The Russians Did It!

What in the heck is happening? It seems like the losers of the election to the south are simply not willing to accept the fact that they chose the wrong candidate; that they were outmaneuvered by a man who played on the sentiments of Joe Public, his friends, co-workers, relatives, and the guy who cuts their grass - a man of questionable ethics who said what people wanted to hear - a tweeter for heaven's sake! The Democrats didn't really lose - The RUSSIANS DID IT!

Democrats have been screaming "Russia hacked our election" from the rooftops for a ridiculous amount of time, first not offering any proof, then offering insufficient proof. Mainstream bought and paid for biased media outlets have been hammering this message home - long enough it seems that it has become an indisputable "fact".

Apparently 7 pages of the finally released de-classified "proof" were devoted to vilifying the news channel RT (Russia Today, a 24/7 English-language news channel which brings the Russian view on global news) for unfairly influencing the American public. But I watched RT throughout the election and after. As far as I can see their "guilt" is comprised of having the audacity to present more than one side of actual issues, not just personalities and mudslinging hype. They were guilty of interviewing candidates other than Trump and Clinton. They are in general guilty of good quality investigative Journalism, at least of what I thought Journalism was supposed to be all about. Don't blindly accept the US's description of this news channel. Get on the net and watch it for a few days. You'll be surprised.

 

What is it with the Americans? Why are they so terrified of Russia? It's like they are bound and determined to bring back the McCarthy era, when Communism was the frightening evil that had to be eradicated from the planet.  Are they re-creating fear of an old enemy to divert attention from real issues? They're laying this "watch out for Putin" rhetoric on pretty thick. Isn't ISIS, the war in Syria and throughout the Middle East, the refugee crisis, tensions between Israel and Palestine, etc enough for the US war machine to chew on? I think it may be important to ask - Why, why now, what's up?

And mainstream media Canada, what's with you? You are accepting all this anti-Russian propaganda. How? By reporting it, by repeating it over and over, by keeping this election hacking BS on the news. Sure, you are saying this is what's being said in the US. You're not saying it's true or false, but continual repetition of anything has a way of making it appear endorsed, making it seem true. Most Canadians are now quite willing to accept the idea that Russia somehow interfered in the US election. I had higher hopes for Canadian media. I am, to say the least, disappointed.

I'm not all that comfortable with a President Donald Trump. I would not have been comfortable with a President Hillary Clinton either. Personally I don't think the Americans had a choice - they were struck between a rock and a hard place. But the election is over. It's time to accept it and go on from there. The Russians didn't do it. The Americans did.

 

Raspberry Wine

The Christmas season got in the way of my wine making, or I should say my wine bottling, so for the first time it stayed in the carboys for 3 whole months. This time I tried something different. Just before bottling I added some wine conditioner (sweetener). It just gave the wine a wee touch of sweetness, and the conditioner will not re-start the fermentation process.

 

Making 2 carboys of wine at a time is a lot of heavy work. Without my husband's help I could not lift the racked wine from the floor to the counter for siphoning - but thankfully I do have his help. Like the Honeyberry (Haskap) wine I made earlier, this batch of raspberry wine made 55 bottles. Seems like a lot doesn't it? But 100 bottles of wine in a year is really not that outrageous, especially when several bottles disappear when friends are over.

I do have to admit that I'm a bit proud of myself for completing this project, but people who suggest that I should start up a micro-winery for a little side business will be disappointed. Just not enough energy to do this, especially on the berry picking side (it takes 15 pounds of berries per carboy). We have, however, decided to raise a hive of bees (even though I'm allergic - this will be my husband's domaine), and have purchased one of those HoneyFlow hives from Australia. My husband is deep in study and research mode. Will let you know how all this turns out, and then, with luck, Honey-Honeyberry and Honey-Raspberry wines and juices will become the specialty of our house.