Our Warming El Nino Oceans

"[This new record being set  for hottest temperatures in the world's oceans is] very troubling." 

"An ocean this warm destabilizes weather patterns and threatens food security, economic prosperity and marine life."

"A warmer ocean is not our friend."

Jane Lubchenco, oceanographer, former chief of U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

 

"This is yet another sign of our climate system under strain and the ocean under immense pressure."

"When we have a warmer ocean such as we've had in Europe this summer, it amplifies the impact of heat waves because you don't get the cooler nighttime temperatures with the sea breeze coming off the ocean when the ocean is very warm."

"Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead, Copernicus climate service, Europe

 

"The thing that makes my heart sink is that this starts so early and it's so out-of-normal that you know when it hits its peak it's going to be unprecedented."

"The ocean is not supposed to do this. It's just that there is no normal anymore."

"[With hotter water], not everybody is hit equally, obviously, but the whole system collapses."

"It's like when you pull out the rug from underneath an economy. The whole thing collapses. Some sectors may do a little bit better but, overall, everybody suffers."

Boris Worm, biology professor, Dalhousie University, Canada 

A very strong El Niño developing in the southern Pacific Ocean will disrupt global weather patterns in the months ahead, but climate scientists say it's not something we can attribute to the heat waves and wildfires that raged across the northern hemisphere this summer, like the ones in British Columbia's interior earlier this month. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

 

This year's El Nino has already reached the peak of other recent such appearances, and it's continuing to grow and expected to reach unprecedented levels when it does eventually peak. With the current El Nino, the oceans will keep heating  up, and it is  expected to peak at some time between November and January. That's abnormal since most of the Southern Hemisphere is ocean, and the world's sea surface temperature generally peaks around March and April as the southern summer draws to its close. But not this year.

 

El Nino is nature's temporary warming of portions of the Pacific Ocean which warps weather, raising global temperatures. This is a weather phenomenon recognized as being responsible for most of the heat that develops in the world's oceans -- along with long-term warming resulting from burning coal, oil and gas. This year, ocean waters have warmed by 0.8C, seeing the world's oceans at their hottest temperatures on record last weekend. That's bad news, but even worse is that they're entirely likely to keep warming. 

 

Coral in Tubbatah Reef in the Philippines.  Adobe

 

Aquatic lifeforms are placed under stress with warming water. The supersized El Nino of this year is proving to be of greater concern than the record previously set in March of 2024. A warming ocean becomes more acidic with less oxygen, inimical to the health of its sealife. Ocean currents become altered along with changed weather patterns. Storm systems are enhanced by the warming oceans, becoming wetter and producing larger storm surges.

 

According to Dr. Bruno, heat-sensitive corals now are roughly one-fifth of the levels of 1990. Some species of coral -- not the longer-lived staghorn corals -- are adapting to the hotter water, although they're 'weedy'. The current situation of warmer oceans and even warmer yet as time moves on and the heating persists, is predictive of collapsed fisheries resulting in universal food shortages.The Peruvian anchovy fishery, considered the largest world fishery, generally collapses during El Nino.

 

Corals from the Galápagos Islands contain chemical signatures that scientists were able to use to trace a 1,000-year history of El Niño events.   Greg Asner/DivePhoto.org

 

The food web becomes altered, since larger fish are able to swim off to cooler water to escape the heat, as far as halfway across an ocean. "Anchovies can't leave so they just don't reproduce, or [they] starve", explained Dr. Worm, affecting both the humans and the seabirds who depend on them. The presence of more jellyfish is being observed off Europe, stated Dr. Bruno, believing something similar will be seen on the East Coast of the United States.

 

"Jellyfish are often opportunistic and they like warm waters. So yes, I would expect them to do a little bit better", added Dr. Worm. And when's the last time you saw jellyfish on the dinner menu? "As long as we depend on a healthy ocean for our safety, prosperity and well-being, these record-breaking sea surface temperatures portend even greater challenges for us all", added Rick Spinrad, another former NOAA chief. 

"It's frightening. We're not even in October yet."

"You know, usually the Caribbean peaks at like late September, early October."

