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Houston's Clear Thinkers 

Wide-ranging observations on law, business, medicine, culture, sports, and other matters of general interest to members of the Houston business, professional, and academic communities.
Post Frequency: 4.2/day Last Entry: July 20, 2010 at 03:01:00 Recent Entries: 746
By Tom Kirkendall
Go to Houston's Clear Thinkers, find other Legal Commentary blogs, or browse all law blogs.
What's the purpose of the Madoff sentence?
Posted on August 05, 2009When Bernie Madoff was sentenced a few weeks ago, my reaction was that it is utterly absurd to imprison a 72 year-old white collar criminal to 150 years in prison. I mean, really -- what's the point? Herb Hoelter...
While we're on this whole police arrogance problem
Posted on August 01, 2009The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cCurrent Events - Taserswww.colbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTasers...
?Is it not like hiring a personal trainer who is morbidly obese??
Posted on July 31, 2009Has there ever been a Treasury Secretary who has been an easier target than Timothy Geithner? The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cHome Crisis Investigationwww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorJoke of the Day...
The real message of the Gates affair
Posted on July 29, 2009Despite America's dubious legacy of exercising state power to oppress minorities, that legacy really was not the most important dynamic in play in regard to the improper arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. Rather, the real issue here...
Why bother with a trial?
Posted on July 28, 2009This earlier post noted the troubling indications that R. Allen Stanford and that the federal judiciary to date is doing precious little to check the prosecutorial power of the executive branch as it applies to Stanford. This is not...
The incredible lightness of the Chron's pre-season Texans coverage
Posted on July 27, 2009This past Sunday's edition of the Chronicle marked the beginning of what is arguably the most mind-numbing portion of the sporting year -- the five-week period of media coverage of football practice prior to the start of the National...
Rationing and health care finance reform
Posted on July 22, 2009The video below (H/T Professor Bainbridge) of a Milton Friedman lecture on the health care finance system is as timely now as it was in 1978 when he gave it at the Mayo Clinic. I was reminded of the...
Is there a problem with the Airbus 330?
Posted on July 21, 2009When I travel to Europe, I normally fly on Air France, which is one of my favorite airlines. Professional, orderly, reasonably comfortable and clean. It's amazing how few airlines combine those characteristics these days. Air France's fleet includes a...
"Somebody gave him the steal sign"
Posted on July 20, 2009If you haven't already seen it, then don't miss Jon Stewart's classic destruction of the fawning treatment that former Phillies and Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra received from several financial media outlets over the past several years in regard to his...
Can he do it?
Posted on July 19, 2009A year after 53 year-old Greg Norman flirted with winning the Open Championship, 59 year-old Tom Watson, just two months shy of his 60th birthday, is leading the Open going into the final round Sunday at Turnberry in Ayrshire...
Wish I Hadn't Stayed So Long
Posted on July 18, 2009Another gem from The Woodlands native, Hayes Carll....
Big Fan
Posted on July 16, 2009I suspect that the NFL would prefer that you watch something else going into this upcoming season, but Big Fan looks interesting....
The Money Pit
Posted on July 15, 2009Casey Mulligan's clever post below reminded me of the classic Onion News segment that follows: In 2008, we were told that each American taxpayer had to spend thousands on bank bailouts in order to avoid utter disaster. We were...
Checking in on MLB and the NL Central at the All-Star Break
Posted on July 14, 2009The Major League Baseball All-Star break is this week, so it's a good time to step back and review the key statistics to identify the most productive players and teams over the first half of the season. Following on...
A daunting jury verdict for deal lawyers
Posted on July 12, 2009Flying a bit under the radar this past weekend was the dreaded "we're sure as hell not coming back on Monday" verdict that the jury returned on Friday afternoon in the Refco, Inc-related criminal case against Mayer Brown partner,...
A Meeting with the Pope
Posted on July 11, 2009Richard Z. Chesnoff is one of America's foremost commentators on Middle Eastern affairs (see prior posts here). And he tells a pretty darn good joke, too. From the magnificent Old Jews Telling Jokes:...
Marc Dreier's letter to his sentencing judge
Posted on July 10, 2009It will take awhile before you will read a more interesting -- and really quite extraordinary -- letter from a defendant to a sentencing judge than the one below that disgraced New York lawyer Marc Dreier wrote. It's hard...
Is Allen Stanford being railroaded?
Posted on July 09, 2009I recognize that he is not the most popular fellow in Houston investment circles these days, but is anyone else but me a tad uncomfotable that the federal government is running roughshod over R. Allen Stanford? As everyone following...
Crossing Heaven's Border
Posted on July 08, 2009Over the past decade, tens of thousands defectors have crossed the dangerous waters of the Tumen and Yalu Rivers into northeast China to escape from North Korea, the world’s last closed Communist state. In the hour-long documentary Crossing Heaven’s Border,...
Stros 2009 Season Review, Part Two
Posted on July 07, 2009The Stros (40-41) reached the halfway point of the 2009 season in an incongruous position. Although they are performing only slightly better than predicted before the season and are in fifth place in the six team National League Central...
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Dumb Texas Laws
Stupid Laws in the Lone Star State
Can I be held responsible for paying child support if I signed a birth certificate of a child that was not mine (am not the biological father)?
Get yourself some legal counsil straigth away. Explain you situation to him/her ...
What can I say without libeling?
You moral nazi. Are you kidding me? It is her personal choice, leave her alone. ...
Hi. If a woman is pregnant and the father requests she abort (because he doesnt want to be a father) and the woman refuses, can he still be made to pay child support if: 1. he IS the father 2. he IS the father but his na
Yes if he is teh father he can be made to pay.
It doesn't matter if h...
My father is aging. We both agree we need to secure property that has been in the family well over sixty years. The problem is my uncle name was previously on the property who is now deceased and also took out two loa
buy the house from him . that would pay the old loan and title the property to y...
How to prevent an arrest from appearing in the local newspaper?
Dont know the law in Minnesota but in most jurisdictions an arrest is a matter o...

Can I be held responsible for paying child support if I signed a birth certificate of a child that was not mine (am not the biological father)?
Get yourself some legal counsil straigth away. Explain you situation to him/her ...
What can I say without libeling?
You moral nazi. Are you kidding me? It is her personal choice, leave her alone. ...
Hi. If a woman is pregnant and the father requests she abort (because he doesnt want to be a father) and the woman refuses, can he still be made to pay child support if: 1. he IS the father 2. he IS the father but his na
Yes if he is teh father he can be made to pay.
It doesn't matter if h...
My father is aging. We both agree we need to secure property that has been in the family well over sixty years. The problem is my uncle name was previously on the property who is now deceased and also took out two loa
buy the house from him . that would pay the old loan and title the property to y...
How to prevent an arrest from appearing in the local newspaper?
Dont know the law in Minnesota but in most jurisdictions an arrest is a matter o...








