Video: Lone cyclist stops ‘People’s Convoy’ trucker protest in Washington DC

Yummy word salad

Could be a new Mark V. Shaney? Doesn't do much for me - I much preferred Boatsie! But that'll be the left-wing elite dictator in me...

A bit one sided but I generally agree. These truckers have legit grievances but have been unable to articulate and identify with the right parties in power, and the liberal parties in power have been wholly useless at attempting to understand and empathize with these groups, instead alienating them even more. But staying on topic, the bicycle is a humbling equaliser, both idiot and intellectual alike are equals when put on two wheels. 

Blackthorne wrote:

These truckers have legit grievances 

Coule you please enunciate, say, three of them?

John Stevenson wrote:

Blackthorne wrote:

These truckers have legit grievances 

Coule you please enunciate, say, three of them?

I confess that I have no idea what they are protesting about (U.S. politics seems too polarised to make any sense to me), but people seem to be throwing around the vaguest of words - "freedom". I'd be interested in what their specific grievances are.

The primary call is to end all Covid mandates everywhere in the US, including all facemask restrictions and any mandatory vaccinations (e.g. for healthcare providers). However, as with the Canada protests, a lot of other "freedom" campaigners have hitched their wagon to it, literally or metaphorically - you know, like the freedom to own guns, the freedom to live in a neighbourhood without immigrants, the freedom to tell women what to do with their bodies and so forth...

Rendel Harris wrote:

The primary call is to end all Covid mandates everywhere in the US, including all facemask restrictions and any mandatory vaccinations (e.g. for healthcare providers). 

I'm struggling to see how being demented and stupid amounts to a 'legitimate grievance'.

John Stevenson wrote:

Rendel Harris wrote:

The primary call is to end all Covid mandates everywhere in the US, including all facemask restrictions and any mandatory vaccinations (e.g. for healthcare providers). 

I'm struggling to see how being demented and stupid amounts to a 'legitimate grievance'.

If I was being charitable I would say poorly educated and deliberately wound up.

JustTryingToGetFromAtoB wrote:

If I was being charitable I would say poorly educated and deliberately wound up.

Presumably the intellectual rigour and discipline required to drive a truck are so far away from that of an epidemiologician that to recycle a great American lyric they have 'made them an offer that they can't understand '.

Science and Medicine are fact based, evidenced at scale, and fiercely peer reviewed, not based on feelings or political advantage. So public health based on science is not taking away freedom rather supporting the freedom to live a healthy life.

But hey this is 'Merica so of course you are free to hold up the highway and pollute with your diesel exhaust...

Sounds like more of the same sanctimonious sneering from the elites, the likes of Justin Trudeau calling them fringe far right, Nazi's, etc. Demeaning the working class suddenly becomes ok with them.

The mandates worldwide thrust power into the hands of the few, virtual dictators assuming 'temporary pandemic' powers and their health bureaucrats and Big Tech banning anyone who disagrees, with total blind support from those who claim their ownership over 'the science'. The Canadian truckers were claimed to be about 90% vaccinated, which is an inconvenient truth for the sneering elites. These guys are fighting for freedom for everyone, they are pushing back whether you realise it or not. Mandates have shut people out of society, from jobs, education etc. yet people still cheer this on. All this despite masks and vaccination being virtually worthless against catching or spreading Covid (of course your likelihood of survival is far greater, but when you consider Big Pharma has ensured Governments ban all treatments and call them horse dewormer you have to wonder). The cure is far worse than the disease, when you consider the real pandemic in mental health, extreme concentration of wealth and power, ruination of businesses, etc. The Canadian truckers showed the world we don't want these elites to continue wrecking our societies.   

I wonder if the protests had been on bicycles, whether they would be seen in a different light? 

