On Long Island a piece of ancient machinery, a contraption of levers and pulleys designed in 1913, critical to the successful operation of the LIRR caught on fire for about an hour the evening before. This module controls the 155 track switches at a crucial choke point, Jamaica Station, where 10 of the railroad’s 11 branches must travel through to get in and out of New York City.

On AMTRAK a power outage at 7:40 am Tuesday, intensified morning agony farther south along the Mid-Atlantic seaboard, suspending AMTRAK regional train service between New York City and Philadelphia because of low voltage problems, cascading into cancelled trains between Baltimore and Washington as well. Further up into New England, Acela trains running the Boston-NY-DC route were delayed, but regional train services were fortunately spared from any impact.

What caused this mess? The simple answer and most brief answer is: a control box from 1913, and low voltage in the power lines. However, the more accurate answer is an overloaded mass transit system with very little capacity to expand. Expand we should. Major advancements in this country’s mass transportation infrastructure would be one of the most effective means to stay competitive in the global market. They would also increase socioeconomic leverage of the regions they connect. The cost associated with these projects are immense but the payoffs are long term investments.

For instance, a major construction project to add a second set of train tunnels under the Husdon River connecting NYC and NJ is predicted to increase home values in northern NJ and suburban NYC by $18 billion. A recent study funded in part by the Port Authority of NYNJ finds that homes in New Jersey and New York near train stations on the NJ TRANSIT system and Metro North’s Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines will increase in value by $19,000 on average if they are within two miles of train stations and by $29,000 for homes within walking distance. Cumulatively, this increase in home value will be an asto

nishing $18 billion, creating a higher tax base and relieving pressure to increase tax rates in communities across New Jersey and New York.

New York City did land the top spot in the 2010 Global Cities Index, a report done in collaboration by Foreign Policy magazine, the management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. However, the place at the top is always temporary. Unless our mass transit system keeps up with the rest of the world, New York’s downfall, and the positions of America’s other two cities in the top ten will be increasingly in jeopardy to an Asian metropolis or a “new world” urban center. See the Report and view the full list.

Mass transit is green, creates jobs and challenges engineers, communities and public authorities to solve difficult problems. It encourages international trade, reduces our reliance on foreign oil exporting countries and improves quality of life. Last point, the one good thing about today’s mess was that it didn’t happen on the day before Thanksgiving.

Most of the readers of this website know that many of the metals and minerals found in today’s personal electronics (e.g. smart phones, mp3 players) have the strong possibility of being extracted from Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and/or its adjoining countries. For years, bloody conflicts and intra-state wars have been waged in this region, in fact the United Nations’ largest peacekeeping operation (18,000 personnel) is in the DRC, likely fueled by mining profits. Advocacy groups and both governmental and NGO human rights organizations have been trying for years to develop a foreign policy to end these conflicts and defund the warlords. However, with India, China, EU and other countries involved in exporting raw materials from the region, the right mechanism was hard to find.

However, on July 21^st, President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, otherwise referred to on TV as the financial reform bill. Deep inside on page 851, in section 1,502, the document reads, It is the …”Sense of Congress that the exploitation and trade of conflict minerals originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is helping to finance conflict characterized by extreme levels of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly sexual- and gender-based violence, and contributing to an humanitarian situation therein…”. The document then goes on to require the companies to…”exercise due diligence on the source and chain of custody of such minerals, which measures shall include an independent private sector audit of such report submitted through the [sic. Securities and Exchange] Commission that is conducted in accordance with standards established by the Comptroller General of the United States, in accordance with rules promulgated by the Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of State.”

Very wordy, but these few paragraphs will force many “manufacturers to overhaul checks on their supply chain in an attempt to identify any “conflict minerals” that can be traced back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo or adjoining countries”, as Jean Eaglesham and Jeremy Lemer of the Financial Times reported earlier this week.

The law will affect thousands of companies. The Congo region is a widely used source of important industrial metals and minerals such as tantalum, copper, germanium, gold, manganese and cobalt. Tantalum, for example, is used in very small amounts in crucial electronic components such as capacitors, which find their way into everything from cars, to personal computers and mobile phones.

Regardless of the good intentions and valid policy goals of the law, the challenge still remains to verifiably trace the origins of these ingredients across oceans, refineries, shipping companies and through jungles to dangerous mining regions

Who can do this work? Supply-chain audit experts probably have not tackled a problem as complicated and dangerous as this one before. There also is a chance though, that the makers will simply disclose that their products contain materials from the Congo region, address any public relations concerns that arise and move on. The next implementation steps are likely to be costly and require very specialized firms to do the work. When the law goes into effect in 2012 it will be interesting to see the findings and learn who and how they produced the reports.

Canadian based Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) and officials from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are nearing completion of an official agreement to allow the continued operation of RIM’s BlackBerry instant messaging service. The row began over security concerns put forward by UAE and Saudi officials regarding their inability to monitor communications from RIM products. In contrast to their competitors who use public Internet systems with standard encryption, RIM uses a proprietary encryption mechanism and routes all data traffic from BlackBerry handsets globally to their Canadian based data centers consequently blocking government snooping. However, it has been this added sense of security which many in the industry have pointed to as an underlying aspect of RIMs rapid integration into the global business market.

Research in Motion, maker of Blackberry could face a backlash from not just UAE, but Indian, and Indonesian officials as well.