"And I think next year in the Southern Ocean, the Great Barrier Reef, yeah I'm really worried about what's going to happen in the southern hemisphere in February, March."

John Bruno, marine ecologist, University of North Carolina 

A satellite map from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows sea surface temperature anomalies recorded on Aug. 20, with hotter than average temperatures stretching across the El Niño region toward the west coast of South America. (NOAA)

Juvenile Impulsivity

"That's [renaming Lake Ontario] going to take place right now as I sign the order."

"And we filed all the necessary papers, documents, everything else. We've notified all of the various people that we have to notify."

"So we've done everything that you have to do. And this is official effective immediately."

"No message. Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very sadly. We defend Canada for nothing; they don't pay us."

United States President Donald J. Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the interior secretary to rename Lake Ontario to 'Lake America,' as the trade war with Canada continues. Screen grab from video

 

Playing the role of a trade ogre by unilaterally slapping ruinous trade tariffs on one country after another, President Trump has of late focused his attention more closely on one particular country that just happens to neighbour the United States, as the northern half of North America. Defense and security is big on the agenda for the U.S., the wealthy nation that commands world events through its invaluable work as an international interventionist in the never-ending cycle of events that threaten world stability, while at the same time intervening at other times in foreign affairs by committing its military to endless conflicts with no endgame success.

 

This is a relatively new, in recent times, self-directed, wide-targeting economic bullying of allies and foes alike that Mr. Trump derides for not sufficiently respecting and being grateful to the America he now controls, for its generosity in stabilizing the world from conflicts (those not led by American might) and in offering its goods and services to trading partners at what he now feels to be cut-rate prices. All of which he proclaims has come to an end under his watch, with new eye-opening tariffs and demands of military spending by nations far too dependent on the United States' without adequate commitments of their own.

 

Canada has been particularly remiss, resting on the assurance that the United States would always come to its rescue in response to foreign threats. That assurance lies in the fact that the U.S. would be geographically vulnerable if Canada were to be invaded or forced into self-protective conflict. There have been military partnerships between the two countries and complete trust in one another in the past. Canada was lulled into a state of complacency over its own obligations to the partnership and is now being pulled up short by accusations of coasting along for its security through reliance on the U.S. But it has been the trade issue and economic threats that has proven to be the breaking point in formerly congenial and respectful relations between the two countries, brought to a head by Mr. Trump. 

 

This is a president for whom diplomacy is a concept for weaklings. He has continued to needle Canada as a 'pretend country', one that deserves nothing better than to surrender its sovereignty to the U.S. by agreeing to become the union's 51st state, its prime ministers converted to 'governor' status. That Canada and Canadians have not the slightest interest in becoming a vassal state of America riles this president. All the more so that his diktats over tariff rates imposed on that neighbour are resisted. Punishment, therefore in order.

 

North America's Great Lakes, one of nature's geographic-hydrology gifts to the continent, suddenly took on focus in center-stage when Lake Ontario's name was found offensive to this president. In the verbal-hydrology naming assault analogous to a schoolyard fight and ensuing black eyes, President Donald J. Trump triumphed in his power to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America. Musing at the same time that the renaming of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific appealed greatly to him, as well, as Oceans America. 

 

A map labelling Lake Ontario as 'Lake America' is seen behind U.S. President Donald Trump as he speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

 

The U.S. Department of the Interior was ordered to  update maps and databases to reflect this impromptu renaming exercise. Located between New York state and the province of Ontario, Mr. Trump seriously expects the world to henceforth refer to Lake America as one of the five Great Lakes. The naming of the lake, in point of fact, predates both Canada and the United States by hundreds of years. Lake Ontario's name, according to the Center for Great Lakes Literacy, comes from the Iroquoian word "oniatari:io", though the Hurons had a similar etymology. 

"The body of water currently known as Lake Ontario is a tremendous asset to the United States and part of our Nation's heritage."

"With the deepest parts of the Lake's waters lying within United States territory, the United States claims most of the Lake's volume."

