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#IStandWithTruckies was about a sandwich, now it is a vehicle for anti-vax propaganda

By Dave The Trucker 

It started with a push for workplace rights, but the subversion of the #IStandWithTruckies hashtag is indicative of where we’re at in this country.

The virtues of a transient workplace such as mine mean you can roll your eyes at fellow staff’s comments without reprisal. The downside is that the comments you hear don’t have a face, they just come through the radio, supplanted by the next, louder comment.

On Twitter, the hashtag #IStandWithTruckies is trending, inspired by the possibility of a countrywide blockade erected in response to the government (whichever one) making a vaccine mandatory. It, like many things of ill repute, is an American invention, one eagerly bumped by sound thinkers, like Clive Palmer.

On the platform, user Ben Davison writes:

Right now the mouthpieces of foreign propaganda are using #IStandWithTruckies to plan a series of blockades to undermine our #Covid19 response. The screenshot is from a video with an American explaining how to disable a truck to use it as a barricade.”

 

Image from Twitter

 

Elsewhere, under the same hashtag, many are showing support of the plan, purely because of the crucial role that truckers possess. It’s a maxim I hear in my workplace. If we stop, the country stops. We are the people that the government will listen to. If we stop for a week or month, the government will really feel it. However, the point is lost, as the message is a drive against political corruption and/or taking back the country.

 

 

In reality, the genesis of the movement was motivated by the application of COVID rules at a roadhouse in Gilandra. According to what information has been passed on, the local police apparently threatened a $5000 fine if they let truckies dine-in, which conflicts with the National Cabinet exemption allowing dedicated stops and lounges to remain open during Covid lockdowns.

Per Big Rigs:

“Senator Glenn Sterle, a former truckie himself, has now taken up the fight, writing to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and other state cabinet members to get on board and ensure police abide by the National Cabinet directive on truckies’ facilities.

“‘I urge you to please show some leadership, put an end to the confusion and ensure that the above-mentioned exemption is upheld and roadhouses are allowed to stay open to provide the services our essential truck drivers rely on,’ said Sterle in a sternly-worded letter this week.”

From there, it spooled out of control. While it was initially about the denial of basic amenities on the road (the ability to eat, shower and change), it has now been misappropriated by far-right figures who may or may not believe that the world is run by child abusers. This is certainly a shame, as we’re now suddenly about to form a countrywide blockade for reasons we’re not entirely unified about. It’s either about overthrowing ‘Afgladystan’ or being able to get out of our cabs when we stop.

Indeed, per Big Rigs, the Gilandra matter was quickly resolved.

“Common sense has prevailed in Gilgandra and staff at the roadhouses there can now serve sit-down meals to truckies without the threat of fines from police, advises Senator Sterle’s office. After a flurry of follow-up emails between the NHVR, Transport for NSW and local police, the drivers’ lounges are back in business,” the publication wrote.

Big Rigs also published the following post on the Facebook page of the HomeStyle Diner & Takeaway restaurant:

“To All our DRIVERS, after many phone calls emails and messages we are glad to inform you that our Drivers lounge is open for Drivers only to ensure that we follow rules the tables have been set out to the square meter rule. You can sit down and eat your meal providing u (sic) only sit eat your meal and follow the COVID rules…this is an amazing outcome for our Transport drivers. No Locals and or Traveler’s (sic) can sit in this area it is for Drivers only to manage their Fatigue so the staff ask that if you have ordered food that you please wait in your vehicle to ensure that we keep this area open for our drivers. Thankyou (sic) Everyone for your support, have an amazing day.”

Yet, #IStandWithTruckies is now the top trending hashtag in the country. While the struggle of the mythical humble trucker is something that needs to be seriously addressed, and yes, many on the road are furious, and have found meaning in unifying behind a shadowy controlling figure that may or may not exist, having this other element piggyback our crusade will not enable change. In fact, it will mean the opposite will become true. As many on the road see themselves as ostracised, forgotten or outside the national conversation, standing alongside these conspiratorial elements will see us tarred with the same brush, and see our worst fears come to pass.

From there, the path is clear. Those who didn’t particularly believe in these theories may now believe, as those uniformly banned as “COVIDIdiots” may seek a new audience, those who don’t judge.

All I can offer is what I’ve heard from these one-way conversations on the road. Many are angry, scared and paranoid. If there’s a figure to unite against, one who allegedly enabled a once-in-a-century crisis we’re forced to navigate, doing something feels better than doing nothing.

