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President Trump's enemies want Americans to think he has no idea what he's doing in the Iran war — and his own words can make it easy for them to sell that claim.

R.I.S.E. Perris Pride is calling on the public to avoid the new Harry Potter-themed train experience in Riverside County, citing J.K. Rowling's views on transgender issues, while organizers say the attraction is focused on fans and storytelling.

Chinese University Accused Of Sending Students To Factory Jobs Under Mandatory Labor Program

Authored by Michael Zhuang via The Epoch Times,

A Chinese university has come under scrutiny after an alleged internal safety agreement surfaced online alongside claims from a self-identified graduate that students were required to work on farms and in food-processing factories as part of a mandatory academic program while being denied basic workplace protections.

A seeder working a cotton field in Tumushuke, Xinjiang region, China, in an aerial photo taken on March 24, 2021. STR/CNS/AFP via Getty Images

The controversy centers on Xinjiang Agricultural University, which allegedly has for years required students to participate in a "Rural Support Labor Practice Course."

According to the graduate, students were sent to farms, state-run agricultural settlements, and tomato-processing plants for weeks of manual labor as part of their coursework.

Documents circulated alongside the online allegations appear to show an agreement between workers and a tomato-processing company stating that workers must assume full responsibility for workplace accidents, waive the right to seek compensation from the company, and acknowledge that the employer has no obligation to provide social insurance.

Critics interviewed by The Epoch Times said the arrangement raises questions about whether educational programs are being used to supply businesses with low-cost seasonal labor while shielding employers from legal liability. They spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.

Safety Agreement Raises Labor Concerns

On July 25, someone claiming to be a graduate of Xinjiang Agricultural University posted on Zhihu, a Chinese question-and-answer platform, describing the university's long-running labor practice program.

According to the post, second-year students typically suspend regular classes for about 20 days at the beginning of the academic year before being transported by the university to farms, agricultural units operated by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which has been sanctioned by the United States since 2020 due to its human rights abuses.

The Epoch Times could not independently verify the online allegations or the authenticity of the leaked documents.

Students allegedly perform seasonal work including harvesting cotton, peppers, grapes, and tomatoes, as well as operating on production lines in tomato paste factories.

Among the materials shared online was what appeared to be a safety management agreement between workers and a tomato processing plant. The agreement lists an employment period from July 28 to Oct. 30, 2024, with positions including packaging, material handling, and boiler assistance.

Those jobs are part of the factory's production process and involve industrial equipment, heavy lifting, and high-temperature working conditions, rather than short-term educational observation or training activities.

According to the agreement, workers must disclose any health conditions before beginning work. If they conceal medical information, the company may terminate the agreement without compensation.

Another provision states that the relationship is a "temporary labor service relationship rather than an employment contract," adding that the company bears no obligation to provide any insurance coverage.

The agreement also states that if a workplace accident occurs during the employment period, the worker "shall bear full responsibility" and may not seek compensation from the company in any form.

It further provides that the company may terminate the agreement without compensation if the worker violates company rules, safety regulations, or management directives.

A sociologist from Xinjiang University told The Epoch Times that the agreement appears inconsistent with Chinese labor regulations and reflects an imbalance of power between universities, employers, and students.

"Universities control students' coursework, academic credits, disciplinary records, and graduation eligibility," the sociologist said. "When a university assigns students to these placements, they have little practical ability to refuse."

He said the agreement characterizes factory work as an educational practice while transferring workplace risks onto students.

"The company determines wages, while students are expected to bear responsibility for workplace injuries," the sociologist said. "Educational authority is effectively being used as a tool to supply businesses with inexpensive labor."

He added that although the agreement requires workers to follow company management and safety rules, it places responsibility for accidents, medical costs, and compensation entirely on the individual worker.

"The company controls job assignments and has the authority to terminate the agreement, while workers are effectively required to waive their right to seek compensation in advance," the sociologist said. "These standard contract terms clearly reflect unequal bargaining power."

Questions Over University's Labor Program

The agreement does not identify Xinjiang Agricultural University or specify the worker's identity. However, the company named in the document, the factory positions described, and the seasonal employment period correspond with the graduate's account of students being assigned to tomato-processing plants.

The materials have prompted questions about the safety arrangements, compensation, and relationship between the university and participating companies.

According to information published on Xinjiang Agricultural University's website, the school says it has organized more than 80,000 students and faculty members to participate in agricultural work-study programs over the past 25 years. The university says those programs have generated nearly 4 billion yuan ($591 million) in direct economic benefits.

The disclosure has renewed debate over the relationship between labor education and commercial interests.

In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has expanded labor education requirements in schools, promoting manual work as part of collective education, character building, and social practice.

A Xinjiang resident told The Epoch Times that he believes requiring students to perform production work through academic requirements resembles what he called a "Xinjiang education camp."

