Author Archives: Emann Joasil

Jul 19 2012

URGENT: Call For A Popular Uprising In Haiti

It has been 70 days since the Senate in Port-au-Prince has managed to hold their last legislative meeting, and that was for the ratification of Prime Minister Lamothe. Some of the senators have been AWOL (Absent Without Leave), infirming the quorum inside the chamber. Meanwhile, the people’s pressing and urgent problems are not breaking -one only has to walk our streets to see them raging.

What are we paying the members of this institution for -for not doing anything? Imagine what would have been these guys’ reaction had Prime Minister Lamothe been nowhere to be found for a week, just for a week. Hell would have broken loose.

It is obvious that the Senate has become right about now the people’s number one problem. There is a solution to any problem, and the solution to the problem the Senate represents is in the hands of the people. They can turn things around for the better in a blink of an eye if they really want to.

We are living a legislative dictatorship in Haiti, and we should fight it with everything we have at our disposal -just like we did in 1986 to force the dictatorship Duvalier regime out of power, after it has lived its political life expectancy.

The intent of the drafters of our Constitution was to put in place a structure that could prevent the erection or emergence of another dictatorship of any kind from either one of the three branches of government -executive, legislative and judiciary.

The current structure or system, as stipulated in the actual Constitution, is not working in the best interest of us all; it is only beneficial to a small circle of crooks and corrupted politicians. It constantly fails the state. And when the state keeps failing to deliver, the people must act swiftly and boldly to take the destiny of the nation into their own hands.

We must not rely on one man or woman to do what needs to be done. The president, whether it be President Martelly or someone else, regardless his or her impeccable political will, will not be able to do anything as he or she will have both his or her hands tied up; the Constitution creates a powerless executive. It takes all the power and places it in the hands of the legislative branch, creating a legislative dictatorship.

Power is not given; it is taken by any necessary means. So let us not expect the legislature to amend the Constitution to return to the executive some of its power to level things out. That will not happen without a fight, which only the people can give.

Needless to say, we need a popular uprising in the country similar to the one that took place in France on July 14 of 1789, known by the historic name of Storming of the Bastille, to rectify the mess that is going on right now in the country.

The people need to take matters into their own hands. They need to take the streets, storm and DESTROY the Senate and demand that a new Constitution be voted on and adopted immediately. We do not need a Senate anyway. What for? We only need a House of Deputies -just like the British have it -to bring to the political forefront the people’s problems. We created a bureaucratic layer we do not really need, slowing the pace of things for the people. It is simply a waste of time and resources, which we do not even have.

One does not need to be a rocket scientist to realize that this Constitution is the stem of ALL of our political setbacks. We need to break ties with the staleness if we must move forward. This Parliamentarian structure as we have it and this Constitution must go so we could start anew. Again, the brave people of Haiti have in their hands the solution to the problem the Senate represents. They just need to activate it, and they do know how.

Jul 2 2012

Justice Roberts: A Man Of Political Character

Chief Justice John G. Roberts

Chief Justice Roberts, a G. W. Bush appointee, is a man of political character. His vote on Thursday morning to side with the liberals to split the vote (Yay: 5 – Nay: 4) and uphold President Obama’s health care law is historical -the true exemplification of what we often refer to as “legislating from the bench” rather than from some type of a party ideology.

As someone who was appointed to the Supreme Court by a Conservative president for his Conservative values, Chief Justice Roberts has demonstrated such a great sense of statemanship and leadership.

Just when many may have thought he was likely to side with the Conservative justices in the likes of Scalia, Thomas and Co. to slash the president’s signature legislation, he swayed the other way.

On September 22, 2005, during the confirmation fight of Judge Roberts, then Senator Obama voted against putting him on the Supreme Court. In a speech on the Senate’s floor, the senator said about Judge Roberts:

[W]hen I examined Judge Roberts’ record and history of public service, it is my personal estimation that he has far more often used his formidable skills on behalf of the strong in opposition to the weak. In his work in the White House and the Solicitor General’s Office, he seemed to have consistently sided with those who were dismissive of efforts to eradicate the remnants of racial discrimination in our political process. In these same positions, he seemed dismissive of the concerns that it is harder to make it in this world and in this economy when you are a woman rather than a man[…]The bottom line is this: I will be voting against John Roberts’ nomination.

