Embracing SuperAgers

04/30/2026

Canada needs to do more than ban crypto ATMs to combat fraud.

Bravo, Ottawa is finally getting serious about preventing scammers from using crypto ATM’s to defraud seniors of their money.

Three years ago, after an incident with a Bitcoin ATM at the Cataraqui Mall, I met with our MP, Mark Gerretsen, and his assistant, and recommended banning them until all transactions can be traced. Until this week, I heard nothing.

For the past two days, the news is alight with headlines shouting:

CBC-Federal government plans to ban crypto ATMs to stop scammers...

Coindesk-Canada proposes ban on crypto ATMs as fraud cases mount

Finance Yahoo - Canadian Government Pushes for Sweeping Ban on Bitcoin, Crypto AT

Paymnts - Canada Moves to Outlaw Crypto ATMs Amid Rising Fraud |

Cryto economy-Canada Moves to Outlaw Crypto ATMs Amid Rising Fraud |

as these examples show.

At the CBC, Nicole Brockbank writes that “Canada has the most crypto ATMs per capita in the world, but currently has no industry-specific regulations. There are nearly 4,000 crypto ATMs across the country and more than 39,000 worldwide”. That is over 10% of the World’s crypto machines.

Earlier this year Al Landes at Yahoo News reported that “Americans lost $333.5 million to Bitcoin ATM scams in 2025 alone. That’s nearly triple the $114 million lost in 2023. The victims? Mostly seniors with a median age of 71, losing an average of $15,600 each to smooth-talking phone fraudsters who direct them to those innocuous-looking crypto kiosks in your local gas station.

As an 86-year-old senior, I’ll be happier when legislation is enacted to truly ban the crypto machines.

However, when I met with MP Garretsen, I also proposed another ban; this one on gift cards over $50. Scammers love to use high-denomination gift cards, especially the $500 Visa and Mastercard ones. After you make the purchase, they ask for the number under the scratched-off portion, and once they have it, your money is gone and untraceable.

Typically, scammers call, pretending to be bank representatives, and ask for your help in tracking down someone who has misused your account. They do not want just one or two; they want 10 or $5000. It’s less work and more money. Beware near Christmas time.

There is no reason Visa and Mastercard can’t develop a tracking system, or why the banks that issue their cards don’t insist that they create one.

Canada is just catching up to the UK with their crypto machine ban; it is time it leapfrogged the UK and banned high-denomination gift cards as well.

04/26/2026

Is Harper’s Magazine Setting Up Seniors as the Bad Guys?

What in heaven’s name is Harper’s Magazine doing with its cover photo in the May 2026 issue?

Under the title “How Seniors Became America’s Ruling Class” is the image of an old man, wrinkles galore, a weathered face, an unkempt mustache, and a scowl.

Inside the lead article is actually titled “The Old Guard: Confronting America’s gerontocratic crisis “. The article by Samuel Moyn is an excerpt from his soon-to-be-published book, Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth and What to Do About It.

As if that wasn’t scary enough, the article drives home a negative picture of seniors with a disgusting David Plunkert, illustration of a clenched, wrinkled fist-face pounding down on Americans.

In the excerpt, Moyn makes some valid points about the role of the senior cohort in American elections, which is no different from that in other countries with advanced economies. Moyn goes too far, however, when he claims we are purposely hoarding our money and not dispersing it back into the economy fast enough.

As if America doesn’t already have enough systemic divisions, Moyn wants to establish a new one when he implies that today’s seniors are a greedy bunch of elites who want to grab power to preserve their privileged position in American society. Hence, he coined the term Gerontocracy.

Given America’s propensity to exaggerate and turn societal trends into permanent, unmovable mountains, there needs to be a recognition that this is just one more consequence of the baby boom passing through society. It is a short-term phase as members of the wave live out their last few years.

Instead of bemoaning how the young have it so tough due to seniors, one needs to look at where their so-called wealth will be distributed and who will gain from it.

In that vein, Harper’s should have taken a more balanced and peaceful approach to the topic.

04/15/2026

From CTV News, Ottawa

An Ottawa woman is rocking in her 90th birthday doing what she loves the most – a CrossFit workout.

04/08/2026

Does Trump have Sarcopenia?
Its presence is common among those over 80 and less frequent or lower in SuperAgers.

