Singing up North!

1 The caged birds up north have been enticed to sing, and singing they have been ever since they learnt that singing could mean the price of freedom. In fact, so good has their singing been that some are predicting many will be joining them as guests of Uncle Sam, when the singing is done!

Bounced cheques

2 Heard about the company which hired a lawyer to sue a number of its customers to make good on bounced cheques? Only problem is, the cheque that was given as a retainer by the head of the company was returned to the lawyer, with the notation 'refer to drawer, insufficient funds'.

Tough times

3 Friends are saying now that times and things are tough, wife number two has moved out of the matrimonial home, tired, they say, of having to constantly manufacture excuses for the creditors.

Pre-emptive move

4 Some say the reasons he does not own a passport is because of his known links, as well as certain dealings. The absence of a passport is a pre-emptive move designed to remove the temptation to travel.

Self-interest

5 His colleagues say his recent vigorous defence had much more to do with enlightened self-interest than with any principled observance of law and order.

Primary lesson

6 Some are concerned that the primary lesson that should have been learnt from the sale of assets to foreigners was not, and is about to be repeated and, if repeated, will lead to a further destabilisation of the Jamaican dollar when the time comes to repatriate profits and dividends.

That white elephant

7 His accountants described it as a non-performing asset. Others in the industry dubbed it a white elephant. He had the last laugh, however, as it was pledged as collateral for a multimillion-dollar loan facility to a financial institution, which later learnt, when he defaulted, that it could not divest itself of it to recoup its losses.

Loss of face

8 Seems more and more are finding it increasingly difficult to live out their reversal of fortunes and loss of face with their new status. So more and more are heading for Florida, where they hope, if nothing else, they can live off their social security benefits.