Today, the man whose nomination to the highest court in the land Senator Obama was trying to stop seven years ago is the one to have casted the historical vote to save President Obama’s landmark legislation during his tenure as President of the United States. Isn’t that something? Why did he not opt to make President Obama pay for the vote he had cast against him, which most people would have done?

People can say whatever they want, but this is indeed what you can call a functional democracy -when all the independent institutions are strong enough to operate on their own and in the best interest of the country.

The American democracy is sure not perfect, but it is working for the most part. I can only hope the people of my country Haiti can one day get to understand that strong institutions breed strong democracy.

Jun 22 2012

Is Senator Anick Joseph A Political Comedian?

Senator Francois Anick Joseph

Senator Anick Joseph of the Artibonite District, someone I used to have great esteem and admiration for, is now scooping to the lowest of the lows. Just when you think he could have spent his time pushing to pass legislation to get his district, which used to be the food-generating engine for the country, back on its knees, he wants to spend his congressional time in pettiness trying to find out how much money these President Martelly’s top political advisers (Lambert, Latortue, etc…) are getting paid to advise the president. Seriously, is this the senator’s newest punchline in his career of political comedian or what?

See, this is what you call vile demagoguery politics. In the realness of things, for the sake of checks and balances, what the senator is doing is exactly the right thing to do, and I do not think any objection to that could have stood ground. But it seems as though these folks in the so-called opposition to the Martelly administration want to enforce the law, that is if such recommendation is one of the senator’s constitutional prerogatives, only when it best serves to advance their political agenda.

Where was Senator Anick Joseph then when Moise Jean Charles was working in the National Palace as President Preval’s political adviser? I am sure President Preval had, like President Martelly, a gang of political advisers, too. If so, where was Senator Anick? I guess he was not in the Senate at the time, for I did not hear his voice wanting to institute his concept of checks and balances. Well, let us not be too harsh on the senator. Maybe that law that gives him the authority to find out how much the President Martelly’s top political advisers are getting paid had not made its way in the books yet. Right, Senator Anick?

Now you see why no one really wants to take the motives of this man and his acolytes at face value, right? I think they are in the wrong business. I should have been watching them on television doing stand-up comedy; they are a bunch of political comedians to me.

Jun 10 2012

Haitians: Stop Acting Like The Dominican Republic Is So Indispensable To You

Some of my fellow Haitians are crying blood over the fact that the Dominican Republic is placing immigration restrictions on Haitians to travel over there. What is the big deal? I myself do not see what the fuss is really about.

Let us look together what the new immigration restrictions put in place say. According to the Dominican ambassador in Haiti, Mr. Ruben Silié Valdés, for now on, no visas will be granted to third parties, including these local travel agencies, on behalf of individuals like it used to be. That means if you are going to make a demand for visa to visit the Dominican Republic, you must do so in person at one of their consulates.  Also, it is required of anyone making a demand for visa to submit an array of documents, such as proof of employment, bank attestation and invitation letter. It is now a violation for employers based in the Dominican Republic to hire illegal Haitian migrants.  

To be honest with you, I applaud their decision. That shows you they are taking care of business. That is the way it should be, and no one should hold that against them. Instead of engaging in a futile diplomatic uneasiness with them, we need to learn from them how to structure and organize our system. If your government does not care about who enters your country, do not expect governments from other countries to have the same attitude.

I really do not see the issue at hand that is getting some of my people to go ballistic. Some of us act as though the Dominicans owe us something. No, they do not. That is their country, and it is their prerogative to enact whatever policy deemed necessary to protect their territory for whatever reason. You can call the policy discriminatory however you want, that’s your business. But that is their country; therefore, they have to do what they have to do to protect their territory from whomever and whatever.

You don’t have to travel there. Don’t you have your own country? Okay, then. Stay in your country and place restrictions on foreigners to enter like everybody else is doing. I have yet to see you going on a rampage because the other countries -the United States, Canada, France, etc… -ask you to submit these same documents and even more.

