presstalk 671-TALK

• I applaud the farragutpress for the May 4 article on Cathy Hinners about radical Islamic terrorism. Hinners has worked with Homeland Security and taught the New York Police Department about weapons of mass destruction. Her presentation as the featured speaker for Knoxville's chapter of ACT For America was extremely accurate, and should be given greater exposure.  I have worked for NCIS, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, at their Anti-Terrorist Alert Center both in Washington, D.C., and abroad in Muslim countries.  I have also completed several tours with the Defense Intelligence Agency.  Having spent years working with classified reports concerning terrorism, I can vouch for Cathy Hinners’ comments.  When it comes to protecting our community, it's far better to be correct than politically correct. Thank you again for having the farragutpress report multiple views on important topics.

• The Editor’s Note in last [week’s] Presstalk [clarifying a point from a reaction to our Cathy Hinners story] was pretty pathetic. You basically said, ‘Hey, it’s not our fault, we didn’t interview Cathy Hinners, we just featured her speech.’ And I guess you got an excerpt from her speech. Well, there’s no excuse for printing hate speech and bigoted, unfounded rumors [in] your newspaper. If George Lincoln Rockwell gave a speech and you didn’t interview him, would you summarize what he said? You blew your opportunity to be a journalist here. [Editor’s Note: Hinners’ speech was covered in person; the story was not based from an excerpt].

• Congratulations to Knoxville Catholic junior Clara Hay and her partner, Hardin Valley Academy senior Allie Asbury, who took third place in the Women's Double event at the Southeast Youth Rowing Championship, held over the weekend at Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia May 13-14.  Their third-place finish advances them to the 2017 Youth National Rowing Championship in Sarasota, Florida, in June.