With thanks to

BYU 1984 Magazine

Samuel Benson writes:

Days before formally taking office, President-elect Donald Trump is ruffling feathers globally by threatening “economic force” to annex Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal.

The responsibility of carrying out those promises will likely fall to a soft-spoken Latter-day Saint.

Jamieson Greer, Trump’s nominee to be U.S. trade representative, will serve as Trump’s chief adviser and negotiator on international trade if confirmed. A international trade lawyer and an alumnus of Trump’s first administration, Greer steps into one of the most high-stakes positions in the incoming administration.

”This is a critical role,” said Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former national security adviser. “If you’re focused on trade and America First, it’s one of the three or four most important candidate positions.”

Read more about Greer and Trump’s trade policy.

A magical alchemy that turns plastic grocery bags into warmth

We all have one: a plastic bag filled with more plastic bags that we keep shoved under a sink somewhere in the hopes that, eventually, we’ll need to use them.

If your pile of old grocery bags is overflowing, like my own, consider dropping it off to Krysti Wright at Stitching Hearts Worldwide, who Lee Benson says performs “a kind of magical alchemy” with the plastic.

“Through a weaving process that requires about two hours per mat, 350 plastic grocery bags, on average, are cut into strips that are then intertwined together to produce a ground covering that is reckoned to warm up a cold sleeping spot by as much as 40 degrees,” Lee writes.

“Stitching Hearts quietly produces and distributes thousands of these mats every year, to locations both far away, like Bangladesh and Guatemala, and right next door, like the Provo Food Bank. ‘They tell us every time they put them out, they’re gone,’ says Krysti.”

Read more about how Stitching Hearts Worldwide is helping the disadvantaged and the dispossessed.

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FROM OUR SPONSOR BYU 1984 MAGAZINE

Relive the glory: BYU’s championship season

This is more than a look back; it’s a tribute to the spirit and passion of the Cougar community. Step back in time and celebrate the legendary moments of BYU’s epic 1984 National Championship season! Order your copy and relive the championship journey with us. Celebrate the past, inspire the future.

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