Rockin' On: the Blog

Making a good latte does not have to be hard

2026-06-21T11:23:59.066-04:00

If you don't read any other post on the Breville Barista Touch, please read this one.

Today, I stumbled upon a New York Times article entitled, “Making Espresso at Home Is Kind of a Nightmare—But If You Insist, Here’s How to Do It Well.” The article opened, “No one should make espresso at home, leave it to the shops; it’s a multi-thousand-dollar rabbit hole you might never find your way out of.”

For me, the advice was a little late. I gave Judy, my wife, a Breville Barista Touch for Christmas. Why? I had read a NYT Wirecutter review assuring me, "The Barista Touch lets beginners make a variety of café-quality espresso drinks at home with very little learning curve."

Taking those words to heart, I bought Judy a Breville. I got it on sale but I still spent big bucks ($1280 plus tax). I had jumped blindly into the rabbit hole. Wisely, Judy did not follow. After Christmas, I discovered another NYT article. This time the NYT was warning readers, "Of all the ways to make coffee, the espresso machine is the most intimidating." Intimidating is a good word.

For the past six months I have been tumbling down the rabbit hole. Today, I think I have stopped falling. I have a freezer full of good coffee beans bought on sale. Hey, I have to to cut costs somewhere. I have learned to measure, to time, to weigh, to preheat and post-clean – in short, I have learned how to make a very good latte. As for good espresso, espresso is something else all together. Don't confuse the two.

I have grudgingly developed a love-hate relationship with the Breville Barista Touch. If you are thinking of getting into the latte-making game, take the time to read “Making Espresso at Home Is Kind of a Nightmare . . . ”

Try to avoid the very common mistake I made. I bought a machine that did not match my wife's lifestyle (nor mine). Many folk who make this mistake enjoy their purchase for a few weeks and, when the novelty wears off, when the coffee-making ritual begins to feel like work, the machine is abandoned. It sits on the counter-top looking imposing and gathering dust.

Do not buy more machine than you need. I did. I bought a very beautiful, café-quality espresso machine at a price that was also a beaut. I should have looked for a simpler, less expensive machine. I had lots of options. I turned to ChatGPT.

Let's cut to the chase. When it comes to brewing espresso, my café-quality espresso machine falls short. If I brew two shots, one right after the other, one may weight 34g and the other 54g. There is no way these two shots can taste the same. As a pure espresso machine, my Barista is a non-starter.

For making two lattes I have taken to brewing two double-shots, one after the other, and capturing the two espresso shots in the same preheated insulated glass or cup. I add the sugar. Luckily my wife and I agree on sweetness. I stir the sugar until it is dissolved and then I spoon half the espresso into the empty cup. In this example, both cups contain 44g of sweeten espresso.

Ideally, a dose of 19g should result in a pull of 38g. In this example, I have about 15% more espresso than I should have. Since we are making lattes and not straight espresso drinks, this does not pose a big problem. There's three times more milk than espresso in a traditional latte. All that milk hides a lot.

I believe my lattes owe more of their good taste to the generous amount of steamed and frothed milk than to the not so perfectly brewed espresso.

Before buying a state-of-the-art espresso machine, complete with coffee grinder and milk steamer/frother, I would look at cheaper alternatives. My wife's cousin makes his espresso in a Bialetti moka pot. He uses a good, medium-fine grind and he heats his whole milk in the microwave, taking care not to make it too hot. 150 degrees Fahrenheit is perfect. He does not heat the milk more. He froths his milk in his French press. I saw a battery operated frothing tool for sale at Canadian Tire for $10. This may be easier to clean than the French Press.

Does the moka pot deliver true espresso. No! It is rich, highly-concentrated coffee but it is far from being espresso. But, if you are happy with your moque latte do the rules really matter? Not to my wife's cousin.

Frothing the whole milk using a French press can be done in such a way that it will please the average latte drinker: Submerge the plunger halfway into the warm milk (140°F–150°F), raise it slightly above the surface of the milk and pump four to five times. Now, push the mesh screen to the bottom and pump rapidly for 20 seconds without breaking the surface. Tap the French press on the counter to pop any large bubbles, swirl the milk, add the frothed milk immediately to the espresso.

Today, I frothed five ounces of milk heated to 155 degree Fahrenheit for 30 seconds using the frothing tool from Canadian Tire. I poured the frothed and heated milk into a Duralex tumbler holding the concentrated coffee. (I used 18 grams of medium ground coffee and filled the moka pot with water to just below the pressure valve. Do not go above the pressure valve.)

My wife tasted the result and declared it "very good". She is withholding excellent for the Breville-made latte. Considering that the Breville machine cost about $1450, GST included, and the moka pot was sitting unused in my basement and the frothing tool cost only $11.30 with the tax, I find it hard to justify my purchase of the Breville Barista Touch. One cost only spare change; the other can require a bank loan.

Enjoy.

p.s. My wife, who enjoys the Barista Touch latte but does not make it, votes for the Breville machine over her cousin's money saving solution.

Steaming & Frothing Wand Tool is Fragile

2026-06-09T11:53:13.926-04:00

The Breville Barista Touch wand cleaning tool is fragile. Made from brittle plastic, users have reported, if dropped, it breaks where the cap attaches to the tool. The tool can also break in use. The tool is used when taking the tip apart for cleaning. A little dried milk in the wand tip has been known to cause the tool to break.

Note: When buying a replacement, be aware that there are a number of variations on this tool. Different espresso machines may require a tool with a differently shaped centre hole.

Breville sells replacement tools at $10 when ordered straight from the company. Save shipping charges by adding other maintenance supplies to the order. The price from Breville for the ClaroSwiss Water Filters bests the competition. I added filters to my order.

If bought from another source, other than Breville, the price fort the little tool can climb to more than $30. That's nuts!

Insulated, Double-walled, Glass Cups Are Best

2026-03-22T11:30:21.044-04:00

What is the best cup for a flat white or any other espresso-based drink, such as a latte or a cappuccino?

For me, the answer is easy: an insulated, double-walled, glass cup. Beautiful to the eye with a good feel in the hand.

Serve your espresso-based milk drinks in a heavy ceramic mug and your drinks immediately begin to cool.

Insulated, double-walled, glass cups—with or without handles—prevent rapid cooling. Another plus, these cups stay cool to the touch even when preheated. I like to fill my cups with water and then heat the water in the microwave while I grind and tamp the beans.

The only downside to these cups is durability. Light glass cups are fragile. I know. Both my wife and I have already broken one. I tipped one over but my wife only tapped the rim and a small crack appeared. I have heard others complain about the cost but I find stores like Homesense, Marshalls and Winners offer a good selection at excellent prices.

Insulated glass cups are practical and nice looking. The coffee appears to almost float in a clear cup. The espresso and the thin layers of crema and foamed milk are clearly visible. Unlike some plastic mugs, glass cups do not impart off flavours.

For me, preheated, double-walled glass cups are the best. Love 'em.

Making good latte on the cheap.

2026-03-12T17:09:00.003-04:00

It just occurred to me: I have never met a latte I didn't like. Strong coffee smoothed out with lots of heated milk, what could go wrong. Café connoisseurs would say "lots". Me -- a simple espresso drinker -- I would say "very little".

My ignorance encourages a broad tolerance range. For instance, if the coffee is too bitter, I am quick to add a little sugar. I expect to make adjustments. Hey, that's why there is half and half on the table. I see flexibility as a strength.

The connoisseur has more refined expectations. Connoisseurs are more attuned to noticing subtle defects -- subtle to me but not to them. Vary the bean quality, extraction and milk texturing and risk offending the delicate palate of the connoisseur.

When I bought my wife an espresso machine for Christmas, I over bought. I knew nothing about espresso, latte, flat whites or cappuccinos. I turned to the experts. This was a big mistake. The Breville Barista Touch espresso machine was frequently suggested, accompanied by the claim that the approximate price of $1500 was a bargain.

I decided to consult ChatGPT. Wow! The AI program made complete sense and if I had followed its advice I could have saved more than a thousand dollars! Let me quote ChatGPT.

The simplest beginner setup for making excellent espresso drinks is:

Bialetti Moka Pot ($50 at Canadian Tire)
Baratza Encore Black Coffee Grinder ($200) or OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder ($150) - Both available at Crate and Barrel
Handheld Milk Frother (approximately $25 - $35)
Good Whole Beans ($20)

Breville Barista Touch: more machine than I need?

2026-03-11T17:14:00.018-04:00

I gave my wife a Breville Barista Touch for Christmas. I had read The New York Times Wirecutter review which said "the Barista Touch lets beginners make a variety of café-quality espresso drinks at home with very little learning curve."

I should have read an earlier NYT article. It warned readers, "Of all the ways to make coffee, the espresso machine is the most intimidating." My wife was intimidated. After three full months, she has yet to pull one shot of espresso. That said, the Touch still gets lots of use. I am now my wife's personal barista.

I made a very common mistake, I bought a machine that did not match my wife's lifestyle. Many who make this mistake will enjoy their purchase for a few weeks and, when the novelty wears off, the coffee-making ritual will begin to feel like work and the machine is abandoned. It is left to sit on the counter-top looking imposing and gathering dust.

The Touch is more machine than I need. Clearly, it is more machine than my wife needs. I bought a very beautiful, café-quality espresso machine at a price that was also a beaut. I should have looked for a simpler, less expensive machine. I had lots of options. I turned to ChatGPT.

I learned of the Airmsen 7.9'' Semi-Automatic Espresso Machine With Grinder was on sale at Walmart for $249.99. The reviews were mixed and, although most buyers seemed happy, those who were not happy had some excellent reasons for giving the Airmsen only one star. I found all the low priced units had similarly mixed reviews. I asked ChatGPT to loosen the purse strings and move upscale a little.

One of its suggestions found a lot of support, the Breville Bambino Plus at $500. Online espresso experts spoke highly of it and, even more importantly, a very sophisticated friend bought one.

There is also a non-plus Bambino at $360 but my advice is spend the extra $140 for the Plus.

It has a better steam wand. It has four-holes in the tip rather than just a single-hole and it auto-purges and self-cleans. There are some other perks but I believe the improved milk heating/frothing wand is the decider.

Worth a mention is the three-way solenoid. It releases the pressure after drawing a shot, making for a drier puck and less dripping after extraction.

Now, what about a coffee grinder? I stayed with the Breville brand. I believe a Breville Smart Grinder Pro at $240 paired with a Breville Bambino Plus would make a fine team. They work well together, and just as importantly, they look good together. Looking good on the kitchen counter is important to a lot of people. My wife being one of them.

When comparing the two Bambino models, the actual espresso brewing systems are the same. Therefore, the shot quality is essentially the same.

Still, depending upon your skill level, lattes and other milk drinks from the Plus might be a notch up in quality compared to its less expensive soulmate. The Plus offers multiple milk temperature options and different foam levels. The Plus may make your inner barista shine.

Rather than spending $1280 for the all-in-one Breville Barista Touch, now I believe it would have been wiser to buy a grinder separate from the brewing machine. Not only would I have saved money but it would simplify doing repairs in the future.

I found a good review comparing the Breville Barista Touch, my machine, to the Breville Bambino Plus, my friend's choice. Here is the link: Breville Barista Touch vs Breville Bambino Plus reviewed by Eli for Coffee Drinker Net.

I found one error in the review. The Bambino Plus milk frothing wand has a four hole tip and not a single hole tip, as I pointed out earlier.

If you do not value matching looks, there are other coffee grinders you can consider. Here are two: MiiCoffee DF54 and Baratza Encore ESP. Use ChatGPT to compare grinders. Each has its own pluses and minuses.

As for which espresso machine to buy, I have switched my vote to the Breville Bambino Plus. For home use it holds its own quite nicely and my oh-so-bright, never-makes-a-mistake friend bought a Plus. Now, that's a solid endorsement.

Breville Barista Touch Espresso machine: Should a novice use the dual-wall or the single-wall filter basket?

2026-02-14T23:26:00.014-05:00

Let me get right to the point: I find it counter-intuitive that the dual-wall filter basket is the basket for beginners. I expected to see holes, lots of holes, in the filter basket bottom. It just seemed reasonable.

The dual-wall filter basket, the one with only one, small, exit hole in the bottom, looks strange. What advantage could there possibly be? Answer: the one hole raises the extraction pressure. Think of it as placing a thumb over the end of a hose. And why is this good?

The high pressure created by forcing the espresso through one, final, small hole smooths over flavour imperfections while producing a thick and stable crema. Critics see this as a cheat: ample crema created without perfect extraction.

Puck channelling happens less frequently when the dual-wall filter basket is used. Grind size, dose weight and tamping consistency all have less influence on the resulting brew. On the down side, pucks are often somewhat wet when the dual-wall filter basket is used. Many folk just ignore the wet puck if the espresso is good.

On the other hand, the single-walled filter basket, with rows and rows of small perforations in the stainless steel bottom, depends on proper grind size, dose weight and consistent tamping to control extraction pressure. Controlling the variables calls for more skill on the part of the barista.

