Manny Math

All the Queen's Horses

In the Park's house we have a problem. For over a year now Josie has been "horse crazy" and you can see for yourself the resulting herd. The Josie horse inventory reads as follows: 2 stuffed giant horses, 3 stick horses, 17 My Little Ponies, 3 knock-off My Little Ponies, 4 doll-sized stuffed horses, 10 felt miniatures, 4 assorted plastic horses, 23 action figure size horses, 1 talking Eeyore, 2 zebras, 1 donkey, 5 plastic horses of unknown origin, and 6 ponies of happy meal/fast food quality. Everyone should know what not to get her for Christmas.

Chicks in the Pits

The ladies don't look any dumber than the NASCAR boys when they argue. There is much less profanity but more towel slapping. My favorite line is from Danica, "It's not your fault that your slow."

Hope Your Cash is Stashed in the Caymans

It has been a bad few months for some very wealthy people hiding money in Lichtenstein. Disgruntled LGT Bank employee, Heinrich Kiebler downloaded all their private accounts. Then Mr. Kiebler sold the list of investors to the US government and twelve other countries. In addition to money from the sale Mr. Kiebler stands to earn 30% of all tax revenue collected from the hidden accounts. In the wake of the Kiebler incident, UBS the largest bank in Switzerland, announced this week that they would no longer be helping American investors evade taxes through offshore accounts.

UBS has an estimated 19,000 U.S. clients with a combined $17.9 billion in accounts "that have not been disclosed to U.S. tax authorities," according to estimates given to the Senate panel by the bank and Bradley Birkenfeld, a former UBS banker.

I'm afraid that upsetting many of the richest people in the world will not end well for Mr. Kiebler. Enjoy your money, hide well, and have someone else start your car.

T. Picks' Plan for Our Energy Problem

Can we get 20% of our energy from wind?

Detour.......

The family and I returned from a High Point, North Carolina this past Sunday. Our typically fast moving "Team Parks Travel System" was derailed by a chemical spill near Crossville, Tennessee. Interstate 40 was shut down for roughly 100 miles forcing the family to detour on a small winding two-lane road (Tennessee 62). Traffic finally resumed yesterday morning after being shut down for roughly 36 hours. The detour probably added an hour to our travel time but did afford us the opportunity to see scenic Morgan County, Tennessee.

Astro-Not

After much internal debate I have decided to reassign my MLB fandom. As long as I can remember watching baseball, I have been a fan of the Houston Astros (the city of my birth). My earliest memories of watching the team come from the 1981 NLCS vs. the Phillies. At the age of thirteen I avidly followed the 1986 team to a Western Division title. During my two summers in Europe I made daily trips to the local sports book to check the previous day's game results. In 2005 I stayed up late nights watching them get swept by Chicago White Sox. It is therefore with great difficulty that I have decided to go in search of a new team with which to dedicate my loyalties.
So why am I jumping off? The past two season have seen the departures of two Astro icons, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. I grew up pulling for both guys for the better part of 16 seasons and watching games without them leaves me a little empty. The guys who have been brought in are not exactly solid citizens, or honest, or clean. The final and most practical reason for my disassociation is the geography. Probably not going to load the kids in the car and make the 14 hour trek for a 3 game set with the Brewers.

I’ll need a new team.

Not OK in Oklahoma

A couple of stories have hit the press in my home state that will significantly detracted from our cosmopolitan image. The first story diminishes the Sooner State's reputation as a tolerant, inclusive, and diverse community. The second story will surely hurt someone's career as "crimes against nature" shows very poorly on a resume. Warning: the second story is very disturbing.

Getting Ripped

Phillip Fulmer only needs eight wins a season to get paid.

Houston columnist divorces his team for a younger, hotter, better team.

Indains fans are ready for Browns training camp.