David Bernans

Conseiller à la vie syndicale / Internal organizer SPGQ

[Middle Eastern Affairs @OpsHQs]

The Israeli ambassador protested the publication of this clip on social media platforms and asked some companies to delete it entirely. Let's make it go viral around the world

[Kim Heller @kimheller3]

A powerful video on the FIFA World Cup

[Gianl1974 @Gianl1974]

BREAKING: Jimmy Kimmel just delivered the White House Correspondents' Dinner roast Trump was too scared to face — and it’s BRUTALLY HILARIOUS!

This year, the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner has abandoned its long-standing tradition of featuring a comedian to host the event and deliver a fiery roast of the incumbent president and their administration.

Given Donald Trump’s boycott of any dinner where he might have to face the slightest bit of mockery, it was the only way to get him to return to the scene of his previous humiliations, most notably from the rapier wit of Barack Obama back in 2011.

According to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, Trump banned comedians from the Dinner because, as Kimmel put it, "our president is a delicate snowflake with the thinnest fat skin of any human being ever."

So, Kimmel did the roast anyway — presenting it as the Alternate White House Correspondents' Dinner from the "Trump Kimmel Center in Washington, DC" in a subtle jab at the MAGA alternate Super Bowl Halftime show.

It was everything Trump could possibly fear.

The opening of Kimmel’s faux routine set the tone immediately: "I haven't seen this much black since every page of the Trump Epstein files." He then began to skewer the narcissist-in-chief — and select members of his administration — with barbs designed to highlight every major character flaw that Trump pretends doesn’t exist

On Trump's ego: "The president didn't want me to tell any jokes about him tonight, but he also didn't want to pay me $130,000 to shut up. So here we are. Sorry, mushroom d**k."

On Trump's Jesus complex: "Every time he walks into a room, people say, 'Christ, he's back.' Who did your makeup? Kraft Singles?"

On Trump's legacy: "He passed new incentives for oil and gas. He put the brakes on solar and wind. That will be your legacy, sir — breaking wind and passing gas."

On Trump's Epstein connection: "30 years ago, you were just some rich guy on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet out of Teterboro. But you worked hard, stayed friends, shared some wonderful secrets. And because of that, you were able to fly on that plane seven more times. Dreams really do come true."

On Melania: "Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow. She's planning to celebrate her birthday at home, the same way she always does — looking out a window and whispering, 'What have I done?'" And: "Melania's documentary had a score of 10% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a website named after her husband's testicles."

On Kash Patel: "Can we get Kash a vodka soda and a booster seat? I'm not saying Kash Patel has a problem, but his designated driver is Pete Hegseth."

On Pete Hegseth: "Pete's hair has more oil in it right now than the Strait of Hormuz. Later on, Pete's going to read us a Bible passage from Pulp Fiction, so stick around."

On RFK Jr.: "Years ago, he wrote in his diary that he pulled his car over to carve the penis out of a raccoon. His son asked why. He said, 'Because I'm a f---ing psychopath. Now get out of this car and go get measles.'"

Kimmel concluded his alternate reality roast by presenting another made-up award of the type that the insecure president loves so much: the "inaugural Burger King of Comedy Gold Award," which was presented to "Donald J. Leno Trump."

Trump may have gotten the White House Correspondents' Association to ban comedians at their annual dinner — but the comedy happened anyway, thanks to Jimmy Kimmel.

Please like and share this post if you think a president hiding from jokes is funnier than any joke a comedian could tell.

[Avi Lewis @avilewis]

The President of the United States is openly threatening to commit genocide against 90 million people.

Prime Minister Carney: if there was ever a moment to denounce this illegal war, withdraw your support, and call for accountability for war crimes—it’s now.

[Armchair Warlord @ArmchairW]

In making sense of a complex event, it's often best to start with the facts and then work backwards from there. So what are we to make of this weekend in Iran?

My theory is we just saw an attempt to seize Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium unravel.

Down the rabbit hole.⬇️

Let's run through the timeline and the location of key events first:

The evening of April 2nd, the Iranian military released a video of them shooting down a USAF aircraft. This was initially claimed as having occurred over the Persian Gulf, but apparently occurred near Isfahan. Wreckage corresponding to an F-15E of the 494th Tactical Fighter Squadron was recovered from a site south of Isfahan the morning of April 3rd, although geolocation of the very barren crash site took some time (fig. 1).