I think the "sanctimonious sneering" has far more to do with people who get their scientific and medical knowledge from either FarceBook or YouTube videos. If horse dewormer was at all effective (outside of in vitro experiments) then it would be quickly prescribed, but it simply does not work: https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20220321/ivermectin-did-not-reduce-covid-hospitalizations-study-shows

You may be fearful of "big pharma" (and there certainly are conspiracies of people that aim to make money), but it seems there's a similar conspiracy to weaponise the gullible of the U.S. into a political movement - known as Trumpists. You may think that you're being extra smart by disbelieving certain narratives, but in fact you're being manipulated even more than the rest of the population. It's astonishing to me that people in the U.S. often complain about the obscene profits made by pharmaceutical companies and yet will not vote for healthcare systems that would limit the power of them as they mistakenly think that socialised healthcare is somehow akin to communism and instead pay ridiculous amounts of money for medical insurance.

It's somewhat misleading to declare that the truckers are "fighting for freedom" when there such huge societal problems in the U.S. such as rampant racism that is endemic. The truckers aren't putting their lives on the line - they're sat in cushy seats and allowing "big oil" to propel their death-dealing machines and poison the air. If they were cyclists, then I'd consider that they were far more in touch with their bodies and the environment and likely also dramatically improving their mental health.

You're not very aware if you think people can get (insert sarcasm here) "scientific or medical knowledge" from FB or Insta or even Twitter. Big Tech bans anything they don't like, describing anything off their narrative as "disinformation". When was the last time you saw anything but government ads on FB? The Big Pharma and way-too-lobbied government line is the only "information" allowed. The Left then steps in with its Cancel Culture to clean up those they don't like, ie. forcing Spotify to ban Joe Rogan podcasts. The cosy relationship is evidenced by the fact that the Chairman of Reuters (FB's 'Fact checker') is also the Chairman of Pfizer, imagine if there was a similar Tory connection in your country? Maybe then you'd understand and get a little uneasy. It's not thinking about you're extra smart.  

Truckers are not responsible for the USA's problems of racism in some parts of society any more than you are for England's. The idea of socialist healthcare is complicated for a glib line, but many don't get the choice to really vote for it, let alone see it as communism. You take what your employer gives.    

Canada's truckers did in fact put their lives on the line, when you consider Justin Trudeau's facism that brought in violent police arrests, seizing bank accounts, hacking and doxing donors, etc. Death dealing machines...? 

Roulereo wrote:

You're not very aware if you think people can get (insert sarcasm here) "scientific or medical knowledge" from FB or Insta or even Twitter. Big Tech bans anything they don't like, describing anything off their narrative as "disinformation". When was the last time you saw anything but government ads on FB? The Big Pharma and way-too-lobbied government line is the only "information" allowed. The Left then steps in with its Cancel Culture to clean up those they don't like, ie. forcing Spotify to ban Joe Rogan podcasts. The cosy relationship is evidenced by the fact that the Chairman of Reuters (FB's 'Fact checker') is also the Chairman of Pfizer, imagine if there was a similar Tory connection in your country? Maybe then you'd understand and get a little uneasy. It's not thinking about you're extra smart.  

Truckers are not responsible for the USA's problems of racism in some parts of society any more than you are for England's. The idea of socialist healthcare is complicated for a glib line, but many don't get the choice to really vote for it, let alone see it as communism. You take what your employer gives.    

Canada's truckers did in fact put their lives on the line, when you consider Justin Trudeau's facism that brought in violent police arrests, seizing bank accounts, hacking and doxing donors, etc. Death dealing machines...? 

You've misunderstood me - I'm criticising people that base their ideas from things they've heard on FarceBook or YouTube. You'll notice that when I made a claim about Invermectin being useless, I included a link to a source so that further discussion could move forward rather than turning into a polarised political shit-throwing match.

I can't remember the last time I saw anything on FB as I closed an account there years ago and try to persuade people to do the same. The Cambridge Analytica scandal certainly showed how much people were manipulated.

You seem happy to throw in dog whistles such as "Cancel Culture" or "The Left", but you aren't defining those terms and to be honest, it makes you sound kinda dumb. I don't know why you would care about whether Spotify carries one podcast versus another - if you want to listen to someone's ideas, there's plenty of avenues that don't involve paying a subscription to Spotify - maybe use a library and gather some in depth knowledge from great thinkers rather than some shallow media savvy personality.

