusy, managing partner of the Beringer Group, a small Ohio-based Internet security business, said the problem is massive and cyber espionage is the new frontier for terrorists.

“You don’t have to use a bomb anymore. You shut down a country’s power grid,” he said.

However, Krisfalusy said the information sharing bills are not the answer.

“I don’t see how they can make any guarantee that it’s going to stop this,” he said. “I don’t know if there is anything on the horizon to stop it for any long term.”

Courtesy: Brent Huffman “Saving Mes Aynak”

WASHINGTON – For documentarian Brent Huffman, “Saving Mes Aynak,” his latest film detailing efforts to protect a 2,600-year-old ancient Buddhist city in Afghanistan from being demolished to mine the copper beneath it — it’s personal.

“I know what it feels like having someone more powerful than you stopping you from succeeding,” said the 34-year-old filmmaker, an assistant professor at the Medill School of Journalism.

“I grew up in a really oppressive environment, where I had an abusive father. … I can understand what it feels like when someone is stepping on your neck and trying to control your life,” he said.

Chinese state owned China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) won a bid in 2007 to mine the land in Logar Province, about 20 miles from Kabul. MCC made the largest single foreign investment in Afghanistan to date, paying $3.4 billion to lease the land for 30 years.

Afghanistan’s Mining Ministry says there is 11 tons of copper, and the six-kilometer underground site is worth tens of billions of dollars at today’s prices. Extracting the metal could deliver thousands of jobs and $1.2 billion in revenue a year to a country in desperate need, as international assistance dries up ahead of the planned U.S. and NATO withdrawal in 2014.

Archeologist have been working frantically to salvage as much of Mes Aynak and the thousands of underground Buddhist statues, temples and relics before construction on one of the largest open-pit mines begins. Construction is set to kickoff in 2013.

Historians say Buddhist in the first century BC erected the site, and again revived the city in the 10th Century AD. Vast copper deposits in the six-kilometer city, which is now underground, were found and the city became an important stop along the Silk Road.

Huffman claims the mine would stifle any future hopes of the Logar Province’s economic and cultural growth.

Afghanistan has been victimized by the Taliban, Russia, the U.S. and, now the new oppressor will be China, according, to Huffman who was drawn to the country while covering its first democratic elections in 2004.

Huffman says MCC has made empty promises to Afghans that it will bring new jobs, but in reality the only beneficiaries of the project are corrupt politicians and the mining company.

The professor is hoping his 77-minute film will draw the international community’s attention — sparking the same outrage that led him to risk his life on multiple occasions to make “Saving Mes Aynak.” The road leading to Logar Province is lined with landmines and Taliban fighters.

“I’ve got two kids. A 22-month old daughter and 3-month-son,” Huffman said. “They make this much more difficult, obviously, to do this and tell a story that could possibly kill you. There are constant risks.”

He played a rough-cut version of the film for about 20 people in Washington Thursday evening.

The independent filmmaker traveled alone to Afghanistan eight times beginning in 2011 to produce the film, which cost about $50,000.

Huffman, a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, funded the film through grants. He also raised $35,000 from independent investors using Kickstarter, a website used to find funding for creative projects.

“Saving Mes Aynak” is set to hit the independent film circuit shortly, playing at film festivals across the country first and eventually appearing on Public Broadcasting Service.

“Ideally, I’d like it to be free to view,” Huffman, whose work has appeared on The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, CNN, NBC and Sundance Film Festival.

Despite the financial burdens, Huffman said the emotional cost of filmmaking is often the heaviest.

“If you witness something awful, you’ll carry that. It does become personal. I know they teach you to be neutral but that doesn’t exist,” he said.

Huffman said feelings from his childhood can surface during the filmmaking process and the deep subjects can thrust him back to confront old wounds.

“In part, it’s dealing with some of these childhood issues. Nothing bothers me more than someone with power hurting someone without power. That’s part of my drive,” Huffman said.

“We enjoyed our nice family of five … until times changed and we received our diagnosis,” said Maj. Kim “Rooster” Rossiter, a faculty member at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va.

Doctors told Rossiter and his wife, Lori, that their middle child, 4-year-old Ainsley Renee, would not live to see her 10th birthday.

But on Dec. 10, nearly 500 people from around the country will join the Rossiter family for a virtual 10-kilometer half marathon, running that distance wherever they are, to celebrate Ainsley’s milestone – turning 10.