The afternoon of April 3rd, a number of USAF HH-60s and an HC-130 fueler (!) were spotted operating further south and west in Iran, over Kogiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, as well as at least one A-10, an MQ-9 Reaper, and apparently an F-35. An antiaircraft battle developed and the Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) HH-60s (fig.2) and an A-10 were damaged, with the A-10's pilot ejecting over the Persian Gulf. The HH-60s were reported as "damaged" and one was photographed trailing smoke. Reports emerged at that time that the pilot of the F-15E (which had crashed near Isfahan, although this was then-unclear!) had been rescued, while the WSO remained at large. Provincial authorities in Kohgiluyeh asked civilians to be on the lookout for an American aviator around this time and numerous photos of militia searching for him emerged.

The next day passed relatively uneventfully. The evening of April 4th, however, there was a report of more helicopter activity slightly further north, in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, accompanied by a washed-out photograph of an unknown helicopter flying very low on a very dark night (fig. 3). Later that night news emerged that the F-15Es WSO had been rescued... and that C-130s had been abandoned and scuttled at a forward base in the Isfahan area during the withdrawal of a company-size SOF force that had landed in the area, over 100 operators ostensibly having been sent to rescue one aviator. Photographs that emerged as dawn broke showed two burned-out C-130s and several destroyed MH-6 Little Bird SOF assault helicopters, in a scene reminiscent of the aftermath of Operation Eagle Claw (fig. 4). A USAF C-295 tactical transport was caught on video around that time flying in Iran - presumably outbound - at extremely low altitude.

So, what are we to make of this?

First and foremost, the official story - that a huge direct-action SOF force landed near Isfahan with assault helicopters and heavy transport aircraft to rescue one fugitive airman - is nonsense. Not because the USAF won't go to extreme lengths to recover isolated personnel - it can, will, and did in this case - but because that's an absolutely nonsensical way to accomplish that mission. It's a totally inappropriate force package for a mission to go in, extract a single person from a remote area, and leave. Ergo this SOF task force was there on other business.

So how were the pilots actually recovered? In all likelihood, exactly the way you would expect them to be recovered - by USAF PJs in long-range helicopters, under cover of darkness. The rescue force probably recovered the pilot from the Isfahan area late at night on April 2-3 and were caught in daylight as they exfiltrated, leading to the aforementioned antiaircraft battle the morning of April 3rd and a high-risk refueling over Iranian territory that was filmed by many Iranians on the ground, as well as a shot-down A-10 trying to clear a path for the helicopters to exfiltrate. The WSO was likely recovered from his hide site near Isfahan by HH-60 in a quiet and deliberate operation the night of April 4-5. One or two birds, in and out under cover of darkness - a far cry from the gung-ho stories currently being spun.

So what about the SOF rodeo happening at the same time? Well, why was an F-15 flying downtown to Isfahan the evening of April 2nd to begin with? Probably because there was a huge direct-action raid planned in the Isfahan area for the night of April 4-5, likely going after enriched uranium at an underground facility in the region, and the Iranian air defenses around Isfahan weren't going to suppress themselves. The plan was likely to fly several MH-6 assault birds and a sizable force of operators via C-130 and C-295 to a forward staging area near Isfahan the evening of April 4th, hit a reported cache site or sites for enriched uranium, and try to make it out with the magic dust by daybreak on April 5th.

In any event the USAF wasn't going to send transports somewhere it wouldn't send strike aircraft. So the Air Force cashed its check on claims of air superiority and in went the strike package the evening of April 2nd - and lo and behold one of the F-15Es went down because reports of the demise of the Iranian air defense network had been greatly exaggerated. Any rational planner would have scrubbed the SOF operation at this point because they'd lost control of the situation and the Iranian defenses had proven more effective than planned.

We went ahead anyways and inserted the SOF task force the evening of April 4th. I strongly suspect that this force was immediately discovered by Iranian drones that would have been up and searching for this WSO, because five transport aircraft including at least two C-130s (about what would be required for a bunch of Little Birds and a company-sized element of operators with equipment) landing at a desert airstrip 50km from Isfahan (and in the same general area where the WSO was taking cover) would be pretty God-damn obvious to anything with thermals. Iranian troops immediately deployed and began converging, the task force probably took indirect fire, and the operational commander immediately aborted mission and retreated in the three remaining operational aircraft. Scuttling charges on delayed fuzes burned two C-130s and an unknown number of MH-6s that had been abandoned at the airstrip around dawn.

