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In January last year, a Chinese construction porter in Hubei called Jiang Tianlu was taking his seven-year-old daughter to school when police appeared, seized him and locked him up in a local psychiatric hospital. For Mr Jiang, the ordeal was terrifying, but it wasnt new. It was his fifth or sixth time he has lost count. This had become the authorities way of dealing with his efforts to get justice for his father, who was beaten to death by a well-connected local official in 2004. Mr Jiangs repeated letters and visits to petition the government in Beijing had annoyed the wrong people.

In a report released this week by the NGO Safeguard Defenders, Mr Jiang recounts his treatment during previous hospital stays: he was tied to a bed, beaten around the head, forced to take drugs, subjected to electroshock therapy and humiliated by guards. All of this took place in the name of treatment for his mental health illness. His true illness, of course, is not psychological. The real sickness is the Chinese Communist Party and the regime it runs.

Mr Jiangs case is just one of 99 examined by Safeguard Defenders these are the only ones they could find public information on but the cases span the length and breadth of China, suggesting the practice is widespread. All of them involve innocent citizens thrown into psychiatric wards against their will and detained for anything from a few days to more than 15 years. Most recounted being tied down to their bed for hours, some left to lie in their own faeces for so long that their skin ulcerated, many were beaten, given forcible injections or drugs or electroshock treatment with no anaesthetic.

What were their crimes? Some were democracy protesters or dissidents, like Dong Yaoqiong or Ink Girl, as shes known, a real estate agent who was locked up in a hospital after streaming footage of herself throwing ink on a picture of Xi Jinping. She came out suffering from a dementia-like condition (in her 30s), incontinence and night terrors.

For the most part, though, the criminally insane locked up in this way are not even politically active dissidents, as such. They are petitioners like Mr Jiang, often among Chinas poorest and least educated citizens, who have attracted punishment simply for trying to get restitution for specific grievances.

The petitioning system has a very long history in China. For centuries, it was one of the few ways ordinary people had of circumventing pernicious local officials and appealing to an imperial authority for justice when it worked, that is. It continued under communism, when people began writing letters to Chairman Mao instead. But petitioners have always run a risk by taking on local vested interests and challenging corrupt officials. They have little protection when the police come to take revenge.

Officially, using psychiatric wards as detention and torture centres is against Chinese law, let alone a myriad of international rules and norms, but the law is a fickle thing in China. Aside from the policy aim of stability maintenance, a priority that is thought to cost the government $217billion per year more than the military budget the practice can be a money-spinner for the hospitals or doctors who collude in it. Occasionally, its even used by families who want to disappear an inconvenient member.

Getting someone sectioned is, of course, just one way of making them go away in China. There are other extra-judicial regimes, documented by Safeguard Defenders among others, like the liuzhi prison system run directly by the CCP or the residential surveillance at a designated location (secret jail) system. These are in addition to the regular justice system, where conviction rates recently reached 99.97 per cent, the highest since public records began in 1980. But of course, as Xi expands his campaign for total control of Chinas 1.4 billion people, public records of such policies are getting harder to find. Which is why we ought to bear witness while we can.

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China's real sickness isn't its dissidents, but the Chinese Communist Party - The Telegraph

NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Sports Accountability Project (ASAP) announced today that Rev. Al Sharpton, who has previously impressed upon the National Basketball Association (NBA) to work with greater urgency and transparency concerning the ongoing investigation into extensive reports of racism, sexism and abuse by Robert Sarver, sent a letter today to PayPal CEO Dan Shulman calling on the company to end its relationship with Mr. Sarver. As the NBA's investigation, now in its 10th month, has proceeded, PayPal announced a ground-breaking, international partnership with Mr. Sarver and entities under his ownership, including the Phoenix Suns, the Phoenix Mercury, and Real Club Deportivo Mallorca.