Dual-walled filter baskets are often called "training wheels" for budding baristas. Despite uneven tamping, incorrect grind size or dose weight errors one still pulls consistently acceptable espresso shots with no fuss, no muss. Note the word acceptable. Sadly, the dual-walled filter baskets also mutes the unique flavour notes found in different coffee beans. But, not to worry, most novice espresso makers do not notice. Acceptable is acceptable.

Breville Barista Touch Espresso machine: Extraction

2026-02-07T13:34:00.011-05:00

Portafilter and filter basket

Making a flat white for my wife and me, the espresso started flowing in less than seven seconds. The extraction was too fast, the grind was too coarse.

To adjust the grinder, turn the dial on the side of the machine in the direction indicated. Change the size one unit at a time. Two is the limit. I understand the grinder should be operating while making adjustment.

Our goal here is to increase resistance slowing flow of espresso through filter basket. The result: a drier, more compact puck.

How to Adjust the Grinder for a Slower Flow

Adjust Using Side Dial: Turn the grind dial on the side of the machine to set a lower number. This results in a finer grind. Breville does not mention this but most experts agree that the grind size should only be adjusted with the grinder running.
Adjust in Increments: Change the grind size by small increments (about 1–2 units at most).
Increase Dose: If the dose is underweight and the razor does not touch the surface of the grounds in the portafilter with filter cup inserted, increase the amount of coffee grounds by increasing the grinding time. Again, do this one second at at time.
Adjust Internal Burrs: This is really a last ditch effort. I have never tried this but I did find this recommendation on the Internet in a couple of places.
If the side dial is already at its finest setting and the shot is still too fast, you may need to adjust the inner top burr. Remove the hopper, take out the top burr, and adjust the metal wire handle to a lower number (e.g., from 6 to 4 or 3).

Puck Condition

Drier Puck: Because a finer grind requires higher pressure to pass through, the machine, the extraction will be more efficient, resulting in a drier, firmer, and more compact puck.
Faster Flow Equals Damp/Muddy Puck: If the coffee is too coarse (flowing too fast), the puck will often be damp and muddy, as water passes through without being properly trapped.

The goal is to aim for an extraction that begins in roughly 8–10 seconds and finishes around 25–30 seconds. If all goes as planned, you now have an espresso with nicely balanced flavour.

And, if the puck, while still in the portafilter, looks quite wet with a centre hole running right through the entire puck from top to bottom, you have forgotten the filter basket. Oops! The coffee streams will have started quite early and there will be coffee grounds in your drink. Toss the drink and start over.

Making a Flat White with a Breville Barista Touch

2026-02-05T20:05:00.016-05:00

My Flat White has a round glob of thin foam.

I'm not a coffee freak. So, why am I posting instructions for brewing a flat white using a mid-range espresso machine?

Answer: I bought my wife a Breville Barista Touch for Christmas. She wanted it but I use it. I am now the family barista.

As a new-to-the-coffee-scene novice, I settled on the flat white as my coffee of choice. The Barista Touch has a number of automatic brew settings. Among them is flat white, one part espresso and two parts heated and foamed milk.

This is where I run off the rails. Automatic flat white and latte making! Humbug. My Breville Barista Touch is automatically inconsistent. For one part espresso and two parts milk, the goal is 18g of espresso. Does the Breville achieve the goal? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. I have discovered my Breville Barista Touch is consistently inconsistent when it comes to the amount of espresso it brews.

My Breville grinds out a dose that is between 18g and 20g. Not bad but not perfect either. The classic ratio of espresso shot to dose weight is 1:2 or 18g ground coffee to about 36g of espresso. This is my goal but I achieve it only in my dreams. In grams, my espresso weighs from the low 40s to the mid 50s. I understand this is quite normal.

Coffee freaks would panic. Modify the size of the grind, change the brew time, just do something and do it fast. I say relax. We have yet to add the milk. All will be fine. Pulling a longer shot (50+ grams) is very common when making lattes and flat whites.

A classic ratio may be 1:2 but 1:3 is still quite acceptable. Heck, some people push it all the way to 1:4 but then they are entering latte country. It is important to keep in mind that adding milk to your espresso masks bitterness, allowing the sweeter, easily overpowered flavours to shine. A shot that may not be perfect on its own can taste just fine when mixed with steamed, foamed milk.

In the final analysis, if your flat white or latte is a crowd pleaser, it's perfect . Period. Now, let's make a flat white.

Before starting

Fill the water tank. Stay below the maximum fill line.
Fill the coffee hopper. Do not overfill. Do not use green beans.
Gather everything you will need:
portafilter
dosing funnel
double shot filter basket (While learning, I used the dual wall filter basket. I quickly advanced to using the single wall basket.)
Razor tool for levelling ground coffee in portafilter with basket inserted (I find I rarely use the Razor.)
an 8.5 ounce, insulated coffee cup
Breville stainless steel container for heating and frothing milk
ample cold, whole milk (not low fat milk)
sugar
measuring spoons for the sugar
two small, dry dish towels or dish clothes plus one damp paper towel

Step 1 – Press the on/off button and select Flat White on the screen

The screen will show three steps: Grind, Brew and Milk. All are preset but feel free to modify. It took me a few cups of flat white before I got the grind size and the grind time correct. I have not modified it in months. I consistently get a dose Weighing between 18g and 20g.

Step 2 – Grind and dose

Snap the filter basket, either the single wall or the dual wall, into the portafilter. Do not forget. If you do, coffee grounds will fly from the machine. To stop the grinding, push the grind icon on the screen.
With the chosen filter basket snapped into the portafilter, attach the dosing funnel to the top of the portafilter and weigh both in grams. Now, slide all into the grinder cradle.*
Touch “Grind” or push in the portafilter to start grinding. For this first flat white, accept the default settings.
After grinding, remove all from cradle and weigh the portafilter and filter basket again. You are looking for a weight of from 18g to 20g. Use tamping tool to compact the ground coffee, after the initial tamping, remove dosing funnel and finish tamping. Breville says you should carefully level ground coffee using the Razor tool if necessary. If the weight is 20g or less, I find the Razor is not needed.

Step 3 – Attach portafilter and extract espresso

Lock the portafilter, minus the dosing filter, onto the group head by rotating the handle to the right until it stops.*
Place a dual wall, insulated cup under the spouts. I like to preheat my cup.*
On the flat white screen ensure "Double" is selected and touch “Brew” to start extraction. (In my book, "Double" makes enough espresso for one flat white for one person.)
Watch the flow: two thin streams should start at the seven second mark or a second or two later. The brewing will finish at the preset time. My machine is set for 30 seconds. (At this point, I like to add the sugar, if any, to the hot espresso.)

Step 4 – Heat and froth milk

Fill the stainless steel milk jug with whole milk to a quarter inch above the fill line on the steam wand. The stainless steel jug has minimum and maximum levels marked on the side but I have a difficult time seeing the marks. I prefer using the fill line on the steam wand when making one flat white. This results in enough milk and froth for one flat white. (I use the lower fill line when making two flat whites and the upper, or maximum, fill line when making two lattes.)
The tip of the steam wand should be sitting in the milk just below the surface. The jug must be sitting on the temperature sensor. Do not let the sensor get wet. The sensor must be kept dry.
On the Flat White screen, check the Milk settings:

Temperature: medium to medium‑high (around 150 °F is typical).
Froth level: medium low (4). This results in less foam than called for by latte or cappuccino).

Touch “Milk” to start auto heating and foaming.
Make sure the stainless steel jug is sitting on the sensor at all times. This is important.

Step 5 – Flush and wipe the steam wand when finished

As soon as the Breville Barista Touch is finished heating and texturing the milk, remove the jug. With the steam wand extended at 45 degrees, wipe the wand and tip with a damp cloth. Keep the wand extended at the 45 degree position.
Place the corner of a dry towel or small dish cloth over the milk heating/frothing sensor. It must not get wet. Now, lower the wand to the down position. It will automatically purge itself shooting two short bursts of hot water and a burst of steam into the drip tray. This clears milk from inside the wand.
If the espresso machine senses that the tip is still somewhat blocked, it will display a message instructing one on how to do a second, 11 second, purge. I have found that getting this message means it is time to disassemble the tip and clean it thoroughly.

Step 6 – Pour milk and add foam

Begin pouring from a few centimetres above the milk surface so the milk integrates with the espresso and pushes crema to the top.
The cup should contain about two ounces espresso and you are adding four ounces of milk. When the milk is poured, bring the jug closer to the drink surface and pour a white circle of silky, small-bubbled froth into the centre of the flat white. I like to stir the drink gently until I get a coffee-brown circular pattern in the milk froth.

A flat white should be about a six ounce drink with a distinct but muted espresso flavour tamed by the steamed and frothed milk. The ratio is 1:2 to 1:3, espresso to heated milk. The foam layer is visible but thin.

After enjoying your flat white

Every time you finish enjoying a milk‑based drink, do the following to keep the machine performing well.

1. Knock out puck

Remove the filter basket and rinse both filter basket and portafilter under hot water to remove coffee oils and grounds. Cleaning both with a little soapy water is a good idea. Make sure to rinse well.

2. Quick group head flush

Some advise flushing the group head with the portafilter and filter basket attached is the way to go. I find water can be trapped with filter basket snapped into place, attach the empty portafilter to the group head just as you would to brew coffee. Place an empty cup below as if you were brewing an espresso. Push “Brew” to run hot water briefly through the group head. I believe six or seven seconds is enough. This rinses away any residue of coffee grounds. The rinse water is captured in the empty cup. A very small amount of coffee grounds will be trapped in the filter basket.
I prefer to hold a glass dish, with about an inch of depth, under the portafilter. I push "Brew" to run hot water through the group head for six or seven seconds. I catch the hot water in the glass plate. Six or seven seconds is enough to rinse away any residue of coffee grounds. While doing this, keep a dry cloth over the milk/foam sensor. Remember the warning: "Keep dry".
I like to wipe the bottom of the group head with a damp, paper towel and then flush it one last time using the glass plate again. Sometimes, I find some a few coffee grounds on the damp paper towel.
Finally, separate portafilter from filter basket, wash both and leave to dry.

3. Drip tray and work area

Check the drip tray. It will have collected some water contaminated with a little milk and possibly some coffee grounds. Clean and rinse all the drip tray parts.

Wipe any spilled coffee or milk from the surrounding surfaces. Again, take care not to let the milk temp sensor get wet.
Of course, Breville has posted some instructions. Here is a link:
How to make a flat white at home

Make your Flat White for Two

I never, absolutely never, make just one Flat White. I always make two. One for me and one for my wife. The espresso machine was a Christmas gift from me to her. A gift should not be a lot of work to use. It should be fun and with me doing all the brewing and clean-up, it is fun -- for her.

To modify the above instructions so that you pull two double-shots of espresso to make two flat whites, do the following:

Pull your first espresso shot as above but after grinding and brewing stop. Do not heat and froth the milk. Set aside the cup with the espresso.
Knock out the puck, wipe and dry the filter basket, grind and brew a second shot of espresso. Set the second espresso shot aside, remove the portafilter and knock out the puck.
We are now ready to heat and froth the milk for both drinks as instructed earlier with one change. Two drinks demands more milk. Fill the stainless steel frothing container to at least the first line from the bottom. I like to be generous with my milk.
Pour the heated/frothed milk into the two warmed insulated glass cups with the espresso. Voila! Two flat whites. Clean the machine and work area as instructed.

Owner's review of Breville Barista Touch espresso machine

2026-01-12T12:31:00.034-05:00

I have now been using my Breville Barista Touch for more than ten months. I am updating my post.

My wife told me she'd like an espresso machine. I thought, I'll get her one for Christmas. But, I did not know a thing about espresso machines. I did some research. The Breville Barista Touch got rave reviews. It was said to be not too simple nor too complex. Goldilocks would understand.

Even Wirecutter, the product review section of the New York Times, said this was the espresso machine for those who cannot afford an ultimate machine; I cannot. Some ultimate machines cost thousands more than the Barista Touch.

I found mine on sale for $1280 Cdn at Canadian Tire. Yes, Canadian Tire. The store famous for motor oil, snow tires and automobile windshield cleaner also sells espresso machines. I checked the Internet and the nearest store had four. I got up early and got to the store minutes after its 8 a.m. opening.

At the check-out I confessed to the cashier I felt quite the fool. Who spends this much to brew coffee? I love my wife but I had to wonder if I loved her this much. I was conflicted. I mentioned to the cashier that I was surprised the store only had four Barista Touch left. "You're wrong," the cashier replied. "Someone beat you; eliminating the one you are buying, the store has only two left." Successfully snagging a Barista was like winning a lottery.

I was pleased. I had a great gift. My wife loves it. Sadly, she no longer loves our drip coffee. It's too weak, lacks character. Character? Who talks like that?

To the right is a latte I brewed for Judy. It's one quarter espresso and three quarters frothed, foamed milk. Personally, I like a flat white better. The tighter coffee to milk ratio, 1:2, keeps the coffee flavour upfront. A latte is more milk dominant.

