Local people in the know are saying that the drastic financial cutbacks in Jamaica are due to the losses overseas whose ripples are being felt here. The number of those voicing displeasure is growing. The lesson from the fiasco is that trying to ‘follow fashi’n’ is never advisable.

…And speaking of voice

Tessanne Chin is the latest Jamaican to bring international pride to The Rock after that audition on NBC’s The Voice. Awesome! Makes us feel proud to be girls in a week like this. But I probably would have chosen Christina Aguilera. Thanks, Observer, for that great front-page story.

War of the news releases

The two combatants are trying to outdo each other in respect of who can issue the most news releases. There have also been more press conferences than at any other time, and people are saying it seems there are two leaders at the same time.

Have job, will travel

The CEO is still smarting from the sharp memo from the board suspending all overseas travel until further notice. Staff there said he was taking the plane like regular people take the bus. Problem is that there was nothing to show for his frequently flying the friendly skies.

Bureaucracy idiocy

I, too, am joining the cry for reforming our creaking bureaucracy. It’s a wonder we have managed to get this far as a country. But we are going nowhere in a hurry if we can’t get even the simplest thing done in a timely manner. We should ‘tek sleep and mark death’. If Mr Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart is complaining about red tape strangling businesses, it’s like fish coming from the bottom of the sea and saying shark is down there!

Question of the week

Have Mr Andrew Holness and Mr Audley Shaw swapped political styles in the run-up to the leadership elections?

Send your comments to pepperpot@jamaicaobserver.com