Firoozeh Dumas in the News

Firoozeh Dumas does not seem to be a controversial person. The Iranian-born, Southern California-raised author (Funny in Farsi, Laughing Without an Accent>) specializes in humorous and touching stories about her childhood, youth, and her extended family (but especially her parents). So why did someone make bomb threats at a book discussion she held at a California University?

On March 24, Dumas spoke about her books at the University of Southern California. Her talk followed the screening of the animated film, "Persepolis," which is based on a graphic novel about an independent girl's upbringing in Iran after the revolution. The events were subjected to increased security, including searches and scans of attendees, according to the USC student newspaper, the Daily Trojan. Luckily, the evening took place as planned.

The Trojan reports that the police didn't know anything specific about the threats, which apparently weren't aimed at any specific individual or building. Was it someone who was upset that two Iran-themed events took place on the campus? Or was it someone who was upset that the two events both featured independent Iranian (or Iranian-American) women?

We may never know the answer to that. But we will be hearing more about Dumas' family, thanks to ABC TV. A situation comedy pilot is in the works for that network; if it passes muster, a regular series will be in our future.

Until that time, you can get a taste of Dumas' humor and her message by watching the video below. Dumas spoke to The Commonwealth Club's Silicon Valley audiences on May 5, 2008, about the "Adventures of an Iranian American."

Dumas also moderated the audience question and answer session at the end of travel host Rick Steves' January 26, 2009, Commonwealth Club program about his recent travel to Iran. You can see that video here.

Using the Decriminalization of Drugs to Calm a Restless Nation

The parallels between the first 100 days of the Roosevelt presidency and that of Obama's have been much commented upon, with Roosevelt's first days being used as a yardstick for legislative achievement or at least activity. Now a new link between the two eras has begun to emerge: the decriminalization of marijuana.

In 1933, after Roosevelt enacted a steady stream of legislation to secure the nation's economy that would last generations, he repealed the 18th Amendment allowing for the sale of alcohol. While it was long a Democratic desire to do so, the practical reason was to generate tax receipts from the sale of liquor and expand various programs to put people back to work. It seems times have not changed much in 76 years.

Former San Francisco Supervisor and current State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano says the flailing California economy could receive a $1 billion boost by taxing the sale of marijuana. The legislation is currently in Sacramento. According to a Time article, the estimated $14 billion in sales of the drug would nearly double the state's next largest cash-crop -- milk and cream.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder also signaled that the government is beginning to soften its decades-old stance against marijuana when he said that federal raids against California cannabis clubs would cease (such dispensaries are legal in the state) and states would be allowed to make their own laws on the subject.

As populist anger continues to bubble over regarding the economy, a steady stream of huge unemployment figures and the current scandal of corporate bonuses paid with taxpayer money, The Nation's Alexander Cockburn thinks making pot legal might calm the citizenry the way making alcohol legal was intended to cool pre-Great Depression America.

Ending Prohibition was functional to social control. If people head for the bars, they'd be less likely to man the barricades, calling for real change. As FDR's popularity soared, so Obama's popularity has soared for dope smokers, among them those whom the herb is the best and cheapest line of defense against pain.

The Internet has cultivated a large following of cogent pleas for decriminalization easily outnumbered by thousands of hokey ideas and conspiracy theories. The functionality of hemp seems to be quite popular on many of these sites. One unlikely voice in the crowd is noted travel author Rick Steves, who recently visited the Commonwealth Club of California to discuss not marijuana, but his film on Iran.

In a interview this week with Salon, the author gave his views on the elitism of many of our laws regarding pot.

The fact is, the marijuana law in the U.S. is a big lie. It's racist and classist. White rich people can smoke marijuana with impunity and poor black people get a record, can't get education, can't get a loan, and all of sudden go into a life of desperation and become hardened criminals. Why? Because we've got a racist law based on lies about marijuana.

It is unlikely a full repeal of many of these marijuana laws would occur under Obama -- the nation and the relative strength of many moderate Democrats and the Republican party would make it difficult even under the guise of increased tax revenue. What the attorney general's announcement indicates is a willingness to look away similar to what law enforcement already does when there are bigger problems than a high schooler smoking pot during fifth period.

--Steven Tavares

Steves Shows a Different Side of Iran

An Iranian man, with his large arm hung out the window of a dilapidated sedan, tells the travel writer Rick Steves he loves Americans; the author of numerous European travel guides nearly reciprocates by saying Americans love Iranians before stammering and reversing course. In this moment you realize the host of "Rick Steves' Iran" comes to the fertile crescent with the same worn out stereotypes many Americans might have with the Middle Eastern nation.

Of course, this is exactly what Steves is attempting to do with his hour-long venture into the people, customs and landscape of Iran and he does it well. (Viewers in the San Francisco Bay Area can watch an encore airing of the program on KTEH-54 on Feb. 1 at 10 p.m. Others around the country can click here for the date and time in your area.)

Steves' high-definition camera lovingly captures the capital of Tehran in vivid, bright blues and greens. My personal vision of Iran conjured up a gray, dusty and dank metropolis. According to Steves, the city's downtown, parks and transit system are comparable to anything he has seen in Europe.

Through Steves' cameras we find the large demographic of young people to be inquisitive with a strong grasp of the English language. The young women featured in the program are some of the most beautiful in the world and they adapt to the stringent morality laws and customs with a certain sense of come hither feminine coyness. Iranian law says women must cover their hair with a chaddor, yet we see many stylishly sporting their bangs out from under the scarf covering their heads. Steves also gives potential male travelers a good tip: do not shake hands with women, it is disrespectful.

The program makes mere mention of Iran's theocratic style of government but does not dwell on its human rights issues. One reason may be the fact the program is sponsored by the United Nations to foster understanding between countries, and Steves' is just a traveler opening the viewers minds to a distant land, not hoping to change their politics.

While "Rick Steves' Iran" may not nudge you toward spending precious vacation dollars in the Middle East, it does show Iraninans are not much different than ordinary Americans. They question authority, dream of their future and enjoy family and friends. It is a snapshot of humanity our government and mainstream media rarely portray between the images of American hostages and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Rick Steves will discuss this PBS program Monday, Jan. 26, in Palo Alto, Calif. For more information, visit the The Commonwealth Club web site.

--Steven Tavares