The latte shown is in a Trudeau 11 oz., insulated, double-walled, glass cup bought on sale at Homesense. I preheat the cups by microwaving water in them while brewing the espresso.

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WARNING:

I am going to start my review with a warning. The Breville Barista Touch pumps out random amounts of brewed espresso. Pull two shots, one right after the other. The first one might be as little as 32 g and the other as much as 64 g. These numbers represent the minimum and maximum amounts of espresso I have personally brewed when pulling an espresso shot.

This amount of variance a problem. I have downgraded my opinion of the Barista Touch. A $1280 machine should brew consistent shots. My machine can't. A big disappointment.

My solution? When making two lattes, one for my wife and one for me, I brew two double shots, capture both in one cup, stir in the sugar and then split the espresso equally between two cups. The payoff? Consistency. If you have a better solution, please comment.

One positive note: despite the differing volume of espresso, my wife likes every latte I brew. Some lattes are stronger than others but they are all good. They are certainly better than lattes from local coffee shops.

A CAUTION:

Quality may be a problem. Before buying the Barista Touch I read a number of user posts mentioning quality problems. I cannot say I have encountered the ones mentioned but I do have a problem. The on/off power button only works intermittently. It goes a long time without a problem but when it fails it can take up to seven presses before success. I fear the day will come when it will fail permanently.

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Espresso machines like the Breville Touch have a learning curve. Breville understands and has posted videos and short articles addressing the most common problems encountered by newbie owners.

Let me give you some links.

Coffee Demonstration | How to Dial-in the Barista Touch™ espresso machine | Breville USA

4 Types of Coffee: This is a great page from Breville made even better by the links to be found at the bottom of the page.

Find more articles and videos with Google.

Why I bought the Breville Baristra Touch Espresso machine.

As I mentioned, Wirecutter in the New York Times, thought very highly of this café-quality espresso machine. Encouraged by the NYT positive review, further searching found lots of independent reviews, all in agreement with Wirecutter. Let's discuss some of the features reviewers appreciated.

1. All-in-One, Built-In Grinder

No need for a separate grinder. The Breville Touch has a high-quality integrated conical burr grinder. Burr grinders produce a consistent, even grind resulting in richer flavour and improved extraction.

About to brew an espresso? Use freshly ground coffee each time. Nice. The grinder drops the ground coffee straight into the portafilter. Thanks to a special collar or funnel attached to the portafilter, there is no mess, no spilled coffee grounds.

On the downside, the Breville Barista Touch controls the dose by time. Controlling the dose size by weight is the preferred method. My Touch cost me enough already. I'll accept a little randomness in the size of my doses. Anyway, the variation is usually no more than a gram and rarely more than two. I can live with that.

2. Intuitive Touchscreen Controls

A full-colour touchscreen guides you through grinding, brewing, and milk foaming. Setting the grind (finer or coarser), degree of milk foaming and final milk temperature can be daunting for a novice. That said, I only make lattes. All the automatic stuff is wasted on me.

3. Automated But Customizable

I like to call the Barista Touch a semi-automatic machine. It is left to the barista to fine-tune settings such as the the size and style of basket, the grind amount and size, the degree of tamping and the milk texture. Get all the variables right and you can save the "recipe". It is possible to save up to eight personalized coffee brewing profiles. This all may be true but, when since I just make two daily lattes, I have no need for individualized profiles.

4. Fast Heat-Up Time

The Breville Barista Touch Espresso machine reaches the optimal brewing temperature in about three seconds thanks to the ThermoJet® heating system. In a hurry? No worry. Still, I like to turn on the machine the moment I start getting ready to brew a latte or flat white.

5. Automatic Milk Frothing

The Breville AutoMilQ hands-free microfoam system steams milk to the texture and temperature you choose for making lattes and cappuccinos. The claim is that it makes excellent foam for every style of drink. I have found that the AutoMilQ system works very well. That said, many online self-proclaimed experts prefer to manually foam the milk. Not me! I love my foam-topped lattes.

6. Precision Brewing (?) I think not!

Low Pressure, pre-infusion followed by 9-bar extraction pulls balanced, rich espresso shots. Do it right and you are rewarded with good crema, as well. That is the claim.

Like many high-end espresso machines, the Breville Touch has PID temperature control. PID? A Proportional Integral Derivative extraction temperature controller. I cannot say any more. Google it, if you are still curious. I lost interest on "proportional".

I originally titled this "Precision Brewing". After more than ten months of use, I have changed my opinion. The brewing is anything but precise. My doses consistently weigh about 19g. My espresso shots can weigh from 32g to 64g.

I have tired everything and followed all advice found on the Web. I usually brew two lattes. I have taken to capturing two double-espresso shots in one cup with enough sugar for two drinks. I stir the espresso to dissolve the sugar and then I pour exactly half the espresso into a second cup. It is not a perfect solution but it makes both milk drinks taste the same. If anyone has a solution, I am listening.

7. Built for Daily Use

As mentioned earlier, many of the reviews I consulted were impressed with the ease of cleaning and the in-machine storage areas for accessories. For instance, when not in use the tamper hangs from a magnet concealed in the machine. Sadly, the ultimate build quality was questioned by some reviewers but I found a lot of positive comments from many satisfied owners. I find I must now express some concern. The power button has become intermittent. It may take up to seven tries to get the machine to turn on or off. This should not happen on a $1280 machine.

8. Café-Quality Drinks at Home

Lastly, the Barista Touch lets you make coffee shop quality coffee drinks at home. This does not sound like a big deal but do the math. You will be amazed. If you get your lattes or flat whites from Starbucks, you may pay for your espresso machine in less than a year. Make a latte or flat white for yourself and your partner every day and the coffee-drink-ritual will pay for the machine in as little as three months.

Warnings

I read some online descriptions of overflowing milk during frothing. Now, it has happened to my wife. What a mess! But worse, the heater/frother may be damaged.

There is a "Keep Dry" warning above the stainless steel button sensor. Take this warning seriously. I understand this button is the Achilles's heel of this espresso machine.

Do not drag the stainless steel milk jug over the sensor. Place the jug on the sensor with care. Do not let water or milk wet the button sensor/switch. Do not fill the stainless steel milk frothing pitcher higher than the maximum fill line. Always place the pitcher on top of the sensor button. By following these two rules, I have not had an incident like my wife did in ten full months.

2. Another warning: do not change grinder settings by more than two and one is wiser. I had heard this recommendation on a number of YouTube videos on the Breville Barista Touch. I did not listen. This was a mistake.

When I did not get enough gound coffee in my portafilter, I increased the grind time by four seconds. During grinding, the portafilter with an installed basket overflowed. I had coffee grounds all over. Make changes one at a time

3. When cleaning the milk-frothing wand after use you will probably have the wand extended at an angle away from the espresso machine. Make sure it stays extended. The moment the wand is returned to its upright position, the purge cycle starts.

First, wipe the froth from the extended wand with a damp cloth. Next, fold the wand down and the purging cycle will start immediate. I always have a dry cloth covering the milk temperature sensor button. You do not want to get the sensor wet. Letting the wand purge directly into the drip tray allows the wand to purge freely with two short blasts of hot water and a final burst of steam. This milk wand purging is just one more reason to rinse the tray after each use of the Barista Touch.

4. All this sounds like it should be hard to do -- but it isn't. When first learning the ins and outs of using the Breville Barista Touch, it is all too easy to forget to click the filter basket into the porta filter or forget to attach the plastic funnel attachment to the top of the porta filter.

Make one of these mistakes and make one heck of a mess. When my wife showed off her new machine to a neighbourhood friend, my wife forgot the plastic funnel attached to the porta filter. Ground coffee scattered about the kitchen. Her friend laughed. My wife didn't.

Sech SCB568P Smartwatch available at Canadian Tire

2025-10-28T14:58:00.069-04:00

This is an updated review. With weeks of experience with this smartwatch, I can say that this watch, especially on sale, is good value. Oh, it has its idiosyncrasies, but at a sale price, I can live with the little glitches. This Sech smartwatch would make a great gift for a boy who also has a smartphone.

I wanted a watch with an alarm. That's all. I take a lot of pills for my heart condition four times daily. I often forget to take my meds and then I take them late. Occasionally, I miss taking my meds completely. This is not good. Clearly, I need a watch with an alarm.

I found a watch on sale at Canadian Tire. The fellow at the store assured me that this watch had an alarm. He was certain; it was a smartwatch, he said. I took it home, opened the box and discovered I needed a smartphone to use my smartwatch. Did I mention I'm old? I thought a smartwatch was simply capable. Oops!

There was a QR code in the instruction booklet; this should have made it easy to set up my watch. It didn't. Why? I did not own a smartphone. My daughters solved my problem. They bought me a used iPhone 9.

Before continuing, at this point it is time to charge the smartwatch using the USB magnetic charging cable. The first charge takes three hours to complete. A shorter charging time will suffice in the future. The watch indicates when it is fully charged.

After charging your smartwatch, you can download the "Da Fit" app to link your smartphone to your smartwatch. Note: the Sech smartwatch will not work with the Apple Watch app—only with the Da Fit app.

There are a number of ways to download the Da Fit app.

1. Point your smartphone steadily at the QR code printed in the Sech smartwatch booklet. A banner or link should appear at the top of the screen—tap it. This will take you to the App Store page for Da Fit. (If nothing happens, you may be able to search manually in the App Store for “Da Fit” and download it from there.)

2: Click on this link to the Mo Young Ltd. Da Fit page. Click on Download or click on the appropriate app store oval.

You must download the "Da Fit" app to link your smartphone to your smartwatch.

At this point, it is time to set-up your smartphone. Unfortunately this can be very difficult if you must use the little booklet that came with the watch. Why? Little print on little pages in a little booklet. For many, the little print is almost unreadable. But, there are solutions.

My first solution is to click on my photo reproducing the booklet for a similar Sech smartphone sold by Canadian Tire.

I downloaded this from the CTC page discussed next. Enlarge the image on your computer monitor until is is legible. Good luck.

My second solution, to go to the linked Canadian Tire CTC Sech smartphone page and, although it is not the exact same model, we are going to scroll to Resources and download the posted user manual. These instuctions should do the job.

This solution may not last. When the smartphone featured is discontinued, the resource may disappear as well.

I found another solution as well: a complete online Da Fit User Manual.

Allow all the permission requests (Bluetooth, Notifications, Health data, etc.)—these are needed for proper syncing and complete functionality. If the Da Fit User Manual does not work for you, please comment and I will try and find a solution.

Now, with the smartwatch up and running, my first question was did it have an alarm? It sure does. Eight alarms to be exact. I need only four. My daughter quickly had all the alarms working for me.

She showed me how my smartwatch could take my blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen level, count my steps, record my sleep patterns and more. It’s too bad none of its tricks are medically acceptable. Clearly, some people do not think smartwatches are as smart as claimed.

That said, my watch can be very smart. As far as I can tell, it does a fine job determining my heart rate (bpm) and recording my oxygen saturation level. It also does a fine job keeping track of my steps and recording and evaluating my nightly sleep patterns.

The blood pressure readings are another matter. They suck! I have an excellent upper arm Omron blood pressure unit. It is accurate. The readings from the Sech smartwatch never agree with the Omron numbers. They are not even close.

When my youngest daughter watched a video on her iPhone, the audio could be heard throughout the room. Her phone, thanks to Bluetooth, was connected to my smartwatch. In a sharing mood, it was sharing with everyone within hearing range.

Later, with my smartphone connected via Bluetooth to my iPhone, I placed a call to my wife. It worked like a charm. I was impressed; my wife less do. Why? Because I was in the same room as she was. She found calling someone only ten feet away rather silly.

Oh well, it keeps good time. The alarm is the bee's knees. I am excited to investigate all my smartwatch's other features. Read on. I will add to this post as I become more and more familiar with my better-than-it-deserves-to-be-at-the-price smartwatch.

Keeping my smartwatch and smartphone connected may be the biggest and most annoying weakness of the Da Fit app. There are numerous comments about this idiosyncrasy online.

To check the connection, open the Da Fit app and touch the smartwatch icon. It is the second icon from the right at the bottom of the screen. At the top of the new screen, it will read SECH SCB568P. Below the SECH name, you should see "Connected".

If you see "Disconnected", I suggest first rebooting your smartphone. Voila; the two devices should be reconnected. If after thirty seconds the devices fail to connect, tap Find Device. The watch should emit a tone confirming the phone and watch are linked. Wait a few seconds and Disconnected should change to Connected.

If this fails as well, go to Settings and the gear icon on your smartwatch. Settings is found by swiping down on the watch face. Tap the gear wheel, scroll down to System and tap Restart. Do not touch "Reset". Reset is the last ditch move. I try to avoid it.

If you must tap "Reset", be aware that this is the nuclear option. Reset returns the smartwatch to its factory settings. You will have to reload your alarm settings, any formats you have personalized and all other features you have entered or modified. If you are using an optional watch face, you will have to reload it, as well.

