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Cliff Nichols
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| Cliff Nichols is an attorney practicing criminal defense/entertainment law in Santa Monica. He may be contacted at either 310-917-1083, cliff@cliffnicholslaw.com or www.cliffnicholslaw.com, and you may join his blog at www.thedailystand.com.
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Articles by this Author
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Cheers. Here’s to looking forward to a new year. Before we go about it, however, perhaps we would do well to reflect upon whether all the things we did over the holidays were worth it. The trips, the reunions of friends and family and the general festivities were most definitely treasured events. But are there other things that you feel you would do differently if you were able to do them over again?
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Last week we got to watch Teddy’s jowls a’ quivering. They had reason to be. For all the world to see, his attempts to disparage a judicial nominee whose intellect by comparison made his appear diminimus were failing, and I think he knew it.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Did you see the Golden Globe Awards ceremony last week? I did, and must say I found the program not only entertaining, but educational. I guess I never fully appreciated the fact that it is now acceptable to discriminate on the basis of a group’s sexual preference. Did you? Well apparently it is.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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As Iran’s nuclear threat gains momentum daily, the big question now looming is how should our president respond? I would like Bush’s critics to answer that question. You know they will come forward later to criticize Bush for whatever he ultimately chooses to do.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Last week it was reported that a United States Army chaplain stationed in Iraq, Capt. Jonathan Stertzbach, was ordered to stop preaching. Apparently his censure came as a result of comments he had made about the military’s growing intolerance toward Christian expressions. Specifically, Stertzbach found himself in hot water for complaining about how the military was pressuring ministers to offer up only non-sectarian prayers: i.e. those that omit any mention of Jesus Christ. But, for now, that is about all that we’re going to be allowed to know. The captain has now been forbidden to discuss the matter with anyone, including the press.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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One might say that the times in which we are now living are confusing.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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We as a country need to wake up and smell the coffee, even if it is imported from Columbia. Last year the U.S. trade deficit was $804.9 billion, and for 2006 it’s estimated to top $1 trillion. I have a hard time getting my mind wrapped around numbers that big, but I’m pretty sure that it’s probably too big to fit into even Mr. Holland’s Opus.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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What do our children’s schools mean to accomplish when they set a day aside to celebrate “diversity?” More importantly, why is it that I need to ask? Because it has come to my attention recently that to some, diversity may not mean what you and I think it means. And if that’s true, I think it’s important we know it now, don’t you? Otherwise, we may not understand things like why our children are called to attend or participate in their school’s “Diversity Day” only to have it canceled.
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U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) last week introduced legislation to crack down on deceit. I realize it sounds a bit odd for a politician to be interested in doing such a thing, but I think she just may have the germ of a good idea that is worth considering. Her bill, “Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Services Act,” seeks to compel the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to “enforce truth-in-advertising standards for reproductive centers.”
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THE WITNESS STAND
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I recognize that there are those who think when my I.Q. reaches 50 I would be well advised to sell. While we await that happy event, however, humor me this Easter and riddle me this: What do old fish bones, Mars and The Da Vinci Code have in common? Let me give you some hints.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Sometimes you can be at the right place at the right time. Although not a frequent occurrence for most, who can say we should not be glad when such times come to pass? Easter Sunday was such a time. The place? The services celebrating Easter held at the Metro Calvary Church in Santa Monica. Why? Because a randomly chosen few individuals had the courage to share pieces of their lives with the rest of those in attendance, which allowed us all to be made more aware of the fact that obstacles and even tragedies in our lives can be used to serve a greater purpose.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Sometimes a week goes by and nothing seems to lend itself to any particular topic worth writing about. In that event one (like me, for instance) will rummage around in their mind looking for a topic. Below are some that I came up with in the course of that process. Some are better than others, I admit. But none moved me to write an entire column about them. So, I thought I’d throw them out and let you tell me your thoughts about which ones you think might be worthy of future consideration. And, if you have no such thoughts, at least I will know that I’m not alone in that regard.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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By now, we all know Iran’s president is saying the Holocaust was a fabrication, that Israel not only should but will be “wiped off the map” and, at the same time, that the world should just leave him alone so he can develop the nuclear capability necessary to provide “energy” to his nation. As the saying goes, what’s wrong with this picture? His name, of course, is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but I wouldn’t spend a lot of time trying to memorize how to spell it. My guess is that he’ll not be around for very long, but perhaps not for any of the reasons you may think.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Have you seen them? There are billboards appearing all over town that say something like, “6 + 6 + 06. The signs are all around you.” Is this intended to mean that the Anti-Christ is now among us? If so, that could be important, don’t you think? At minimum, it could affect what we put in our day-planners in the future. Time may be in shorter supply than we thought.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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What’s going on? Doesn’t it seem recently that bizarre behavior is occurring with increased frequency?
