Not only am i huge fan of Wyclef musically, He is a really nice guy generous and always willing to help his people or well anyone this would be wonderful

Gunsnhalen said:

Not only am i huge fan of Wyclef musically, He is a really nice guy generous and always willing to help his people or well anyone this would be wonderful

If you're a huge fan, how do you reconcile his presidential aspirations against his Haitian fund siphoning scandal?

I had to explain to my co-workers that Wyclef Jean is the guy that goes "one time" in the Killing Me Softly 90s remake.

Cinnie said:

I had to explain to my co-workers that Wyclef Jean is the guy that goes "one time" in the Killing Me Softly 90s remake.

Yeah that was probably the most "mainstream" song that transcended all genre's etc. So I guess that for some...that's their only experience with who Wyclef is.

I saw an interview of Wyclef comparing himself to Quincy saying that he is a "young Quincy Jones". It took all I had to keep from I think he's talented, but no way nearly on the scale of Quincy Jones and should have been slapped for mentioning his name in the same sentence with Quincy.

[Edited 8/4/10 22:52pm]

NO ONE is seeing Quincy!!!

Cinnie said:

NO ONE is seeing Quincy!!!

Huh?

Reel said:

Cinnie said:

NO ONE is seeing Quincy!!!

Huh?

In my opinion, there is not another talent whose legacy is close enough to compare to Quincy's.

Cinnie said:

Reel said:

Huh?

In my opinion, there is not another talent whose legacy is close enough to compare to Quincy's.

LOL Ok I gotcha. Thanks for breaking it down for me. Are you Jamaican?

Reel said:

Cinnie said:

In my opinion, there is not another talent whose legacy is close enough to compare to Quincy's.

LOL Ok I gotcha. Thanks for breaking it down for me. Are you Jamaican?

Why?

Cinnie said:

Reel said:

LOL Ok I gotcha. Thanks for breaking it down for me. Are you Jamaican?

Why?

Just asked because of the way you phrased your initial statement about Quincy "No ones seeing Quincy". No need to answer though, no biggie.

[Edited 8/5/10 0:45am]

A brief history of Haitian politics ( I apologise for my poor grasp of French and Creole names)

I am not surprised. Haiti has been plagued by corruption, scnadals, coups and crippling poverty. The last great hope for the country Aristide, had an ignomous end. Haiti gained independence in 1804, after defeating France in a series of battles by able commanders like Petain and Toussaint L'Ouverture. However the stability ended there. Petain and Jean Jacques Dessalines both died too soon, making way for the first dictator King Henri Christophe, who built a huge palace called Sans Souci in the highlands that used slave labour and turned the country into his personal fiefdom, the castle included several fully loaded cannons, that were never used. Christophe died in 1820, more dictators and presidents followed, mostly either being deposed or dying, another man called Faustin or Solulique declared himself an emperor in 1850 and met a sticky end. Up to the US takeover in 1914, Haiti had 43 presidents, only 2 survived their terms and 1 died in office. One of the most stable was Hippolyte Fiovril who had the Marche de Fer (Iron Market) in Port Au Prince named after him in 1889. The Americans intervened between 1914 and 1933, and mostly mulatto presidents were in power like Leconte and Borno. The country actually progressed in this period. Then two able presidents followed including Dumarsais Estime (Black) in the 1940s. A dictator called Paul Magloire (Mulatto) ruled until 1957 when he lost the presidency in a election to one Dr Francois Duvalier (Papa Doc - Black), at the start he was good but by the early 60s he became corrupt, declared himself president for life (President a Vie), started a city called Duvalierville in which everyone was taxed into building and started the secret police Tontons Macoutes who ruled the country with fear. Duvalier apparently used Voudou and even was reputed to be a cannibal, he died in 1971 and his son Jean Claude took over, nothing much changed, but conditions improved slightly, in 1986 after a hike in food prices he was overthrown and Henri Namphy declared himself a military dictator, Aristide won the 1990 election and ruled for one year until he was overthrown again by the military, Then Aristide was bought back in 1995 with US help, but in his term embezzled money, the last president Preval had actually done an honest job, but progress in haiti was halted with the January 2010 earthquake.

Haitians are mostly the descendants of black slaves bought there by the French in the 17th and 18th century, at the time it had the richest sugarcane plantations in the world. There was also a middle class of mulattoes who became the elite after independence. Society was polarised by the mulattos being mostly urban, educated and speaking French, whereas most Blacks spoke Creole (Kreyol) and were agriculturally based, many also worshipped voudou gods and goddesses and the mostly illiterate people have many stories of zombies and other folk legends. Over cultivation has meant that Haiti resembles a desert in many places and many Haitians have emigrated, mostly to the USA and as guest workers in the welathier Dominican Republic. Power struggles have mostly been between the mulatto elite and a small group of educated urban black people.

