She was just 5 years old when she fled Iran, but many of the memories remain vivid.

“I was in Iran during the first revolution. We left because my father’s life was threatened.”

Few people have the kind of perspective on Iran here than Melahat Rafiei. Her father was a high-ranking official in the Shah of Iran’s Air Force.

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Remember the night before a big test in that impossible class? You pretty much have to ace it because you’ve scuffled the entire semester. So you’ve got a pot of coffee there, the book’s open and you’re ready for the all-nighter, but every time you try to read the text book you start nodding off because, well, you just don’t understand the material.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up Sacramento tonight as lawmakers work to pass a budget.

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(The Winery’s Executive Chef and Partner Yvon Goetz of Newport Beach does his thing in the kitchen Sunday during a fundraiser for the Child Guidance Center and Marconi Foundation for Kids)

Have you ever had one of those moments with your kid where no matter what you say they won’t calm down? Or they won’t listen? Or they just keep challenging you?

I’ll bet you’ve thought, “I wish I had an expert feeding me lines, helping me to come up with the magic words.”

Well, such a thing is possible.

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