“What running has done for my family, it has provided a therapy like no other,” said Rossiter, who ran his first race pushing Ainsley in a running chair in 2008. He was inspired by Rick and Dick Hoyt, a father-son team who has completed more than 1,000 races and triathlons with Rick in a running chair.

“When we first had Ainsley enjoy the act of running in 2008, the wind from the Virginia Beach oceanfront blew in her hair and her face light up in only a way you can imagine, like we hadn’t seen before,” Rossiter said. “Her reaction was something we wanted to continue to see.”

Five years ago, Rossiter was on active duty with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Bataan, Ainsley was diagnosed with infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy, or INAD, an extremely rare genetic nerve disorder.

“One of the most devastating aspects of that particular diagnosis is it’s terminal progressive, which to the layman means it’s going to kill her,” Rossiter said. “It’s horrible and it’s the reality of it.”

It took 24 months and the help the Oregon Health and Science University, the leading research center for INAD in America, to diagnose his daughter’s disease. Because there are less than 40 known cases of INAD in America and 200 worldwide, little is known about it.

“My wife voiced some concerns in letters and phone calls while we were in Iraq and told me that Ainsley still wasn’t walking, and at this point, 15 months, struck her as odd,” Rossiter said.

In most cases, infants and children develop normally until about 14 to 18 months before they begin to experience difficulty walking. From there, they will regress as toxins continue to build up in the nervous system, paralyzing the body’s functions.

Ainsley’s infectious smiles became rare occurrences, and she went silent. By age 4, she no longer could say the few words she had learned as a toddler. She required a wheelchair the same year. From age 6 through today, she started home-schooling, which now is limited to one day a week.

Ainsley’s days now consist of physical therapy, doctor’s appointments and breathing treatments to avoid secretion buildup in her lungs.

Lori Rossiter says she’s not sure of Ainsley’s awareness level, and she is losing her eyesight.

“I wear the same perfume everyday … Even if I’m just getting home, I spray on perfume because I want her to recognize my smell,” she said.

But Ainsley is a daddy’s girl. They have a special bond: running.

Running Takes Family to New Heights

In 2008, the Rossiters made a decision: they weren’t going to let Ainsley be sidelined because she was in a wheelchair.

“These opportunities to run … (are) an opportunity to be active — to be included,” said Kim Rossiter. “She is included in this opportunity to have her own thing and I think that’s special.”

The father-daughter duo ran their first 5-kilometer marathon in their hometown of Virginia Beach, Va., in 2008.

In 2011, Ainsley’s older sister, Briley, now 12, wanted to keep the running streak going so she laced up her shoes and started racing with her sister in 5- and 10k races.

Briley said running has replaced activities like playing and teatime that she used to do with her sister. Inspired by her sister’s silent strength, Briley wrote a book, “Born an Angel,” that was released in 2013.

“I want to share the message of inclusion. … Especially with Ainsley because she can’t walk and she can’t talk and she’s very different than most people, and most people don’t understand,” Briley said. “They’re afraid so they stare and they judge. I don’t want that. I don’t want that for other kids, either.”

Ainsley has been in 57 races, including two marathons, with her Marine father. The first marathon was the 2011 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington; the final marathon for the running-assisted athlete was the same race two years later, on Oct. 27.

Because Ainsley’s disease continues to progress, she now has retired from marathon events.

“This is her final marathon –her scoliosis and other things — it’s best she doesn’t sit for five hours anymore, but together we were able to enjoy this father-daughter moment with friends and loved ones,” huffed Kim Rossiter moments after passing the finish line at the 2013 Marine Corps Times Marathon.

He was joined at the start line by 30 other wheelchair-assisted athletes and their runners.

Ainsley’s smile inspires family to share message

In 2012, Ainsley’s Angels of America, a nonprofit dedicated to raising funds for other wheelchair-bound athletes, was born.

The foundation has raised more than $100,000 and purchased 70 racing chairs for running-assisted athletes across the country.

The running journey grew and Ainsley’s Angels of America came together with myTEAMTRIUMPH to establish a running coalition for the wheelchair-assisted athletes. There are now about 10 chapters of mTT:Ainsley’s Aingels running in races across America.

“I don’t like it when I find out there is a race and they don’t allow push chairs,” Kim Rossiter said. “The overall goal (of the foundation) is … a time where every road race has a division available for folks that require assistance and experiencing the thrill of an endurance event.”