If Jean was to become president, he would have a big challenge ahead of him, reforming the country, improving healthcare, sustaining and rehabilitating the countryside. He would also need to secure aid for development from wealthier countries and improve relations between blacks and mulattoes.

On a lighter note, would he make Fu Gee La the national anthem (There is a version in Kreyol)

Peep these comments by Sean Penn:

"What the Haitian people need now is a leader who is genuinely willing to sacrifice," Penn said. "I haven't seen or heard anything of him in these last six months that I've been in Haiti. I think he's an important voice. I hope he doesn't sacrifice that voice by taking the eye off the very devastating realities on the ground."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/W...tml?hpt=C1

namepeace said:

Jean has been accused of mismanaging his non-profit for his personal gain.

Not a good background for a candidate to lead a country already victimized by generations of ethically compromised leaders.

So, not only is he unqualified, he's not even eligible. So, why is he even talking about this???

And he currently owes the US $2.1 million in back taxes.

http://www.thesmokinggun....politician

Wyclef Jean Is Already Lying Like An Experienced Politician

Barely 10 hours into his new career, Wyclef Jean went on CNN this evening and lied like a veteran politician.Appearing on "Larry King Live," Jean was questioned by substitute host Wolf Blitzer about the finances of his charitable foundation as well as his personal income tax problems. On both counts, the musician, who today announced his candidacy for Haiti's presidency, was not truthful in his responses to questions by Blitzer (who, sadly, seemed almost as informed as the regular occupant of the host's chair).

When asked whether he had ever taken money from Yele Haiti, his charitable foundation, Jean said those charges were "not true." He then added, "Did Wyclef Jean ever take Yele Haiti money to put in his personal pocket? Never."

As first reported in these pages, Jean and a relative paid themselves more than $410,000 in foundation funds. This money purportedly went to them for rent, production services, and Jean's appearance at a benefit concert.

And, of course, these are not "charges." The group's own tax returns--which were filed years late--disclosed this curious bit of self-dealing on the part of Jean, 37, and his cousin Jerry Duplessis, both of whom were foundation board members.

When Blitzer segued into questions about TSG's disclosure this week that the Internal Revenue Service has filed three federal tax liens (totaling $2.1 million) against Jean, the musician first promised that, "There is no situation of Wyclef Jean that we will ignore. We respect the IRS very much." He then pledged not to leave the United States without handling his "situation" with the IRS. "Any personal Wyclef matters are being handled as we speak."

However, when the CNN anchor then asked whether he owed any back taxes, Jean replied, flatly, "Everything is paid up." After noting that, "Financial problems I do not have," he added, "It's a situation that will be handled."

Jean's claim that "everything is paid up" will come as a surprise to representatives of the Bergen County clerk's office, which a TSG reporter visited yesterday. Records in the Hackensack, New Jersey office clearly show that the three liens--covering Jean's unpaid individual taxes for 2006, 2007, and 2008--had not been satisfied. The most recent lien, for $724,332, was filed by the IRS just 10 weeks ago.

[Edited 8/6/10 7:35am]

^ What a hot ass mess.

Graycap23 said:

Peep these comments by Sean Penn:

"What the Haitian people need now is a leader who is genuinely willing to sacrifice," Penn said. "I haven't seen or heard anything of him in these last six months that I've been in Haiti. I think he's an important voice. I hope he doesn't sacrifice that voice by taking the eye off the very devastating realities on the ground."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/W...tml?hpt=C1

I think that Sean Penn has the right to talk because he's on the ground working commando style to help the people get through this. Although I'm no Sean Penn fan, I trust what he says, and I admire his faithfulness to Haiti. He has an unbelievable drive.

Graycap23 said:

Peep these comments by Sean Penn:

"What the Haitian people need now is a leader who is genuinely willing to sacrifice," Penn said. "I haven't seen or heard anything of him in these last six months that I've been in Haiti. I think he's an important voice. I hope he doesn't sacrifice that voice by taking the eye off the very devastating realities on the ground."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/W...tml?hpt=C1

If Wyclef really cares about Haiti he will endorse a committed person who is actually qualified to be President.

He needs to stop. This is not the time for Haiti to be taking chances on an inexperienced man.

babynoz said:

Graycap23 said:

Peep these comments by Sean Penn:

"What the Haitian people need now is a leader who is genuinely willing to sacrifice," Penn said. "I haven't seen or heard anything of him in these last six months that I've been in Haiti. I think he's an important voice. I hope he doesn't sacrifice that voice by taking the eye off the very devastating realities on the ground."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/W...tml?hpt=C1

If Wyclef really cares about Haiti he will endorse a committed person who is actually qualified to be President.

