You Are Not a Horse
The FDA's Version of That's Not How It F**king Works
Apparently while I was away people started taking horse de-wormer to prevent Covid-19 and sticking their dicks in apple cider vinegar to make them bigger. I’m sorry I wasn’t around to tell them “that’s not how it f**king works” but others have done it for me albeit with slightly different words. In their continued attacks on highly effective vaccines, right wing pundits have renewed discussions of unproven treatment and prevention ideas. This time it’s ivermectin, an anti-parasitic used to get rid of worms in horses, cows, and other livestock. After mentions on Fox News and other outlets, there have been increases in the number of calls to poison control centers across the country and at least two people in Mississippi have been hospitalized as a result of ingesting this medication (which can be bought without a prescription at feed stores). The social media team at the FDA seems to have kept a bit of a sense of humor despite the shitty year they’ve been having. On Saturday, the agency tweeted, “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all, stop it” along with an article explaining why ivermectin does not prevent Covid-19 and how dangerous it can be to humans. As for penis enlargement, it’s been the subject of a new series of paid ads on a number of porn sites some of which show animation of a person literally sticking their penis into a bottle of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar. It shouldn’t be surprising that the ads aren’t actually for the brand but instead lead viewers to a long video supporting pills called InstaHard. In an article for Vice, Samantha Cole breaks down exactly why one doesn’t want to pour acid on their member or stick a vinegar soaked tampon up their butt and aptly ridicules InstaHard’s claims that it will reactivate the all-important “penis brain” and take us back to a time when men were the “conquerors of women.” I’d say more, but she makes all the points (and all the jokes) I would have made including noting that in the animated ads the newly giant dick still fits in a bottle with a tiny little opening.
NC Legislator Adds Vaccine Restrictions to Pharmacy Access Bill
North Carolina House Bill 96 was supposed to make it easier for people in that state to get important medications including birth control, PEP, and testosterone, but by the time it got to Governor Roy Cooper’s desk it included an amendment specifically designed to prevent teens from getting the Covid-19 vaccine without parental consent. The change in scope and intent was too much for one of the bill’s original sponsors who took her name off the legislation and voted against it.
The bill gives pharmacists the authority to dispense certain medications and vaccinations without a prescription as a way to increase access. This is especially important at times (such as weekends) when, or in locations (such as rural areas) where, it can be hard to get hold of a physician. Many of the medications included in the bill are time sensitive. Missing a dose of oral contraception, for example, reduces its efficacy, and PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) needs to be taken within 72 hours of possible exposure to HIV in order to prevent infection. The bill also includes nicotine replacement therapy, prenatal vitamins, glucagon (used in cases of low blood sugar), testosterone shots for those over 18, and “vaccines recommended or required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
The legislation had widespread support from all of the major medical associations in the state, including the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists, the North Carolina Medical Society, and the North Carolina Pediatric Society. It also had backing from the local Planned Parenthood affiliate and North Carolina AIDS Action Network. And, it enjoyed bipartisan support in the legislature. In his remarks in favor of the bill, Senator Jim Burgin (R-Harnett) pointed out that there are five counties in North Carolina that don’t have a single family physician, 20 without a pediatrician, 26 without an OB-GYN, and 30 without a psychiatrist. He said the bill was the result of “…a combination of multiple groups that came together to help expand access to health care for citizens across our state.”
While expanding access to birth control and HIV prevention is often controversial, this bill seemed to have few detractors until an amendment was added by Sen. Joyce Krawiec (R-Forsyth). The amendment requires health care providers (including pharmacists one would assume) to “obtain written consent from a parent or legal guardian prior to administering any vaccine that has been granted emergency use authorization and is not yet fully approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to an individual under 18 years of age.”
Though the language did not explicitly mention Covid-19 vaccines, they were clearly the target. Krawiec said she was responding to concerns from parents about their children receiving a vaccine approved for emergency use authorization.
Most teens who get the vaccine likely have permission from their parents (I wept with joy when my teenager got hers), but there have been stories of teenage children of anti-vaxxers getting vaccinated on their own. North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services has said this was okay: “…teenagers can consent for themselves for COVID-19 vaccines, pursuant to N.C. General Statute 90-21.5, if they have the ability to understand and make decisions about their health. As part of normal development, most children are able to understand and make decisions about their health some point before the age of 18.” This amendment sought to change that, and Governor Cooper, a Democrat, signed the bill last week anyhow.
