http://blog.kir.com/ Longtime Houston attorney Tom Kirkendall's observations on developments in law, business, medicine, culture, sports, and other matters of general interest to the Houston business, professional, and academic communities. en-us bigtkirk@kir.com 2009-11-21T00:01:41-06:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/gus_dies.asp Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is one of the best Texas novels of our time. The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was later made into a wonderful television mini-series, which starred Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones as the iconic former Texas... 5376@http://blog.kir.com/ Sat, Nov 21 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Books 2009-11-21T00:01:41-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/the_headline_sa.asp The fundamental problem with the American health care finance system is that reliance on tax-deductible, employer-based health insurance and government subsidized insurance (such as Medicaid, Medicare) created a culture since WWII in which consumers of health care at the... 5375@http://blog.kir.com/ Fri, Nov 20 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Health Care Finance 2009-11-20T00:01:31-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/pranav_mistry_o.asp The link to the video on the TED site is here.... 5374@http://blog.kir.com/ Thu, Nov 19 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Culture 2009-11-19T00:01:25-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/thinking_about_29.asp Peter Wallison and Steve Randy Waldman have each written a thought-provoking and important analysis of the effect of regulation on the recent financial crisis. First Wallison: What caused the financial crisis? The widely accepted narrative, prominent in the media... 5373@http://blog.kir.com/ Wed, Nov 18 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Business - 2008-09 Financial Crisis 2009-11-18T00:01:04-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/fertitta_gets_s.asp Looks as if Tilman Fertitta is about to endure a bit of his own medicine. As this post from a couple of months ago explains in detail, Landry's Restaurants, Inc. shareholders have had a wild -- and mostly bad... 5372@http://blog.kir.com/ Tue, Nov 17 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Business - General 2009-11-17T00:01:30-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/2009_weekly_loc_8.asp (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez; previous weekly reviews for this season are here) Central Florida 37 Houston Cougars 32 As I've noted many times, Houston (10-2/4-2) games over the past several seasons are just different. The game against Central Florida (6-4/4-2)... 5371@http://blog.kir.com/ Mon, Nov 16 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Sports - Football 2009-11-16T00:01:09-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/sound_of_silenc.asp 5370@http://blog.kir.com/ Sun, Nov 15 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Culture 2009-11-15T00:01:12-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/homeward_bound.asp 5369@http://blog.kir.com/ Sat, Nov 14 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Culture 2009-11-14T00:01:20-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/the_easiest_que.asp Should I talk to the police?... 5368@http://blog.kir.com/ Fri, Nov 13 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Legal - General 2009-11-13T00:01:12-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/ups_vs_fedex.asp 5367@http://blog.kir.com/ Thu, Nov 12 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Business - General 2009-11-12T00:01:22-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/refusing_to_thr.asp Thank goodness. Despite the government's sordid expansion of crimes against business people over the past decade, at least it's not a crime to decline to throw in the towel on a business venture simply because there are signs that... 5366@http://blog.kir.com/ Wed, Nov 11 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Business - 2008-09 Financial Crisis 2009-11-11T00:01:56-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/too_big_even_to.asp As with many folks in the financial and legal world, I'm finishing up Andrew Ross Sorkin's entertaining new best-seller, Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System---and Themselves (Viking... 5365@http://blog.kir.com/ Tue, Nov 10 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Books 2009-11-10T00:01:26-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/2009_weekly_loc_7.asp (AP Photo/Tom Stratton; previous weekly reviews for this season are here) Colts 20 Texans 17 The Texans (5-4) basically rolled over and playing dead against the Colts (8-0) for the first quarter and a half. By early in the... 5364@http://blog.kir.com/ Mon, Nov 09 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Sports - Football 2009-11-09T00:01:58-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/an_amazing_amaz.asp 5363@http://blog.kir.com/ Sun, Nov 08 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Culture 2009-11-08T00:01:55-06:00 http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/11/customer_servic.asp Robert Duvall -- in his classic role of former Texas Ranger Gus McCrae in Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove -- reminds a bartender the importance of good customer service.... 5362@http://blog.kir.com/ Sat, Nov 07 2009. 12:01 AM [-06:00] Culture 2009-11-07T00:01:27-06:00