Therefore, this starts to make sense.

 

 

This article was originally published on The Big Smoke.

 

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26 comments

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  1. John Hanna

    It’s about creating chaos so that certain people can gain political advantage….don’t fall for it.

  2. New England Cocky

    Why are long distance truckers, especially interstate truckers, allowed to work while ever they are NOT vaccinated?
    .
    Where are the pop-up vaccination centres on major highway stops where truckers can get vaccinated during their rest period?
    .
    A truckies strike would be unfortunate but demonstrate the critical need for an efficient railway service for passengers and freight between capital cities.
    .
    So, digging up the Great Northern Railway between Guyra and Ben Lomond, to build a Fail Rail Trail is a national disgrace supported by the good ole boy mates of former Nazional$ leader John Anderson, presently a pre-selected Nazional$ Number 2 candidate for the Senate, after tow elections as Campaign Manager for Barnyard Beetrooter.

  3. Bert

    Dave as one trucker to another. We are always dragged into these sort of situations through no fault of our own.

    You know and I know the industry is full of cowboys, although in my experience those are in the minority who manage to give the majority a bad rap.

    Also I think these people not only give the trucking industry a bad name but also latch onto whatever right wing travesty the fekwits come up with. The airwaves are full of these people and usually the same ones.

    Voice an opposite view to the vocal few and prepare for the backlash. Unfortunately this type always seem to be the most popular ones on the road. Go figure.

    Anyhoo, keep the wheels turnin’ with no flats and I may see you on the road somewhere.

  4. Thomas Brookes

    Re #IStandWithTruckies was about a sandwich, now it is a vehicle for anti-vax propaganda”

    I have just finish reading a well researched article entitled “is the cure worse than the disease”. It exposes just how destructive these lockdowns have been and how it all could have been avoided, if the real experts (and I’m talking Nobel recipients for medicine) had of been listened to at the beginning, before the whole pandemic was hijacked by big Pharma. The censorship and destruction of anybody who disagrees with the “jab” rhetoric, is in my mind the scariest part of this, let alone the deliberate concealing of simple protocols using drugs and medicines that have proven safety record and a proven success rate of preventing and curing Covid, Eg as a starting point search and listen to Australian Professor Robert Clancy interviewed on ABC Radio Newcastle. Or go to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, or the evidence given to the Texas Senate by Dr Peter McCullough.

    Who is paying and checking the fact checkers… I learnt long ago that when something doesn’t make sense follow the money (eg Pfizers profits up 75%).

    Anybody who disagrees with the narrative is labelled a “conspiracy Theorist” (a term invented by the CIA) or an anti-vaxer. Have any of you stopped to think… what if any of these so called “nutters” turn out to be right. AIM of all people has been well aware of politicians, governments and corporations doing covert things that are not in the public interest.

    Further I am very disappointed that AIM has joined the lamestream media and has not given a platform to any qualified dissenting opinion.

  5. !

    Re Dr Peter McCullough:

    … person under 50 years of age and survivors do not need the vaccine and that there is no evidence of asymptomatic spread … advanced anti-vaccination messaging, including falsely claiming tens of thousands of fatalities attributed to the COVID-19 vaccines …

    In an interview on the Fox News program Tucker Carlson Tonight in May 2021, McCullough claimed that hydroxychloroquine is effective for treating COVID-19 … appearances on the Fox News program The Ingraham Angle; McCullough contradicted public health recommendations, for example when asked about the aggressive spread of COVID-19 among children, by suggesting that healthy persons under 30 had no need for a vaccine

    Dear oh dear, Tommy Brookes is running the anti-vaxxer line.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_A._McCullough

  6. guest

    Thomas Brookes,

    You must be careful with what you read and where you read it. At medpagetoday.com (6/8/2021) I read that Dr Peter McCullough has made false claims about his medical connections, and is one of those, who like Trump, has advocated the use of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19, and has said that 50,000 Americans have died from vaccine (not true)

    Truckers,

    A great deal of good can be done in a good cause – and a great deal of harm in a cause badly executed. If you were to carry out your program, you would harm many, many people, including friends, family – and yourselves. And you would get no thanks for it.

    When airline pilots struck for more money, Bob Hawke, a union man, sacked the lot of them.

  7. Michael Taylor

    Thomas seems to share similar views with Donald Trump, who, I hear, has been telling his faithful that they won’t need the booster from Pfizer as it’s only a ploy by Pfizer to rake in a few extra bucks.

