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Supply Chain Bill Passes the House 

William Attardi on May 2, 2025

On April 28, the House of Representatives passed the Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act of 2025, sponsored by Rep. John James (R-MI). The bill establishes a Supply Chain Resiliency Program within the Department of Commerce, using AI and quantum computing to anticipate and mitigate supply chain disruptions from natural and man-made disasters. It includes an Early Warning System, fosters public-private collaboration, and incentivizes domestic manufacturing to reduce reliance on adversarial nations like China. Supply Chain Bill Passes the House  – tEDmag

Artificial Intelligence Can Be America’s Strategic Advantage by Manisha Singh

William Attardi on February 28, 2025

The world is shifting from great power competition to global strategic advantage, and artificial intelligence can be America’s great strategic advantage. Like every other significant innovation in the last century, AI was created in the U.S. Both allies and adversaries are racing to surpass our economic and security capabilities. America must accelerate in the race to mobilize AI for great strategic advantage. President Trump has made the point about American dominance in AI emphatically. Among the flurry of initial executive orders is an EO focused specifically on “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.” It directs the development of an AI Action Plan to “act decisively to retain global leadership in artificial intelligence.” The unwritten part being that thThe AI face off is between the land of the free and the Chinese communist party. America cannot afford to lose.e most sinister challenge emanates from the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  Artificial Intelligence Can Be America’s Strategic Advantage

The Statue of Liberty was made with copper but due to oxidation, it turned green.

When the “Lady in the Harbor” first arrived in New York in 1886, she didn’t look like the mint-green icon we know today. In fact, for the first twenty years of her life, she stood as a towering, metallic beacon of reddish-gold. Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and engineered by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the statue was a gift from France to America. To build her, Bartholdi chose copper for three practical reasons:

  • Malleability:It could be hammered into elaborate, thin sheets.
  • Weight:Copper is lighter than stone or bronze, making it easier to ship 350 individual pieces across the Atlantic.
  • Durability:It was strong enough to survive a 27-day ocean voyage and the harsh winds of the harbor.

When she was unveiled on October 28, 1886, her skin—made of 300 copper sheets roughly the thickness of two pennies—shone with a bright, metallic brown luster. The transformation from “penny-colored” to “patina-green” wasn’t planned. Bartholdi actually expected the statue to age into a deeper, darker red. However, the unique environment of New York Harbor—a mix of salt air, moisture, and industrial pollution—triggered a process called oxidation.

The Timeline of Change:

  1. 1886–1900:The bright copper dulled into a dark, muddy brown.
  2. 1903:The first hints of a light green crust, or “patina,” began to appear.
  3. 1906:The color change was so controversial that Congress nearly stepped in. They appropriated $62,000 to paint the statue back to its original color, but the public protested, calling the idea “sacrilege.”
  4. 1910–1920:The statue was a patchy mix of brown and green until 1920, when the oxidation was complete, leaving her entirely teal.

While we now view the green color as iconic, it actually serves a vital structural purpose. The layer of verdigris (the green patina) acts as a protective shield. It seals the copper underneath, preventing the metal from further corrosion and weathering.  By the time the color fully changed, a new generation of immigrants had arrived in America seeing a green statue.