Say What?! Sports guys travel to new destination

Say What?! is an email conversation between sports editor Steve Lyons and sports columnist Paul Wiecek. Look for us regularly but intermittently on the Free Press website.

Steve Lyons: Heya. How you doing? How’s 2020 treating you so far?

Few things to get us started:

Imperialist crusades: 21st-century style

In the 11th century and lasting into the 13th, the papacy launched a series of at least eight military campaigns we now refer to as the Crusades, or Holy Wars. They were an imperialistic call to arms for Christians to retake Jerusalem, which was at the time under Muslim rule.

Spiritual rewards for participation were implied, and other incentives offered, to dull the extra taxation demanded to fund the campaigns. Over time, the “crusades” morphed to become massacres of not only Muslims but also Jews and Christian dissidents — in other words, any enemies of the papacy. If today’s news sounds like déjà vu all over again, it probably should.

The stories keep repeating themselves in many forms. We now know that two 20th century world wars, global in scope, were caused by imperialistic ambitions, changes in the balance of international powers and corresponding arms races. The first was attributed to the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne by a Bosnian Serb, a kind of “regime change” initiative. The second resulted from rising tensions between Allied and Axis powers, triggered by the rise of European fascism and Japanese militarism. The human toll of both was unimaginable.

In the First World War, 15 to 22 million people, including soldiers and civilians, were killed and another 23 million were wounded. These numbers do not account for those otherwise affected — victims of chemical warfare whose compromised health shortened their lives; of the subsequent Spanish flu epidemic amplified by the displacement of peoples; others who died from other diseases caused by war conditions; and those who were malnourished or starved. Nor do they account for the ongoing trauma and resentments passed on intergenerationally to this day.

Killer pleads guilty in three-year-old daughter’s fatal stabbing

A Winnipeg man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shocking stabbing death of his three-year-old daughter.

Frank Nausigimana, 29, entered his plea before Queen’s Bench Justice Joan McKelvey during a brief hearing Thursday morning.

Asked if he understood he was waiving his right to a trial, Nausigimana, through an American Sign Language interpreter, told McKelvey: “ Yes, I accept the punishment and I am following the law of God.”

“I’ve decided that I am going to pray,” Nausigimana said. “I admit I am guilty.”

Court ruling concludes Canadian Wheat Board saga

It remains to be seen whether the recent court ruling in a lawsuit filed after Canadian Wheat Board’s dissolution in 2012 puts the whole debate to rest, as some no doubt hope.

But either way, the dust has settled on the post-CWB world. The sun still rises and a new generation of farmers on the land only knows by name an institution that for generations influenced every aspect of Prairie grain farming.

The first Rural Revival column I wrote for this newspaper more than 30 years ago was about a thousand farmers from Western Canada demonstrating in support of the Wheat Board. It was in the aftermath of the Western Grain Marketing Panel report, one of several efforts that eventually included a plebiscite to help the federal government decide what to do about a vocal minority of farmers who wanted marketing “freedom.”

The polls at the time suggested about two-thirds of farmers were comfortable enough with the single-desk system for food wheat and barley to keep it around. It served as a counterbalance to canola, which they sold on the open market. They essentially had a dual market.

Canada tops Dominican Republic in pre-qualifier

EDMONTON - Canada's women's basketball team put its depth on display Sunday in a dominant 110-60 victory over the Dominican Republic in the final game of the FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tournament.

All 12 players hit the scoresheet, including six in double digits, to help the Canadians finish 3-0 at the tournament and advance to the next Olympic qualifier in February.

Sami Hill led the way with 16 points, three rebounds, two assists and three steals, while 20-year-old Shaina Pellington recorded 14 points. Bridget Carleton and Jamie Scott had 13 points each and Ruth Hamblin had 11 points and five rebounds.

"We got to roll our whole lineups through, and it was fun when we got going," said Canada's coach Lisa Thomaidis. "It was nice to see different lineup contributing and building chemistry.