To test yourself, sit on a chair and fold your arms across your chest. Then try to "sit-to-stand" five times in under 16 seconds. If successful, you do not have Sarcopenia.

04/06/2026

04/06/2026

Canadian Survey on Disability, 2022.
created by Statistics Canada

04/02/2026

How many SuperAgers are there in Canada?

According to NationMaster 5% of Canada’s population is 80 or over in 2025. That ranks us 26th among the World’s 196 countries.

In 2025, Canada crossed the 40 million people threshold at 40,126,223 and the 2 million seniors over 80 threshold at 2,006,335.

Canada’s life expectancy for 2025 was 83.26. Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.

83.26 puts Canada very close to Japan, the country with the highest percentage of SuperAgers at more than double that of Canada at 10.87%. Japan’s life expectancy is 85.3 years. Japan has the World’s oldest population, with over a quarter (28%) aged 65 and older.

Such demographic changes create many challenges for a country’s society, economy, and healthcare system.

03/31/2026

Can ‘SuperAgers’ be Rotary’s Salvation?

The following poem, in its original form, was composed by the theologian John Chuchman. It was originally about his Christian Church as an institution. As I read, I was reminded of Rotary and its struggles to grow its membership in North America.

I wrote John and asked him for permission to modify it for a Rotarian audience. I received permission to modify it.

John Churchman has reviewed it and extended his permission to share it. Originally termed Super Seniors, I have modified it to the theme of this page.

SuperAgers

In North America, Rotary is dying
and it’s not a particularly slow death.
It’s members are aging
and once they are dead,
will Rotary die too?
Is the answer to attract young people,
more young families,
children,
youth
and vitality?
Unless Rotary figures out how to attract young people,
will Rotary in North America die?
Face it,
Rotary as it is,
is not attractive to young people
and to date,
efforts to be hip,
to get down with the program,
and move with the times
has only exposed Rotary International’s hierarchy and elite
as the aging frauds that they are.
Whatever you say about the inexperience of the younger generation,
they are smart enough to spot a fake or an imposter
and so
programs and youth outreach,
or even pub nights, movie nights,
and even more contemporary changes,
have for the most part failed
to produce the kind of results Rotary needs in order to survive.
The younger generation
will not be bound by man-made
rules and regulations,
rites and rituals
as we were programmed to do.
For the most part clubs seeking to grow their numbers
have become obsessed with trying to figure out
what to do
to bring in a younger crowd.
But, youth are not the future of Rotary in North America.

Look around.
The silver-haired aging population of this planet
are the future of Rotary.
I too had been fooled
into thinking that the future of Rotary is to bring in a younger crowd.
But the real solution lies more in a reality
to which many of us have been blind.
The fastest growing part of our population is seniors.
By the year 2030 – 25-30 percent of the population
will be made up of senior citizens.
By 2050 that number is set to rise to 35-40%.
The even better news is that as we live longer
and are enjoying better health;
the vast majority of seniors
can expect to live healthy and productive lives.
It gets better.
Our aging population is better educated
that it has ever been before
and despite most of the dire predictions,
the vast majority of seniors are better off financially
than seniors have ever been in the history of humanity.
Now that doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges
or that some of our seniors aren’t living in poverty.
It does mean that we do have the wherewithal
to ensure that seniors can live vitally rewarding lives
and contribute to the health and wellbeing of our society
in ways we are only beginning to tap into.
The future has so much potential.
When the fish who have been caught by Rotary’s good news
swim off to other shores,
when we are gone,
there will be plenty of more fish in the seas.
Think long and hard about this.
Why aren’t we casting our nets where the fish are?
Has Rotary become so obsessed with youth
that it is willing to let schools and schools of fish
swim past
in the vain hope that minnows are more attractive
because they alone can save Rotary?
When did any of Rotary’s Good News become about
saving an institution?
We have Good News to share with people of all ages
who have ears to listen.
And that Good News
is that we each have within us
all we need to be fully human.
The Good News
is that we do not need
approval of some external agency,

