The east side of the Pennsylvania State Capitol at Harrisburg, PA | Photo by Kumar Appaiah on Wikimedia Commons
Part XIX of the “United States 2024 Election
Readers of this column probably notice this writer’s occasional mention in his op-ed pieces “The Promised Land” of Moses and the prophet Abraham, a common patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
One of the column articles mentioned “The Promised Land,” Moses, Abraham, and Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning: Can Bernie Sanders Be a Modern-day Moses and Lead Biracial Israel and Palestine to a New “Promised Land?”
This columnist wrote in it: “Perhaps Mr. Sanders can champion the creation of the so-called ‘Abraham Squares.’ The proposed ‘squares’ projects consist of building adjacent interfaith places of worship and iconic cultural structures, including ‘Cathedrals of Learning,’ medical and sports centers among and for Israelis, Palestinians, and Christians.”
This columnist also mentioned in his writings that maybe Mr. Sanders’ rivals in the 2020 Democratic primary elections, Joe Biden and Mike Bloomberg, could also be fellow American versions of Moses. But so far, the three gentlemen are lukewarm to accept the challenge of becoming the “American Moses.” Curious readers can type “Promised Land,” “Moses,” or “Abraham” in the Search Box of this online publication to read the other articles about the said topics.
The last column mentioned this journalist’s vacation to the City of Pittsburgh in 1997. During that visit, he also viewed how the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers flow together to form the Ohio River (close to the Three Rivers Stadium). The Ohio flows from Pittsburgh to create the borders of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and areas of Illinois before emptying into the Mississippi (Old Man) River.
This simple experience added to this journalist’s idea, nay, the proposal of cleaning the Mississippi River’s waters. In 1995, he started thinking about how the river waters could power mini-hydropower plants and then pump the cleaned waters to replenish America’s aquifers and running dry rivers. Water empties into the Gulf of Mexico instead of the Old Man River. It was after Federal Express (FedEx) of Memphis, TN, sponsored a “Hispano-Filipino Fiesta” at the West Covina Mall in Southern California in June 1995 that this journalist chaired.
This writer calls the visionary project “Turning Tennessee into a Sea” (or simply, “TNsea”). The river waters in Tennessee will be cleaned. Here is one of the articles written about the TNsea proposal: Mr. Biden Can Be Bolder With “The Old Man and TNsea” Moonshot and Win Re-election With It.
Can Pennsylvania spearhead the proposed “Old Man River Development Plan”? And even the building of “Abraham Squares” in the United States, Mexico, the Middle East (starting in Palestine and Israel), and the Philippines?
Then, on January 17, 2023, Josh Shapiro was sworn in as the governor of Pennsylvania after Governor Tom Wolf’s term. Mr. Shapiro is the third Jewish governor in the history of Pennsylvania, after Milton Shapp (1971–1979) and Ed Rendell (2003–2011).
“Can Pennsylvania spearhead the proposed “Old Man River Development Plan”? And even the building of “Abraham Squares” in the United States, Mexico, the Middle East (starting in Palestine and Israel), and the Philippines?”
This journalist realized that if the country’s senior leaders are hesitant to become American versions of Moses, fate may have led him to Pittsburgh and the Great State of Pennsylvania. He realized that Mr. Shapiro is the state’s first Generation X governor. And, by a strange coincidence, his first name is also the name of Moses’s successor, Joshua.
This journalist cum activist community leader got to befriend Ernesto Gange in 2000, former state chairperson of the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA). Mr. Gange became the first board member of Filipino descent of the Pearl S. Buck Foundation of Pennsylvania.
Due to a crusade for reforms in the NaFFAA that this journalist started in October 2000, he also met Richard Rillera. He was then a columnist for a now-defunct Filipino-American newspaper in New Jersey.
This journalist met Ernie Gange and Ricky Rillera at the Philippine Center in New York City in May 2015. Discussed during a luncheon meeting that followed were visionary plans for the Filipino-American communities in the United States. Eventually, Mr. Rillera took over the Philippine Daily Mirror and invited this journalist to write in this column, which debuted on November 23, 2020.
Incidentally, Mr. Rillera was elected to the Pearl S. Buck Foundation’s Board of Trustees. He has also met leaders of the Keystone State, including Governor Shapiro.
Time will tell if fate has led this journalist to Pennsylvania, where perhaps he finds the American versions of Joshua (in the persons of Gov. Josh Shapiro and his fellow Generation X leaders). Remember that it was Joshua who became the leader of the Exodus after Moses died. Joshua led the Jewish people to their “Promised Land.” And there is no problem in funding the uncompleted American version of it. The suggested “Biden Wealth Tax” can be one of its paramount sources of investments for the numerous socioeconomic infrastructures needed.