Exactly! They have enough obstacles.

babynoz said:

Graycap23 said:

Peep these comments by Sean Penn:

"What the Haitian people need now is a leader who is genuinely willing to sacrifice," Penn said. "I haven't seen or heard anything of him in these last six months that I've been in Haiti. I think he's an important voice. I hope he doesn't sacrifice that voice by taking the eye off the very devastating realities on the ground."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/W...tml?hpt=C1

If Wyclef really cares about Haiti he will endorse a committed person who is actually qualified to be President.

That motion is seconded!

babynoz said:

Graycap23 said:

Peep these comments by Sean Penn:

"What the Haitian people need now is a leader who is genuinely willing to sacrifice," Penn said. "I haven't seen or heard anything of him in these last six months that I've been in Haiti. I think he's an important voice. I hope he doesn't sacrifice that voice by taking the eye off the very devastating realities on the ground."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/W...tml?hpt=C1

If Wyclef really cares about Haiti he will endorse a committed person who is actually qualified to be President.

Unfortunately, his actions(past & present) prove that his focal point has & will always be himself.

BTW Pras have some choice words...

Harlepolis said:

babynoz said:

If Wyclef really cares about Haiti he will endorse a committed person who is actually qualified to be President.

Unfortunately, his actions(past & present) prove that his focal point has & will always be himself.

BTW Pras have some choice words...

I was SOOO WAITING to hear from Pras. I knew that he was probably thinking WTF. He and Wyclef have been mortal enemies since the break up of the Fugees, only to make occasional appearances with him. I know he was really thinking "oh Hell to da no".

Harlepolis said:

babynoz said:

If Wyclef really cares about Haiti he will endorse a committed person who is actually qualified to be President.

Unfortunately, his actions(past & present) prove that his focal point has & will always be himself.

BTW Pras have some choice words...

The guy couldn't even run his own non profit successfully, but he thinks he can run a country? Especially one as troubled as Haiti???

Those folks have been through enough.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/n...wyclefjean

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Hip-hop star Wyclef Jean's bid to run for Haiti's presidency hung in the balance on Friday as the earthquake-ravaged Caribbean country waited for its electoral authority to publish the final list of approved candidates.

U.N. and Haitian police guarded the provisional electoral council headquarters in Port-au-Prince to prevent any trouble as feverish expectations mounted over which of the 34 original contenders would be on the confirmed list for the November 28 presidential election.

Late on Thursday, a council member, who asked not to be named, told Reuters that locally popular 40-year-old singer-songwriter and international celebrity Jean was not on the list because he failed to satisfy several legal requirements.

It was feared his exclusion and that of other contenders from the electoral race on legal grounds could stir political tensions and even possible violence. Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is struggling to recover from the devastating January 12 earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people.

The electoral council had postponed from Tuesday until Friday the announcement of the list of approved candidates.

Key among the complicating requirements for Jean was believed to be a stipulation candidates needed to have had five consecutive years of residency in Haiti. Jean, who left his impoverished homeland with his family to live in New York at the age of 9 and launched his music career in the United States, had presented arguments his lawyers said showed a "constant presence."

In a message on his Twitter account, Jean said: "We await the decision of the Electoral Council,To see if I made the list as a Candidate. As it is written So Shall it be Done!" Earlier, his campaign released a statement saying he appealed to the population to remain calm.

Besides Jean, eight other contenders out of the original 34 faced legal challenges to their candidacies.

Now Wyclef is getting death threats. Ohh boy. Clef better recognize that he aint gonna have USA style Secret Service to protect his azz while he runs for government, and there are Hatians in the USA who can take him out....those death threats have the potential to be made good on. His following is young. Those in the business of murdering have been around Haiti doing that crap for a mighty long time, and have been very successful at it. Except well....they never been effective at killing any of the other oppressive leaders but that's besides the point. I'm just not impressed. I agree with Pras, what's his IMMEDIATE plan to get those people out of the Tent Cities? Why isnt he interviewing saying that he wants to know where the Billions of international Aid has gone, and why are people still lving in the mud.

I hope those poor Haitians arent paying money to fund his campaign. I don't want to misquote the Bible, but I believe that it says something to the effect that "The people perish because of a lack of knowledge". Haiti has got to do something very different if they are going to pull themselves out of this. No more "Haves vs Haves Nots".....and the Have nots aint on welfare...they are slaves and they are literally eating DIRT PATTIES. From the earth....Dirt.....did i say DIRT!!!!

At the risk of sounding like a Communist, but PERHAPS a Capitalistic government will never be effective for the Haitian people. Perhaps they should explore another model of government. Socialism anyone?