PBC News & Comment: Berkeley Bungles Blac Bloc Assault, Again

Sunday’s conservative protest and liberal counter-protests were upstaged by hundreds of hooded vigilantes, cops stood down and watched…--coverage in SF Chronicle is here
--dragnet warrants and conspiracies among strangers are features of prosecution of inauguration protesters who face lengthy prison time
--judge allows warrant on DreamHost servers, with some limitations
--today’s North Korean missile test overflies Japan’s Hokkaido island, came from portable launcher near Pyongyang
--excellent, balanced recap of recent US tensions with North Korea from Gareth Porter
--Trump displays authoritarian contempt for rule of law in pardon of Joe Arpaio
--Trump restores distribution of military gear to local law enforcement
--facing likely convictions for designing and implementing torture practices, Mitchell and Jessen agree to confidential settlement that seals many secrets;  Kevin Gosztola's report is here
--Rachel Maddow hyperventilates over latest Trump-Russia revelations
--Robert Parry exposes the spin, shows that leaked emails show that Russia did not pursue deal for Trump hotel in Moscow in 2015-16
--leaks from Mueller team to NBC say investigators are looking into Trump’s role in drafting Junior’s misleading statement
--Louise Mensch and writing partner Claude Taylor are exposed by a hoaxer who burned them with false stories of grand jury indictment of Trump
--while PBC was on vacation, Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka were bounced from Trumpland