Lori Rossiter says each member of the family has found a way to deal with Ainsley’s terminal illness: Briley with her book, Kamden, by learning compassion at a young age and Kim through Ainsley’s Angels.

But her message for families facing what seem like insurmountable difficulties is simple: Live on.

“I think she would be thankful we didn’t let her dystrophy stop us from being a family,” Lori Rossiter said.

“We didn’t stop living.”

One investor complained that the company made no literature available. “I’m disappointed,” said the man, a retired employee of Federal Signal, who didn’t give his name. In agreement, shareholder Robert Handrock, an Air Force veteran, commented after the meeting, “it’s the little things.”

Federal Signal develops and manufactures technology solutions for municipal, government, industrial and institutional customers. The company has reported a net loss for the past three years, with a $27 million deficit in 2012.

CEO Dennis Martin said the company’s 2012 sales were strong, up 17 percent to $803 million from $688 million in 2011. He also told investors the company has offloaded a significant amount of debt in 2012 by selling an arm of the company, Federal Signal Technologies, and is ready to start focusing on profit.

Handrock commented later, “The meeting was flat. I guess I thought they would tell us something other than how great they are.” He added, “The value of the stock has gone up in the past few years but that doesn’t get me anything unless I sell. I go to the bank and at least I get something, but in Federal Signal, I get nothing.”

The stock closed Tuesday at $7.76, up 8 cents or 1.04 percent from the previous day’s $.7.68.

Handrock went on, “He (Martin) has got all the good buzz words but when am I going to get a return on my money?” He said he has about $10,000 invested the stock. “I look at the shareholder report and the management gets nice stock options, but what does the shareholder get?”

The company last paid a dividend, 34 cents, in 2010.

Shareholder George VanLueven said he started out with 50 shares of Federal Signal in 1955 and now has more than most of the board members, 100,000 shares.

“It’s going to the grave with me because I don’t want to pay the capital gains tax,” VanLueven jokingly stated.

The retired projectionist said he, too, was disappointed that the company stopped paying dividends, but he thinks the company is now on the right track and Martin has positioned it for growth.

“This guy (Martin) is great. The two CEOS before him belong in jail for what they did here,” said VanLueven.

When a shareholder asked CEO Martin for more information during the meeting, Martin told him to look online for videos to be posted shortly. (The videos have now been posted. View them).

“It’s not unreasonable to expect there would be something similar,” said Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Jonathon Monken.  “That’s an expectation we carry in the intelligence community. We have to operate under the assumption that someone will always try again. We just have to gather and share information to stop the next one.”

Monday’s incident was the first terrorism attack on the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.

Monken, stationed at the IEMA headquarters in Springfield, said he’s been in contact with his counterparts, Cook County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Executive Director Michael Masters and Gary Schenkel, executive director of the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications, to ensure upcoming public events will be safe by sending additional resources.

The next large-scale public event in Chicago is the BIO International Convention April 22-25 at McCormick Place. But the public most likely will not notice a difference in security measures, according to Monken, because Chicago has always been proactive with its security measures and implementing them seamlessly.

If need be, Monken said, the Illinois can send Cook County additional security resources such as state police and swat teams, the national guard, weapons of mass destruction team, additional bomb sniffing dogs and even chemical biological mobile lab equipment.

“We have a lot of capabilities. We’re scalable. We can send anything from communication resources to search and rescue teams,” added Monken.

“One of the most important things is maintaining open communications,” Masters said.

The attack has sparked pleas from law enforcement officials to become more invested in the nation’s security.

“We encourage the public to be vigilant, and to listen to direction from state and local officials,” Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said in a written statement on the department’s website.

Now, more than ever, the public has an important role in the nation’s security, Monken said. “If they spot people out of place, a car parked or suspicious package, they need to feel confident reporting that to local law enforcement.”

No suspects have been named in the Boston Marathon bombings. President Barack Obama called the bombings “an act of terrorism.”

“What we don’t yet know, however, is who carried out this attack, or why; whether it was planned and executed by a terrorist organization, foreign or domestic, or was the act of a malevolent individual,” Obama said in a televised statement Monday evening.

Monken, a West Point graduate, said the weapons and tactics used in the Boston bombings were “reminiscent” of tactics used by Islamic militants during his two tours of duty in Iraq.

“We hoped it would never come back to us but its very similar to things we saw in Iraq,” Monken said.