Stop complaining like it is the end of the world for you if you do not travel to the Dominican Republic to be humiliated and mistreated for the most part. When a seller makes it so hard on you to purchase their products, in a free market economy, what do you do? You take your money some place else or make the products for your own consumption, don’t you? Okay, then. You do not go ballistic because they do not want to sell their products to you. Some of you make me sick making an issue out of a nonissue. Stop acting like the Dominican Republic is indispensable to you.

Jun 2 2012

My Position On The Publication Of The Amended Version Of The 1987 Constitution

Per Lucien Jura, the spokesperson for the Office of the President, President Martelly will publish this month in the Moniteur, the country’s official newspaper, the highly contested and controversial amended version of the 1987 Constitution.

Public opinion is split on whether the president should publish it or not. As it can be noticed, I refrain from positioning myself on that simply because I am clueless in terms of its content. I hope the president is well advised and, if he decides to publish it, knows exactly what he is getting himself into.

The question I and others are asking ourselves is, why is it that a document of such magnitude and importance is not being made available to the public online and other venues for everyone to access it and have a political position on it in terms of its publication? By not doing so, the president and his close and trusted advisers are giving the impression that there are things in there they are hiding and do not want the general public to know about. They need to keep in mind that in politics, impression or perception is reality. So they do need to be very careful in their approach.

Because I refuse to extrapolate or do the Haitian “voye monte,” I choose not to have a political position in terms of whether the amended version of the 1987 Constitution should be published or not as the President is poised to do some time this month. Also, because it has been kept with such a top secrecy, my instinct tells me there are things in there the authorities do not wish to be known by the general public. So for those two reasons, I do not back up the idea of publishing it without it being placed under the microscopic lens of the people. If in spite of all the opposing counsels from high profile and respected constitutional analysts in the caliber of Gerard Gourgue, Georges Michel and others, President Martelly decides to publish the document, whether the consequences of such action are politically positive or negative for his presidency and the country as a whole, he must keep in mind that he will be held accountable.

May 29 2012

Towards A Renascent Haiti: It’s SECURITY, Stupid!

The sine qua non condition for the Haitian Diaspora to return home, foreign investors to come invest in our economy, and tourists to visit the country is to secure the nation. This is something most of us agree upon. We disagree, however, on the steps to be taken to get to that.

We talk a lot about what is needed for Haiti to start being a working country again, but not so much about how to make it possible. Restoring a sense of security inside the country is not complicated, and that could become a reality in a year if we are serious about it. We simply have got to take these three bold steps:

  1. The institution of the Haitian military (a professional military) with a clear and well defined mission, which is to defend, serve and protect the nation at any cost against foreign invaders and domestic and foreign terrorists. We do not need to start in full strength. We could start small (500 to 1000 well trained and equipped troops) and expand as we go and as our means allows.
  2. The institution of a structured and professional intelligence agency to be the eyes and ears of the government on matters pertaining to our national security. We must get these domestic terrorists terrorizing the population at their points of planning before they could carry out their missions or hit their next high-value targets (HVTs).
  3. The institution of capital punishment by means of “Pe Lebren” to punish these terrorists is paramount.

These terrorists are not to be played with; rather, they ought to be captured and brought to justice. And we can only be effective in our engagement when these three instances –the police force, the military and the intelligence agency –could operate in unison towards accomplishing one clear and well defined mission.

We need to take “Pe Lebren” off the streets and turn it into a punishment to be administered by the judges in the justice system. No one citizen will have the right to “Pe Lebrenize” another citizen. In other words, self-procurement of justice will automatically place the citizen in violation of the law. And anyone who does that will be dealt with in accordance with the legal treatment your case necessitates.

We need to “Pe Lebrenize” these terrorists in broad daylight so we could send a clear message to those who are contemplating on ways to hit their next HVTs. Such deterring measure will tell the next or aspiring terrorists that if they do not stop, if they persist in their mischievous operations, they are destined to face the same fate.

