In late December 1988, in a hasty and ill-considered action, the Reagan Administration approved two separate requests by the Honeywell Corporation and by Baileys Controls to export high technology to the Soviet Ministry of Mineral Fertilizers (MMF).
My mention of mineral resource vulnerability may surprise some but I should point out the heavy dependency of rare earth minerals in technology such as mobile devices and consumer electronics, and the limited supply we have.
It is through this kind of thorough engagement of people with their technology that we will be able to take full advantage of these chunks of electronic metal and mineral that we carry around in our pockets.