This blog was written by Robert Blair at Huffington Post. We received permission from Mr. Blair to cross-post it here. We ask that, if you have a Huffington Post account, you leave any comments there.
Here in New England, people look forward to April as the days turn longer, and warmer and the first signs of Spring emerge. The young, and young at heart, often recite the old standard, "April showers bring May flowers." Unfortunately, in far too many parts of world, April is not a month to look forward to, as April is well on its way to becoming known as a month of tragedy; one with a strange and deadly history.
For the past two weeks we have paid more attention to the rest of the world than usual, what with the Olympics drawing our attention to Asia, and the conflict in the Balkans forcing us to learn that Atlanta is not in danger...that indeed, there is another Georgia-and how events in that Georgia could affect life in our Georgia.
As it happens, I belong to an international blogging collective (the Blogpower community) with voices that happen to be especially well-placed and often powerful to boot...a combination that will be most helpful for today's exercise.
We are going to take a journey, Gentle Reader, all the way from India to Australia. We'll visit Canadian friends, then we have much to discuss in the UK...and we get to meet a friend in the Sudan-and just for fun, we'll toss in a few discussion questions based on Russian history.
Finally, through the miracle of Facebook, we'll meet an actual volunteer soldier from South Ossetia who will describe the Georgian attack on his city.
There's a lot to cover, so put on your travel hat, grab your virtual passport, and let's hit the road.