We are not the ones to believe in the rhetoric that poverty breeds crimes. Being poor cannot be a justification to commit crimes as one can be poor in dignity. So the notion that these terrorists cling to their criminal activities because of their socioeconomic situation is preposterous and does not resonate too well with us.

We are not aiming at seeing the emergence of a crime-free Haiti. That is not what we are aiming at. We have got to be realistic. What we want to achieve, however, is to put these terrorists out of their nuisance state. So we have a choice to make in this situation: either we regain control of the country so the Diaspora could return home, foreign investors could invest in the economy, and tourists could vacation in Haiti again as it used to be back then or let these terrorists have their way and turn the place into a crime state.

A renascent Haiti is possible if we all believe it is and accept to do what is necessary to make it happen. Everything starts with securing the country. So the security steps we will be undertaking in the days, weeks and months to come will determine the type of Haiti we want to have. Make no mistake that we have to work hard, diligently and intelligently to strengthen our economy through a job creation strategy. But that will not happen if we cannot secure the country and protect the people’s lives, investments and properties.

May 24 2012

Do Not Let Bad Breath Wilt Your Image

Halitosis seems to be a serious issue nowadays, since 90 million Americans suffer from it. Surveys reveal that “it can wilt your love life, and even cost you that new job.”

The main focus of this article is halitosis or bead breath -its cause, its impact on our lives, how to fight it and how to tell a friend that he or she has it.

Most people with stinky breath do not even realize that they have it because “the brain becomes acclimated to one’s own personal scent.”

According to Dr. Harold Katz, bacteriologist and founder of the California Breath Clinic, the way to check if you have bad breath is not to smell your own breath in cupped hand; rather, it is to “lick the back of your hand, let it dry for a few seconds, and then smell the surface.”

Bad breath has nothing to do with the state of your dental hygiene because “you can have good teeth, rotten teeth or no teeth at all and still have bad breath. It has to do with the tongue,” Dr. Katz says.

The way to determine the smell of your breath -if it is fresh or foul -is to conduct a tongue test by looking at the color of your tongue. A tongue that indicates fresh breath should look pink and shiny, whereas one that appears white and scaly does indicate bad breath, according to Dr. Katz.

It is said that more than 600 types of bacteria can be located in the average mouth, many of which house under the surface of the tongue and cause the unpleasant smell in the mouth.

Now that we know the etiology of halitosis, let us see together how to fight it.

To fight halitosis, it is recommended that you keep your mouth hydrated, for a dry mouth is the perfect environment for the breeding and growth of offensive-smelling bacteria on your tongue.”Saliva has oxygen in it, which makes it a natural enemy for the foul-smelling bacteria,” Katz says. “They can’t live in the presence of oxygen, so drinking water and chewing sugar-free gum can produce saliva and naturally get rid of bad breath.”

Now, keep in mind that sugar-free mint or mouthwash can only provide temporary relief by masking the foul smell but does not really eradicate the offensive-smelling bacteria causing the bad breath.

Be watchful and mindful of the foods and acid beverages you consume as some -such as garlic, onions, curry, fish, beer, wine, coffee and soda -can be a trigger. They all contain foul-odor-releasing compounds that get absorbed into your bloodstream; the odor is given off in your breath until all of the food is out of your body.

It is also recommended that you limit as well your consumption of chocolate candy and sweets as the sugar they contain does help bacteria to reproduce in your mouth, leading to bad breath.

On the flip side of the issue, if there is an array of foods you are asked to stay away from for their strong odor, there are some you are recommended and encouraged to consume because they do fix bad breath.

For example, “Green tea has anti-bacterial properties that knock out the stink. Cinnamon contains essential oils that kill many types of oral bacteria. Try adding fresh cinnamon to your morning toast or oatmeal, or adding a stick to flavor your tea.”

According to Dr. Katz, foods that are high in vitamin C -such as berries, melons, oranges, etc… –are recommended to fight bad breath because they help kill smelly bacteria naturally.

He also recommends that people eat crisp fruits and vegetables, such as celery or apples, because they offer dual bad-breath-busting benefits: a. chewing them will produce more saliva in the mouth; 2. their firm texture will also help scrub away bacteria.

