The coffee’s freshly ground, there’s a wide variety of teas and the sticky buns are homemade.

• “The euro has dropped to its lowest rate against the dollar and pound in 16 months, as concerns continue over the health of Europe’s banks. The euro fell as low as $1.2780 against the dollar and was at an 11-year low versus the yen. Against the pound, it fell to 82.52p, the lowest since September 2010.”

• Ray McGovern: “President Barack Obama desecrated the Constitution that he and I swore to defend when he signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which includes language violating the Bill of Rights and other constitutionally protected liberties. The NDAA affirms that the president has the authority to use the Armed Forces to detain any person ‘who was part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners’.”

• “Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan’s president, has demanded that the United States detention center at Bagram Air Base be handed over to Afghan control within a month, along with all Afghan citizens held by the coalition troops across the nation.”

• “China’s increasing engagement with Africa has become a subject of great controversy. The country’s commercial interests in Africa have been called a new form of colonialism by some in the West, but many Africans say that China is a better partner than Europe or the US. But what is the reality in the African nations with the longest standing links to China?”

• “Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced Thursday that stricter rules would be put in place regarding uneven prisoner exchanges, such as the one that freed Sargent Gilad Shalit. Shalit, who was held by Hamas for five years after being captured in a cross-border raid, was exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in October 2011. Over 400 of those prisoners were high-profile criminals convicted of manslaughter, attempted murder or intentionally causing death.”

• “Israel barred 12 Jewish extremists suspected of violence against Palestinians and Israeli soldiers, from entering the West Bank for three to nine months, the Associated Press reported. The military made the announcement, saying it was acting preemptively, but wasn’t able to launch criminal proceedings against the extremists due to lack of information. The extremists were not identified.”

• “The highest ranking woman in Kuk Sool Won worldwide, she wrote her memoir, Iron Butterfly, with the help of one of her students to try to help people understand how difficult life can be and the value of appreciating what you have.”

From Real News:

• “Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism. Col. Larry Wilkerson speaks at Sam Adams Awards ceremony honoring Jesselyn Radack and Thomas Drake.”

• “Where is Obama’s Climate Change Agenda? James Boyce and Joe Romm discuss the Obama administration climate change policy or lack thereof.”

Editorial cartoon

Marx in the Morning

Richard Wolff: The Call for a New Capitalism

The truth will set you free but first it will piss you off.