Letters to the Editor

To the Editor,

The article relating to the return of military personnel to civilian life highlighted the contrast in the two types of living. It explicitly authenticated the mixed feelings of the military returnee.

The article mentioned chartered veterans organizations that provide assistance, such as the American Legion.

The Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter #333 in Rockland, provides assistance to veterans of that war, provides seminars about that conflict to high school students, and also provides programs to promote U.S. patriotism in art and writings. Chapter #333, in addition, grants scholarships to member’s students to reward their academic achievements and help them to continue their education.

For decades, Chapter #333 has promoted Rockland County. It continually participates in village street fairs, and enjoys marching in local parades.

New members are always welcome.

VVA Member,

Norman A. Heiman

The above letter was typed by Managing Editor Sierra Lidén from a handwritten Letter to the Editor sent to our office. More comfortable handwriting your thoughts? Send in your letter to 119 Main St, Nanuet and we will type it up! 

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Rockland’s Youth Jobs Should Add an AI Judgment Track

Rockland County already treats youth employment as more than a résumé exercise. Its 2026 T.E.E.N. Works program combines workplace preparation with the possibility of paid placement at local businesses, nonprofits and municipalities.

That model should now add an AI judgment track.

The Stanford Digital Economy Lab’s August update found that employment for workers ages 22 to 25 in highly AI-exposed occupations was about 19% below the path implied by less-exposed occupations by June 2026, compared with 15% in the July 2025 data vintage. The adjustment appeared mainly through reduced hiring.

Young workers therefore need real experience using AI without becoming dependent on it. A Rockland placement could require participants to use AI for one bounded task, then document what they checked, where the tool was wrong or incomplete, when they asked a supervisor for help and why they accepted the final result.

That would make verification and escalation visible skills. It would also give employers a clearer signal than a generic claim that someone is “AI proficient.”

The first job should teach young people how to think when the software is uncertain. Rockland already has the work-based structure. Adding an AI judgment track would make it fit the labor market young people are actually entering.

Gleb Tsipursky, PhD, a behavioral scientist, CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts, and author of The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work: From Resistance to Results (Georgetown University Press, 2026).

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Dear Editor,

Mike Lawler, the Republican member of Congress representing the 17th District of New York (Rockland County and parts of Westchester and Putnam) has a slick TV ad running now that touts the “accomplishments” of the one big “beautiful” bill that passed Congress in 2025. The ad features people who have benefited from the elimination of taxes for some social security recipients, workers earning tips, and people who itemize income tax deductions on the state and local taxes they pay. What the ad doesn’t mention is the vastly larger number of people who lost affordable health care or access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as a result of the bill.

Mr. Lawler also fails to discuss the big bill’s tax cuts for corporations and wealthy Americans. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the 10% of Americans with the highest incomes will see their incomes increase by 2.7% over the next eight years while incomes of the lowest 10% will fall by 3.1%.

Oh, yes. The bill also increases funding for mass deportations and sharply cuts support for clean energy.

Attempts to cherry pick gimmicky aspects of the Trump Administration’s tax policies may make for a good TV ad, but they don’t stand up to scrutiny. If Representative Lawler were truly interested in the well being of all his constituents, he would fight to restore health care funding and SNAP rather than voting in lockstep with the President’s cruel and vengeful agenda.

Rob Abbot

Croton-on-Hudson