    Such chatter is dangerous.

  8. Phil Pryor

    Tom Brookes, go back to kindy, start again, and after, say, twenty years of remedial and correction, good luck. Do pay attention.

  9. Thomas Brookes

    Obviously none of you who have attacked me took the time to listen to Peter McCullough or Robert Clancy, or do some proper independent research (eg what is happening in Israel right now!). Not one of you has said you listened to these people. Instead you all just resorted to insults, which just confirms your lack of ability to even want think for yourselves.

    Typical reactions produced and encouraged by the divisive politics and misinformation put out by the Governments.

    So go get your “jabs” (which the government has now just admitted only lasts 5 months!!!) that if you were paying attention, don’t stop you catching Covid, spreading it, or ending up really sick in ICU (26 last count) and your booster jabs and be obedient test dummies.

    Oh and wear your masks which have been proven don’t work (which NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said last night you will be “wearing for years”. Most people don’t even wear them properly.

    I will stick to my doctors advise not to take the unproven safe vaccines and instead take the proven safe prevention protocols and in a few years time we will see who ends up healthy or not.

  10. Bill

    Dave The Trucker, don’t be too concerned about how things will turn out, the lying and cowardly msm reps are all over the official narrative. In their own words, ‘they are all pulling together’. Whether that refers to eliminating the virus that has never been isolated or eliminating individual rights or small/medium business or something else is open to debate.

    The NWO is locked in, fully supported by both LNP and Labor which are stacked with either clueless aspirationals or deluded individuals who can’t see the downside. Those who can see where this is going and are saying nothing are flat-out criminals worthy of taking the stand in Nuremberg 2.0.

    Only a few pollies are speaking up for the people and their rights today eg, Craig Kelly and Malcolm Roberts.

    Thomas B, I agree with what you write. I believe many people, due to their lack of responsibility for gaining medical insights off their own bat, are failing to spot the poverty of the ‘science’ presented by the media. If you like the work of Drs McCullough and Clancy you might also enjoy the work of Drs Dolores Cahill and Michael Yeadon.

  11. BB

    The White Rabbit & Alice of Wonderland would be very jealous with the choice of rabbit holes to be found on this page. 🐇🕳️

  12. DrakeN

    It amuses, but at the same time worries me that the likes of Bill and Thomas Brookes have so little understanding of life that they do not know the meaning of the word “science” nor have the slightest idea of how the world of scientific research actually works.
    Perhaps they also failed the ‘playdough’ unit at kindy.

  13. guest

    Bill and Thomas,

    So “jabs” and masks do not work and political parties Labor and Coalition are criminals, eh?

    I offer a little research – you can check it out for yourself.

    Dr Dolores Cahill, poynter.org, 2/19/2021, said 50% of people receiving mRNA vaccine, according to an animal study will die according to research done on animals The research has not been found.

    Michael Yeadon, reuters.com, 21/5/2021, former Pfizer vice president, said in a film posted on social media, said his ‘favourite lie’ is when people say the virus can be transmitted without any symptoms – ‘somewhere between rare and does not happen’.

    But the “US Centers for disease control and Prevention in March this year said that 50% of COVID-19 transmissions occur before people develop symptoms, while 30% of infected people stay symptom-free.”

    Dr Robert Clancy, smh.com.au, 4/2/2021, says “I am the virus expert cited by MP Craig Kelly. Vaccines are critical, but he’s not all wrong.”

    “…vaccines are critical; they will save lives, we should get behind them.”

    “Herd immunity is unlikely.”

    “Vaccines will be at the core of community management, but they are not enough on their own.”

    “Studies have shown Inverectin and hydroxychloroquine have been used as anti-microbials for half a century with impeccable safety records.”

    So we need to read closely. Cherry-picking only what you want, is not enough.

  14. !

    Don’t let anyone come between you and your Vet! Particularly if you’re not a horse or cow.

  15. Roswell

    Holy crap, ! – that was jaw-dropping. How does Fox News get away with such a high and dangerous level of conspiracy rubbish.

    Everyone knows that to vaccinate yourself against COVID-19 is to eat bird seed or chew on a eucalyptus leaf. 😉

  16. BB

    Indeed Roswell, good old Aussie bush remedies.

    Morrison is now advocating the best protection against Delta Covid is to insert a Suppository of Vaccination.

    Tony Abbott is going to demonstrate to a gathering of Liberal Party faithful on how to squirm the right way.