"[America is] the greatest protector of the Great Lakes". U.S. Executive Order 14420   

Toronto skyline from Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great Lakes, has a rich history and many unique characteristics. Here are some cool facts about Lake Ontario:

1. Smallest of the Great Lakes: Lake Ontario is the smallest of the Great Lakes by surface area, covering about 7,340 square miles (19,000 square kilometers). However, it is the second smallest by volume, holding approximately 393 cubic miles (1,639 cubic kilometers) of water.
2. Lowest Elevation: Lake Ontario sits at the lowest elevation of all the Great Lakes, at about 243 feet (74 meters) above sea level.
3. Natural Outlet: The lake serves as the natural outlet for the Great Lakes system, draining into the Saint Lawrence River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
4. Deep Waters: Despite its smaller size, Lake Ontario is relatively deep, with a maximum depth of 802 feet (244 meters) and an average depth of 283 feet (86 meters).
5. Niagara Falls: The lake receives water from Lake Erie via the Niagara River, which includes the world-famous Niagara Falls. The water from Lake Erie travels over the falls before reaching Lake Ontario.
6. Thousand Islands: The lake is home to the Thousand Islands, an archipelago of more than 1,800 islands located in the Saint Lawrence River, which begins at the lake’s eastern end. These islands are a popular destination for boating and tourism.
7. Toronto: The largest city on the shores of Lake Ontario is Toronto, Canada’s largest city and a major cultural and economic center. Other significant cities on the lake include Hamilton and Kingston in Ontario, Canada, and Rochester in New York, USA.
8. Important Ports: The lake supports significant commercial shipping traffic, with major ports in Toronto, Hamilton, and Rochester. These ports are crucial for trade and transportation.
9. Diverse Ecosystem: Lake Ontario supports a rich and diverse ecosystem, including various fish species such as salmon, trout, bass, and perch. Efforts are ongoing to preserve and protect the lake’s natural environment.
10. Historical Significance: The lake has played a crucial role in the history of the region, from Native American settlements to European exploration and colonization. It was a key route for trade and transportation.
11. Lake Ontario’s Name: The name “Ontario” is derived from the Huron word “Ontarí’io,” which means “great lake” or “beautiful water.”
12. Ice Volcanoes: During winter, the lake’s shores can form “ice volcanoes,” which are mounds of ice created by waves pushing water through cracks in the ice, resulting in mini-eruptions of water and ice.
13. Military History: The lake has been the site of significant military activity, particularly during the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain. Forts such as Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York, and Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario, are historical sites related to this period.
14. Water Source: Lake Ontario serves as a vital source of drinking water for millions of people living in the surrounding regions in both the United States and Canada.
15. Recreational Activities: The lake is a popular destination for recreational activities such as boating, fishing, swimming, and bird watching, with numerous parks and beaches along its shores.

National Museum of the Great Lakes, Toledo, Ohio 

Canada and the United States, Neighbours, Allies, Trade Partners

"America has been carrying Canada for decades, but no longer!"

"The U.S.A. will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada. Without the United States, Canada couldn’t survive — It’s where they get all of their money and, because of their current bad leadership, primarily Governor Carney, and his Flunky, Ford, they will not be allowed to keep taking advantage of the United States — Their key to survival."

U.S. President Donald J. Trump 

 

"Canada is a country that has under-invested in its military that quite literally would get invaded by a foreign country were it not for the umbrella of protection provided by the U.S." 

"We have to remember Canada is a state. Sorry, Freudian slip."

"That was actually an accident."

U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance 

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance delivers remarks in Brewer, Maine, on Aug. 24, 2026.  Anna Moneymaker—POOL/AFP/Getty Images

 

"Fact: Canada has a brave and professional military. It has deployed into combat with us many times, including D-Day."

"Canadian troops, under my NATO command, faced intense fire in Afghanistan where many were killed in action."

"I honour their memory and salute them."

James Stavridis, retired U.S. admiral 

 

"Mr. Secretary [U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy: Canada is 'a country that doesn't have a military'] please stop embarrassing us."

"I served in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2009-2010 alongside Canadian soldiers."

"They were skilled, courageous and effective."