I have been asked if the Sech smartwatch will work without a connection to a smartphone. The answer? No, it won't. Period. End of discussion

But, even with my new smartphone, all my problems did not immediately disappear. Learning how to get the most out of my little smart device was tough for an old geezer who finds it hard to even call it a watch. Telling time is just one of my smartwatch's many functions. I confess, I found it confusing

Watch Faces: I did not find any of the supplied six watch faces worked for me. I downloaded "Business Black" in the "New Watch Faces" group. This alternative watch face displays the percentage of battery power remaining.

Business Black found in the New Watch Face group.

On your smartphone, tap "Da Fit" app > find Watch Faces (Tap the watch icon, third icon from the left at the bottom of the screen. It should be lit.) > tap Face Gallery below the third watch face shown.

You will see numerous optional smartwatch faces. I picked "Business black" found in the "New Watch Faces" group.

To switch between loaded watch faces, turn the knob on side of the smartwatch. It turns both clockwise or counter clockwise.

Wrist Raise Turns on Watch Face: Still on the subject of the watch face, the face will light up when you move your arm quickly if "Wrist Raise" is activated. This is a battery drainer. To disable the Wrist Raise feature, go to Settings on the watch (sweep down) and tap the gear wheel. Scroll down to Wrist Raise, tap it and slide the onscreen switch to off.


To make the battery last longer, turn Wrist Raise off	.

"Settings" can also be found by turning on the watch, swiping right twice, and then scrolling to the bottom of the function icons. The settings gear wheel icon is the last function icon in the long list. Tap it.

Using the Da Fit app on your iPhone, you can access many of the smartwatch Functions.

Tap the Da Fit icon and then tap the bottom far left icon. It is the first one in a row of four icons. All the functions can be found by scrolling up and down. Here is the function list (top to bottom): “Activity”, “Sleep”, “Heart Rate”, “BP (Blood Pressure)”, “Blood Oxygen”, “Stress”, “Weight” and “Intake Reminder”. Note, we are talking now about your iPhone. Coming up, we will examine the functions found on the smartwatch itself.

All functions work in a similar manner. Click on the function field and a new screen opens with related, in depth information appears. All are petty well self exclamatory. If an old geezer can muddle through, you can too. To close the in depth screen, tap the “X” at the top left of the window.

Always keep in mind: to paraphrase Dirty Harry, a smartwatch has to know its limitations. Smartwatches are not medical devices and much of their data is suspect.

Activity: This records the number of steps taken each day, the distance covered, and the calories burned. The distance covered can be displayed in either Imperial or metric measure. Tap the third icon from the left at the bottom, the smartwatch icon, tap Others. To change formats, tap on the arrow to the right.

Steps are recorded automatically. I found this function to be amazingly accurate at walking speed. I checked the Net and found many posts agreeing that the recorded steps feature is accurate.
Distance covered can be fairly accurate as well. But, you must enter your Step Length first. Tap the fourth icon in the bottom row, it shows a person, tap Profile and enter your Step Length.
The calorie counter is another matter. Most sources give the kCal function a thumbs down. It's best used as a trend indicator rather than a precise measure of calories burned.

Sleep date, Da Fit app.

Sleep: The more I use this function, the more I realize this is mostly for fun and general guidance. It cannot be completely trusted. It promises a lot but delivers very little. Touch the Sleep icon and guesstimates of your Sleep Ratio and Sleep Quality Score are displayed.

If you want another, more generous opinion of the Sleep function, please click the link to: Do Sleep Trackers Really Work posted on the Johns Hopkins Medical Health site.

On the left is the Sleep data field displayed on the iPhone. Click on the screen info and a second screen opens with even more info plus a rating of your recent night's sleep. I will leave it to you to form your own opinion about the value of this feature. I see it as another trend indicator, at best.

Heart Rate: Tap the heart rate field and a full screen heart rate page appears. Tap “Measure” at the bottom of the iPhone screen. The smartwatch will measure your heart rate and display it on both your watch and your phone.

I have found this to be amazingly accurate, especially at rest or possibly when the wearer is engaged in light to moderate activity. I understand the more active one is the less accurate the HR readings.

As a senior, my activity level never exceeds light to moderate. I use this HR function when I exercise on my elliptical to ensure I do not push my heart too hard,

BP (Blood Pressure): This feature is not to be trusted. If you must know your blood pressure, get a proper unit with an upper arm cuff. Omron makes excellent blood pressure monitors. The smartwatch BP feature is close to useless and be warned that the BP measurements taken with a wrist cuff also have a reputation for being untrustworthy.

SpO2 or Blood Oxygen: I believe this works. It usually agrees with my single purpose pulse oximetre. Touch the Blood Oxygen field, touch Measure at the bottom of the screen and the smartwatch will start taking the measurement.

If your watch and phone are connected, the percent of oxygen number will be displayed on both the smartphone and on the smartwatch. If the connection fails, I have found tapping Find Device may restore the connection. If this fails, reboot the iPhone.

Stress: Almost every one agrees this feature is useless. Enough said. For more info, read Smartwatches Offer Little Insight Into Stress Levels.

Weight: There's not much to see here. You enter your weight manually. When you expand the weight window, if you have entered both your height and weight in the Da Fit app, your BMI is displayed and what your number means. It tells you whether you are thin, ideal weight, fat or obese. As I said, there's not much to see here

Intake Reminder: This will track your liquid consumption for the day but you must enter each drink manually. I am surprised to find I use this function every day. It encourages me to drink enough. My kidneys love this function. Good hydration is important, more important than I ever thought. I am now properly hydrated.

Those were all the functions found on the iPhone using the Da Fit app.

Using Da Fit app on SECH smartwatch:

Let us examine the SECH SCB568P smartphone and discover what functions it offers. Many of these function work best when the smartphone is connected to a nearby iPhone.

Activity:

The Da Fit app on your iPhone gives your sleep a rating.
Sleep: The more I use this function, the more I realize this is mostly for fun and general guidance. It cannot be completely trusted. It promises a lot but fails to deliver.

Swipe up and Sleep Data are displayed as colour coded bars denoting time awake, REM sleep, light sleep and just resting. I doubt any of the measurements are truly accurate. For another opinion, please click link: Do Sleep Trackers Really Work posted on Johns Hopkins Medical Health site.

Heart Rate: Tap the heart rate icon and tap “Measure” at the bottom of the iPhone screen. The smartwatch will measure your heart rate and display it on both your watch and your phone. I have found this to be amazingly accurate, especially at rest or possibly when the wearer is engaged in light to moderate activity. I have found the more active I am, the less accurate the HR reading.

Phone Call: Tap and a Phone Call screen appears. You have three choices: Recent Calls, Dial Pad, and Contacts. Placing a call was simple. The audio was amazingly good. Recent calls was pretty straight forward. I fave failed, so far, to link my watch to my iPhone contact list. It goes without saying, your smartphone must be nearby and connected.

Exercise: Click on this and be surprised. I worked through the list of exercises until I got to elliptical. Walking, running and cycling were all expected but badminton? And there a lot more surprised. There are supposedly more than 120 exercise modes.

Click on Elliptical and immediately see a Set Goals screen: Time, Calories and Open Goal are the choices. Click on time and choose how long you you plan on working out. After clicking, another screen appears. This one shows the elapsed time, it displays the total calories burned, the present heart rate and a graph indicatind the strength of the workout. The graph starts at Light. Keep floating about the exercise tracker and surprise yourself by finding new, hidden functions and screens.

If you sweat, do not leave the smartwatch wet or even damp. Wipe the surface with a soft, clean cloth when necessary.

Did I find the elliptical setting useful? Yes. My elliptical machine displays the time elapsed and some other useful information but it does not tell me my heart rate. My doctors tell me not to let my heart rate climb above 120 bpm. Thanks to my smartwatch I can keep my heart rate in the correct range. This one feature is worth the price of admission for folk like me.

Exercise Records: The watch keeps a record of your exercise but you must exercise for at least one minute before data is stored. All records will be found on the app if you keep both the smartphone and the smartwatch synchronized.

Blood Pressure: This feature is not to be trusted. If you must know your blood pressure, get a proper unit with an upper arm cuff. Omron makes excellent blood pressure monitors. The smartwatch BP feature is close to useless and be warned that the BP measurements taken with a wrist cuff also have a reputation for being untrustworthy.

SpO2: I believe this function works. If your watch and phone are connected, the percent of Oxygen number will be displayed on both the smartphone and on the smartwatch when the measuring is done. If the phone fail to display the correct result, I have found tapping Find Device restores the connection. If this fails, read the

Problem entry below.

Stress: Almost every one agrees this feature is useless. Enough said. For more info, read Smartwatches Offer Little Insight Into Stress Levels.

Weather: Shows the current weather info, for instance Cloudy and the present temperature. It also show the time for sunrise and for sunset. Swipe up to see weather. This must be connected to the APP. If the link is broken, disconnected for too long, the watch will not update.

Messages:

Shutter: After connecting to your phone, the watch can remotely control your phone’s camera to take photos. After opening the camera on your phone, tap on the watch camera control page to trigger the camera shutter to take a picture.

Player:

Relaxation:

AI Voice:

Timer: Tap one of the preset times or tap the custom setting, when set, tap the start button. To stop, tap the X.

Alarm: Alarms can be set using the Da Fit app or on the watch, up to 8 alarms can be set. The alarm rings or can both ring and vibrate. Setting the alarm times is both quicker and easier using the Da Fit app on the iPhone. Setting the ring or the ring-vibrate function must be done on the watch itself.

There is an automatic snooze function. I could find no way to turn the snooze function off or on. If you do not turn of the alarm when it sounds, it will sound again in a few minutes. Momentarily depress the button on the side of the watch to turn off the alarm.

Stopwatch: Tap the start button on the stopwatch page to start timing, and tap the stop button to stop timing.

World Clock: When I tap World Clock, I get the correct time in Toronto, Ontario. As I live in London, Ontario, the time shown is also the correct for London. My iPhone has its world clock set to Ottawa, so my watch is not taking it Toronto setting from my phone. Odd. I will continue playing with this.

Cycle Tracking:

Find Phone: Scroll down to find phone, tap and your linked smartphone will either ring or vibrate, possibly both, making it easy to find your misplaced cell phone.

Calculator: A simple calculator that is probably accurate but I cannot use it. My fingers are too thick. Find the calculator app on your smartphone. It is more powerful while offering more options.

Games:

Settings:

If all of the above seems a bit hard to follow, I have one last piece of advise: try ChatGPT. Tell it you are looking for a summary of the instructions for downloading and installing the Da Fit app by Mo Young. Ask it, "Can you find such a summary?" Now, play with your new watch and learn by trial and error. I did and I had great luck.

I found this info using ChatGPT about the manufacturing of the Sech watch. You might find this interesting.

When IWO works with Mo Young on building smartwatches,

Mo Young Ltd. is responsible for producing the smartwatch motherboards (the core electronics and software solutions), while IWO Smartwatch is responsible for producing the complete smartwatch units.

This collaboration is part of an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) business model, where both companies contribute specific components and services to create a final product, such as the popular Da Fit smartwatch.

Their roles can be broken down as follows:

Mo Young's Role

Solution Provider: Mo Young is a leading provider of intelligent wearable solutions, focusing on the design and development of smart wearable products.
Motherboard Production: The company specifically manufactures the core smartwatch motherboards.
Software & App Development: Mo Young develops the software and mobile companion applications, such as the "Da Fit" app, which are essential for the smartwatch's functionality and user experience.
R&D Expertise: They have a large R&D team dedicated to hardware design, UI design, app software, health algorithms, and system optimization.

IWO Smartwatch's Role

Final Product Assembly: IWO takes the motherboards and other components to produce the complete, finished smartwatch units.
Design & Marketing (for micro-brands): IWO positions itself as a one-stop solution for micro-brands, handling aspects like design, brand marketing, and production of the final product.
Quality Control & Certification: IWO ensures the final products undergo thorough quality control and obtain necessary certifications (CE, FCC, RoHS, etc.) for different export markets.
OEM/ODM Services: IWO works with various partners and offers wholesale and B2B opportunities, leveraging Mo Young's core technology to provide customizable watches to other businesses.

In essence, Mo Young provides the technical "brains" of the operation, while IWO handles the manufacturing, assembly, and distribution of the physical product.

Still want more? Click on the following: Top Questions Answered: Da Fit Smart Watch Price, Manufacturer, Instructions

Can Christians Be Threatening?

2025-10-01T15:16:00.007-04:00

Can Christians be threatening? Damn right, they can!

Many Christians today are frightened of Muslims. They see Muslims as dangerous, a threat. These Christians would disagree but I feel they suffer from Islamophobia and Islamophobia can prove dangerous to Muslims. Almost an entire Muslim family in London, Ontario, was killed by a young Christian man who drove his car into the family while they were out for a summer evening stroll.

Listening to these frightened Christians go on and on about Muslims inspired me to look into Christians and fear of the other. I did not have to look farther than the Second World War. There are more recent examples I could have examined but being I was born just a few short years after the war, the question of German Christians and their involvement in the "Final Solution" has always been an open question. I decide to look for an answer.