  17. New England Cocky

    @Thomas Brookes: On DW News Germany this week they reported that many Trump supporters who had followed Trump’s advice in 2020 re COVID-19 being ”false news” are now lying on their literal death beds saying, “”Well bugger … Trump was wrong!!”

    @Bill: listening to Craig Kelly as a reputable source of knowledge is about the same as listening to Chamberlain after the 1939 ”Peace in our time” pronouncement.

    @guest: Naughty, naughty ….. expecting Bill & mates to actually do some of their own independent research to fact check scientific evidence, or in this case, bull manure from an ill-educated furniture salesman and a Only Nutters Porelean supporter. Even Wikileaks is a better source ….

    @BB: I agree Toxic RAbbott would be right at home grouped with these unthinking, unimaginative, [political self-servers making the most of their political supporters wanting a 19th century White Supremacist solution in this 21st century world.

  18. Carl Marks

    Astro turfing.

    Whenever a community grown consciousness-raising movement commences, with the best of intentions, others with different agendas will intrude and take over for purposes at odds with the original idea.

    The Tea Party in the USA started off as a protest against monumental corporate welfare in the wake of the Meltdown and, with huge money investments from the ultra rich right wing, got taken over and became a phalanx for exactly the people that were initially opposed.

    Remember when the Eureka flag, the Southern Cross, was a symbol for resistance for working people against the controllers?

    These day it is a purloined emblem for the hard right whose goals are at exactly the diametric opposite to what the thing originally stood for and symbolised…resistance to arbitrary authority by the oppressed.

  19. leefe

    Bill, Thomas Brookes:

    “Do your own research” is somehow always the go-to first line from anti-science people despite have zero idea how scientific research is actually conducted.
    For the record, it is not about having a vague feeling that something that happening just isn’t right and then finding a few YouTube videos that agree with you but have zero legitimate scientific evidence behind them.
    Your claims are as valid and as believable as those of the US doctor who said gynecological conditions are caused by sex with demons or witches in your dreams.

  20. Bill

    Masks work? Asia Pacific Today with Melbourne Anaesthetist Dr Babak Amin July 2021. https://rumble.com/vk4t2n-unmasked.-government-and-the-great-covid-lie..html

    RT PCR tests accurate? The CDC issued a Lab Alert on these devices. 07/21/2021: Changes to CDC RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 Testing: https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dls/locs/2021/07-21-2021-lab-alert-Changes_CDC_RT-PCR_SARS-CoV-2_Testing_1.html
    But don’t be lulled into believing safety is improving, people will continue to be put at risk of damage to the cribriform plate and olfactory nerves of their nasal passage thanks to Bill Gates partnering with George Soros to buy Mologic Ltd ‘best known for their deep-nostril technology used to deliver rapid Covid-19 tests’. https://news784.com/2021/07/20/bill-gates-and-george-soros-buy-out-uk-covid-test-company-mologic/
    Question: ‘If ‘covid-19’ can be found in sewerage works after hitching a ride on a shit through pipework for x kms, why is it necessary to shove swabs deep into the nasal passage? A sputum sample would achieve the same and be a million times safer. Ever wonder about the mental stability of Health officers recommending nasal swabs?
    A bit late but Happy World Ivermectin Day everyone. https://worldivermectinday.org/

  21. leefe

    Bill,

    You’re a shining example of the old poetic line “a LITTLE knowledge is a dangerous thing” (my emphasis, but thoroughly in keeping with the author’s meaning if you bother to go on to the next line which, unfortunately, so many don’t).

    You know enough to find questionable articles backing up your prejudices, but not enough to understand why and how those prejudices leave you stranded so far from accuracy.

  22. guest

    Bill,

    You have some funny things here.

    That reference to Dr Babak Amin the anaethetist is interesting. If one reads the open letter of the Covid Medical Network of professional health and medical people, you will see statements about vaccines and masks which sound very much like statements made by writers in the right-wing media.

    In fact the World Socialist Web Site (wsws.org, 25/2/2021) picked it straight away: “CMN is a right-wing group that opposes lock-downs and advocates herd immunity. Articles posted on CMN’s website also declare the vaccines rarely give more protection than the disease itself – a statement that is patently false.”

    This wsws site is full of information about critics of government procedures against the virus.

    Also, the CMN group have come under fire from the Therapeutic Goods Administration for advertising products banned from use against COVID-19, such as Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. “CMN doctors group under TGA review after endorsing hydroxychloroquine” (abc.nat.au, 21/2/2021).