"We were lucky to be on the same side with them."

Ben Hodges, former commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe 

Corporal Brandon Bourdon, 1RCR B COY 4 Platoon, fires an M72 rocket launcher at insurgents that set up an offensive in a grape hut, Kandahar, Afghanistan. Photo: DND AR2010-0320-78

 

Post-U.S./Canada trade negotiations called off a week earlier has brought sarcastically undiplomatic recriminations and insults from both countries, in verbal attacks against one another. New tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods was slapped by Washington on its erstwhile trading partner in a show of strength and bad faith. The trade war has now morphed into a strident war of words, with few holds barred. 

 

President Trump has once again reverted to speaking of the Canadian prime minister as 'governor', presumably of another de facto U.S. state, the 51st such state that Mr. Trump has been dangling before Canada for over a year, mocking Canada's sovereignty and endearing himself in the process to patriotic Canadians. President Trump stated on Monday his intention to increase levies on Canadian cars and automotive parts to 50 percent. Canada's response on retaliatory tariffs arrived a day later, despite U.S. threats not to advance toward retaliation of the punishingly steep U.S. tariff escalation.

 

President Trump is fond of declaring his contempt for Canada's trade offerings, sneering time and again that Canada has nothing that the United States needs or wants. The reality is, the American farming community would be lost without the potash fertilizer it obtains from the world's largest producer of potash -- Saskatchewan -- which provides the U.S. with over 90% of its needed potash. Although few countries produce potash, it is fungible, since Belarus and Russia also produce it, but given relations between the U.S. and those two countries they would be an unlikely alternate source. 

 

The exterior of PotashCorp's (now Nutrien's) Rocanville potash plant near Rocanville, Sask. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Troy Fleece)

 

Canadian gas and crude oil are also exports to the United States that contribute to serving the needs of America. In this new conflict expressed in insults and innuendo, the U.S. vice-president has added his voice to describing Canada as the 51st state. Battleground states for Republicans see themselves struggling in the  upcoming mid-term elections with resentment fuelled by the escalating tariff war. Tariffs are a form of punitive taxation that U.S. citizens recognize is impacting their own costs of living. Border state governors who do ample business with cross-border Canadian provinces are anything but pleased over the impact the tariffs have inflicted them with. 

 

Now, to add to the voices critical of the Trump government's fixation on punishing tariffs imposed on global allies and foes alike, former U.S. national security officials and some Republications are expressing their impressions of embarrassment they feel over the verbal demeaning of an ally and neighbour. The more recent barbs in description of the Canadian military have not sat well in the  regard of high-placed U.S. military members.

 

After musing over renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, The U.S. president proceeded to do just that formally, expunging the Iroquois name of the lake that has long been globally respected and accepted, in exchange for his personal preference. Even conjecturing that he might feel persuaded at a later date to rename both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Clearly, this is a governing administration that has got out of hand. The formal signed-into-law transitioning of Lake Ontario to Lake America was occasioned, stated the president because "we don't expect to [be] doing much business with Ontario any longer". How the two issues are related is beyond comprehension.

 

Donald Trump signs the executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington DC on Thursday. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

 

Canada, as it happens, deployed some 40,000 troops to Afghanistan over a period of twelve long years, and continues long afterward to mourn the death of 158 of its servicemen and women on the Afghanistan battlefield. As a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, Canada is the closest geographic military partner with the United States. In addition, both share the North American Aerospace Defence Command, a mutual defence organization.  

"I still think imposing new tariffs on Canada is a mistake [that will increase costs for Mainers]."

"We produce a lot in Maine -- our blueberries, our potatoes, our lobster,r our lumber -- that is processed across the border."

"If it comes back with a huge tariff on it ... that increases the cost of eating, building homes, and our best known products."

Republican U.S. senator Susan Collins, Maine 

 

Come One, Come All!

"Never use threat, force or pressure to make someone have sex."

"Women can ... choose who they marry."

"If you have sex with someone without their consent, this is called rape"

"Rape is a serious crime in the U.K. You could go to prison, lose your support and accommodation, and it will affect your asylum claim."