There's certainly plenty of sleaze going around politicians in this country, so I certainly don't think that either the Tories or Labour are above letting money influence their policies - just look at the pitiful state of active travel funding here in the UK. (Never mind all the Russian money that the Tories seem to have benefitted from).

Now, I'm not accusing the truckers (who I don't know) of being the root of racism in the U.S., but there's certainly been some concerning statements coming from the participants: https://www.tmz.com/2022/03/18/dc-trucker-convoy-leader-tar-and-feather-black-lives-matter-plaza/

Using terms such as 'tar-and-feather' is extremely offensive to anyone who's had distant relations suffer such treatment in the U.S. and vowing to "take back" Black Lives Matter Plaza by removing all the paint from the street certainly sounds like the kind of thing that a racist would say.

To me, it seems like the truckers are a bunch of white republicans that are behaving like spoilt brats. Referring to Justin Trudeau's "fascism" is telling us that you have no understanding of history and the scale of atrocities committed in the past.

Roulereo wrote:

[A lot of words...] you have to wonder

I certainly do...

Roulereo wrote:

Sounds like more of the same sanctimonious sneering from the elites, the likes of Justin Trudeau calling them fringe far right, Nazi's, etc. Demeaning the working class suddenly becomes ok with them.

The mandates worldwide thrust power into the hands of the few, virtual dictators assuming 'temporary pandemic' powers and their health bureaucrats and Big Tech banning anyone who disagrees, with total blind support from those who claim their ownership over 'the science'. The Canadian truckers were claimed to be about 90% vaccinated, which is an inconvenient truth for the sneering elites. These guys are fighting for freedom for everyone, they are pushing back whether you realise it or not. Mandates have shut people out of society, from jobs, education etc. yet people still cheer this on. All this despite masks and vaccination being virtually worthless against catching or spreading Covid (of course your likelihood of survival is far greater, but when you consider Big Pharma has ensured Governments ban all treatments and call them horse dewormer you have to wonder). The cure is far worse than the disease, when you consider the real pandemic in mental health, extreme concentration of wealth and power, ruination of businesses, etc. The Canadian truckers showed the world we don't want these elites to continue wrecking our societies.   

I wonder if the protests had been on bicycles, whether they would be seen in a different light? 

Vaccine efficacy for reducing transmission is valid discussion.
Vaccine efficacy for reducing death and serious illness is evidenced, thereby reducing healthcare needs.
Masks do reduce transmission though the success depends greatly on the circumstances.

I've said it before and I've said it again, the freedom being "fought" for is to primarily to do what one pleases and fuck everyone else.

Fuck your freedom to not be poisoned by my pollution
Fuck your freedom to not breath my disease
Fuck your freedom to protect your vulnerable loved ones. The odds are I won't die, so I don't give a fuck who else dies.
Fuck your access to healthcare cos the bodies are piling up.

These guys don't speak for my working class freedom

John Stevenson wrote:

Rendel Harris wrote:

The primary call is to end all Covid mandates everywhere in the US, including all facemask restrictions and any mandatory vaccinations (e.g. for healthcare providers). 

I'm struggling to see how being demented and stupid amounts to a 'legitimate grievance'.

I was in no way endorsing their whinges, I was answering HawkinsPeter who asked what they were complaining about rather than your request for legitimate grievances!

Good to see the usual empathetic, considerate approach from the mods...

hawkinspeter wrote:

John Stevenson wrote:

Blackthorne wrote:

These truckers have legit grievances 

Coule you please enunciate, say, three of them?

I confess that I have no idea what they are protesting about (U.S. politics seems too polarised to make any sense to me), but people seem to be throwing around the vaguest of words - "freedom". I'd be interested in what their specific grievances are.