Rev. Sharpton's letter, which was published as a full-page ad in the AZ Central newspaper today, reads as follows:

Dear Mr. Schulman,

I am writing to demand that PayPal cease doing business with any entity owned or associated with Robert Sarver, including the Phoenix Suns, the Phoenix Mercury, and Real Club Deportivo Mallorca. Mr. Sarver's leadership has been riddled with credible allegations of racism, misogyny, and harboring a toxic work environment. As you may be aware, ESPN published a detailed investigative piece on these complaints last November, and Mr. Sarver is currently under investigation by the NBA.

In June 2020, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, Paypal was one of many companies to announce a significant investment in fighting institutional racism and advancing diversity and inclusion. In total, PayPal announced it would commit $535 million toward these causes. Yet, PayPal has continued to do business with Robert Sarver, who is a known perpetrator of racism and hate, and is now expanding its business relationship with Mr. Sarver internationally.

In light of these commitments, PayPal cannot simply ignore Mr. Sarver's transgressions. As someone who has dedicated my life to fighting injustice and speaking out against hate in all its forms, it is my duty and responsibility to call out such hypocrisy and to call on PayPal to uphold the values for which it proclaims to stand.

It is time for PayPal to put its money where its mouth is. Issuing a press release and writing a big check two years ago is not equivalent to doing the hard work that is required to achieve real change. I reiterate my call for PayPal to end its relationship with Robert Sarver and help hold him accountable for his egregious behavior.

Sincerely,

Rev. Al SharptonPresident and FounderNational Action Network

For more information, please visit:www.AmericanSportsAccountabilityProject.com or contact [emailprotected].

About the American Sports Accountability Project (ASAP)

The American Sports Accountability Project (ASAP) is a group of individual advocates, community-based organizations, civil rights leaders, and sports fans who are committed to bringing accountability to perpetrators of hate speech, abuse, and harassment within the leadership of the American sports industry. There is zero tolerance for abuse of any kind in today's society.ASAP demands action in response to misconduct and a future where our arenas, fields and stadiums can be free from racism, sexism, and bigotry.

Contact: [emailprotected]

SOURCE American Sports Accountability Project

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REV. AL SHARPTON CALLS ON PAYPAL TO END RELATIONSHIP WITH PHOENIX SUNS MAJORITY-OWNER ROBERT SARVER IN FULL-PAGE AD - PR Newswire

Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn find themselves at the center of increasing antisemitic violence. Just this week, two teenagers chased a frantic Hasidic man down a street.

Anti-Jewish assaults during the preceding months include six assailants beating a 21-year-old Orthodox man as he walked to synagogue on Shabbat in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. According to NYPD statistics, antisemitic crimes surged 400 percent last winter over the previous year, with Brooklyn serving as an epicenter of anti-Jewish hate.

Despite white people comprising the majority of nationwide hate crime offenders, assaults targeting Haredim are primarily perpetrated by racial minorities.

Commenting on this phenomenon, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a 2020 interview with Haaretz, we cant shy away from the facts that attacks against Jewish residents were committed by young people of color. Comporting with James acknowledgment are results from a 2021 study of more than 3,000 American adults, which found that antisemitic attitudes were higher among minority groups than white respondents.

A Black-Jewish partnership once rooted in shared grievance found itself floundering after Israels victory in its war of defense against Arab neighbors during the Six-Day War. Organizations including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), whose noble advocacy on behalf of civil rights involved freedom rides and sit-ins, began expressing undercurrents of antisemitism by defending the Palestinian cause and condemning the Zionist Jewish terrorists.

A similar paradigm shift emerged in the shadow of Israels May 2021 war with Hamas and the aftermath of the George Floyd murder, when nationwide protests culminated in a slew of antisemitic attacks. Yet, unlike decades past, narratives surrounding inequality are now popularized through the ideological framework of intersectionality. Its permeation in academic, political, and social media circles renders todays era of antisemitic hostilities far more toxic than previous versions, with organizations like the official Black Lives Matter movement finding common cause with pro-Palestinian extremists and terrorists.

The 1960s-70s saw prominent minority voices, including civil rights activists Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Philip Randolph, and Bayard Rustin, vocalizing support for the Jewish people.

