China:: Beating Their Guns Into Shovels
China, not the world’s best behaved nation, has reportedly reassigned over 60,000 soldiers to plant trees in a bid to combat pollution by increasing the country’s forest coverage.
A large regiment from the People’s Liberation Army, along with some of the nation’s armed police force, have been withdrawn from their posts on the northern border to work on non-military tasks inland.
The majority will be dispatched to Hebei province, which encircles Beijing, according to the Asia Times which originally reported the story. The area is known to be a major culprit for producing the notorious smog which blankets the capital city. ■
President Trump: America Believes in Redemption
In a long overdue State of the Union address embroiled in controversy over the longest ever government shutdown, the president spoke about his landmark “First Step Act” legislation.
“Big deal. That is a big deal!” the president says in his non-presidential style. “This legislation reformed sentencing laws that have wrongly and disproportionately harmed the African-American community.”
“The First Step Act gives nonviolent offenders the chance to reenter society as productive, law-abiding citizens. Now, states across the country are following our lead. America is a nation that believes in redemption.”
As the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach teaches (parshas Naso 5745): “Reward and punishment is a basic principle of Judaism. But imprisonment was never accepted by Torah as a legitimate form of penalization. Modern prison reform tries to rehabilitate the criminal and return him to the mainstream of life as a law-abiding citizen.
Life in the Galus is a form of incarceration, we cannot serve Hashem as we wish. We must refine and reform the Galus — rehabilitation. We believe in Redemption. ■