Mind you, we've had our own Prime Minister saying that resisting an invasion by a hostile country is just the same as voting in favour of Brexit, cos 'freedom', so the US clearly doesn't have a monopoly on stupidity...

brooksby wrote:

Mind you, we've had our own Prime Minister saying that resisting an invasion by a hostile country is just the same as voting in favour of Brexit, cos 'freedom', so the US clearly doesn't have a monopoly on stupidity...

Where are we with the MET investigation into his parties? So many people lost loved ones and were unable to visit them in their last days due to covid rules that Johnson appeared to have just ignored as and when he wanted to. It's a disgrace that anyone would consider supporting him and his party when he has displayed that level of callousness and selfishness, let alone his complete disregard for honesty and probity.

hawkinspeter wrote:

brooksby wrote:

Mind you, we've had our own Prime Minister saying that resisting an invasion by a hostile country is just the same as voting in favour of Brexit, cos 'freedom', so the US clearly doesn't have a monopoly on stupidity...

Where are we with the MET investigation into his parties? So many people lost loved ones and were unable to visit them in their last days due to covid rules that Johnson appeared to have just ignored as and when he wanted to. It's a disgrace that anyone would consider supporting him and his party when he has displayed that level of callousness and selfishness, let alone his complete disregard for honesty and probity.

I wondered that myself - apparently MPs who'd put in letters of no confidence over Partygate are all withdrawing them now, as they think that 'standing on the edge of WW3' is not a good time to be holding a leadership campaign. 

(Because, obviously, we want Johnson as prime minister if we ever went to war...)

I just finished a book called 'Failures of State', by the Times journalists who broke the 'Johnson didn't bother to go to the Cobra meetings in early 2020 because he was busy sorting out his private life' story.  It's basically looking at how badly our Govt handled the outbreak of Covid.

;tldr = "Badly.  Very badly."

Full of the sort of details I suspect will just be quietly filtered away before any official inquiry ever comes to pass.

At least Boris is holding an inquiry.

Here's in the People's Republic of Wales our Glorious Leader had decided that no such enquiry is necessary.

brooksby wrote:

I wondered that myself - apparently MPs who'd put in letters of no confidence over Partygate are all withdrawing them now, as they think that 'standing on the edge of WW3' is not a good time to be holding a leadership campaign. 

(Because, obviously, we want Johnson as prime minister if we ever went to war...)

I just finished a book called 'Failures of State', by the Times journalists who broke the 'Johnson didn't bother to go to the Cobra meetings in early 2020 because he was busy sorting out his private life' story.  It's basically looking at how badly our Govt handled the outbreak of Covid.

;tldr = "Badly.  Very badly."

Full of the sort of details I suspect will just be quietly filtered away before any official inquiry ever comes to pass.

Coincidentally, just spotted this:

https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1505940859585507329

BREAKING: The Met Police have issued a statement saying they have now started interviewing "key witnesses" in the Partygate inquiry. This is in addition to 100 questionnaires already sent out.

So people rights to vote, peoples rights to be gay, peoples rights to transition, peoples rights to say the whole American system seems to be a bit racist still, peoples rights to have an abortion, peoples rights not to be shot in school?

Seems there are hypocrits on both sides. However it does seem the rights which literally only affect a single person gets roughshod in Right wing states, but the rights like taking medicine or measures to reduce the risk of a highly contagious disease, ie not just looking after your own person but also the anyone else you meet is just that step too far. Too much like communism?

Also, I don't know if you are American or not, but please read the 1st Amendment, you know the one about Free Speech. All it states is the Government and their agencies can't stop Free speech with any law etc. Doesn't state anything about private companies. Maybe the US should nationalise Facebook, Twitter etc so they then can't ban anyone? Still capitalism has left these massive Tech Giants to form, purchase lawyers to fight anything which might regulate them and pretty much own information to do with as they want. And no, I'm not happy about that either. 

So which state do you live in? In the one where I live, it's legal to vote. It's legal to be gay. It's so legal to transition people were doing it before it became a thing. It's legal to have an abortion.