In his book, Zionism and the Black Church, founder and CEO of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI), Dumisani Washington, recounts Kings implicit understanding that the Arab-Israeli conflict could not be reduced to colorism.

In 1975, responding to the growth of antisemitism within Black communities, Randolph and Rustin organized the Black Americans to Support Israel Committee (BASIC). That same year, BASIC placed an ad in The New York Times, signed by over 100 Black leaders, condemning the anti-Jewish blacklist and reaffirming the rights of Israel to exist as a sovereign state.

Yet soon after, mainstream leaders like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton helped anti-Zionism gain a US political foothold. Their hate-mongering involved Jackson remarking that he had an evil feeling when visiting Israel, and referred to Jews as Hymies during a 1984 Washington Post interview. Sharptons eulogy for 7-year-old Gavin Cato following the 1991 Crown Heights riots denounced the neighborhoods apartheid ambulance service, and invoked the diamond merchant libel to describe Jews. Still, Jackson garnered almost seven million votes during his 1988 presidential run, with Sharpton reportedly making over 60 visits to the White House during President Barack Obamas time in office. Despite comparing Jews to termites and blaming them for the evils of racism and slavery, noted antisemite Louis Farrakhans list of admirers consists of former Womens March co-chair Tamika Mallory and celebrities like Nick Cannon.

For their part, organizations like the Jewish Council for Public Affairs backed Sharptons 2020 Virtual March on Washington, and encouraged followers to engage with groups promoting racial justice even if led by those with whom we may disagree. As for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the watchdog group has recently stepped up efforts to address left-wing antisemitism. While offering financial rewards for information on those responsible for the Brooklyn attacks, the organization remains restrained in its rhetoric on the racial makeup of those assaulting Orthodox Jews.

Those who fail to condemn leaders espousing Jew hatred also lend cover to antisemitic criminals, and leave those who are visibly Jewish exposed and vulnerable to attack. Rather than ingratiating themselves with unsavory characters, the Jewish establishment must support minority groups who believe in the IBSIs goals, and must speak the truth about the minority groups committing attacks on Jews. Refusing to speak the truth about their racial background harms all communities.

Following his 2019 article, titled The Moral Case for Israel Annexing the West Bank-and Beyond, Jamaican-born professor of philosophy Jason Hill was censured by DePaul University colleagues and revealed in a Fox News interview that he needs security while walking around the Chicago campus. The ideological debate framing the smear campaign against Hill mirrors the progressive commentary contributing to the rise of antisemitism within Black communities. The gravitational shift from Rustin to Sharpton and Randolph to Farrakhan did not occur in a vacuum. Rather, societys collective commitment to advancing intersectional myths coupled with the Jewish establishments fear of alienating a segment of the Black population is placing Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in the crosshairs of a misguided political pedagogy.

Irit Tratt is a writer who resides in New York. Her work has appeared in The American Spectator, The Jerusalem Post, JNS, and Israel Hayom.

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Addressing the Rise of Minority Attacks Against Orthodox Jews - Algemeiner

The video Jordan Peterson made to take a firm stance against "woke moralists" and Twitter has become a viral meme in itself.

The Canadian psychologist was suspended from Twitter recently for a tweet he posted about actor Elliot Page, in which Peterson deadnamed Page. Soon after, he posted a passionate video reply on his Instagram and YouTube channel where he said he'd "rather die" than delete the tweet to get himself back on the platform.

It's now a good job Peterson isn't on Twitter, as a snippet from that 15-minute speech has been adapted and repurposed for a series of memes there.

"Up yours, woke moralists. Let's see who cancels who," Peterson says in the clip, which is doing the rounds online.

The Twitter user @BradenIsBased appears to have been the first person to cut out the short clip and share it. After two days it has had over 5.9 million views and more than 142,000 likes. @BradenIsBased wrote in all caps: "I can't breathe this is the funniest thing I've ever heard," alongside the video.

Thousands of people retweeted it too, with some adding their own spin on it.

A surprising Kermit the Frog spin was put onto the video, as people compared Peterson's voice to that of the famous muppet.