regular attendance at some club meeting room
or some deep dark secret hidden in a constitution.
Most of us are getting up there in years
know the importance of dwelling in the questions of this life.
Who are we?
Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
Is there a Creator, or a god, or a source,
or a reality that we are somehow connected with?
Where are we going?
What is justice?
How do we stop the violence?
What can we do to ensure peace?
What happens when we die?
Where are we going?
Are we going anywhere?
Is there life beyond this life?
What is love?
Who am I?
These are the questions that haunt our very existence.
We have a contribution to make
to conversations about the very nature of reality.
We have wisdom to share.
We have love to give.
We have a hunger for justice and peace.
We can continue to be obsessed with youth
or we can embrace who and what we are
and live fully,
love extravagantly
and become all we are created to be.
We have the grey hair and balding heads, old bones,
wisdom, generosity,
and love.
We also have what so many people wish.
We have an appetite for learning
and we are not afraid to dwell in our questions.
We have the courage to try new things
and to fail if need be.
We have a passion for life
and we sure know how to play.
We can find the courage to play to our strengths.
We can meet our financial challenges
and solve our accessibility challenges.
We can be a vital community.
If we be authentic to who we are;
if we play to our many strengths
we will continue to be the kind of Gathering
which is attractive to all ages.
Healthy communities are attractive.
Communities who know who they are

and who they serve
are healthy communities.
Healthy communities are able to play to their strengths.
We don’t need to become what we are not
in order to survive.
That doesn’t mean that we don’t need to challenge ourselves
to be more than we are.
It does mean that we need to remain open
to the challenges of the world in which we live.
But we need to hold up a mirror
and celebrate who we are together.
We have so much potential.
So many strengths.
Yes, there is so much more that we can be.
I love spreading the Good News.
There are so very many fish in the sea.
All sorts of varieties and ages
so let us cast our nets widely.
Let’s play to our strengths,
for we are great fishers
and we the most precious bait,
the Good News
that at the very heart of all
that is the Reality that
Rotary is LOVE.
For everything there is a season,
this is our season.
Let’s embrace it.
Let’s live fully
and Love extravagantly
to be all that we are created to be.
Let’s do it together.
The Good News
has absolutely nothing to do with
saving an institution.

03/28/2026

When attempting to live my life fiercely, why do my legs cry?

Every decade in life brings new challenges. Life in the 80s seems to be a whirlwind of challenges, none more so than with my legs.

With the onset of my 80s, everything about my legs only seemed to get worse. My weight ballooned by 30 lbs to 195 lbs. My arches collapsed, and I wore orthotics; my feet were swelling from excessive water retention. So the doctor prescribed wearing compression socks, a “cure” that must have been designed by a sadist. My skin turned a motley brown due to poor circulation, and the outer layer died, dried and fell off.

Now for the kicker! During all those good years and my current difficulties, something else involving my legs was going from bad to worse. It was, and still is, for the most part, invisible to others.

It’s called Restless Legs Syndrome, or alternatively, Willis-Ekbom disease. In simple terms, RLS is a condition that causes a very strong urge to move the legs. The urge to move is usually caused by discomfort in the legs. It typically occurs in the evening or at night, while sitting or lying down. Moving eases the discomfort for a short time. It can disrupt sleep, which interferes with daily activities.

RLS has been with me since childhood. Like aging, the symptoms only worsen over time.

It is important to know that every twitch, jerk or violent movement is involuntary. You can’t stop it. You can fight it, but that only prolongs the agony, and you have to let go.

This humorous gif https://tenor.com/en-CA/view/cant-sleep-annoyed-insomnia-attacks-gif-4928497 is an exaggeration, but there are nights it feels too darn real.

Yes, it begins in the legs, but over the years it spreads to every part of your body. Your arms can flay out, your head can shake back and forth rapidly, like you were vehemently saying no. Your legs can jack-knife back and forth for 20 or 30 repeats until you are exhausted. Your torso can even jack-knife, often repeatedly. Worse still, now that I am in my 80s, it occurs both night and day.

The best way to deal with it is to remain physically active, but, more importantly, mentally active.

Unfortunately, doctors specializing in RLS are very few, and those who do, are not sure of its cause.

Restless legs, unlike a road race or a hockey game, is a game I cannot win. As Jens Voigt, the renowned German cyclist who pedalled so furiously his legs cried, my “Restless Body” cries. It is a cry that will stop, only when I stop!