BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's war against minority Islamist guerrillas in the south, which killed more than 5,000 people during the past eight years, could escalate into an international security crisis similar to Yemen or Afghanistan, Britain's ambassador said.

"We know from other conflicts that these conflicts cannot always be contained," the British Ambassador to Thailand, Asif Ahmad, said.

"There may come a day when the troubles of the south will become the troubles of the region as a whole. And I dare say this, it might become a magnet for people to create havoc from elsewhere.

"We've seen it in Yemen. We've seen it in Afghanistan. You cannot be immune," Mr. Ahmad said.

"South Thailand has undergone a very tragic period over the last seven or eight years, with 5,000 people killed, maybe up to 10,000 people injured, and in recent times the situation has even deteriorated," the European Union Ambassador to Thailand, David Lipman, said.

"Almost two people per day are being killed on average at the moment in south Thailand, so this is obviously very, very worrying.

To Democratic citizens of the U. S.:
The proposal for the Keystone XL Pipeline to move oil from the northern Canadian sand tar pits to Texas was included in essential legislation late last year. Read the following letter to learn that The Keystone XL Pipeline would be disastrous environmentally, and would not provide jobs gasoline, or diesel fuel in the U.S.

It would be very profitable for the big oil companies which now have a fallacious advertising campaign.

On Saturday, December 17, 2011 the Senate passed a Bill 98 to 10 (39 Republican Senators (80%) voted for it.) to extend the FICA (Social Security) Tax cut, extend unemployment insurance benefits, and continued the pay primary care physicians at the current rate to care for Medicare patient. The fees were scheduled to be cut by 27% on January 1st. That would weaken Medicare by denying some patient care. The Senate then adjourned for the year.

In the final days of the Libyan conflict, as NATO conducted a nonstop bombing campaign, an Aljazeera Arabic television correspondent’s actions raised more than eyebrows. They also raised serious questions regarding the journalistic responsibility of Arab media – or in fact any media - during times of conflict.

Using a handheld transceiver, the journalist aired live communication between a Libyan commander and his troops in a Tripoli neighborhood targeted by a massive air assault. Millions of people listened, as surely did NATO military intelligence, to sensitive information disclosed by an overpowered, largely defeated army. The Doha-based news anchor sought further elaboration, and the reporter readily provided all the details he knew.

Did Abdel-Azim Mohammed, a journalist reputed for his gutsy reports from Iraq’s Fallujah, violate the rules of journalism by transmitting information that could aid one party against another, and worse, cost human lives?

I want to thank the ‘Free Press’ & Tom Over for the coverage of the Occupy movement. However, while I admire & respect Tom’s hard work in covering the movement, there was a formulation in his latest piece that I feel needs to be examined.

The article spoke of Occupy activists being afraid of “being taken over by big unions and the Democratic Party.” While I’d make no attempt to discuss the motives of that, or any other, political party, as a life-long member, activist & leader of the United Steelworker’s Union, I can absolutely assure you that no one, from national AFL-CIO President Trumka, to state, local unionists, all the way down to rank & file unionists here in Columbus, has any approach directed at “taking over” this wonderful new movement. As a leader, organizer of, the local Steelworker’s Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR), we invited and were very happy to have numerous Occupy activists attend our annual Christmas dinner. We were overjoyed to offer a good meal and friendship to these activists, even asking them to address the steelworkers and friends present.

New Hampshire’s primary grabs headlines today, but if history is any guide, the Jan. 21 South Carolina primary will play a far greater role in determining the Republican winner.

Of that state’s population, 28 percent are African American, and could be a major factor in the primary. But Republican candidates have made little effort to reach out to the black community. Republican South Carolina voters are likely to be nearly as white as they were in Iowa and New Hampshire. All the Republican candidates will pay tribute to Dr. King on his birthday next week, but they seem oblivious to one of his greatest contributions: the creation of the New South.