The story that they were there to rescue the WSO was concocted at that time to cover the disastrously failed raid, as were logistically implausible claims that the task force had been rescued by three additional aircraft after the two C-130s got stuck on the LZ and were scuttled - perhaps to minimize the scale of the effort. Claims that a large battle took place appear to be similarly exaggerated - video has emerged of a single group of Iranian militia apparently killed in a drone strike, but nothing of the nonstop bombing and firefights that were rumored across Telegram all night. I remind the reader that the events of the last few days have proven quite conclusively that Iranians seem to have plenty of internet access to post photos and video when they actually have something worthwhile to film.

I'd like to note that Hegseth fired General George - US Army Chief of Staff - on April 2nd, apparently because he just wasn't a good fit for the job and definitely not because he'd told him that this whole scheme was insane. It seems to me that the good General's advice should have perhaps been heeded.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

So, if I got that right, here's the narrative:

- A US F-15E fighter jet got shot down over Iran, despite Trump saying 2 days beforehand in his nationwide address that Iran has "no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100% annihilated." (https://t.co/3pnVUGxHyV)

- The plane's weapons systems officer - a "highly respected Colonel," according to Trump - ejected from the plane and got "seriously wounded" (still according to Trump: https://t.co/jUbGiGk9uM)

- He still managed to "hike up a 7,000-foot [2.1km] mountain ridgeline and hide in a crevice" in the Zagros Mountains, despite his wounds (https://t.co/ECTqgUFOZ3)

- U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones started killing all "Iranian military-aged males believed to be a threat who got within three kilometers of [the American's location]" (https://t.co/86aZgrsXGT)

- To retrieve him the U.S. managed to seize an "abandoned airport," 200 miles deep inside Iran, near Isfahan (https://t.co/rOpRm3mqt9), which happens to be where Iran's largest atomic scientific center is located (https://t.co/jQfmg4zI8t)

- They landed two MC-130 military transport planes in that airport (https://t.co/k0mU0wqnvU) in an operation involving "hundreds of special forces troops and military personnel" (https://t.co/ECTqgUFOZ3)

- Both MC-130 planes got "stuck in the sand" and the U.S. destroyed them themselves "to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands" (https://t.co/k0mU0wqnvU)

- They deployed "three new aircraft to extract all the U.S. personnel" on the ground (https://t.co/k0mU0wqnvU)

- There are videos circulating online of "heavy clashes" with presumably Iranian missiles raining down in Kohgiluyeh County, in the Zagros Mountains during that night (https://t.co/VCeTzcC1vt)

- Iran sent pictures of the aftermath at the "abandoned airport" and it's a sight of utter destruction, with US plane and MH-6 helicopter parts scattered all over the ground, still smoking (https://t.co/mDpYT9qsKC). Iran claims they are the ones who in fact destroyed all the aircraft.

- Meanwhile a second U.S. plane, an A-10 Warthog, also crashed on Friday near the Strait of Hormuz according to two U.S. officials speaking to the NYT (https://t.co/lFs4zERw2t). In that instance too the lone pilot was apparently "safely rescued."

- In all this, after the multiple planes and helicopters destroyed or shot down, the documented heavy clashes, the "hundreds of special forces troops and military personnel" operating deep inside Iran, not a single US soldier was reported killed "or even wounded" (according to Trump: https://t.co/rCgrl6vMpT).

- And the 'highly respected Colonel' this was all for? No name. No photo. No interview. Nobody has spoken to him nor knows who he is.

So to sum up: anti-aircraft equipment that supposedly didn't exist shot down an F-15 (and, apparently, an A-10 Warthog the same day). A seriously wounded man climbed a 2.1km mountain. The US seized an airfield 200 miles inside a country it's at war with, next to one of its most strategic nuclear sites, and deployed hundreds of troops all apparently unimpeded. Lost two planes to "sand" and destroyed their own helicopters. Videos show heavy clashes, missiles raining down - but not a single person got "even wounded". And the man at the center of it all? Nobody knows who he is, completely anonymous, zero pictures, but Trump says he is "SAFE and SOUND." And so is the rescued A-10 Warthog pilot, who also remains anonymous.