According to multiple news sources, the content of the preliminary agreement brokered by Canadian and American officials centers on RIM establishing domestic servers within the Kingdom to allow regulatory authorities to monitor usage. While the official debates are focused on national security concerns, a subsequent result is a massive hindrance on the social life of Saudi youth. To officials in the Gulf States, BlackBerry’s are being used to wrongfully circumvent government policies be them related to security or morality. Regardless, RIM is feeling the pressure and eyes globally are honed in on Riyadh to see the eventual outcome.

While many analysts consider the situation to be overblown, I am in the minority. If the aforementioned negotiations do not develop a standard to reconcile Saudi concerns, RIM could face a backlash from not just UAE, but Indian, and Indonesian officials as well. There has even been limited talk of RIM asking Canadian officials for their support in utilizing the WTO as last resort – a very politically charged course of action.  Furthermore, depending upon how far RIM goes to satisfy Saudi officials, security-conscious business consumers may begin to look for other smartphone options. Ultimately RIM is in a particularly troubling quandary. Bend too little, and face being banded from major business markets; bend too much, and find consumers migrating to other providers to ensure continuity of service.

In the end, RIM will likely bend and establish domestically monitored servers within the Kingdom in hopes that this will quell security concerns. RIM is likely to rebound, but the timing of this debate is problematic as Apple and RIM are engaged in a heated battle over global market-share for smart-phones. Regardless, the positive publicity RIM has received concerning its proprietary encryption mechanism will remain a strong selling point for business travelers. That is, once Saudi and RIM officials find a common ground. Until then, the Kingdom will remain unhappy with their RIM devices.

*Freedom-Kai Phillips is a reseach analyst focusing on business intelligence issues for Info Tech Research Group. He holds an LL.B. from Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS. Canada), a M.A. in Diplomacy and International Relations from the Whitehead School of Diplomacy, Seton Hall University (South Orange, NJ. USA) and a B.S (magna cum laude) from Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, MI. USA).

RNC chairman Michael Steele sought meetings with foreign diplomats in D.C.

The bizarre decision to set up meetings with foreign ambassadors, reportedly in order to discuss the upcoming mid-term elections in the United States has many people questioning the motive of the RNC chairman.

The Atlantic’s Max Fisher has compiled some interesting answers…read here.

A court room sketch of the spies

1. Running a close second place in the news cycle, only behind the Gulf oil spill relief effort, the US completed an intriguing round-up and swap with Moscow of 10 Russian spies living in America. Very swiftly after their capture, the 10 were traded for 4 individuals tied to western intelligence gathering efforts who sat in Russian jails. Facebook profiles, romantic encounters and disbelief from those who knew the deep-cover agents reignited Cold War nostalgia with a modern twist and increased online readership across many news outlets. Politico.com actually appears to have hit its monthly high right after the story broke. (source: Quantcast)

2. The island of Cyprus’ normally bland and now 36 year old smoldering civil war also got a celebrity spark this week, when Jennifer Lopez decided to cancel a concert in the Northern Turkish Republic of Cyprus due to public pressure. She was due to perform on July 24 for the opening of the Cratos Premium Hotel and Casino in Kyrenia, a beach resort town on the northern side of the island.

A statement posted on her website read, “Jennifer Lopez would never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse…After a full review of the relevant circumstances in Cyprus, it was the decision of her advisors to withdraw from the appearance. This was a team decision that reflects our sensitivity to the political realities of the region.”

The conflict has spawned UN resolutions, peacekeeping missions and international court cases since the island split violently into a Greek-speaking south and Turkish-speaking north after a 1974 invasion by Turkey. In 1983, Turkish Cypriots declared the north’s independence, but Turkey is the only country that has recognized the region’s status. Meanwhile, the internationally recognized southern Greek Cypriot side of the island joined the European Union in 2004, further growing the economic development inequalities between the two sides. Remarkably, some saw J Lo’s planned performance as an endorsement of the breakaway state’s legitimacy – a bit of a stretch if you ask me. However, a week on the island in 2005 certainly taught me how seriously Cypriots, both southern and northern, take seemingly little things like this.

3. Lastly, the British supermodel Naomi Campbell announced through her PR firm this week that she will testify as a witness in the war crimes tribunal of Charles Taylor. Taylor, the former leader of Liberia, was captured while on the run by UN peacekeepers in Nigeria in March 2006. He is accused of mass murder, rape and mutilation, including financial support for rebels in Sierra Leone civil war that cut off the limbs of their civilian victims. Taylor, 62, is also accused of destabilizing Liberia and several neighboring countries while amassing a personal fortune from illicit trade in diamonds, guns and timber.

Charles Taylor, the former leader of Liberia, was captured while on the run by UN peacekeepers in Nigeria in March 2006. UN Photo/Mathew Elavanalthoduka

Campbell is being ordered to testify because, according to another celebrity, Mia Farrow, she accepted an enormous rough-cut diamond from Taylor when the two met at a house party hosted by Nelson Mandela in 1997. Farrow, who was also at the party, says Campbell told her about the gift soon after it was presented to her. The supermodel had previously avoided questions on the matter and said she did not want to be involved in the war crimes trial at The Hague, Netherlands. However, after the court issued a subpoena on July 1, ordering her appearance, she faced a prison term of up to seven years, a fine of about $500, or both, if she failed to appear.

International diplomacy probably won’t get this sensational again for a while.