Image by Michael Gaida from Pixabay
97 Year Old Mayor
It is said the township of Tinton Falls of New Jersey elected its mayor, Vito Perrilo, who’s 97 years old. It’s a town about half an hour drive from Edison. I wonder if he can get on Guinness World Records for being the oldest mayor in the world. It is said that to campaign for the last election four years ago, he knocked on many doors and talked to many people, wearing out two pairs of shoes. That’s a lot of walk for a nonagenarian.
Truck Driver Elected To The State Senate
It is said Edward Durr, a truck driver, becomes the Senator-elect in New Jersey. He only spent $153.31 on his campaign for the primary and $2,300 for the general election. His opponent, on the other hand, spent $305,000. Nobody expected Durr to win, himself included. This is so unbelievable. Somehow I just feel that the voters really dislike the moneyed election system so much that they deliberately voted for the underdog just for the hell of it. New Jersey’s local election is so outrageously expensive that it is beyond comprehension.
Amazon Stores
It is said Amazon is going to build two stores along the Jersey shore. I mean real stores that we can go in and purchase something. I really don’t understand what this means. Does this mean Amazon is going to compete with Costco and Walmart in New Jersey?
Herbal Medicine
There’s a recall of the herbal medicine, Angelica sinensis, from many Asian stores. It is said the lead and cadmium content are too high. I’ve heard this for years that many traditional medicines have abnormally high heavy metal elements. I’ve tried several despite knowing the health risk. Yes, I often do stupid things and this is one of them.
A Mother And Her Two Kids
Last week, Ms. Chou suffocated her two kids, one seven year old and one ten month old. She lives in Somerset, which is half an hour from Edison. I just feel so sad and so sorry when tragedies like this happen. I mean she must be mentally ill, but nobody wants to acknowledge it, including herself. Now people are paying attention because she committed this unspeakable crime. Mental health issue is particularly prominent among immigrants since we don’t have our relatives around here who can support and comfort us when we have problems.
It is said she killed her kids and tried to commit suicide by the roadside where there’s a little river or a lake. However she’s discovered before she could end her own life. She must have thought she has to die and there’s no way out, but she is wrong. Most of the time, life has alternatives. Try not to believe that there is only one correct answer, which most of us learned in school. That’s not true. Life has many alternatives and a change of perception will make a lot of difference.
Haoyan Do 
I love the story of the truck driver and the old man winning elections. It’s true, lots of people are tired of establishment politics. That’s why Trump won in 2016 as he was an outsider and wasn’t part of Washington DC’s political culture.
I am sad for that woman who tried to do that mother-child suicide. It is unfortunate that many Asians see mental health counseling as a form of weakness. Hopefully this stigma ends soon.
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Just think that he may win again in 2024. It frightens me. Politics is crazy and humans don’t know how to handle politics. It often goes out of hands, like a stampede of a mad crowd.
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I stay away from the news. It’s mostly disturbing and sad.
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That’s so true. There are a few good ones but a lot of bad ones.
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Oh, this is so sad. Thank you for raising some awareness regarding mental health.
“Try not to believe there is only one answer…” this is so true regarding school! My little cousins – in an Asian country – asked me for help with their maths homework once when they were about 5-6. One question was like, “Jane has more than 3 apples in her pocket. How many apples does she have” and the answers were A) two; B) five; C) 37.
And even though both B and C are higher than 3, C was incorrect because it “wasn’t realistic”. (How small were the apples, how big were Jane’s pockets? Was Jane a T-Rex?)
I think making children rule out possibilities while so young severely limits the frontiers of open and creative thinking, which is one mode of intelligence.
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Thank you for visiting and commenting. Yes, it is so sad. Such a tragedy. I mean the kids look so innocent. yes, they have the picture s in the newspaper. I wish she had talked to somebody even if she had no relatives around. People would have helped her and even recommended doctors for her. And it is very true that the schools often teach kids one-solution. So wrong. It is said some of the math questions for kids are so hard … I think I read one question long ago from Singapore–a 2nd grader’s homework and I don’t know how to answer. I mean instead of teaching difficult math questions that most kids won’t encounter in their life if they don’t want to become scientists or engineers, why not teach them about life’s alternatives and school’s limitations?
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Absolutely. I wonder when such a cultural shift might happen, as a rigid culture probably continues itself.
May she and the little ones Rest In Peace.
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