The answer is ugly, nasty and disheartening. Christians can be, and often are, absolutely terrible people. This comes as no surprise to lots of folk. The United States, a country many claim has a long history as a Christian nation, is not known only for its good deeds. At best, the United States has a very checkered history when it comes to adhering to and promoting Christian values.

But, I am not talking about the Yanks here but about the actions of the Christian Germans before and during the Second World War. Throughout this period, Germany was overwhelmingly Christian, easily over 90% of the population. In comparison, in 1933 it is estimated there were only about 500,000 German Jews or less than 1% of the population.

The fear, suspicion, prejudice and open hostility of the antisemitic Christians toward the Jews has a long history in Europe. For centuries, Jews were portrayed as "Christ-killers", moneylenders and untrustworthy businessmen. In these Christians' eyes, Jew was synonymous with greedy.

As the Nazis ramped up their attacks on the Jews, the Christian leadership in Germany and in much of Europe mostly failed to speak out strongly against the rampant and growing violence towards Jews. In Germany, a faction calling itself the "German Christians" made every effort to Nazify the church. Even the mainstream churches remained largely silent or, worse, were actively complicit.

If there were only 500,000 Jews in Germany, how did the Nazis slaughter millions and million of Jews in pursuit of the "Final Solution"? The answer is obvious. For the most part, Christian countries controlled by the Nazis collaborated.

By the end of the war, approximately two-thirds of all European Jews had been murdered. Poland alone accounts for about 3 million of the deaths. Hungary adds another 560,000 or so. The German Nazis provided the leadership and physical support for the Final Solution operation, but it took the cooperation of millions of European Christians to make the operation successful.

Sadly, and shockingly, as one learns more, it becomes clear that the Final Solution only succeeded to the degree it did because it was conducted in countries where nearly everyone was Christian with a long tradition of antisemitism.

Danish Christians see religion as a matter of national identity.

Were there any countries that did not quickly fall inline? Yes. Denmark. The Lutherans, which made up the majority of Danish Christians, were able to save almost all Danish Jews. The government and the Danish citizens organized the escape of approximately 7,000 Jews to Sweden in 1943. The Danes showed some spine.

At this point, my inquiry takes a surprising turn -- there is a lesson here for today's Muslim-fearing Christians, the oh-so-pious Bible thumpers.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark was a broadly inclusive state church. It wasn't highly dogmatic but instead it was a cultural as well as a religious movement. Most of its pastors combined traditional Christians beliefs with an adherence to civic duty overlaid with national pride.

The Danish Lutheran Church's actions were rooted in their belief in a shared humanity. Jews were seen as fellow human beings and not just feared as members of another religious group. The Danes were able to skirt the fear-of-the-other.
The Danish church showed true Christian generosity by providing
crucial assistance by hiding Jews and by protecting their sacred religious symbols such as Torah scrolls.

Do masks work?

2025-09-30T10:35:00.010-04:00

N95 masks outperform all other types of masks

Are you up to the challenge? If you think you can make health decisions for you and your family independent of the advice given by experts -- maybe even going contrary to the opinions of the experts, answer the following question.

Do masks work for fighting covid-19?

If you answered, "No, they don't", you flunked the test. Read on for the correct answer.

COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, and the main route of transmission is through the air—especially in the form of fine aerosols and respiratory droplets exhaled by infected people when breathing, talking, coughing, or sneezing.

Masks filter inhaled and exhaled air. Depending on the mask type (cloth, surgical, N95/KN95/FFP2), the fit, and how consistently it’s worn, the degree of filtration varies. Even if not perfect, a mask always provides some reduction in exposure, both for the wearer and for others nearby.
Effectiveness is a spectrum. A loose cloth mask is a weak barrier; a properly fitted N95 is a strong barrier. Poor fit, gaps, or wearing it under the nose reduce effectiveness, but even then there is partial protection.

The question isn’t whether or not masks work, but rather how well do masks work. The degree of benefit varies.

In “real-world” settings, much depends on how well the mask is worn (gaps, slipping, reuse, moisture), the type of mask, and for how long it is used or reused.

1. Masks reduce risk, but by how much depends on several factors.

Wearing a mask is associated with a reduced risk of infection. The reduced risk is variable.
Always wearing a mask or respirator in public settings is an improvement over never wearing one. The type of mask is important. Wearing an N95/KN95 mask is better than wearing a surgical mask and both are an improvement over not wearing a mask.
Well-fitting respirators (N95/FFP2 etc.) outperform surgical and cloth masks in terms of filtering aerosol particles.
It is believed that a “duckbill” N95 blocked almost all exhaled particles from infected individuals.
Studies suggest that if many people wear masks, even moderately effective masks can have substantial community-level impact on transmission.

The following is only anecdotal evidence but I am going to mention it anyway.

During the peak of the covid-19 pandemic, I always wore an N95 in public. As the danger from covid waned, I switched to well-fitted surgical masks. I also got vaccinated. As the virus has mutated, I have gotten my covid-19 booster shots regularly. I have now had nine covid-19 vaccinations.

Neither I nor my wife have ever had covid. And a good thing, too, as my wife and I are getting up in years.

Are All Christians Christian? Maybe not.

2025-09-21T23:56:00.016-04:00

I have relatives who openly and constantly proclaim their strong Christian beliefs. You might say they are continually bearing witness, publicly declaring their great love for Jesus. They believe they are confirming their deep commitment to God but are they?

I was raised a Christian. I taught Sunday school in my teens, and yet I am repulsed by self-admitted sinners who readily accept Jesus's gift of imputed righteousness. They put their faith in Jesus and this faith is, in their eyes, the conduit for God’s grace—a grace available to all sinners.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor killed by the Nazis, had a word for this. He called it "cheap grace"—forgiveness devoid of true repentance or transformation. If a sinner is truly "in Christ", they must forsake their evil ways. Sinners cannot persist in their sinning ways confident that Christ forgives all.

Bonhoeffer practised what he preached: "costly grace". Bonhoeffer saw cheap grace as one of the greatest dangers to Christianity. He went so far as to help form a church in opposition to the mainline German Christians movement which supported the Nazis.

For his efforts, Bonhoeffer was arrested in April 1943. He spent about two years in jail where he suffered greatly. Just weeks before the war ended, he was hanged. Bonhoeffer's death was true to his message: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”

Most evangelicals have not been asked to put their lives on the line for Christ but they were asked to get vaccinated against covid-19. Many refused. When vaccination was mandated they saw this as an attack on their God-given freedom of choice.

This attitude is not in keeping with the Christian religion of my youth. Back then, I would have argued that Saint Paul taught personal freedom ends where the danger to another begins. If refusing the covid-19 vaccine puts the old and the weak at risk, then the choice to not get vaccinated appears to be driven not by Christian values but by selfishness with an overlap of pride.

But the covid vaccine is the least of my concerns. A big concern, one of many elephants in the room, is the truly horrifying war in the Middle East. On October 7, 2023, Hamas crossed the border into Israel, killing about 1200 Israels and others and then retreated with about 250 hostages.

The Israelis responded with an all out attack on Hamas with massive collateral damage. As of the middle of September, some 65,000 Palestinians have died. About 39,000 are women and children.

I believe Jesus would be appalled. Jesus said: “When he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.’”
— Luke 19:41–42

What were the things that made for peace? I believe they were, and are, compassion, forgiveness, generosity, and trust in God, in stark contrast to the violence, division, and hard-heartedness encountered as a rule.

Palestine and the war are complex situations but, no matter, this war must stop. The monstrous number of dead is shocking but the number of injured and the types of injuries are truly horrifying. Today, hell flourishes in Palestine.

Like many on the extreme-right, my relatives are not appalled. They don't even believe the widely reported casualty numbers. They are insulated from reality by a mix of theological conviction, political ideology, and media distrust.

Sources such as the NYT or the CBC are discounted as "fake news".

Today's state of Israel is seen as a direct fulfillment of God’s promise. Its survival and expansion since its birth in 1948 are signs that all is unfolding according to God's plan. As God's plan does not included the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent civilians, the reports must be fake news. The New York Times, CBC, BBC and even UN reports are all part of the fake news conspiracy.

How would Jesus react to the fake news conspiracy story? It is hard to say but let me hazard a guess. He would see this refusal to see truth as the sin of wilful blindness. The Jesus of my youth was discerning, not gullible. He would not have been taken in by either Roman spin or manipulation by the Pharisees. He would not have dismissed all the MSM with one broad brush stroke.

In a related situation, Jesus confronted those who shut their eyes to what was immediately in front of them. Quoting the prophet Isaiah, he said: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand… their hearts have become calloused, they have closed their eyes” (Matthew 13:13–15).

Working for three decades in the media did not give me credibility.

There is so much amiss with today's extreme right-wing Christianity that I will begin wrapping up this post. Otherwise, I might go on and on almost endlessly. Instead, I will leave you with this thought: For all the talk of love, Christians on the extreme-right are fear-driven, anger-filled and insulated by hate.

They demonstrate fear of losing their culture (replacement theory), fear of religious displacement (Christians are under attack) and fear of the other (gay people, Muslims, immigrants) just to name three.

Anger is also a mixed into this nasty brew and there is a lot of anger to go around. Liberals, progressives, Muslims, gays, immigrants, woke folk and all-too-often blacks quickly come to mind. These are all easy targets for right-wing hate.

In this worldview, love isn’t absent—right-wing Christians still talk about it and talk about it incessantly—but in practice love is restricted, contained and finally stripped of the compassion of Jesus.

Perplexity believed Mark Carney wasn't Prime Minister!

2025-06-27T14:24:00.003-04:00

If you need any proof that putting too much faith in the accuracy of AI "facts", check out the following screen shots from a session with Perplexity -- a big player in the AI arena.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Hot damn! Stop the presses. AI does not know Mark Carney is the Canadian Prime Minister. When challenged, Perplexity stuck to its position:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

It took a third challenge to elicit a correction from Perplexity:

It finally admitted its error, saying, "You're absolutely right, and I apologize for the earlier mistake. Mark Carney is indeed the 24th Prime Minister of Canada. (The bold type was used by Perplexity.) It closed the session by saying, "Thank you for pointing out the error, and I appreciate your understanding."

My prayer: Jesus, Save Us From the (Far-Right-Wing) Christians

2025-06-19T15:15:00.014-04:00

This is my second post on Jonathan Cahn. My first was, "If you believe Jonathan Cahn, you are betting against the house." If you are interested, click the link in the previous sentence.

An opinion piece in the New York Times today, "The Problem of the Christian Assassin," mentions Jonathan Cahn. The writer, David French, mentioned Cahn in an earlier piece. Here is a link, "The Donald Trump Leap of Faith."

The Christian assassin is Vance Boelter, the Christian who stalked two Minnesota lawmakers and assassinated them. Boelter is a 1990 graduate of Christ for the Nations Institute (CFNI) and once served as a missionary in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Both the CFNI and Jonathan Cahn are part of the right-wing evangelical-charismatic movement. Of the two, Cahn is the more explicitly political and apocalyptic but both leave me feeling uneasy. Boelter's murderous acts does lead one to examine more closely the ideas the institute is instilling in its graduates.

French called Cahn, "one of the most popular Christian public figures in America." Today, he tells us Cahn has been sharing his Jehu prophecy with all who will listen. You may well ask, who is Jehu? Here is French's concise answer:

Jehu is an obscure and vicious ancient king of Israel whose chief claim to fame was overthrowing the house of Ahab, ordering the execution of the king’s wife, Queen Jezebel, killing King Ahab’s sons and piling their heads outside the city gates.

Most would agree, King Jehu is not a fine role model. Yet Cahn, like many evangelicals, believes King Jehu was an instrument of God. These evangelicals also see Trump is an instrument of God in the same mould as King Jehu and King David. Supposedly, God used all three to further his goals.

I find that Cahn treats the Bible as a codebook. Break the code and he promises all will becomes clear. Trump, the Christan warrior, will emerge from the fog.

For me, what becomes clear is that Cahn is a spiritually manipulative charlatan with a sensationalist marketing technique. His is not a sober reflection on biblical teachings.

Take care and steer clear of Jonathan Cahn and his ilk. They are delivering something more akin to propaganda than healthy religion.

Another Pierre Poilievre slogan?

2025-05-25T17:34:00.005-04:00

In his address to the Conservative caucus, Pierre Poilievre claimed Mark Carney used a slogan to attack Poilievre for sloganeering. Poilievre insinuated this was very ironic. It would be, if it were true.

There is no evidence that Mark Carney has used the phrase "A slogan is not a plan" in a public speech or statement. All attributions of this phrase to Carney come from political opponents (notably Pierre Poilievre and Conservative MPs) and media commentary, who claim that Carney "took great delight in saying that 'a slogan is not a plan'" during the campaign.

Carney, as leader of the Liberal Party, positioned himself as a steady, policy-focused alternative to Pierre Poilievre's slogan-heavy,populist rhetoric. Now, we can add the slogan "A slogan is not a plan" to the long list of Poilievre slogans such as "Axe the Tax”, “Bring it Home”, “Fix the Budget”, and “Stop the Crime.”

