Political scandals and my weight loss goals collide

Yesterday, a PR senator was accused of taking bribes and changing legislation outcomes. He was charged with 31 federal charges. I have been following the story for a while, because this is one of our most colorful and controversial characters. He is also either loved or hated by the people of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is my version of the " telenovela".

As I read the charges filed, it started to annoy me that he was being charged, but the 12 people that gave him the bribe money, after testifying for federal authorities get no punishment for their role in the shopping for political favors scheme. It really ticked me off. So last night, I sat down and after reading all the charges and the descriptions of the people only mentioned as "Persons 1 through 12", I decided to use the document to try to figure out who these 12 people were. If the Feds did not want to tell me, I could look up the legislation mentioned, ask around and figure it out for myself. I spent 3 hours doing it and came up with a couple of them.

Today, in a political analysis show, they confirmed my suspicions and gave me the pieces of the puzzle I was missing. And so, I decided not to sponsor any of the companies involved. If they are not going to get punished, at least they are not getting my money.

What does that have to do with my weight loss goals? As it turns out, my daughter and I have a challenge. The main point in the challenge is she who drinks less soda and eats less ice cream in the next 90 days wins a $100bill on December 31. My poison of choice is Coke and hers, Sprite. Both are bottled and sold by the same company, along with some other favorites of ours: Malta India, Canada Dry, Hawaian Punch, Peroni beer, Sprite Zero, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper and my personal favorite, Perrier water. I guess I should have mentioned that Persons 1 through 12 were business leaders.... guess what is Person's 1 business. I guess as long as I live in Puerto Rico, I have a great motivation not to touch a Coke ever again...and I love drinking the stuff in a glass full of ice, and the bubblier the better. I said goodbye as soon as I confirmed I was right. What a shame.

The other people on the list, some are Trash companies, lawyers, business tycoons, and other idiots of industry. I think they are as guilty as the pig who took the money, and if he is charged, the least the Feds should have done, is make it impossible for these people to operate companies in any American territory. But nothing will happen to them... and that is sad.

There is something really wrong with our justice system, where getting the bad guy automatically means letting go of the other imbeciles. They should all pay. If they are confessing, a lessser sentence should be imposed, liscences revoked, lawyers disbarred. They should not get off and continue to take our money. In fact, in the case of the bottling companies and the lawyers, their clients or business associates should remove them from their business. God knows, I will have a hard time buying a Coke or a Sprite again. I will probably do a little research of the country I visit to make sure that the bottling company is not involved in any unlawful or questionable activities.

For now, it makes me happy to know that I have a great incentive to win the bet. Unfortunately, no ice cream companies were involved in the scandal, and the weather in PR is in the 90's this week. That leaves me wide open to sheer will power. I will keep you informed.

Keep trying.

What is eating me up?

As I commented a few weeks ago, I am having trouble sleeping. I don't really know if it is too much on my plate or not enough. I don't know if it is boredom, the economy, stress... what I know is that it is driving me nuts, and making it even harder to sleep.

Add to that the fact that I am a little sick, and it makes it worse. I can't sleep at night but then I have to sleep during the day, or I need to take a nap because I am exhausted. I need to get back on a schedule of some sort, but I am so far gone that I don't know where to start.

So today, I am sitting down with my notebook and jotting down some ideas of where I want to go, short term goals and long term goals. I am writing a plan of action and the first few action steps and I am organizing my life, one week at a time, with plenty of time for life's normal interruptions. Let's see how that works.

Keep trying.