"He really does sound like it Kermit the Frog got radicalized by divorce court," @BradenIsBased wrote, which seemed to inspire many others. @Uncle_authority overlayed the audio of Peterson onto a video of Kermit talking, which gained over 100,000 views.

Journalist Taylor Lorenz also reshared the video, adding the caption: "After posting for the 40th time about keeping the thermostat at 87 degrees."

The Hill Reporter Zack Budryk also found the humor in the video. "This is the exact energy of a kid who tries to use an anime attack on a bully," he wrote.

The faux situations kept on rolling in, using the same video clip. "Me after people find out I microwave my milk before I put it on my cereal," wrote @GrantOB and "Me when the IKEA employee tells me "Ma'am, the toilet is for display purpose only" wrote @LilithLovett.

Other users played with the format a little more. Comedian Dylan Adler performed their own interpretation, channeling Cruella de Vil in his version.

Others added laugh tracks, while some people mocked other bits of the speech.

British comedian Will Sebag-Montefiore held a pretend interview with Peterson, using his impassioned quotes as answers to his questions.

Peterson was given a temporary ban on Twitter earlier this month for writing: "Remember when pride was a sin? And Ellen Page just had her breasts removed by a criminal physician."

That tweet got him banned, but fellow conservative political commentator Dave Rubin also got banned from the platform for sharing a screenshot of Peterson's original tweet.

Jordan Peterson has yet to reply to Newsweek's request for comment.

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Jordan Peterson's 'Up Yours, Woke Moralists' Speech Mocked ... - Newsweek

Analysis

07:15

by Greta Aurora

The King of Toxic Masculinity. Andrew Tate/Instagram

Former kickboxer and self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate was banned from Facebook, Instagram and TikTok this week. Unfortunately, cancelling him is unlikely to change his fans minds about women and the world.

Few people embody misogyny quite as well as Tate. Theres video evidence of him assaulting his ex-girlfriend, and he often speaks disparagingly about women.

The majority of Tates 4.7 million Instagram followers were young men. What drew them to a worldview like Tates in the first place?

Messages that positively encourage men are thin on the ground in the mainstream media. Jordan Peterson did help fill some of this vacuum, but his message is often tough, urging people to find meaning in hard work and sacrifice. Many men have good reason to suspect that Petersonian work and sacrifice will never be valued by a society that pathologises masculinity.

Unlike Peterson, Tate doesnt deliver theological lectures which many may find hard to follow. He does not preach that sacrifices will be rewarded. Instead, he emphasises physical self-perfection and a domineering attitude, while downplaying the importance of intelligence. (He once made fun of a young boy for reciting pi to 200.)

What could be more appealing to a generation of young men looking for uncomplicated advice on how to be good at life?

These same young men can compare Tate to a feminist zeitgeist that accuses them of oppressing women not just in the present, but throughout history. The feminist answer is for young men to take a backseat and give way to their female peers. In many areas of life, such as higher education, this has already occured. Tate then, is the beneficiary of a culture almost designed to generate resentment in these boys.

Feminists generally fail to consider all the ways in which men may feel powerless. At the same time, women have more choices than ever before. Our culture glorifies conventionally masculine traits in women remember the girlboss? while labelling these same traits in men as toxic. In this perplexing environment, its unclear what the new male role should be.

If Tates popularity signifies anything, it is that some young men want to end this confusion by embracing the rules of the jungle again. In nature, physical strength is essential for victory, and this is exactly what Tate espouses. He is merely offering insecure men who feel invisible a way of being seen. Its no coincidence that depression in men may manifest as anger and aggression.

Lecturing men on how to be less toxic and silencing the few voices that address male hopelessness (however inappropriately) is not going to bring peace between the genders.

If we genuinely want to cultivate a healthy relationship between the sexes, we must acknowledge the pain and confusion men may feel as a result of their ambiguous roles in contemporary society.If more of us were willing to hear them and offer them encouragement, obnoxious figures like Tate would become much less appealing to this generation of lonely young men.

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Andrew Tate and the lost boys - The Post - UnHerd