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Legal Commentary

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.
By Tom Kirkendall

Post Frequency: 4.2/day

Last Entry: July 20, 2010 at 03:01:00

Chron: Sacrifice the local economy for the polar bears

Posted on May 05, 2008
Given the editorial slant of the Houston Chronicle over the past several years, it's not particularly surprising that the editors ran this editorial calling for polar bears to be declared an endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act...

"Because you're not that guy. . ."

Posted on May 04, 2008
Beyond occasional gems such as John Adams or NBC's 30 Rock, I don't watch much television, so I'm pretty clueless on the latest TV ad campaigns. However, my wife and I laughed heartily last night when we saw this Helzberg...

The stench of injustice

Posted on May 03, 2008
Scott Henson reports on the 17th exoneration (see also here) of a citizen in Dallas who had previously been wrongly convicted. This time prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence from the defendant's lawyers and police failed to investigate it. New Dallas...

The Rockets Narrative

Posted on May 02, 2008
As the Houston Rockets face the beginning of their straight decade of failing to get out of the first round of the NBA playoffs, the familiar mainstream media narrative regarding the team's probable playoff loss to Utah is all...

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Neuroscience and the Law

Posted on May 01, 2008
I am always on the lookout for creative and interesting Continuing Legal Education seminars. This one clearly fits the bill: Baylor College of Medicine’s Initiative on Neuroscience and Law is proud to announce its 2008 Conference. This conference showcases...

Looking at stadium subsidies

Posted on April 30, 2008
As if on cue for the soccer stadium financing issues currently being discussed on the local scene, Dennis Coates provides this excellent op-ed in The American on the dubious nature of municipal stadium subsidies: Clearly, stadiums built with public...

Fueling food riots

Posted on April 29, 2008
Peter Gordon observed the other day that "politicians are better at creating problems than addressing them. Schools, housing, health care, transportation and others suffer from too much political attention." Echoing that idea, Clear Thinkers favorite James Hamilton writes about...

What to do about airline service?

Posted on April 28, 2008
Putting aside for the moment airline industry's seemingly intractable financial problems, lousy airline service has become such an issue that even Judge Posner and Gary Becker are trying to figure out what to do about it. At least painful airline...

Thoughts for a Sunday

Posted on April 27, 2008
The NY Times' Adam Liptak has penned a couple of interesting articles recently (here and here) on a frequent topic of this blog (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) -- the troubling incarceration rate...

Conited Airlines, finally?

Posted on April 26, 2008
The NY Times is reporting that the on-again, off-again merger negotiations between Houston-based Continental Airlines and Chicago-based United Airlines are coming to a conclusion and that a definitive merger deal is likely to be announced by the end of next...

How the mighty have fallen

Posted on April 25, 2008
Some folks thought I was too hard (see also here) on the Stros and Craig Biggio for turning the Stros' 2007 season into a death march to Bidg's 3,000th hit. However, my criticism of the Stros and Bidg was...

UH Law Center gets it right

Posted on April 24, 2008
Ray Nimmer is truly one of Houston's treasures. The Leonard Childs Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center, Ray is one of the nation's leading authorities on business and bankruptcy law, computer information licensing, e-commerce, and...

Getting to 120/80

Posted on April 23, 2008
Jane Brody, the NY Times' excellent reporter on health and fitness issues, provides this good overview of the current treatment options for high blood pressure, including this summary of the current drugs that are most commonly prescribed. My late...

Mayor White's management

Posted on April 22, 2008
Help me out here. I'm really trying to understand the basis of the perception among a large number of Houstonians that Mayor Bill White is an effective manager. For example, this earlier post summarized Mayor White's dubious decision-making in...

Remember Refco?

Posted on April 21, 2008
Amidst the current turmoil in the financial markets, the recent conviction on criminal fraud charges of a former Refco Inc executive barely registered on the radar screen. The details from the meltdowns from years past are just old news...

The latest big oil discovery

Posted on April 20, 2008
As oil futures hit $115 per barrel late this past week, The Economist ran this article on the questions surrounding the recent announcement regarding the discovery of Brazil's Carioca-Sugar Loaf Field, which could be one of the largest oil...

Valuing the Stros

Posted on April 19, 2008
The Stros are not worth squat on the playing field this season, but the club continues to be among the dozen most valuable franchises in Major League Baseball. Forbes' annual valuation of MLB franchises is out and the Stros come...

Providing good doughnuts in health care

Posted on April 18, 2008
A frequent topic on this blog over the years has been the increasingly dysfunctional nature of the third-party payor health care finance system in the United States. This post from last year examined how my primary care physician changed...

What is Tiger thinking and has The Masters become a bore?

Posted on April 17, 2008
So, Tiger Woods is being forced to take a month off from the PGA Tour as he rehabs from knee surgery. I know that Woods' workout routine is considered cutting edge, particularly for a professional golfer, but what on...

Ripples of the Delta-Northwest deal

Posted on April 16, 2008
The merger agreement between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines (they were meant for each other) announced yesterday not only would create the world’s largest carrier if approved, but it has renewed talk (see this W$J article, too) in...

An eternal optimist

Posted on April 15, 2008
Don't tell Ray Kurzweil that we ought to be all gloomy about the prospects for mankind. This WaPo op-ed reflects that he is downright bullish: MIT was so advanced in 1965 (the year I entered as a freshman) that...

Another one-planer wins The Masters

Posted on April 14, 2008
Last year it was Zach Johnson (see also here). This year, it's Trevor Immelman. What's the deal with all these one-plane swingers dominating the Masters Tournament? Could it have something to do with the fact that neither Johnson last...

The block of the chip passes away

Posted on April 13, 2008
Arnold Kling of EconLog has long been a Clear Thinkers favorite, particularly in the area of health care finance. That was the subject of this recent post regarding Arnold's coordination of health care for his elderly father, Merle Kling,...

America's slipping grip on golf

Posted on April 12, 2008
First, PGA Tour events had to worry about the Tiger Chasm. Now, this W$J article reports that they also need to worry about competition from tournaments in foreign venues: The U.S. has, for decades, held sway over the international...

Remember Kelo?

Posted on April 11, 2008
Check out this recent Second Circuit decision (H/T to Robert Loblaw) as an example of how the appellate courts are applying the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial 2006 decision in Kelo v. New London. Kelo allows the state to seize...

It's time for The Masters

Posted on April 10, 2008
It's the week of The Masters golf tournament, so I'm passing along a copy of the Augusta National scorecard that my late father used when he shot a cool 99 at the course back in the mid-1970's. The weather...

Good Travis Street Eats

Posted on April 09, 2008
Look at what street is number two in Good Magazine's seven Tastiest American Streets for good restaurants....

Enjoying John Adams

Posted on April 08, 2008
My son Cody and I have been thoroughly enjoying each Sunday night episode of the HBO mini-series John Adams, which is based upon David McCullough's brilliant biography of Adams. Given the extraordinary talents, troubling contradictions and fascinating relationships among...

Acupuncture or fake acupuncture?

Posted on April 07, 2008
This Respectful Insolence blog post reports on yet another in an increasingly long line of medical studies that demonstrate that acupuncture is nothing more than an elaborate and fancy placebo. In this particular study involving patients in "true" acupuncture and...

A brief encounter at the SHO driving range

Posted on April 06, 2008
After spending a delightful Friday morning watching Phil Mickelson navigate the back nine during the second round of the Shell Houston Open, my entourage and I grabbed a quick lunch and then headed out to the Redstone Golf Club...

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