Last night I went to an annual after-holidays party put on by the Independent Neighborhood Democrats (IND), one of my local Democratic Clubs, at the home of one of my district leaders, Jo Anne Simon. As many of you know I am sometimes at odds with IND, a theme to keep in mind as I write this piece. But, whether untied or divided, IND always puts on a great party, with ample desserts and interesting discussions with and among politicians. I had several such interesting conversations, including a conversation with one of my favorite Congressional Representatives, Nydia Velasquez, and another conversation with two members of the New York State Legislature, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and State Senator Daniel Squadron, which covered similar themes. The gist of both discussions was that, both in Congress and in Albany, it is clear that Democrats, because of internal dissensions, are losing ground to more unified, though numerically inferior, Republicans. And this is despite the fact that Democrats have the better plan, the better ideas, and the better message. One person, referring specifically to Albany, put it this way: the left is on the run right now.  read more »

In 2008 Americans became aware of a region most had never head of before: South Ossetia. The nations of Russia and Georgia fought a war over South Ossetia. South Ossetia is recognized as part of Georgia by all but three nations. Russia, Nicaragua and Venezuela all recognize South Ossetia as independent, though Russia treats it more as a satellite of Russia. North Ossetia is part of Russia. Recently, about a year after the war itself, the EU issued a report on the war that blamed both Russia and Georgia for the outbreak of the war and blamed both for violations of human rights. Ossetia remains a flashpoint today with no real resolution to the conflict.

The Caucasus region, which includes several such flashpoints including Ossetia, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Abkhazia, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, actually has a fascinating history going back as far back as history goes. To many New Yorkers, many of these cultures blend into the "Russian" communities in places like Brighton Beach. In fact, many restaurants we think of as "Russian" in NYC are actually Georgian.  read more »

Note: This is an early impression, and there's probably a lot of information that either isn't out there, or hasn't reached me yet. But it's a start.

This is cross-posted from my website.

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Russia has invaded two so-called “breakaway provinces” that are officially part of the sovereign nation of Georgia. Now, despite of two cease-fire announcements, the Russians are not leaving. In addition, they are threatening to open up a second front by invading Poland.

So whose fault is it?

Clearly, there is a convoluted situation in the area known as South Ossetia. Both South Ossetia and Georgia were annexed by Russia in 1801, but the area has been Balkanized for centuries, and neither the Romanovs nor Soviet rulers were able to change that. Both North and South Ossetians have long fought for unification. North Ossetians tended to be willing to be, if not part of Russia, at least closely associated with that country. South Ossetians, on the other hand, have tended to prefer complete autonomy.  read more »

We are witnessing a major power play by Russia just like the world watched a major power play by the US when Bush invaded Iraq. In both cases lies surround the invasion. In both cases, a bully nation threatens a smaller nation and the bully may go unpunished, but in the long run may suffer.  read more »

The most ignored story off the day, ignored even on Daily Kos as the Edwards "scandal" hits, is the new war between Russia and Georgia. I don't know how much I can inform people about this, but it is the latest war in the trans-Caucus flashpoint that perhaps you remember includes Chechnya.

Today, Russian tanks invaded Georgia territory to support a break away Republican called South Ossetia. Georgia considered this an act of war and there is currently fierce fighting between Russian and Georgian forces within South Ossetia.  read more »