The media has been taken in by Poilievre again. The CBC journalist, Benjamin Lopez Steven, reported something to the effect (the original report has been taken down):

On the campaign trail, according to Poilievre, Mark Carney frequently criticized Poilievre for his slogans. Carney repeatedly said "a slogan is not a plan," according to Poilievre. Laughing, he turned the tables on Carney saying, “I’ll point out that that is a slogan.” The crowd roared and CBC reported Poilivre had turned the tables on Carney with his witty attack.

One problem: Carney never used the phrase repeatedly. In fact, he may have never used those exact words. This is a Poilievre fabrication but no surprise here. It is just the latest of his famous slogans. Poilievre can take a bow. He is now writing slogans for the Prime Minister or at least trying.

The CBC has posted a correction.

Christians and Extremism

2025-05-13T11:20:00.007-04:00

I used to think that religion, on the whole, was a force for good. How does one find fault with folk who believe they should “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? You can’t. But, do Christians put their words into action? In the past, I would have said, yes. Today, I am not so sure.

I have three close relatives who are working very hard to turn me against the organized, Christian religion. I see Donald Trump as the devil incarnate. When I started seeing pro Trump evangelicals popping up on my Facebook feed, I contacted the source, a relative. He took offence, telling me that Trump was not as bad as many believe. I haven’t heard from him since.

The other two, I believe, see Trump as a King David kinda guy, deeply flawed but being used by God to accomplish godly ends. Me? I don’t see Trump as a tool of God but as a spiritual danger. Christ himself warned, “False messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive . . .”

These thoughts rekindled thoughts I had as a child in the early ‘50s. I wondered how Christians could join the Crusades or to take part in the Spanish inquisition? I decided to revisit this question and others and find an answer.

The First Crusade was a Church creation. Announced at the Council of Clermont in 1095, Pope Urban II appealed to European Christians to go to war with the infidels and reclaim Jerusalem. And who were the infidels? They were "the other": Muslims, Jews, pagans and heretical Christians.

Between 1095 and 1272 there were at least nine major crusades. As many as 3 million people, soldiers and civilians, died in these holy wars. Not all died by the sword. Many succumbed to disease and starvation. It was ugly.

The above does not include the 1212 Children's Crusade which was not sanctioned by the Church. From 5,000 to 30,000--the exact number is unknown--children, adolescents and poor peasants marched off to war under the protection of Jesus Christ. They never reached the Holy Land. Many were sold into slavery. Others died of hunger and disease. Very few returned home. So much for the protection of God.

Wholesale Christian sanctioned violence reappeared in 1478 with the start of the Spanish Inquisition. The Spanish Crown was the power behind the Spanish Inquisition but the Church, true to form, gave its support. The Vatican had been running smaller, more focused, inquisitions for years.

A Dominican friar, Bernard Gui, wrote the book on how to conduct a proper inquisition. Gui was not as vicious nor as brutal as his reputation would have us believe. He only had about 40 people burned at the stake. Sadly, other inquisitors were not as strict at adhering to the guidelines.

The Inquisition lasted centuries, not wrapping up until 1834. Three and a half centuries of hatred hidden under a patina of Christian piety. Jews and Muslims who converted to Christianity, often under duress, were early targets. Later, Protestants were victims.

A preferred methods of extracting the "truth" was "water torture." Waterboarding, similar to water torture, was used by the CIA and military interrogators at American run detention centers such as Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and black sites. As they say, what is old is new again.

I was learning that openly evil conduct by Christians is not an aberration but a feature of Christianity and of religion in general. Believers rarely acknowledge the hate within but it is feature never-the-less of many, if not most, religions

In writing this blog post, I learned there is a common connection between holding religious views and supporting some damn ugly policies. For instance, a Pew Research Center survey, completed about three months into President Donald Trump’s second term, found that among his evangelical followers,

72% approved of the way Trump is currently handling his job as president.
69% rated the ethics of top Trump administration officials as excellent or good.
57% said they trust what Trump says more than what previous presidents said.

For folk like me, these are jaw-dropping numbers, but not to others. Today, my relatives are finding it difficult to drop their support for Trump. I see them as wearing blinders. They think I am the one wearing the blinders. Maybe, to a certain extent, we all are wearing blinders.

I find it interesting that all these relatives are deep into extreme religious views. I'd call them evangelicals even though they might protest. Evangelicals frighten me and their God creeps me out. This is the God of "Its my way or the highway" beliefs. I asked AI for its take on this. It said:

"That’s a really insightful observation! It’s true that some strands of evangelical theology can definitely give off that "my way or the highway" vibe. This is especially evident in the way certain evangelical groups or leaders present the exclusivity of salvation through Jesus Christ. For many evangelicals, salvation is only found through faith in Jesus, and the stakes are often presented as incredibly high—either you accept Christ and follow the path to salvation, or you face eternal separation from God (commonly referred to as hell)."

Looking deeper into this, I discovered there are psychological and sociological factors at play here. These forces reinforce a rigid worldview and encourage resistance to accepting the beliefs of others.

Cognitive Closure: Many extreme evangelicals want certainty and clarity, especially about complex social issues. This is why they turn to religious doctrines and authoritarian rhetoric. The clear, black-and-white nature of these beliefs simplifies complicated matters.
Moral Absolutism: The belief in moral absolutes (e.g., abortion is wrong under any circumstances, marriage is only between a man and a woman) is a defining feature of religious extremism. Inflexibility and intolerance soon follow, making it easier to justify extreme actions—like enacting restrictive laws—framed as being in service of a higher moral law.
Authoritarianism: Many people who exhibit evangelical beliefs also exhibit authoritarian tendencies, favouring strong leaders who promise to restore order and protect traditional values.
Group Dynamics: Religious extremists often draw very strict lines between those who share their faith and those who do not. They view those who do not conform to their religious or political views as dangerous or immoral. This encourages extremism when the group feels threatened.

This bring us to my next childhood question: "How did Christian Germany embrace Nazism and commit the most unchristian acts?" I found some of the answer in "Facing History and Ourselves" and the post "Protestant Churches and the Nazi State."

Some German Christians called themselves “storm troopers of Jesus Christ.” The Nazi leadership urged Protestants to unite into a national church under the centralized leadership of Ludwig Müller, a well-known pastor and Nazi Party member. Many German Protestants embraced these changes. By supporting the German Christian movement and Müller, they could continue to practice their faith while showing support for Hitler. In a national vote by Protestants taken in July 1933, the German Christians were supported by two-thirds of voters, and Müller won the national election to lead them.

Christ is not an antidote for political poison but instead a strong belief in Christ can be a marker for those most at risk. Being among the strongest, most vocal of the faithful appears to confer no protection.

Letters written by German soldiers reveal many invoked God and Christian beliefs. For example, in Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing and Dying" (by Sönke Neitzel and Harald Welzer), interviews and writings from German POWs reveal many soldiers saw themselves as good Christians. They reconciled their faith with committing brutal, vicious actions by falling back on the concepts of duty, nationalism, and even divine destiny.

And what is divine destiny, you ask. Divine destiny is the concept that a person, group, or even a nation can have a preordained purpose or fate set by God. Believers think God has a specific plan for them, or humanity. People follow God's will to fulfill that destiny.

Sermons given by German clergy frequently praised the government, and church announcements expressed not just support but “joyous cooperation” with the Nazi Party. It seems religious piety among German Protestants was a strong predictor of support for the Nazi Party.

Scholarly Sources To Consult:

"The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919–1945" by Richard Steigmann-Gall – explores how both elites and ordinary Nazis integrated Christian ideas.
"Between God and Hitler: German Protestantism and the Nazi State" by Matthew D. Hockenos – covers Christian responses to the Nazi regime.
"Letters from the Wehrmacht" (various collections) – contains firsthand expressions of faith, duty, and nationalism.

Turning our attention to the United States, we quickly find ourselves immersed in a complex story of protestant religious extremism going back decades. During the time of the slave trade and later during the era of segregation, Christian beliefs were invoked to justify and defend both the slave trade and segregation.

But, you don't have to go back decades to find movements supported by protestant religious extremism. Think of the Christian nationalism movement so popular today. This is the belief that the United States is fundamentally a Christian country and that the laws and political policies should reflect Christian values.

Christian nationalists believe in moral absolutism—there is a divinely ordained moral code that must govern our Christian society. This leads to intolerance. For example, opponents of abortion, right-to-life groups, are not expressing a religious or personal view but a fundamental belief, a core belief that must be enforced at all political levels, municipal, state and national.

Donald Trump courted the evangelical vote: In the United States, Donald Trump used promises to protect Christian values, such as addressing the moral problem of abortion. He said he would protect the country from liberal or progressives and woke social policies.

Trump's authoritarian tendencies, such as his contempt for the press, his disregard for the separation of powers, and his push for Christian nationalist policies, point to a troubling trend to merge religious extremism with political extremism. It has happened in the past and it never ends well.

Political and religious extremists share some goals. They both want to restore what they see as lost greatness and both want to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. After President Donald Trump gave his victory speech, dozens of his loyal supporters filled the lobby at the Palm Beach Convention Center to sing "How Great Thou Art."

On the campaign trail, Trump encouraged the mixing of religion and politics. He proclaimed that he would “protect Christians in our schools and in our military and our government” and in “our public square.”

If you are religious but not evangelical, you may think you are getting off scot-free. Absolutely not. According to the AP, 6 in 10 white Catholics voted for Donald Trump as did 6 in 10 Mormons. Trump's support rises to 8 in 10 when one polls white evangelical Christian voters. This is an absolutely staggering margin of support.

In Canada, evangelicals have shown strong support for Pierre Poilievre over Mark Carney. A 2024 Angus Reid poll indicated that 73% of evangelical Christians planned to vote for Poilievre's Conservative Party, compared to just 5% for Justin Trudeau's Liberals. During the 2025 federal election, Poilievre visited multiple churches in Liberal-held ridings.

In contrast, Mark Carney, despite being a former central banker with a reputation for steady leadership, did not have a significant evangelical base. His campaign focused more on economic stability and national unity, particularly in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's trade threats, rather than on religious or social conservative issues. Carney won but just barely.

Mark Carney and his wife, Diana Fox Carney, have been prominent figures in the global environmental movement, leveraging their expertise and platforms to advocate for sustainable policies and practices. Mark and Diana Carney are greens and believe it is possible to be both green and financially successful.

On the other hand, Pierre Poilievre is not green and proud of it. If elected, he promised to bring back plastic bags and drinking straws. He argued for recycling rather than banning. In truth, many plastic bags and straws are not recyclable due to contamination, size and material type (usually polypropylene). Both take centuries to degrade during which time they shed and breakdown into the microplastics now found in the human body.

Why do evangelicals choose Poilievre over Carney? I found more reasons than I care to list. I would bore you. Let’s examine only two controversial subjects: the carbon tax and the banning of plastic bags and straws.

-- The carbon tax is an act of government intervention associated with progressive Liberal Party policy and anti-capitalist climate activism penalizing targeted industries.
-- Even if the carbon tax is rebated, people perceive only the upfront cost, not the long-term climate or economic offsets. They go with their common sense which is more accurately called common nonsense.
-- Approximately 80% of Canadians got more back in rebates than they paid out in carbon tax costs. Conservative politicians (like Poilievre) framed the carbon tax as a "tax on everything", heightening misconceptions that it disproportionately harms working-class families.
-- Climate policy is sometimes seen as part of a "secular" or globalist agenda, conflicting with their world view.
-- The ban on plastic straws and bags is seen as another example of government overreach. Bringing back plastic straws and bags is a common sense move to restore personal choice.
-- Environmental bans are associated with urban elites, bureaucracy, and "woke" values.

Poilievre's messaging around freedom, anti-tax, and individual responsibility aligns strongly with evangelical political values. For many evangelicals it is the economy first and the environment second.

I am getting a glimpse into why Trump and Poilievre do so well with evangelicals and other religious folk. It is not reassuring.

NYT video

2025-04-21T21:16:00.002-04:00

https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/canada/100000010113524/how-metas-news-ban-could-disrupt-canadas-election.html?smid=url-shhttps://www.nytimes.com/video/world/canada/100000010113524/how-metas-news-ban-could-disrupt-canadas-election.html?smid=url-shareare

I voted for one my heros: Mark Carney.

2025-04-20T12:21:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, my wife and I voted. I voted for Mark Carney. My vote was not influenced by the debates nor by the campaigning leading up to the election. I voted for Mark Carney because he has been one of my personal heroes for years. I am so excited by the prospect of having Carney leading country. Having Carney at the helm gives me hope. (Oh, how I pray the Liberals win and with a clear majority.)

Writing a glowing take on Mark Carney is difficult because he has accomplished so much. Where does one start? I'm going to pick his time at Brookfield Asset Management (BAM),one of world's great asset management companies and a Canadian one. Canadians can be proud.

I like to think of myself as green and I look for green concerns in others. Carney is green as is his wife, Diana Fox Carney. While heading Brookfield Asset Management, Carney gained fame and respect for his strong preference for ESG investing, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing.