Probably, it is still a bit racist and sexist, but that's because everyone in the world is a bit racist and sexist. I try not to be, but I must confess a pretty woman will still sometimes cause me to take a second look, but not so for a pretty man.

And I have no idea what being shot in school has to do with your observations. School shootings are rare events in America. 

Or do you live in the UK where apparently there is no right to avoid being knifed on the way to school. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-57440598

School shootings rare?

And I suppose it is knowing that there has been several mass shootings because of the "rights" to carry guns, an 18 century law in place in case the Brits invaded and when all guns were single shot but is now used as a line not to be crossed by either side. Because Rights. 

And it sounds like you are lucky enough not to be living in Texas or Florida, or anyone of the many Right controlled states that have passed laws against Abortions, discussing racism in schools, or to bring someone water if in a line to vote. I mean WTF does the a democracy have areas where there are 10 hour lines to vote? Or a rule stating all votes cast on the day must be tabulated within 24 hours. 

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

School shootings rare?

And I suppose it is knowing that there has been several mass shootings because of the "rights" to carry guns, an 18 century law in place in case the Brits invaded and when all guns were single shot but is now used as a line not to be crossed by either side. Because Rights. 

And it sounds like you are lucky enough not to be living in Texas or Florida, or anyone of the many Right controlled states that have passed laws against Abortions, discussing racism in schools, or to bring someone water if in a line to vote. I mean WTF does the a democracy have areas where there are 10 hour lines to vote? Or a rule stating all votes cast on the day must be tabulated within 24 hours. 

Indeed.... No matter how you look at it.... the US has more school shootings each year than the vast majority of the other first world countries have had in the past two decades.

Yes the conservative States are the worst for hipocrisy.  They consistently fought against covid mask and vaccine mandates because apparently it is their body so they should have a choice about such things, but women are not allowed the choice to have an abortion.

TriTaxMan wrote:

Indeed.... No matter how you look at it.... the US has more school shootings each year than the vast majority of the other first world countries have had in the past two decades.

Yes the conservative States are the worst for hipocrisy.  They consistently fought against covid mask and vaccine mandates because apparently it is their body so they should have a choice about such things, but women are not allowed the choice to have an abortion.

Way off topic now but:

Ah... but that's clearly because the state is meddling once again and there are not enough guns in schools - or society. (Because we need "good guys with guns" - for schools I think this mostly derives from the "rapid force needed to stop an active shooter" idea).  I believe the proposal is that teachers be armed and trained (3 days) to use lethal force in case.

Certainly puts the "smacking ban" controversy in perspective.

TriTaxMan wrote:

Yes the conservative States are the worst for hipocrisy. They consistently fought against covid mask and vaccine mandates because apparently it is their body so they should have a choice about such things, but women are not allowed the choice to have an abortion.

Flip that around and you can see the hypocrisy cuts both ways.

SNL did a pretty good sketch about it, was called 'Guess if I'm Republican' or something like that. Worth a look.

Rich_cb wrote:

TriTaxMan wrote:

Yes the conservative States are the worst for hipocrisy. They consistently fought against covid mask and vaccine mandates because apparently it is their body so they should have a choice about such things, but women are not allowed the choice to have an abortion.

Flip that around and you can see the hypocrisy cuts both ways. SNL did a pretty good sketch about it, was called 'Guess if I'm Republican' or something like that. Worth a look.

What's concerning about some of the republican views is that they are fighting against public health measures. Having legalised abortions is very much a public health issue (I did see some rumour that a state was looking to make even ectopic pregnancy terminations illegal which just seems insane to me if true) and imposing measures to prevent disease spread is also very much a public health issue.

There's other examples where restrictions on corporations polluting have now been much reduced under the republicans which again seems far more about hurting public health in the pursuit of profits than actual freedoms.

Edit: Found an article referring to the ectopic pregnancy issue: https://www.today.com/parents/moms/ectopic-pregnancies-missouri-bill-rcna19683