This may all be moot, however. On Monday, the FDA granted full authorization to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for those 16 and older. Since the parental consent language only applied to vaccines under emergency authorization, 16- and 17-year-olds in North Carolina who want the vaccine will still be able to get it without parental consent. And, thanks to the rest of the new law, they can get it from their friendly neighborhood pharmacist along with their birth control pills.
Unfortunately, their little brothers and sisters will still need parental consent if they are even eligible—the vaccine remains under emergency authorization for those 12–15 and no Covid-19 vaccine has yet been authorized for those under 12.
OnlyFans Becomes the Latest Platform to Abandon the Porn Creators that Made It
With an announcement last week that it would no longer allow explicit content to be posted as of October, OnlyFans became another in a long line of websites that made their names and initial fortunes off of porn only to cave to the pressure of banks and investors who prefer to be associated with less raunchy endeavors.
OnlyFans is a UK-based content subscription site. Creators post pics and videos and the site provides the infrastructure they need to charge users to view their content and then takes 20% of subscription or one-time viewing fees. In theory, the site is for creators in any genre and does house videos made by chefs, fitness coaches, musicians, etc. It also boasts content from a few actual celebrities like Cardi B. and Bella Thorne (who remains desperate to shake up her Disney Channel persona). But OnlyFans is primarily known for porn and has made a lot of money off of it.
According to Axios, the site had net revenues of $375 million in 2020 and expects $1.2 billion in 2021. More than 7 million users (or fans) spend money on the site each month and even more look at free content. Since the site began it has paid creators a total of $3.2 billion. The platform has more than 300 creators who earn at least $1 million-a-year and 16,000 creators who earn at least $50,000 a year.
Where OnlyFans has not had success is in finding outside funders. The company is currently majority-owned by Leonid Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-American porn entrepreneur, but is looking for venture capital that could help provide management and “legitimacy.” Axios argues that “Any other company with growth like OnlyFans would be able to raise big money in a matter of minutes.” But it appears that porn scares off investors.
Porn also scares off credit card companies. Last year, Mastercard and Visa blocked card holders from using their credit cards on Pornhub after articles suggested the site allowed content featuring underage actors.
In its statement last week, OnlyFans said it would no longer allow “content containing sexually-explicit conduct” though some nudity will still be acceptable. The company said the changes were made to “comply with the requests of our banking partners and payout providers" and ensure “long-term sustainability of the platform.” It’s unclear, of course, if a platform known for porn can sustain its billion dollar profits without the porn.
It’s also unclear what will happen to the sex workers and adult content creators who make their living off of this platform. One creator who uses the name Maya Morena told CNN Business that she’s been on the site for four years and has built up enough of a fan base that she was able to support herself without full-service, in-person sex work during the pandemic. She is not sure what she’ll do next.
This is not the first time these creators have had the virtual rug pulled out from under them. Tumblr, which also built its reputation and userbase on porn, became gradually less friendly to adult content when it was bought by Yahoo and banned it completely in 2018 by which point it was owned by Verizon. Lux Alptraum wrote at the time:
As the internet has gone from being a Wild West to a sanitized corporate playground, pornography has become vastly less welcome in most mainstream corners. Pornography may have helped Tumblr grow and build its audience and gain its billion-dollar valuation, but the minute Tumblr graduated into the corporate world, it was obvious that porn wouldn’t be welcome by its side for that much longer.
The same can be said of OnlyFans.
Morena, who lived through the Tumblr purge and also the loss of Backpage and Craigslist as places to advertise her services, said, "Every time I lose platforms, I lose a significant amount of money but also my connection to my follower base, and I lose so much of my work."
This is what makes so many creators so angry. One creator tweeted: “OnlyFans is just another example of how these large platforms use sex workers to build their audience then pull support once they no longer deem them beneficial.” Another said: “I’m angry for every creator that has relied on OF for an income just to be thrown out.” And, a creator who goes by Savannah Solo put it this way: “I’m personally vibrating like a f*cking hitachi that’s powered only by rage, malice, and betrayal.”