New U.K. orientation manual for migrants 

 

"All permanent residents and protected persons are eligible for IRCC-funded settlement services [to] help them integrate and build a successful life in Canada as quickly as possible and include information on rights and freedoms of individuals according to Canadian law, understanding of Canadian values, as well as their responsibilities and obligations."

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokesperson

600 Gaza refugees enter Canada in 2005  CBC News

 

The United Kingdom, overwhelmed by the presence of migrants, faces a long string of social/cultural problems related to different customs and values being transplanted alongside the migrants into Britain. An epidemic of violence has erupted for several years unlike what the United Kingdom has previously experienced, a stream of non-stop incidents that fall far outside the normal social contract of the Emerald Isle's traditional population. Rapes by migrants perpetrated against vulnerable men, women, teens, even children, taking place in wooded areas, parks, beach change-rooms and rental units.

 

Grooming Gangs in the U.K. Machiavelli Foundation

 

It took long enough for the British Government to pay attention to the scandals that for years had stalked communities where Muslim men, mostly of Pakistani origins, whose sex culture was responsible for grooming gangs focused on raping and using young Caucasian girls as sex slaves, renting out their services for fun and profit. It wasn't that the situation was unknown to British authorities, but that it was quite simply too inconvenient for them to 'notice' much less act on the practise, given the large Muslim population and accusations of 'Islamophobic' racism to be avoided at all costs.

 

Canada too, as it happens, finds itself in inconvenient waters with the surge of the past decade of immigrants, refugees and migrants infiltrating Canadian society. And in Canada not-too-subtle incidents of migrants in the country bringing with them customs contradictory to Western human rights values where incestuous relations, stranger-rape, organized crime, underage marriages, polygamy, genital mutilation offend Canadian customs and laws.

 

In 2015, during the federal election Prime Minister Stephen Harper's election campaign was rife with outrage from civil rights groups and the growing Muslim community in Canada over his government's release of 'instructions for immigrants' booklet Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship that advised foreigners entering Canada as landed immigrants and permanent residents on their way to achieving citizenship, that Canada's welcome did not include 'barbaric cultural practices' such as spousal abuse, 'honour killings', female genital mutilation, and forced polygamy.

 

Burqa ban in Great Britain?  Independent

 

How times have changed; the instructions of yesteryear rejected by the electorate have, by necessity since then been rejuvenated where marriage fraud warning is circulated by government auspices. In Canada too there are those requiring an explanation why it is frowned upon to rape children. A 'Pre-Departure Guide for Newcomers to Canada', published in 2025 focuses on newcomer rights rather than their responsibilities to the new country they will inhabit. 

 

Gently there are hints as to what is now of vital importance to this current progressive government; an acceptance of the presence of transgenderism, where readers are instructed that the LGBTQ-2 community in Canada is not only accepted, supported and valued, but so too is the right of the nation's children to question their from-birth designation as male or female. Issues such as 'lining up', 'making eye contact' and 'using underarm deodorant' are given their due place in the booklet.

 

Criminal activities are also addressed such as a jail term will come with carrying a firearm without a permit, and unwanted sexual touching or remarks may elicit a fine, or even prison. Bribery, polygamy, female genital mutilation and 'Making, sharing or owning photos of naked children', 'forcing others into marriage', and 'having sex with children', are similarly frowned upon and the letter of the law may be applied. Although truth to tell, the justice system goes easy on skin tones and ethnicity and cultures, with reduced sentences applied.

 

Family violence is frowned upon and "Killing a family member as a way to save a family's honour", is definitely unacceptable. Also addressed is the virtue of working for a living, rather than becoming wholly dependent on Canada Child Benefit payments which, when enough children in a family receive those generous benefits can sustain a family, without a breadwinner breaking a sweat. ($679.75 per month ($8,157 per year) for each child under 6, and $573.58 per month ($6,883 per year) for each child aged 6 to 17 for the 2026–2027 year.

 

What Muslim female dress means as a  wedge issue in Canada  TVO Today

 

 

Afghanistan's Starving Children

 

"One million children who are suffering from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition."