If you do all the aforementioned things in an attempt to modify your lifestyle and eating habits and yet your bad breath has not rescinded, it is advised that you contact your health care provider to make sure that it does not have to do with a more serious medical condition.

It has been scientifically surveyed that about 10% of bad breath cases have to do with a symptom of chronic sinus or respiratory infection, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), liver and kidney disorder, cancer or diabetes. These diseases can release into the body chemicals that cause bad breath.

Your friend has been slapping you left and right every chance he or she gets with his or her bad breath, yet you are not bold enough to tell him or her. How should you tell him or her that his or her bad breath is invading your comfort zone?

Well, as mentioned earlier, keep in mind that most people cannot smell their own breath. So if you detect a friend’s bad breath, do not be afraid to speak up on that and let him or her know about it.

Granted, telling a person -a close colleague, friend or lover –that his or her breath is offensive and makes you feel uncomfortable can be awkward for everybody involved to do. But it is still the right thing to do. After all, if you were the one with stinky breath, you would want to know so you could do something about it, would you not?

Now, let us see what the experts have to say on the issue of breaking the bad breath news. Patricia Napier-Fitzpatrick, founder of The Etiquette School of New York, though she acknowledges the delicacy and sensitiveness of the issue, believes that speaking up is good manners. She said: “If people are talking about them behind their back, it turns into a worse situation. If you respect the person, it’s your duty to tell them.”

How does she recommend that you proceed to break the bad breath news to the person? She believes that there are two possible approaches:

1. Just sit down with your friend in a private setting and be direct. Start off the conversation by telling them you believe there is an issue they would want to know about and that you are not too sure they are aware of it.

2. In the event that you know the person is sensitive, you may need to be a little bit more cautious about your approach. Delicately and kindly, bring up the issue by carrying mints with you. Take one yourself first and then offer one to your friend who has bad breath. If the person does not accept it, Fitzpatrick says it is acceptable to offer a nudge by simply saying, “I think you should.”

As the saying goes, first impressions, professionally and personally, last a lifetime. So it makes no type of sense whatsoever to let bad breath wilt your image. Taking incremental steps to control the chemical reactions happening inside your mouth will keep you smelling fresh, agreeable and tolerable.

May 19 2012

A Haitian Hospitality Call To All Millionaires And Billionaires Of The World

Sean Penn & Prime Minister Lamothe of Haiti

As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. While my home country Haiti is gasping for investments from people with capital to help jump-start its economy, other countries are giving them hell. When it comes to wealth creation, I go by one simple rule: if you amass your fortune legally, you deserve to live with it in peace.

So I am making this hospitality call to all you millionaires and billionaires in the US and other parts of the world, those of you who are running for your lives because the media is out to destroy and bring you down. I want to let you know that Haiti is waiting to welcome you and your money with open arms. Move there with your money and live in peace. Like Sean Penn, make Haiti your place of retreat, your paradise on earth, your home away from home. Say enough with the trips to the mental rehabilitation institutions because of the level of stress you are under. You did not become wealthy for that wealth to become a matter of torment for you and your loved ones.

Once you move to Haiti, and I am encouraging you to do so, you will never want to return home. You will have everything you need at your disposal -a variety of succulent and delicious tropical fruits and foods, the nice and pleasant tropical weather (it is summer all year long in Haiti), our beautiful beaches, the culture, the music, the people, and most importantly your peace of mind.

Because I am Haitian, you may think, rightly so, that I am selling you something not worthy of the bargain. If you do think so, I am urging you to ask Sean Penn who is not Haitian. He will tell you from experience because he has been living in Haiti since after the earthquake of January 12, 2010. And there are many like him over there -who are not in the spotlight like he is.

I am about to make a bold statement, which some may find disagreeable; I will understand if they do: I guarantee you if Michael Jackson had moved to Haiti, away from all the stress the media was bringing into his life, he could have still been alive today. Being wealthy does not mean that you and your loved ones have to be tormented and harassed by a media watching your every move. And the more they report on your private life, the more money they make. Move to Haiti with your fortune -away from all the paparazzi -and live in peace. So Haiti is waiting with open arms to welcome you and your money.

