After he left the Giuliani administration in 1995, Benschop worked in the Caribbean press and in public access television for a time before deciding to return to Guyana in late 1999 to marry his fiancée, now wife, Maria. They lived in the capital city, Georgetown, while waiting for her visa to enter the United States. Benschop said he got the idea to host a talk show on Guyana television. That show, “Straight Talk,” debuted in 1999, the same year Bharrat Jagdeo was elected that nation’s president for the first time. Jagdeo was reelected in 2006. Guyana had a turbulent political history even before gaining independence from the British in 1966. Animosity between the two largest political parties – the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP) and the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) – has been augmented by racial issues: The PPP, the current ruling party, is composed primarily of Indo-Guyanese, descendants of East Indians brought to Guyana by the British as indentured servants, while the PNC constituency is mainly Afro-Guyanese, descendants of former slaves. Benschop said he worked hard to be fair to both sides. “I thought [Jagdeo] was a young president, and I should give him time to prove himself,” he said. Benschop also criticized the PNC leadership, which he considered old and out of step with the country. “I’m a journalist,” Benschop said. “I just wanted to do my job as a journalist.” Benschop said he tried to use his show to expose “corruption in society …
Solano Tea Party Patriots to host rally Saturday
The Solano Tea Party Patriots will have a rally from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Westfield Solano mall on the corner of Travis and Gateway boulevards in Fairfield.
Report: 25 states are considering Arizona-style immigration laws
A pro-immigration group has released a report (PDF) predicting that 25 states may try to pass anti-illegal immigration laws similar to Arizona’s controversial legislation next year. Pro-enforcement groups previously estimated that some 22 states were considering the bill, The Washington Independent’s Elise Foley points out. This means more states are considering legislation modeled after the …
Israel Responds to the Border Issues Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was outraged at Obama’s request last week to return the Israeli borders back to the [...]
Trump Bows Out, Ahead of Schedule Nobody knows for sure whether or not Donald Trump was serious about running for president in 2012 or whether he [...]
Obama’s Border Speech President Obama visited the U.S.-Mexico border yesterday for the first time since being elected and urged his supporters to tell [...]