"If there is no treatment, and we are not able to act fast, that one million number are at risk of dying."

"Malnutrition plays a central role [in the growing number of deaths of very young children]."

"In parts of southern Afghanistan, some hospitals are now seeing three or four severely malnourished children for every available bed." 

UNICEF Afghanistan representative Tajudeen Oyewale

Three-year-old child tested for malnutrition. Photo: WFP/Isheeta Sumra

 

When the United States peremptorily pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, while the Taliban was on the march toward Kabul, incentivizing other NATO nations to do likewise -- all the work that had been done by the international coalition to bring that war-wearied country into the 21st century, the establishment of medical clinics, schools, water wells in remote villages went to naught. During the U.S.-led invasion and occupation, women were empowered, able to reach academic levels toward professions they aspired to, humanitarian groups set up shop in the  country to contribute to the modernization efforts and mitigate miserable living conditions -- all came to a grinding halt.

 

It took no time at all for the West-aligned Afghan government to dissolve in the pending approach of the Taliban forces. Government ministers fled abroad, government workers were cognizant that the Taliban meant to search them out, imprison and/or kill them. All the forward-looking enterprises that Afghanistan's population was able to develop were swiftly placed in mandatory retirement. The old misogynistic order where women were not permitted in public without wearing a burqa or abaya returned. Those employed by humanitarian agencies were forced to stop, and the humanitarian groups left the country.

 

Foreign investment that had been robust under the UN-approved occupation came to a stop. Afghanistan's assets abroad were frozen. Girls were no longer able to attend secondary, much less higher-level education past the primary grades. The strict separation of males and females became mandatory. Pre-teen girls were sold by their parents into marriages with older and elderly men to become their property. Men reverted to having multiple wives. Some Afghan women set up cottage industries in discreet locations where they could earn a basic living to keep food on the table.

 

Farida and her sickly children (R) need healthy food – which she cannot afford on the family's tiny income. Photo: WFP/Isheeta Sumra

 

The country copes with natural disasters like drought, flash floods, regional instability along with clashes with neighbouring countries over territorial and trade issues. And the country's children are in parlous condition, warns the United Nations, where across Afghanistan, 3.7 million children suffer from wasting disease; a condition linked to malnourishment. 

 

Babies under six months of age represent close to 40 percent of the children admitted to hospitals with severe wasting and grim medical complications. Over 80 percent of severe acute malnutrition cases in the country are represented by children under two years of age. The UNICEF country representative for Afghanistan speaks of a "worsening nutrition crisis" with over half a million children admitted to hospital in 2026 for high-risk, moderate and severe wasting conditions. 

 

Families, reports Tajudeen Oyewale, are scaling back nutritious food and serve increasingly smaller meals to deal with food insecurity; an "increasingly alarming picture", where infants' first solid food graduating from breast milk can be represented by bread and tea or watered-down yogurt, "and for a growing child, this is simply not enough". A vicious cycle of poor nourishment, developing of severe diarrhea or respiratory infections while becoming more malnourished.

 

Sediqa's two young girls count among nearly 3.7 million Afghan children projected to suffer from malnutrition this year. Her impoverished family often lives on a diet of bread and tea. Photo: WFP/Isheeta Sumra

 

Responsible Parenting Precludes Enabling Addictions

"He would bug us and for the longest time we said 'Absolutely not. It's illegal and blah blah blah'."

"I would say every single one of my son's [high school] friends has an account."

"Every single kid is betting, like everybody ... Eventually, I was just worn down ... Eventually he used my ID -- which I'm not proud of -- and opened an account." 

"My son knows kids who have lost thousands of dollars. One kid won $6,000 on slots at [school] lunch."

Kath (last name withheld) Toronto

 

"It seems like the government has off-loaded this to the families and parents."

"It's giving lip service to responsible gambling."

Harley Redlick, lawyer, responsible-gambling activist

 

"It's definitely widespread."

"And it's a problem because you're getting kids ... addicted to a behaviour that has real-life consequences as they get older."

"Kids are not going into personal bankruptcy. It's feeding this addictive personality." 