"In Xinjiang, schools, businesses, and local authorities all hold power over students," he said. "Schools place great emphasis on obedience. Students who repeatedly fail to comply with school requirements can face expulsion."

The resident alleged that many businesses seek partnerships with schools to gain access to low-cost labor.

"If you go online and expose unfair treatment in Xinjiang, it's not just a matter of having your account suspended," he said. "Police may summon you for questioning."

The allegations have drawn particular attention because they come from Xinjiang, where Beijing has faced years of international scrutiny over the use of coerced labor. Since 2017, the CCP has detained large numbers of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in what the CCP described as "vocational education and training centers."

As of publication time, Xinjiang Agricultural University had not publicly addressed whether it assigned students to work at the factory identified in the circulated agreement, whether financial arrangements existed between the university and the company, or how participating students were compensated for their labor.

The Epoch Times reached out to Xinjiang Agricultural University for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 19:20

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Jack Reacher Star's Latest Movie Flops After Unhinged Anti-Trump Rant

The Jack Reacher series, launched in 2022, received widespread acclaim for avoiding most of the woke tropes slathered all over the majority of streaming series and movies at the time.  For those with short memories, in 2022, the idea of a project featuring a 6'3" 240 pound white guy as the main protagonist seemed impossible.  The series felt like a refreshing callback to the 1980s and the action/thriller apex era of Stallone and Schwarzenegger.

Solving big problems with unfiltered masculine violence is something audiences love, but Hollywood usually hates.  If the hero is not a 90 pound wheelchair-bound minority lesbian boss babe kicking patriarchal ass, Tinsel Town usually isn't interested.  It was a miracle that Reacher was greenlit.     

That said, just because an actor plays a cool character on screen does not mean they're also a cool person in real life.  

Enter Alan Ritchson, who smartly kept his mouth shut through most of the filming for Jack Reacher.  Unfortunately, Hollywood has a way of energizing people's worst impulses and a lot of actors feel compelled to loudly virtue signal in order to stay in the good graces of industry elites.  Ritchson has been increasingly unhinged in recent months and his latest rant went off the deep end into violent territory when it comes to Trump and conservatives.

Alan Ritchson has decided the best use of his time is to attack Trump, and to throw a few jabs in at Catholics for some reason😂

You’d think he’d be smart enough to keep his mouth shut because fans of Reacher happen to also be right-wing. But nope. pic.twitter.com/JNCwgRRziU

— Kevin Sorbo (@ksorbs) July 28, 2026

Ritchson now attacks Trump and MAGA voters regularly on issues ranging from immigration to the Epstein Files, and falsely accused Trump of assaulting a 13-year-old girl (an anonymous and baseless accusation that conveniently popped up in 2016 just as Trump was beginning his campaign for the presidency). 

But where was Ritchson's steroid fervor during the Biden years?  Where was the big, tough actor back then when it came to the trans grooming of children or Biden's bizarre hair sniffing habit?  It's fascinating that celebrities only seem to find the voice to speak up when Democrats are out of power. 

Ritchson was raised Catholic and voted Republican in his early years, until, he says, he had an "awakening" on the "black and white" nature of the church.  Catholicism as an institution has also been overrun with progressive ideology in recent decades (nearly 50% of Catholics vote Democrat, 60% support legalized abortion rights and 75% support "trans rights", for example). 

This would explain Ritchson's position that abortion is "spritiually wrong" but he still supports legalization.  It also explains his argument that Christians who oppose immigration are going against the Bible.  Being raised Catholic definitely doesn't ensure a conservative mindset. 

It is a common tactic of progressives within the church to assert that conservative policies are "anti-Christian"; as if open borders, transgender acceptance, pacifism and killing babies are Biblical requirements.  At bottom, the spread of these concepts would effectively mean the death of the Christian West, but hey, they're the good guys because they're "empathetic".  

Some critics argue that Ritchson's continued affiliations with Christianity are a ploy to keep his large conservative audience intact, but if that's the case, then he has failed miserably.  The actor has been on a tour of interviews to promote his latest movie "Motor City" and Reacher Season 4, but his comments have alienated a huge portion of his fans.  Motor City opened last week to resounding crickets. 

Although it was released in over 1600 theaters, Motor City grossed a dismal $1.6 million in its debut. Its per-screen average was a only $1,015, placing it 18th in the per-screen-average derby.  Motor City’s production budget alone was $30 million, there is no reported information on the marketing budget (likely around $10 million).  In any case, the film is a financial disaster.  

Get Woke, Go Broke prevails again.

As for Ritchson, the collapse of his latest film suggests a dwindling fan base for future projects.  When will Hollywood celebrities learn to shut up and keep their Reddit inspired political opinions to themselves?  Probably never, but at least it's easier than ever for movie goers to figure out who and what these people are before spending their hard earned cash.    

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 18:55

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