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THE WITNESS STAND
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I just saw the Da Vinci Code. The reviews I had read were so bad, I just couldn’t hardly believe them. I had to go see for myself. Suffice it to say, they were right and I was wrong.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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A friend recently told me that since I’m a lawyer I should write about legal matters that may be of interest to readers. So, let’s give that a go. This week we will explore what I think are some of the more interesting “legal” issues that have surfaced around the world in the last week.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Erik Burger, Anthony Campbell, Jasmine Coker, Carlton Fortenberry, Sabrina Marin, Douglas Monroy, Malik Moosa, Elizabeth Munoz and Christopher Peterson all share at least three things in common. All of them are students at Santa Monica High School, all are involved with Project ECHO and all are going to Shanghai soon.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Tolerance continues to march on. It is reported that Maryland Governor Ehrlich recently canned a public official for expressing his personal belief that homosexuality is immoral. In explaining his tolerance policy, Ehrlich said he is intolerant of any view that opposes the homosexual lifestyle and its promotion in government. Apparently he feels such people’s morals are opposed to his administration’s commitment to tolerance. I guess the gist of it all is that he just won’t tolerate people who are morally opposed to tolerating anything else other than more tolerant people may want to do. So, you few remaining out there who do have morals that contradict the politically correct should beware that George Orwell’s world lives.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Considering that the Fourth of July is upon us, the many bans on fireworks being imposed around our state and the fact that we are in the midst of another the fire season, I was just wondering: What has California done since the catastrophic fires of just a few years ago to remedy the situation? After fires of comparable devastation several years ago in New Mexico, that state’s legislators acted with a collective courage that is sadly uncommon in this nation today. In March 2001, the New Mexico State Legislature passed and then-Governor Gary Johnson signed into law what has become commonly known in that state as Senate Bill 1. The law conferred upon New Mexico counties the jurisdiction and authority to remove from the forests those overgrowth conditions that cause fires to become infernos threatening to the lives and property of its citizens.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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I’ve just completed writing a screenplay about the life of the Apostle Paul from, shall we say, a unique point of view. And by doing so, I’m happy to report that I’ve learned two things that I think are invaluable.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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I was sitting at dinner recently when I heard a friend say, “Have you seen what’s been going on in the Middle East? It seems like it might be a good time to top off the tank in the car before gas prices go up.” On one level, I admit, it probably could be said that this is good practical advice for those of us residing on this side of he world. On another level, however, those statements seemed to reflect an amazing detachment from the horrors of war that I find stunning.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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The older I get, the more I appreciate the phrase used frequently by President Reagan when he was confronted with the repeated inanities of liberal democrats: “Well, there they go again.”
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THE WITNESS STAND
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It would appear that anti-Semitism is to a society, or for that matter to any individual, what leprosy is to human flesh. It corrodes and decays. What before may have been living and vibrant is made repulsive. Nothing of any value appears to be left in its wake and the damage it inflicts often seems irreversible. Such would appear to be the tragedy that just occurred, if in fact it turns out to be true that Mel Gibson did say the oh-so-very ugly things that he has been said to have said about Jews on the night of his drunk driving arrest. But, in it all, I have to ask whether there might be some blessing buried within the wound Mel inflicted.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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My son this week is supposed to be getting on an airplane to come for a visit. He’s 20 years old and a freshman in college. He has a whole life of weekends to look forward to and has made plans to spend his next one with me. Needless to say, I’m thrilled and hope there will be many more times like it in the years to come. However, I read about the events in England that make me question whether I can know that with any degree of certainty.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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The other morning I was approached by a man at the gas station who wanted a cup of coffee and asked me if I could spare some change to help him get one. When I gave him the money I looked at him, but then I saw something else. Over his shoulder I locked eyes with a woman standing beyond him who was giving me a look of absolute disgust. It was obvious she held me in contempt for giving the money as much as she did the man to whom I was giving it.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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So, now we have Rob Reiner weighing in on the Mel Gibson imbroglio. He’s stated that if Mel ever hopes to be absolved of his sins, he must start by admitting to us all that his anti-Semitic views have been reflected in his movies i.e. “The Passion of the Christ.” In other words, only when Mel has done that can there even be a “beginning of some reconciliation for him.”
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THE WITNESS STAND
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I was talking with a friend last week who manages a large apartment complex that houses more than 1,000 people. As such, she is exposed on a daily basis to what I would consider a pretty good cross-section of our society. That is why I found one comment she made to be particularly interesting. She said that, as time goes by, she finds fewer and fewer people she interacts with have what she considers to be integrity. I asked what she meant, and she said to her integrity is measured by the importance a person attaches to the virtue of telling the truth. In short, most people she deals with seem to have a predisposition to lie, even when, as she says, the truth would help them more. I think she’s on to something.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Am I alone in the belief that certain events in the last week seem to have whipped up the winds of war we all have been feeling recently to become, at the very least, increasingly “gusty,” giving rise to the possibility that they could soon achieve hurricane status?
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THE WITNESS STAND
Again, we find ourselves in a hotly contested election season. On the surface, we are told that what is at stake is a determination of what party will end up being vested with control of the Congress. But what is really at stake is the charting of our nation’s course with respect to the hot-button social issues that linger always just below the surface of all the rhetoric, such as abortion, gay-marriage, stem cell research and illegal immigration.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Some time ago, a friend described the process by which the criminal law administers justice by likening it to a physician attempting to perform delicate surgery with a meat cleaver. This week, it would seem this analogy might also apply well to international political affairs, considering that North Korea has now proclaimed it possesses a nuclear bomb.
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THE WITNESS STAND
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Do you ever find yourself wondering about the “what ifs?’’ of your life? I’m talking about questions like: “What if I had gone to that school instead of the one I graduated from?”; “What if I had married the girl I loved instead of the one I did?”; or “What if I hadn’t put that lamp shade on my head at the firm retreat and attempted to impersonate a Latvian belly dancer?”
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In many instances, the value of something is determined entirely by the person in whose hands it is held. I confess this point may seem so obvious that you wonder why it would be worth discussing. It’s because what is often not so obvious is the significant impact this principle can have in terms of either extinguishing or preserving human life.
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This is said to be the week voters will determine which party will control Congress. Since by the time this column prints that vote will have already taken place, let me take a position now about a matter I think is important to consider, regardless of which party ultimately triumphs this week.
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