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Good news from the stupidity front: all three of those hikers, detained by the peaceful Islamic Republic of Iran, are back.
Have you forgotten them, the three who went out sojourning around beautiful, eastern Iraq? And then “strayed” into Iran and found themselves in jail for over two years.
NEW YORK (AP) — Two Americans held for more than two years in an Iranian prison on accusations of spying returned to the U.S. on Sunday, ending a diplomatic ordeal that began with what they called a wrong turn into the wrong country.
Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer arrived at Kennedy Airport in new York City at about 11 a.m. (1500 GMT).
The two were released from prison last week. they arrived Wednesday in Oman under a $1 million bail deal and were embraced by relatives.
They were detained along with fellow hiker Sarah Shourd in July 2009 along the Iran-Iraq border. they say they were only hiking in Iraq’s relatively peaceful Kurdish region and may have wrongly ended up in Iran.
My funny connection to them is that I was above Iraq within 24 hours of the “incident” as a Navy aircrewman. And, of course, I am a Bear, a Berkeley alum too. Not only do I have to endure general ribbing from the navy peanut gallery regarding Cal; after this occurrence, I had to hear comments about the tree folk getting lost in Iran. Berkeley hikers, not smarter than your average Bear.
My second piece of UC Berkeley news is sad. In correspondence with a fellow blogger, I mentioned the Naked Guy, a well-known Berkeley fixture back when I was at school there. Essentially:
he began appearing naked in public and led a campus “nude-in” to protest social repression. Campus police first arrested him that fall for indecent exposure when he jogged naked near southside dormitories late on a Saturday night.
I knew Andrew from around campus, we had a friend in common. Whenever I saw him, he was clothed. I even spotted him (assisted him in lifting) once on the bench press at the campus gym. He had clothes on then too. The above picture was taken right across from Sproul Hall, the site of many Free Speech speeches. have I mentioned that I have never seen him au naturel?
I can’t imagine jogging in the buff. I would feel vulnerable in that “did-I-leave-my-fly-open” sort of way. That: I-feel-a-cool-breeze-down-there kind of thing. (Although, once nude, we have no “fly” (that I know of.) so maybe my analogy is a poor one.)
Sadly, if you go to the above link, his life ended in sadness. I just learned myself when I searched for news on him. Three lost hikers and a naked guy. Not a bad week for Berkeley. . .
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