David (last name withheld) Toronto 

 

"This is not good for me."

"I have very, very very few friends who have actually made money [on gambling apps]. I know many people who are down by a significant amount of money."

"[I know of people who] have gambled during school and have won big and ... also lost." 

Matt, 17

 

Ontario Provincial Police spokeswoman Tracey Mellersh confirmed that to facilitate access to underage online gambling in the province of Ontario is illegal. No charges have ever to date been laid, however, with the Force choosing a harm reduction, education-based approach to warn parents and guardians of the law and the potential risks inherent in having young people betting.  

 

One person was charged in 2024 by the Ontario Provincial Police for a scheme involving a site called TopBets. In Orillia, Ontario several underage teens were said to have been lured into gambling, then, when they racked up debts were threatened with violence.

 

Kath explained confidentially that she had made use of her own credentials in setting up an account for her 16-year-old son on a government-regulated gambling app. Rules that ban anyone under 19 from using the sites after that ruse, did not apply to him. Her son, she said, had argued unceasingly that his friends were already engaged in doing that very same thing. Groups of boys gathered to bet on sports events or casino games, as a social activity. 

 

When Ontario decided to legalize commercial gambling apps it was a controversial move, and it has only become more controversial as time goes on. Over $100 billion was bet in the last year alone. And with that activity, gambling addiction has spiked, alongside bankruptcies linked to gambling, as well as suicides attributed to gambling losses. Underage teens -- mostly boys -- have taken to gambling in social groups, at home and while at school.

 

Lawyer and activist Harley Redlick reveals that numerous parents have confided to him that they opened accounts for their teenage children, referencing an 'epidemic' of internet betting among adolescents that has become an irresistible social phenomenon. Although hard data linked to the prevalence of underage betting is limited, the market continues to grow, taking the lives of adults and underage teens to new heights of addiction.

 

Mental Health and Online Gambling in Adolescents   Public Health Ontario

 

Last year's Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey revealed that online gambling by teens had "increased significantly" to the  extent that 12 percent of surveyed high school students stated they had bet on the sites, an increase from 2023's eight percent. Harley Redlick is executive director of the Canadian Addiction Recovery Association, who also teaches a professional-development course on gaming law at the Law Society of Ontario.

 

In his experience, he says, some youngsters will borrow IDs without permission in their anxiety to open accounts, taking photos of their parents to upload for their accounts. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario regulator fined Betty Gaming Ltd. $120,000 for 'failures' whereby nine people under 19 created accounts, deposited money to gamble, while another 14 set up accounts without money being deposited. The age restriction is "one of the most basic and important safeguards" in the regulated Ontario system. 

 

"Something they do not know is that actually it's a crime", said Mina Hazar, responsible for a youth gambling awareness program for the YMCA. She hesitates to judge parents who set up gambling accounts for their children, suggesting they consider the long-term consequences -- such as risk of developing a gambling addiction. 

 

The  undeveloped brains of kids that age represents a perfect environment for growing addictions, points out Matthew Young of Gambling Research Exchange Ontario (GREO). In his opinion, relying on being able to monitor their internet gambling -- which might appear to be little different than any other activity on a smartphone -- might not be feasible.

 

Kids are gambling on sports and casino games in social groups, at home and even while at school. Photo by Ty Lim

 

"I get the sentiment of these parents -- this idea that 'I'd rather my kids drink in my basement because they're going to do it anyway'."

"[But] online gambling is very, very easy to hide. ... How do you keep an eye on it is the question?"

Matthew Young, GREO gambling research organization 

The Openly-Acknowledged Black Market in MOTS-c Peptide

"Turns out that tens of thousand of people are injecting themselves with MOTS-c. [That's] black market, illegal, from unknown sources, unknown purity,  unknown sterility, and I strongly object to that."

"We can't stop the black market. So I think it's a better choice to at least guarantee the quality, the sterility and require that real doctors are part of the process. I really think this is a better choice than just letting it go on the way it is." 

"Certain groups of people -- for example the fitness enthusiasts, which is the kind way to refer to gym rats -- those people take one figure from one paper done on mice and take it to become gospel." 

