Georgia vs Russia

If anyone else is like me and has absolutely no clue as to what's going down between Georgia and Russia (or who, also like me, had the knee-jerk reaction of thinking Georgia-next-to-Alabama had been attacked), the New York Times has a helpful article that partially explains reasons for the conflict and helps put the whole thing in a more historical context. I also found this blog, and more specifically these blog posts helpful while I mull over exactly what is happening there over yonder.