Trump concludes this all proves the US has "achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies" (https://t.co/rCgrl6vMpT), despite the whole episode only happening because Iran shot his planes out of the sky.

Basically, the only thing that's "overwhelming" here is the audacity of the storytelling...

[David Bernans @dbernans]

@NoLore @judyrebick In Montmagny old people must be really happy because parking is free for the first 2 hours. Unfortunately, you need to download the payment app on your phone and figure out how it works to register your vehicle. Ok maybe it could be more old-person-friendly 🫠

[David Bernans @dbernans]

@Tony_Tracy @billybragg @carsieblanton @avilewis @esooze @NDP @ynd_jnd @lighthouse_hfx @SonicConcerts @HRMevents @Halifax_Events He’s doing a free concert in Quebec City this summer at the festival d’été.

[PolitMemeAi🔥 @MemesNoWords]

@disclosetv Present from Iran for Trump

[Al Jazeera Breaking News @AJENews]

An Iranian missile struck an oil refinery in the Israel city of Haifa.

The plant produces half of Israel’s domestic fuel supplies.

Power was briefly disrupted before being restored, with no casualties reported.

[Ounka @OunkaOnX]

Qatar's PM: "This war needs to stop immediately. Everyone knows who the main beneficiary of this war is."

Qatar's PM told the world, this war serves someone's interests. And that someone is not in Tehran, Washington, or Doha — it's in Tel Aviv.

[New Direction AFRICA @Its_ereko]

🇲🇽🇨🇺 BREAKING: Mexico will send oil to Cuba. Trump's blockade has fallen.

60 years of embargo. 60 years of trying to starve an island.

Now Mexico breaks the siege. Oil shipments. Solidarity. Sovereignty.

The US can sanction. Can threaten. Can block.

But neighbors help. Neighbors deliver. Neighbors don't forget.

Cuba has been alone too long. Mexico just changed that.

The blockade isn't gone. But it's cracked. And cracks spread.

Mexico sends oil. The world watches. The empire fumes.

Solidarity wins. Every time.

[Joe Kent @joekent16jan19]

After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.

I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.

It has been an honor serving under @POTUS and @DNIGabbard and leading the professionals at NCTC.

May God bless America.

[Julian Assange @ImJulianAssange]

Canada has played a significant role in helping Ukraine develop its drone warfare capabilities by supplying drones, funding the Drone Capability Coalition (DCC), and investing in joint production. Canada has committed over $300 million to drone-related support, including donating over 900+ drones, high-resolution cameras, and funding Ukrainian domestic production.
Ukraine is assisting Israel with drone warfare with Canadian weapons and technology making Canada a proxy to Israel against Iran.

[Avi Lewis @avilewis]

A desalination plant supplying drinking water to 30 villages. 

A flour and starch factory. 

Oil depots blanketing Tehran in thick black smoke and contaminated rain. 

65 schools. 13 hospitals. 

Centuries-old heritage sites. 

These are the latest targets in the illegal US-Israeli assault on Iran. These are not military bases, they are the civilian infrastructure that keeps ordinary people alive. More than 1,300 people have already been killed since the attacks began, and nearly 6,700 civilian sites have reportedly been struck. 

This war has nothing to do with democracy — or even nuclear weapons. Canada must have no part in it and Prime Minister Carney must use every ounce of his influence to put a stop to it.

[Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump]

The United States has spent EIGHT TRILLION DOLLARS fighting and policing in the Middle East. Thousands of our Great Soldiers have died or been badly wounded. Millions of people have died on the other side. GOING INTO THE MIDDLE EAST IS THE WORST DECISION EVER MADE.....

[Alan MacLeod @AlanRMacLeod]

The Onion doesn't miss.

[Assal Rad @AssalRad]

The difference is by design.

[Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump]

Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin – watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.

[Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein]

BREAKING: Trump’s DOJ removed this photo from the Epstein Files.

Dataset 9, EFTA01230639.

Note that this is undeniably Trump’s commerce secretary Howard Lutnick on Epstein Island. Also note that Howard Lutnick testified under oath that he only went to Epstein Island with his wife and his kids. This is just a bunch of men in this photo.

The cover-up continues in real time.