Social networking is doing some good. In a matter of days, over 110,000 users have joined the Support the Monks’ Protest in Burma group on Facebook, with the larger goal of mobilizing support for the Buddhist monks who have launched a peaceful, “saffron” protest against the military regime that seized power in 1962 and has held on ever since. As expected, the government is cracking down on the peaceful protesters, breaking into monasteries at night, torturing monks and throwing them in jail. The Facebook Group offers a specific action plan, and it’s effectively bringing visibility to this human rights issue. Log into Facebook (or create an account), join the group here and support democracy in Burma.

For a more general account of the human rights abuses in Burma, click here; for daily accounts of what’s currently happening in Burma right now, click here.

Also please note: International bloggers are preparing an action to support the peaceful revolution in Burma. On October 4, bloggers will refrain from posting to their blogs and just put up one Banner underlined with the words “Free Burma!” Get more information at www.free-burma.org, and if you’re a blogger participate and help turn up the pressure.

The MacArthur Foundation recently announced its latest crop of “genius grant” recipients. Each winner receives $500,000 “with no strings attached” and they can use the money to live, to fund research, or to buy a very modest condo in the Bay Area. As usual, the recipients come from a wide range of fields and backgrounds. Reviewing the bios and multimedia clips of these incredibly gifted people, I can’t help but be reminded of a great Tom Lehrer quote: “When Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years.”

There was a lot of hand-wringing leading up to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s appearance at Columbia University on Monday. But, as it turns out, freedom of speech seemingly worked as it was intended. Ahmadinejad entered the marketplace of ideas and quickly came out the wrong side of the exchange. (You can watch the full video of his appearance here or read the transcript here.) The deciding factor wasn’t so much the unbecoming introduction offered by Lee Bollinger, Columbia’s president. It was more just a matter of giving Ahmadinejad enough rope to hang himself (i.e., letting him doubt the existence of the Holocaust and also gays in Iran) and then sitting back and watching it happen.

Of course, the “marketplace of ideas” metaphor only goes so far when you’re dealing with international politics. Ahmadinejad’s speech wasn’t about winning a competition at Columbia. It was mostly about playing to an audience at home, one for whom his rhetorical strategies score points. But then there are the unintended consequences to consider. Far better than a discredited Bush administration ever could, Ahmadinejad realistically softened up the American public to any military plans that the US government has on the table. At the very least, this has to qualify for a Darwin Award. I’ll save further analysis for the pundits and talking heads since I know that politics and political opinions only go so far on this blog.

Related Note:

Last week, KQED’s Forum here in San Francisco had a good conversation about free speech in the university. It touched on Ahmadinejad’s appearance at Columbia, but also Don Rumsfeld’s invitation to Stanford’s Hoover’s Institution and Larry Summers canceled invitation to speak before the UC Board of Regents. Listen here: iTunes – Feed – Mp3 – Web site.