Just a note on those American hostages in Iran......

[Roscoe]

Three Americans whose disappearance in Iran ... [are] UC Berkeley graduates whose interest in Middle Eastern culture and human rights led them abroad to study and do freelance journalism ...

Shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

[Both] are 27 [and] once lived in the same Oakland co-op and taught a student-led class at Berkeley that envisioned a harmonious, postcapitalist society.

With unicorns, I suppose.

[Shane] Bauer [a Minnesota native who is fluent in Arabic] graduated with honors from UC Berkeley in 2007, earning a bachelor’s degree with a major in peace and conflict studies and a minor in Arabic. He went to Sudan’s Darfur region to research a thesis on the crisis there.

[Sarah] Shourd is described by those who know her as passionate about teaching, traveling and politics. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in English in May 2003, she worked as a tutor with Americorps…

...describes herself on one Web site as a lover of “fresh broccoli, Zapatistas [read: “libertarian Marxists”] and anyone who can change her mind.”

A feat I suspect couldn’t be accomplished with a Malkin-load of facts and a 100# Cluebat.

[Joshua] Fattal, who earned his bachelor’s degree in environmental economics and policy, is a Pennsylvania native who recently worked and lived at a sustainable living research center in Oregon....

[He] founded a class in spring 2005 called “Liberation and reality: moving toward a collective autonomy” through UC Berkeley’s student-run DeCal program.

I hope they enjoy their stay in the Peeeeoples Iran.