Terrorists are just like us, proclaims Princeton econ professor Alan Krueger. By "us" he means the educated, politically aware, and passionate - basically, what college students aspire to be on our good days.

In his attempt to "demystify" terrorism and to "reduce the terrifying aspect" of it, Krueger's writes “the popular explanations for terrorism — poverty, lack of education…— simply have no empirical basis," in his new book “What Makes a Terrorist.”

Because it’s so reassuring knowing that terrorism isn’t a random act, but something done in the name of a belief. Kind of like when angry vegans deliberately terrorize campuses by dressing up as meat trays.

But don’t fret yet that the overzealous Singer-quoting next door neighbors will poison a batch of dining-hall hamburgers anytime soon; Krueger insists that Americans are more likely to be struck by lightning than be a victim of a terrorist attack. Whew.

In any case, Americans can rest easy, knowing that they are covering this information at America's hottest school for the War on Terror - the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.