Dr. Pinchas Cohen, dean, USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology

 

"My impression is that the 'lesser of two evils' argument is a minority perspective. While it's true that most [pharmaceutical] compounders can likely [produce] purer versions of these peptides than what's in the grey market, that doesn't address potential inherent risks of the peptides themselves." 

"There's no special reason they should be allowed to bypass the standard clinical trial system just because there's a peptide fad driven by wellness influencers and telehealth firms." 

Professor Paul Knoepfler,  cell biology and human anatomy, UC Davis School of Medicine

 

Dr. Pinchas Cohen's laboratory at the School of Gerontology, USC Leonard Davis identified the MOTS-c peptide  as one of the thousands of peptides acting as chemical messengers in the human body. It was discovered when Dr. Cohen combed through the 97 percent of human DNA that does not encode for genes. Once dismissed as "junk DNA", or the "Dark genome", this biological hoard has been recognized as being full of hormones and microproteins playing vital roles in directing systems and processes in the body.

 

When he became aware his discovery was being promoted by longevity seekers, fitness enthusiasts and wellness influencers as "exercise in a bottle", he felt dismayed. While not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the peptide was available widely online, frequently found in vials marked "for research use only". Social media hype and a public consumer zest for experimental peptides has overwhelmed the public seeking magical fountains of youth and energy, and unregulated peptides now fuels a high-stakes federal government policy conflict.

 

Unsurprisingly, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a self-confessed "big fan" of peptide use personally, pledging to put an end to government's "aggressive suppression" of the peptides. Some of which, like insulin, human growth hormone and glucon-like peptide-1 have seen transformational therapeutic effects to humans. However, every one of these peptides (think Ozempic) on a pharmacy shelf has undergone decades of clinical trials and testing for safety.

 

Photo by Innerbody Research

 

The same cannot be said for MOTS-c and a host of other peptides now widely available online. Those wedded to their use claim the substances' effectiveness in aiding weight loss, boosting energy and muscle mass, frequently citing research conducted only on animals, or with a very limited number of humans. Leading to the situation where it is unknown how or when the peptides should be used for humans; no data exists that can attest to their safety and effectiveness.

 

An FDA committee was recently struck to vote whether to recommend compounding pharmacies be permitted to manufacture six different peptides currently available online: BPC-157, TB-500, KPV, epitalon Semax and MOTS-c. Last month, Health Canada announced that a Canadian court had approved their request to permanently ban a Quebec-based online store from selling unauthorized injectable peptides in Canada. 

 

Many of the members comprising the FDA committee work for telehealth, longevity and wellness companies that will profit from the regulation of peptides. Dr. Cohen arrived in Washington to speak before the committee; stating that he believed "quality-controlled, prescriber-supervised" compounding was the safest way forward. FDA staff who also spoke at the meeting advised against peptide compounding on the reasonable basis that insufficient safety data exists to justify the move.

 

It is unknown how long-term use of these peptides would affect humans. Claims by influencers that peptides have a positive effect on human weight loss, muscle mass, longevity and energy have been taken from effects seen on laboratory animals. Nor is it known what formula or dosage might be effective for human use. Molecules are viewed by scientists as a promising area of research where significant health breakthroughs could result. Rigorous science on the other hand takes time; guesswork is just that; unproven assumptions.   

 

viviana loza//Getty Images

 

"Peptides are neither miracle cures nor snake oil. They are signalling molecules. Some have strong evidence. Some have intriguing or early data. Some are wildly overhyped, and some probably should never leave the laboratory."

"Patients are looking for alternatives, and they are looking not at physicians. They're looking at this grey market source." 

Dr. Ben Gonzales, former emergency medicine physician, Walter Reed Army Medical Center 

 

"The big picture is that we're transitioning as a nation from the 20th-century model [in which] all health care was dictated by physicians and insurance companies to a new 21st-century model where consumers are demanding and receiving health and wellness services and products that they pay for in cash."

"I'm not saying that's a better model. But it's the model we're transitioning into."

Dr. Pinchas Cohen 

MOTS-c peptide hype