Mahdi Bray and Bridges TV

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

Item from the Saturday, September 30, 2006 edition of the Washington Post:

Muslim-Oriented TV Expands Into Six States

"Seeking to improve the image of Muslims in the United States, an English-language Muslim-oriented TV station has extended its availability into parts of Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida and New York.

"Bridges TV, which was founded by Mo Hassan, a Muslim, is now included in the basic lineup for users of Verizon's fiber-optic network in those six states, and it hopes to expand further.

"At a news conference announcing the move, Madhi Bray, the executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, said the pope's recent controversial remarks about Islam highlighted the need for such programming.

"'Bridges TV is critically important to the American public because it builds bridges," Bray said. 'If there's anything we've seen with the recent episode with the pope and how there's a misconception about the faith traditions of other people . . . we need bridges.'

"The expansion increases Bridges TV's potential audience from fewer than 10,000 homes to nearly 2 million, according to Hassan, the station's chief executive. Previously, Bridges TV, which was launched in 2004, was available to paid subscribers only through Comcast Cable as well as some smaller cable systems.

"Hassan said Bridges TV is a good business venture for cable stations because of the growing number of Muslims and Islam's growing profile in the United States."

We at Northern Virginiastan have previously posted about Mahdi Bray, who championed Omar Abu Ali, Abdurrahman Alamoudi, and Ali Al-Timimi--all three of whom are now serving time in the penitentiary for terrorism-related activities. HERE is an index to three of our previous articles about Mahdi Bray.

We need a national commemoration for 9/11

The fifth anniversary of 9/11 has come and gone. While there were many ad hoc events sponsored by various groups, there was nothing that brought our nation together to mourn the victims and reflect on the attacks. I was shocked that radio stations continued programming as usual during those fateful.

For future commemorations, I would like to have a minute of silence for all to sit aside their activities to reflect on the attack on our country and its citizens at the each time one of the 9/11 flights hit. This moment of silence would be invoked over PA systems in our schools, offices, etc., through church bells, over the radio, over the Internet, and more.

How could we get a movement started for a solemn national commemoration of this kind?

"And the Debate Goes On"

Mark Alexander, UK blogger and author of the book The Dawning of a New Dark Age: A Collection of Essays on Islam (for which I wrote a review posted at Amazon.com), explains the importance of naming the enemy. Muslims have declared a holy war against the West; the West's denial of that reality will not lead to victory.

Read Mr. Alexander's essay HERE.

9/11 Tribute: Edna L. Stevens

This photo shows the face of Edna L. Stevens, who perished on 9/11 at the Pentagon. Before you scroll down for details about her, please take a moment to look at her beautiful face. Take a good, long look!


I hope that you took that minute. Now, scroll down.








Read about Edna (emphases mine):

Edna L. Stephens, 53, liked to cook, bowl and sing in the choir at Varick Memorial AME Zion Church in Northeast Washington. With 34 years at the Pentagon, the civilian budget analyst for the Army looked forward to retiring next year and moving back to her home town, Gainesville, Ga.

And her family, including her father, son and most of her eight brothers and sisters, anticipated the day she would return to the Atlanta suburb.

"Whenever she came home, it was always a happy time," said her sister, Eunice Holcomb, from Stephens's Capitol Heights home. "When she left, we didn't stop laughing."

Stephens was on the Department of Defense list of those unaccounted for after the attack at the Pentagon.

Soon after graduating from high school, Stephens moved to the Washington area and began her job at the Pentagon. About three years ago, she thought about retiring, but instead, Stephens bought her first home and pushed off thoughts of retirement to the future.

Holcomb, 45, said she'll miss confiding in Stephens, the second-oldest of the nine siblings, who was like a "family guidance counselor."

"I won't see her and listen to her and talk to her about things that I can't decide on," Holcomb said. "She was a focal point of guidance for us all. Even though she was far away, we always talked to her."

Stephens's only child, Torrass Allen, a Gainesville High School music teacher, said that while his mother was working at the Pentagon, she attended the University of the District of Columbia.

"She was serious a lot of the time," said Allen, 33. "But she knew how to have fun. She would say what was on her mind. She liked to play cards and be with her friends."

And Stephens liked to smile.

"Right now, I think the main thing I'll miss is her smile not being here anymore," Holcomb said. "One of her friends gave me some consolation when she saw me and said, 'There's her smile.' No one had ever said that to me before."

-- Yolanda Woodlee

Click HERE to add a flower of tribute to Edna's page.

Please take time to observe a moment of silence for Edna L. Stevens, our fellow American.

Edna was a Christian. Therefore, she and I share the common bond of the hope of eternal life, even though we never met. I hereby pay tribute to Edna by quoting "Death Be Not Proud," by John Donne (emphases mine in the last two lines):

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and souls delivery.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

Edna, you and I are sisters in Christ. I'll see on the other side of the river! Until that time, I will never forget you.

[For a list of other blogs participating in this 9/11 tribute by 2,996 bloggers, CLICK HERE and read more tributes]

9/11 Tribute Planned

I found the following at GM Roper's blog and am shamelessly copying the information here:

"'September 11, 2006 will mark the 5-year anniversary of the attacks that killed 2,996 innocent people on American soil....

"'A few months ago I started wondering what, if anything, I would write in my blog that day. A remembrance? A tribute? Anything I came up with seemed shallow, cliché, not enough.

"'I’d like 2,995 blogging volunteers to help me with a tribute to the victims of 9/11. If you’d like to participate, you’ll be assigned the name of someone who was murdered on September 11, 2001. Then on September 11, 2006 you’ll post your own tribute to that person. It can be anything you want it to be: a photo tribute, an essay, a remembrance, a poem…it’s up to you. Then link back to a page I will create which will give the names of all 2,996 victims and links to the blogs that will remember them that day.

"'But, and this is critical, I don’t want any of us to remember the murderers. Do not refer to the terrorists. Or their organization. Or their goals. Let them fade into nothing. Let them be forgotten. Remember those worth remembering.'"

Here is how to sign up:

"If you want to participate, signups are being accepted through comments on either of two blogs: D.C. Roe or 2996. You can also sign up by email to dcroe05-at-yahoo-dot-com. D.C. is making the assignments; although, if you have a name you'd really like to honor, it probably wouldn't hurt to request it. A list of names and participants assigned so far is available here."

I'm going to participate and have requested my assignment.