    The CMN made changes to its website in the face of large fines.

    As for face masks, see pnas.org, 26/1/2021, (“An evidence review of face masks against COVID-19” by the Procedure of the National Academy of the USA.) It beats whatever is found in politically motivated anti-this and anti-that propagandists.

    With regard to nasal swabs, perhaps you could collect data about how many people are now suffering from injured ‘cribriform plates’ and ‘olfactory nerves’.

    The idea that finding the virus on shit in pipes (why shove a swab deep in the throat?) when you could get the same result from testing spit – sounds a little weird.

  23. Bill

    guest, you seem like a clear and logical thinker which is rare in this day and age. I don’t have that much spare time to research but below is one article re damage caused by nasal swabs. It appears that worldwide at least 3 people have now died as a result of nasal swabbing gone wrong. One was a child.
    https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2021/214/10/covid-19-swab-related-skull-base-injury
    The person cited is an adult and so had the capacity to voice concerns about their symptoms.
    What chance does a very young child have of expressing symptoms of a similar injury?

    How much training do carpark attendant staff have in using this medical procedure that prior to 2020 was restricted to specialists in the Ear, Nose and Throat field of medicine? 2 years? 2 weeks? 2 hours? I’d be surprised if they receive even 2 hours of training.

    It would be good if nasal swab customers started asking testing staff ‘What is a cribriform plate?’ and note the reaction. Customers could also ask the name of the test staff in case things go belly up and what is the threshold cycle rate being used in the PCR test.
    If customers have the spare time at a carpark testing centre, they could even convert the following quote into a question to ask testing staff to see if they understand safety of what they are doing:
    “It appears that a possible area for confusion relates to recommendations in patient positioning of a 70-degree angle of head extension. Confusion may occur where guidance does not reference the angle of swab insertion. In this setting, there is significant risk of damage to the skull base if the swab is introduced in a horizontal orientation in relation to the tester with excessive depth and force. Previous anatomical study by Lang (1989) identified measurements and angles of the skull base to key nasal landmarks. The average height from the nasal floor to the weakest area of the nasal roof (cribriform plate) is 45.73mm (range 38-52mm) anteriorly within the nasal cavity (Figure 3). The angle whereby the opening of the sphenoid sinus is encountered is approximately 30 degrees from the horizontal at a distance of 61.50mm (range 43-69mm) from the anterior nasal spine. Therefore, consideration must be taken by healthcare providers in relation to the length of swab (135mm at the authors institution) and angle of introduction to allow safe swab testing.” https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2020/covid-swab-and-skull-base-how-stay-safe

    Re SARS CoV-2 hitching a ride on a floating shit and being detected at some remote sewerage treatment facility later that day or next: if a virus can be found in raw sewerage after x hours and the virus is so highly transmissible that just walking past another person in a supermarket can lead to infection, then why the phuk are Hellth officiers recommending nasal swabbing, a protocol that puts the customer at the risk of serious damage to the cribriform plate or olfactory nerves? It makes no sense on safety grounds at all. Sputum tests would achieve the same outcome with zero risk – https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-sputum-higher-covid-.html

    leefe, thanks for the complement. On other forums I have been labelled as having NO or zero knowledge.

  24. guest

    Bill,

    You seem to be a worrier. But you may be asking the wrong people here about swabbing techniques. Seek out some people who know.

    As for the risk of catching the virus from someone walking past, that is a good reason for wearing a mask.

    Keep safe, Bill.

  25. Carina McNaughton

    Bill. To say car park attendants are swabbing people for COVID is plain wrong. The testing site at my worksite only has qualified registered nurses doing the testing. Car park attendants are only for traffic management of people awaiting testing. Please get your facts straight. All registered nurses testing for COVID have had the necessary training.

  26. Bill

    thanks guest, same to you, stay safe and more importantly, free.
    If the gov was really into health they would phase out tobacco and launch a campaign to decrease sugar intake. I’m not so much a worrier as someone who can see what the slime are up to and it looks like I’m not going quietly. The stage is being set for a Chinese style credit-score system blended with Klaus Schwab’s ‘You will own nothing and be happy’.
    Once established via a medical dictatorship there is no way back.
    Carina, I was careless with my words, I should have included ‘medical’ before attendant.
    Could you say approx how much training the nurses at your site do have in respect to EN&T procedures?
    Do you know what is the PCR cycle threshold rate being applied to tests?

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