May 18 2012

National Security: A Haitian Defense Ministry For Strategic Reasons

Rodolphe Joasil, Haitian Minister of Defense

Some people are criticizing the Martelly-Lamothe administration for the creation of the Ministry of Defense. They argue that it is a waste of our scarce resources to have a Defense Ministry as an independent organization of the Haitian government -since we already have an agency called the Direction of Civil Protection, and let alone we do not even have a military institution. I don’t think these folks quite understand the real philosophy behind the creation of the Ministry of Defense, though.

The Ministry of Defense, per Minister Joasil’s strategic approach during his brief presentation of the institution’s mission, purpose, and agenda at the televised Cabinet Meeting on Wednesday, is going to play a very important role, one of an umbrella institution, in coordinating the efforts of many agencies such as the Direction of Civil Protection, the Office of Management of Mount Hospital, the National Intelligence Agency amongst others.

We do not really need to wait for when we have a national military for us to start doing certain things. For example, we can introduce in or add to the national police two well trained and equipped specialized brigades with mission to police our forests (to prevent the rampant deforestation) and man our border with the Dominican Republic (to control the movement of people and goods across the border).  These brigades too, once constituted, along with the aforementioned agencies, will fall right under the commanding authority of the Defense Minister.

I would like to urge these people going ballistic over the creation of the Ministry of Defense, which former Senator Joasil is commissioned to head, to not let the name “Ministry of Defense” throw them off. In my humble opinion, that ministry’s real name should have been Ministry of National Security with mission to coordinate the efforts of all these independent agencies so that they could communicate with each other and act in a concerted manner for effectiveness purposes.

It does make sense to detach the Ministry of Defense from the Interior Ministry. The Ministry of Defense is too vital of an institution to let it stay as a sub-institution inside the Ministry of Interior. From a strategic standpoint, I do understand quite well what President Martelly and Prime Minister Lamothe are trying to do by separating these two entities. If you really want to effectively secure our homeland, you have got to give the Defense Ministry its autonomy and allow it to operate outside the realm of the Interior Ministry. After the tragedy of September 11, here in America, we did the exact same thing with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which Secretary Napolitano is currently the head of. As the new threats and challenges emerge, we have got to keep restructuring government to render it more effective in its mission of delivering “real-time” service to its people.

May 11 2012

Charnette Orelien Has Made History in Irvington, NJ

The people in the West Ward of the city of Irvington, NJ has spoken loud and clear Tuesday night –when they elected Charnette ORELIEN to represent them in the Municipal Council.

A native of Haiti, Charnette ORELIEN migrated to the US in 1996; she has been a resident of that ward since.

She is a graduate of Essex County College, Rutgers University and Seton Hall University. Needless to say, education plays a major role in her life.

Tuesday night, she has made history. In the city of Irvington’s 320-year history, she is the first Haitian American to win a seat in the city’s Council. Mind you, more Haitians reside in the city than any other ethnic group.

Charnette has decided to challenge that seat in the West Ward because she believed she could win and make a difference in the lives of her constituents.

She has won the election imposingly. According to the website of the Essex County Clerk Office, a total of 946 voters voted in the West Ward, of which she amassed 456 or 48.20%; John F. Brown, the distant second person in line, obtained 291 or 30.76%.

This crushing victory would have not been possible had it not been for the outstanding work of her staff and ground team of volunteers, the Haitian-owned radio stations and her technology/internet team (on Facebook, Twitter, etc…) to mobilize the people in the West Ward and get them out to vote on Election Day.

The turnout was very low, compared to the thousands of Haitian registered voters residing in that ward. That shows we still have some serious work to do if we dream to elect a Haitian mayor in that city in the years to come. So the community outreach effort we had going on through the massive civic education campaign -which got Charnette to win -must pursue its course.

Anyhow, her campaign strategy must become the model to follow and impetus to capitalize on, for it has produced the expected results. She did not do anything the ones who preceded her, those who did not get the chance to get that far in their attempts, could not do. Maybe they did not know any better. Like it is said in our Haitian Creole, “sa w pa konnen pi gran pase w.”