Under Carney's leadership BAM favoured companies that took a measured approach to how they interacted with the natural world. Carbon emissions, energy use, waste management, pollution control and resource conservation and more were all considered when making investments.

I have an axe-the-tax relative who, thanks to the simplistic blather of Pierre Poilievre, believes one must be prepared to sacrifice the environment, to a certain extent, in order to have a successful economy. She does not want to see companies saddled with green costs that might cause them to curtail investment or something worse, like leaving Canada.

Carney had shown that being green and successful are not mutually exclusive. Addressing social concerns and believing in empathetic governance are also possible. Companies should care about workplace conditions such as employee health and safety and much more. When it comes to governance, executive compensation, board diversity and independence, transparency, shareholder rights, anti-corruption policies, and ethical conduct, all are important.

And what did Pierre Poilievre say about BAM? In three word, nothing of value. He attacked BAM. He took delight in pointing out that BAM took advantage of its Bermuda connection to escape paying Canadian taxes. What he was really pointing out was that he, Poilievre, seems to be completely ignorant of how business works.

Let me repeat what I discovered using Perplexity: "Carney said that the funds are set up so that the income generated by the investments is not taxed first at the fund level in multiple countries and then again when distributed to Canadian investors.

Instead, the income "flows through" the Bermuda-registered funds to Canadian entities, which then pay the appropriate taxes in Canada. This structure is intended to ensure that taxes are paid once, in the proper jurisdiction, rather than multiple times at different points in the investment chain.

"The beneficiaries of the funds—such as Canadian teachers, retirees, and municipal employees whose pensions are invested—do pay taxes on their pension income in Canada. Therefore, the use of Bermuda is not about evading taxes but about optimizing the tax process so that Canadian investors are not taxed repeatedly on the same income."

As a long-time Brookfield investor, I can assure you that Carney speaks the truth. The Bermuda connection was not news to me. If Brookfield did not take advantage of the Bermuda tax loophole, Canada might collect more corporate tax but shareholders and pension funds would receive smaller dividends and would see a capital gains reduction due to diminished after-tax profitability of the company.

Let's summarize what remains to be said about Mark Carney and it will be a long summary.

1965: Born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories and grew up in Edmonton, Alberta
1988: earned a Bachelor of Economics from Harvard University
1993 and 1995: earned a Master’s and a PhD in Economics from Oxford University
Moved on to Goldman Sachs, working in major financial centres including London, Tokyo, New York, and Toronto, eventually becoming managing director of investment banking.
2003: appointed Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada and briefly was Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Finance
2008: Governor of the Bank of Canada (At this time, he and the Hon. Jim Flaherty, worked together to successfully guide Canada through the global financial crisis.)
2013: Governor of the Bank of England

Carney can add to his resume the time spent as chairman of the Financial Stability Board, chairman of the Committee on the Global Financial System at the Bank for International Settlements, head of Brookfield Asset Management and even more.

I would like to add one more plus to Mark Carney's resume: Diana Fox, now Carney. What a remarkable lady to have in one's corner.

She holds degrees from Oxford and the University of Pennsylvania.
She met her future husband, Mark Carney, at Oxford University, where she played on the women's hockey team and Mark Carney was backup goalie for the men's team.
She has held senior roles at think tanks in Canada and the UK, focusing on energy and climate policy.
She has worked as an agricultural researcher in Africa and for the charity IPPR.
She served as executive director of Pi Capital in the UK.
She has held leadership roles including vice president of research at Canada 2020 think tank and director of strategy and engagement at the Institute for Public Policy Research in London.
Since 2021, she has been a senior advisor at Eurasia Group and to climate-focused funds such as BeyondNetZero and Helios Climate.
She has served on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations, including Save the Children, Friends of the Royal Academy, Ashden, ClientEarth, the Shell Foundation, and BeyondNetZero. (I personally like Save the Children. I have supported two children for years,)
She was described as an "eco-warrior" by The Daily Telegraph in 2012 due to her environmental activism and criticism of global financial institutions.

And what has Pierre Poilievre done? Other than attack-dog politics, not a lot. His biggest claim to fame, in my estimation, is his talent for oversimplifying complex issues with simplistic chants like axe-the-tax, spike-the-hike, Canada first, jail-not-bail plus many more. He also like name-calling, for example Sell-out-Singh. This school yard bully talk forms the base of Pierre Poilievre's rhetoric. Canadians deserve better.

God is Dead!

2025-03-08T21:45:00.010-05:00

For those of us old enough to remember the late '50s and '60s, there was a "God is Dead" movement at that time. According to The Guardian, the movement reached its zenith in April 1966 when Time magazine published a cover asking in large red letters over a black background: Is God Dead?

I admit I did not have much interest in the question, nor much interest in the answer. It was clearly an attack on organized religion, especially Christian. A teen at the time, the whole argument seemed so esoteric. Too philosophical.

The Guardian says this about those times:

"Ultimately, the death of God movement fizzled after only a few years in the limelight. It turned out to be a last gasp of the liberal Protestant theology that was quickly losing ground in American culture and politics to a more literalistic evangelical tide."

Now, jump ahead to today and I find myself embracing a modified "God is Dead" philosophy. I was raised an Anglican. For me, God was Anglican. I had a friend who was evangelical. Some Sundays I took a break from attendance at my church and attended his. I also attended large, hall-filling evangelical events with my boyhood friend.

These events, so important to the Christian Missionary Alliance members and the Seventh Day Adventists folk plus others, were ignored by the Anglicans. The feeling seemed to be ignore the evangelicals and they will go away.

The Anglicans were wrong. The evangelicals did not go away. Rather than wither, the movement grew. We were foolish to have ignored it. Today, to an increasing extent, evangelicals rule. Today, the God I was raised to worship, the God of my Anglican Church, is, if not dead, awfully quiet.

I have relatives who are evangelicals. They send me Internet links to preachers they follow. They believe I will profit from listening to these evangelical preachers—if only I listen. Often, I don't. I find that I do not recognize their Jesus. My gut tells me these folk are misdirected, misinformed or worse, they are fakes, frauds, false prophets. Con men.

Anglicanism in my day sought a balance of scripture, tradition, and reason. This approach was far less dogmatic than that of the evangelicals today.

Literal interpretations of the Bible, encouraging believers to drill deep into The Book, only leads to confusion. At least, this is what I was told in the '50s. Listen to your minister, I was told. Otherwise, you will find yourself deep in confusion rather than faith. At best, evangelicals were debating the trivial; at worse, they were venturing into heresy territory.

For instance, the evangelicals, I knew, believed in the "end times." Many of the hall-filling events centred around the "end times" and the "rapture." According to my minister and his deacon, the end times was a misreading of the Bible. It was a heresy that just wouldn't die. It had been promised for a thousand years. Clearly, it had not happened and I was assured it wasn't likely to happen in my lifetime either.

Faith healing was another concept foreign to Anglicans. Faith healing was held in contempt by Anglicans as it was seen as profiting from exploiting the desperately ill. God gives us the strength to fight disease. Surgery fixes it. Given the choice between a faith healer, like Oral Roberts, or a surgeon like the one who repaired my badly worn heart, I go with the surgeon every time. If I thank God, it is only in passing.

My father had heart disease. Our minister offered spiritual and emotional support. His doctor offered nitroglycerine. Taking nitro relieved the pain better than prayer. That said, God did eventually end the pain. Dad died.

So, was my God cold? Indifferent? No, not in the least. The old God of the Anglicans was not into making a lot of promises that he would not keep. My God was a realist, a teacher, a leader . . .

The Anglican God, the Anglican Jesus, spoke of loving one's neighbour as one's self. Showing compassion and actively caring for those in need was a core belief. If I had to put God on the political spectrum, God would have been left of centre.

Let's look at a few religious hot-buttons. Let's compare today's evangelical God to the God of my youth.

Public Housing: Some evangelicals are wary of tax-dollar assisted public housing. I have a friend who falls into this category. A good example would be Scott Turner who runs HUD under Donald Trump.

Turner was an associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, a prominent evangelical megachurch. As a Texas state legislator, Turner consistently voted against initiatives aimed at aiding the poor and expanding affordable housing. He called welfare "dangerous, harmful" and "one of the most destructive things for the family."

Sidebar: I was raised in a government subsidized Wartime Housing project. My father was a department store salesman. My mother was a stay-at-home mom. Although my dad always had a full-time job, he worked hard, his jobs paid very poorly. I don't believe he ever made more than $5000 in any given year. Often he made much less.

Today, I believe one of his great granddaughters is firmly against such government funded housing. Without public housing I wonder where my sister and I would have lived and how my parents would have kept their pride intact.

My God, my Jesus, was in favour of taxpayer-funded public housing.

Single Payer Health Systems: Contrary to what you may have read. Single Payer Health Systems are not socialist. It is a form of universal healthcare where the government pays for all covered healthcare while the providers are private. Think of it as healthcare insurance for all with no fine print. No loss of coverage due to preconditions.

Many evangelicals believe in personal accountability and self-reliance. If you can afford better healthcare, you should be able to have it. It is a multi-tiered, capitalist system. You get what you can pay for. Haven't got much money? You won't get much healthcare.

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler found that many who lack insurance coverage in the United States die as a result. It is probably safe to say more than 70,000 Americans, aged 18 to 64, die annually from lack of healthcare.

One might think the number of Canadians dying from lack of healthcare would be zero. It should be but it isn't. The number is not as high as in the U.S. but thousands of Canadians still die annually because of failures in the Canadian healthcare system. Wait lists are so long that people die while waiting.

My Jesus, I believe, would opt for the single payer system. Based on the data I found, the average cost of a comprehensive health insurance policy for a family of four in the United States is approximately $24,301 per year. This amount is less if the payments are employer supported.

In comparison, Canadians only spend half of what Americans do, hence the healthcare problems. No money. I believe Jesus would be in favour of raising taxes in this instance. Canadians are getting a free lunch here, or at least a low cost lunch, and it shows. The taxes, of course, would be progressive.

Sidebar: I have had robotically-assisted open heart surgery for a leaking heart valve; I have had two pacemaker/ICDs implanted and I may well live long enough to get a third; I've had a broken hip repaired with a titanium implant; I've had lifesaving emergency minimally-invasive surgery for a totally obstructed bowl; And the list goes on. In the States, I would be have died.

Free will or freedom of choice: Think of the Covid-19 vaccine. In Canada, it was, for the most part, mandatory. A lot of evangelicals were incensed by this. Anger over the mandating of covid vaccine was a big force in driving Justin Trudeau out of power. In their view, Trudeau was intent on taking freedom of choice away from Canadians.

The "Freedom Convoy" participants were heroes in their eyes and Trudeau a socialist dictator. I thought taking an action that could damage, possibly irreparably, his political future was brave, gutsy, a moral choice. My Jesus would have smiled and applauded.

This contrasts with the evangelical Jesus, who is quite willing to sit on the sidelines while his followers seek the "truth." Many evangelicals didn't join the fight against covid immediately. No, they first sought the truth. They asked questions and listened to everyone saying anything. Everyone is worth a listen. Really? Everyone?

For instance, they learned the vaccine was rushed to market. It wasn't. Research on mRNA technology began in the 1980s and large advances were made in the following decades. Science was ready. Evangelical Christianity wasn't.

The Jesus of my youth was in favour of community safety over individual rights. I believe he would have seen the evangelical take to be simply selfishness. A bit of the me first philosophy leaving a stain on Christ's followers.

I could go on but I will stop here. I am finding it difficult digging into the death of my God. When my evangelical friends and relatives talk about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they claim, "It is very complex." Some even repeat Trump's and Putin's talking points.

My Jesus finds it easy to denounce the killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping being done by the Russians as wrong. It is not complex. As Christians we should be doing all we can to put an end to it and that does not mean bowing down to evil. I believe my Jesus would have challenged the Russians when they threatened Crimea. My Jesus would have hoped his followers would have taken immediate action, stopping the killing before it started. My Jesus has a spine.

Reading what I wrote, I have changed my mind. God, my Jesus, the Jesus of the early '50s may be dead to many now but it is only temporary. He will be rediscovered—resurrected. Reborn. You can't keep a good God down.

Do you want to know more? Check out this link: God is Dead.

Do we have a "right" to build ourselves a single family home?

2025-02-22T16:16:00.009-05:00

I have a close relative who has opinions on everything. When we chat, especially online, we get into long, tedious discussions that lead nowhere. You see, I, too, have opinions on everything and my opinions do not agree with hers. Oops!

She is big on personal freedom. Don't infringe on my space. Period. Governments pass rules and regulations setting the rules we live under and thus governments infringe on her personal freedom. She had an example.

In a small community where she lived, a percentage of homes had to be town houses, a percentage semi-detached and single family homes could only use X amount of land. These rules were not enacted by the town but forced upon the town by the provincial government. She felt a small village should be allowed to plan its own approach to urban expansion and not be forced to adhere to urban-use guidelines devised by the Provincial government.

This sounds reasonable but is it?According to the Ontario Farmland Trust, in the past 35 years, Ontario has lost 2.8 million acres (18%) of its farmland to non-agricultural land uses like urbanization and aggregate mining.

And the rate of farmland loss is increasing rapidly. The loss was 319 acres per day according to the 2021 Census of Agriculture, and may well be more today.

I was raised by an ex-farmer living in Essex County, Ontario. It was the early '50s, 70 years ago, and he and my mother complained about urbanization way back then. They saw the agricultural land of Essex County as some of the best in Canada. Today, when I drive around Essex County, the substantial loss envisioned by my parents is obvious.

My relative does not understand that when she hates government for infringing on her right to build a single family home on as large a chunk of land as she can afford, she is hating me. The government should be, but all too often isn't, the voice of the people. In this case, it is. It represents my voice and the voice of others who feel as I do. If it were left to me to write the regulations, even my home, which I love, would never have been built. (Don't tell my grandchildren.)

I live on a finite planet and I hope my descendants will be able to eke out a good life on this planet for thousands of years to come. Sadly, I don't believe the planet I am leaving my granddaughters is in good shape. It is an indisputable fact that the earth is not as healthy a planet as when I was born. And the planet then was nowhere near as healthy as it was when my grandparents were born in the mid 1870's. Now, jump ahead and I ask you, "How healthy will our planet be in a millennium?)

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The idea of losing farmland frightens me. On the other hand there are folk investigating alternatives. Greenhouses immediately come to mind. The following is from the Lufa Farms Internet page.

"Growing vegetables hydroponically on rooftops is an efficient way to feed cities sustainably. Learn about the ins and outs of urban agriculture."

"The Marché Central, Montreal, greenhouse shown in the post was completed in 2024. Using advanced design elements, including high-intensity LED lights, insulated double-paned perimeter glass, a diffused glass roof, and double curtains, this greenhouse is our most technologically advanced site yet and is anticipated to generate up to 20% more produce than conventional greenhouses of similar size."

What has Trudeau done to make you hate him

2025-01-10T21:59:00.001-05:00

One of my nieces sent me an email linking to a You Tube video by Kevin O'Leary. She and her older sister have a hate on for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. I am not sure why. I know Trudeau made some big mistakes, immigration and the quickly growing national debt, immediately come to mind.

He was in power for nine years. Surely, he did something right.What really bothers me about the criticism is the nasty tone of much of it. The title of the You Tube post is:

Kevin O’Leary: Trudeau, the ‘Idiot King,’ is Gone—But ‘Dante’s Hell’ Awaits Next Leader

Before I post my reply to my nieces email, I will admit that I am disappointed in Justin Trudeau. With no newspapers, perhaps it is harder today to get the word out but clearly he failed to deliver his message to the Canadian electorate. No one seems to recall all that he accomplished. Now, to Kevin.

The following is from my email to my niece:

Some of the statements made by O'Leary are correct but I doubt a lot of folk would pick-up on the complexities colouring these statements. But when O'Leary claims foreign investment per capita in Canada has collapsed under Trudeau he is wrong. During Trudeau's time in office the foreign investment per capita grew almost 7% more than it did under the previous PM, Stephen Harper. This may reflect a more favourable environment for foreign investors under Trudeau.

When O'Leary attacks Trudeau on his energy policies, he repeats attacks told by Pierre Poilievre and repeated by others. For instance, O'Leary claims that interest in pipelines collapsed under Trudeau. Any investor knows this is not true.

Quoting the National Observer, a left of centre news source, "While Canada was (said to be) “closed” for oil and gas business, the industry increased its oil production by more than a million barrels per day. Its biggest companies posted record profits in 2022, and then almost did it again in 2023. Meanwhile, in 2024 the federal government completed the construction of the first pipeline to Pacific tidewater in decades, one that immediately (and significantly) increased oil prices received by the same companies complaining so bitterly about Trudeau’s reign. LNG Canada, meanwhile, is set to begin operations in 2025, and will have a similarly beneficial impact on the price of natural gas in Canada and the companies that sell it.

As a Canadian investor, I follow pipeline companies like Enbridge. I have appreciated the solid, unwavering support the federal government gave when it came to the Enbridge Line Three problems. Another quote: " Justin Trudeau has been the best prime minister their industry has seen in decades. He has done more to advance their interests, often at the cost of his own political capital, than any of his living predecessors. In addition to TMX and LNG Canada it also fought successfully for Line 3, a major expansion project that faced significant political resistance from the Democratic governor and other politicians in Michigan. Oh, and it also threw more than a billion dollars at the oil and gas industry to help it clean up its old oil and gas wells."

Has Trudeau any black marks against him when it comes to pipelines. Depends on whether you are into saving the planet or not. Trudeau's administration cancelled the Northern Gateway project shortly after taking office, fulfilling a campaign promise to ban oil tanker traffic on British Columbia's northern coast. This decision was seen as a clear signal of shifting priorities towards environmental concern.

O'Leary attacks Trudeau for the change in how energy and mining permits are granted. With energy permits, Trudeau advanced a process containing a lot of environmental scrutiny. With mining permits Trudeau slowed approvals by moving emphasis to sustainability. Those who like Trudeau like to say he has focused on balancing environmental concerns with industry needs. This has not made industry happy and clearly has not pleased either O'Leary or Poilievre. Me? I'm pleased.

O'Leary states what most of us already know: Canada's wealth is heavily tied up in its natural resources. But which party is better at guiding Canada into the future? Personally, I am not a big fan of Trudeau and have taken a strong dislike to Pierre Poilivre.The Canadian economy needs diversification and better resource management to ensure long-term prosperity and resilience against market fluctuations.For this I pick Mark Carney. Carney has quite the resume. He cares about the environment and he has business smarts that no one can doubt.

I'd go on but the truth is just as I said at the beginning. Trudeau has failed to beat his own drum and he has made mistakes that have often been blown out of proportion by the opposition but they are still mistakes. It is time for a change. I'd vote for Carney and Freeland in a flash. I am very suspicious of anyone who refuses to get security clearance while making insulting, childish, personal attacks on the other party, as Pierre Poilievre likes to do. O'Leary takes the same rude approach, an approach that is being emulated by more and more people, when he refers to the prime minister as an "Idiot King".

Canada's debt is far too big and growing far too fast. The Liberals have not run a workable budget. When Freeland resigned she made it clear she could no longer go along with a "costly political gimmick". For that reason and others, I like Mark Carney and Freeland. They are bright, Carney has an especially strong background in government finance, and they might find ways of making the difficult decisions palatable.

P.S. One last thing, I am very proud of the way Justin Trudeau treated Canada's indigenous people. As of January 2025, 132 long-term boil water advisories have been lifted in Canada, while 33 advisories remain active across 28 indigenous communities. Compare the Trudeau response to the problem to that of Stephen Harper. Harper's government did not implement binding regulations for water quality on First Nations reserves, which contributed to ongoing water crises. The absence of such regulations meant that First Nations lacked the same protections that non-Indigenous communities enjoyed.

Why so many folk are listening to people like Kevin O'Leary and Pierre Poilevre is mind boggling to me. The world is a complex place and requires adult discussion between the opposing sides. Repeating "axe the tax" is simplistic. Get rid of the carbon tax. Fine. But what are you, Pierre, and your party going to do about the carbon problem?

I could write a lot more but enough, Betty. I think you can see I am not swayed by the linked video.

Cheers,
Ken

p.s.I look forward to a short comment.

Dancing Grandpa! Or, Heart Failure Be Damned.

2024-12-27T18:40:00.006-05:00

Today was Christmas and the cockroach was up at daybreak. Isla, my youngest granddaughter, caught me, the cockroach, doing my Christmas dance. I have heart failure and a new hip, replaced after a fall playing basketball.

I am living proof that the Canadian healthcare system can work. I have had robotic surgery to repair a failing mitral valve in my heart. I had my first pacemaker/ICD placed in my chest almost two decades ago. Next year, I plan on getting my third pacemaker. Life is good!

You often read stuff about the Canadian healthcare system, bad stuff, sadly it is not all lies. Some of it is true. That said, the American system has its flaws. I had my first heart incident while visiting a friend in California. Despite running up a huge bill, the U.S. doctors did not discover what had caused my heart to go into overdrive, requiring a big, and very painful, electrical jolt from the two paddles of a defibrillator to return my heart to its normal rhythm.

I seem to be impossible to keep down. My doctors all agree that of all animals, the you-can't-keep-'em-down cockroach best symbolizes me.

I wanted to share this video and did not know where to post it. I decided my blog might be as good a place as any to post it. Enjoy.

Click on the broken square in the lower, right corner of image to enlarge.

I see The Rapture as dangerous nonsense.

2024-11-26T12:13:00.006-05:00

When I a boy The Rapture was seen as just nonsense by all the religious folk I knew. My minister, his curate, my Sunday school teacher and my mom all agreed: nonsense. Today belief in The Rapture has grown to the point that belief in it has even infected my friends and co-workers. It may have even touched my family.

Recently, a nephew posted a link on Facebook to a book by N.T. Wright and Michael Bird: Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies. The title is a bit of a mouthful but if I understand correctly, Wright and Bird think The Rapture is not just nonsense but dangerous nonsense.

I read that Michael Bird has posted warnings about Donald Trump. Good for Bird! I understand that Bird been very critical of Donald Trump, particularly when it comes to his influence on evangelicals. Bird points to a complex relationship between evangelicalism and Trump, a relationship in which a surprisingly large number of evangelicals supported Trump.

One source found by an AI search engine reported: "Bird has analyzed why a large percentage of white evangelicals voted for Trump despite doubts about his faith and character. He suggests that this support may stem from a desire for political power and influence rather than genuine alignment with Christian values. He points out that Trump's behaviour and statements often contradict traditional evangelical beliefs, raising questions about the authenticity of his faith."

The following expresses my position better than I could ever could: Bird expresses concern about the implications of supporting leaders like Trump who exhibit authoritarian tendencies. He agrees with N.T. Wright in arguing that Christians should actively oppose totalitarianism and work towards sustaining liberal democratic values, emphasizing that true Christian witness involves promoting justice and mercy in society rather than aligning with political figures based solely on their stance on specific issues like abortion.

So, just who are these two authors? I found the following on the Christian Book website:

N. T. Wright is the former bishop of Durham and senior research fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University. He is one of the world's leading New Testament scholars and the award-winning author of many books, including?After You Believe, Surprised by Hope, Simply Christian, Interpreting Paul, and The New Testament in Its World, as well as the Christian Origins and the Question of God series.

Michael F. Bird is Deputy Principal and Lecturer in New Testament at Ridley College,?Australia. He is the author of numerous scholarly and popular books on the New Testament and theology, including, with N. T. Wright, The New Testament in Its World (2019).

I don't agree with every position that these two take. But, when it comes to The Rapture and Donald Trump and a lot of other evangelical concerns so dominant today, I must say that I find Wright and Bird dead on.

Christianity, as I knew it, is under attack more than ever before

2024-11-23T20:08:00.003-05:00

I was born an Anglican. Before I was one year old, I was baptized. As a young boy, while my parents were in church, I was in Sunday school. I liked my church. I liked my Sunday school teacher, a local lawyer, and all around good guy. I liked the church curate -- a newly ordained young minister serving under the guidance of the church priest, who himself was another cool guy. I looked up to all three.

These three men all emphasized one should take a balance approach to the scriptures. The bible was a book worth knowing but I don't believe any one of them ever claimed the bible was the infallible word of God. If this seems like an odd idea to be discussing with a young boy, you are right, it was. So, why did the topic even come up?

My best friend at the time was a member of the Christian Missionary Alliance church. Although I did not often attend a Sunday service, there were mid-week services and special events that I frequently attended. The CMA was, and still is today, an evangelical church. Some of the ideas expressed there were vigorously opposed by the leaders of my church, the Anglican church.

At one special event, I learned I was living in the End Times. With lots of references to bible passages, the speaker built an airtight case for his claim. It can be worrying enough for a young child to learn that the world, as he knows it, is soon coming to an end, but to also learn that he was not saved just made it much harder to bare. He was following a false religion, he was told. He was in grave danger of eternal damnation.

The end times brouhaha was non-sense, a misreading of the bible my Anglican clergy friends and my Sunday school teacher all agreed. It simply was not going to happen: not tomorrow, not next week, not next year. Relax. I had to decide which take on the scriptures I was going to believe. I decided to go with the Anglican one. It simply seemed more reasonable.

My Anglican mentors clearly thought I was flirting with some dangerous ideas but I was young and there was going to be lots of time to iron all this out. My Christian Missionary Alliance friends thought I was playing with fire, Hell fire. The end was nigh and I had to make the right decision and make it now.

I did. As I said, I sided with the Anglican viewpoint. The end times is bunkum. It just wasn't going to happen. Here it is some 70 years later and discussions about the end times are still being bandied about. Dozens of leaders in the evangelical movement have come and gone, many are now dead, and their take on the "infallible word of God" has proven to be very fallible.