Dear readers,

on Thursday Destroyer’s long summer break begins. It will last for one month, so if you want a magazine to ship before the break, please place your order on Wednesday (July 8th, 2009) the latest.

Of course you can order during our summer break too, but the magazines won’t ship until we’re back (August 13th, 2009).

However, downloads will continue to be available immediately upon purchase, and so I decided to make up for my long leave by offering you something that I know that many of you want: More issues as pdf files!

As of today, Destroyer 05, 06, 07 and 08 are available as pdf downloads!

A new feature is that you can choose an extra high quality version of each magazine.

The standard quality is good - it’s the same 100 dpi quality that Destroyer 06 has had ever since it was released as a pdf file.

But the 144 dpi high quality version will hopefully satisfy those of you who have e-mailed me about wanting higher image resolution. If you’re picky or plan to print the magazine, this is the version for you.

With that, I wish you all a great summer!

Destroyer’s former proofreader Johan Haza reads the magazine with style.

Where is your Destroyer? E-mail a photo of Destroyer in its natural setting to destroyermag (at) gmail.com.

Michael Jackson has died in what’s suspected to be cardiac arrest, according to BBC. We mourn in silence.

• June 16-23, 2009
• July 9 - August 12, 2009

No magazines will ship during these periods, but you can still order and the magazines will ship to you at the end of these periods.

Destroyer as a pdf file for download is not affected by these holiday breaks - the download version is always available immediately upon payment.

Rodeos chefredaktör Daniel Björk röstade på piratpartiet, precis som jag själv. Han skriver:

Jag är trött på att fildelning, internet, Google etc. framställs som ett hot mot kulturen. Jag är övertygad om att det är precis tvärtom: att begränsningen av internet är det verkliga hotet både mot oss och mot kulturen.

Missa inte Daniels krönika om pojken som ideal i modevärlden i senaste Destroyer.

Which cover of Destroyer do you like most? Never mind if it’s the boy or the graphic design that does it for you, choose one favourite in the poll on the right, and feel free to comment on your choice in this post!

About half of all orders of Destroyer 09 have now shipped, a whole week ahead of schedule. The rest will ship tomorrow.

The magazine looks totally stunning - I got it Friday. Happy reading, everyone!

I’m immensily proud to announce Destroyer 09. Why? Because of Nicola, a Swedish amateur photographer who took loads and loads of photos of beautiful boys in Naples in the 1970s. Some of them were published in the gay magazines of the time, but most of them were simply buried in Nicola’s drawers. Until now. In a 22-page double feature, we publish the best of Nicola’s photos in colour and black and white, along with an interview with Nicola himself, where he talks about the uniqueness of Naples and how it all suddenly changed to the worse in the 80s. I cannot enough emphasize the following: You do not want to miss this! D9 is the hottest issue of Destroyer since D2, which featured the 10-page interview with Cosidetto and was sold out only weeks after the release. D2 was printed in 1000 copies, D9 will be printed in 2000 copies. However, be warned that they might go very fast.

As usual, you can purchase Destroyer at Ilovemags.com! D9 will ship mid-June 2009.

The whole content of Destroyer 09 reads:

• Nicola of Napoli - 22-page double feature with previously unpublished photos from Naples in the 70s + interview with the photographer.
• Reviews of novels by Horatio Alger, Jr., Poppy Z Brite and William Beckford + two new photo books.
• Art Bernard - interview with the artist.
• Photo reportage: Young wrestlers and young boxers.
• Chronik der Schwulen - interview with the author Dietmar Kreutzer.
• Contributions by Italian artist duo Luigi & Luca, and by Daniel Björk, editor in chief of the Swedish magazine Rodeo.

Some teasers from the black and white section of Nicola’s photos:

With this I wish you all a great weekend!

Germany’s family minister Ursula von der Leyen has fought fiercly to implement the same kind of “child porn” blocks on the Internet that have been in use in Sweden since 2005. But unlike in Sweden, the censorship plans have met a huge resistance in Germany. The critics warn that censorship is the wrong way to go, especially since no one will be allowed to check the list of censored sites, which will be maintained by the Federal Criminal Police Office, BKA.

The critics also emphasize how easy it is to circumvent the blocks, meaning those who want “child porn” will find it easier than ever (for example by following BKA’s list, which - like the lists in Scandinavia - will leak), whereas the blocks will let the ordinary netizen conveniently look away. They suggest that “child porn” sites should be taken off the net instead of just marked with a “stop” sign - löschen statt verstecken (remove instead of hiding).

Needless to say, “child porn” is just the noble cause that the politicians use to implement a smooth system to censor improper sites. Oscar Swartz has shown (in Swedish, but the pictures speak for themselves) how sites with bonsai trees ended up on the Swedish censor list. Also, The Pirate Bay ended up on the list once, but was removed after protests, as well as other non-cp sites.

Destroyer’s concern is not of the löschen statt verstecken kind. That slogan may make people believe that there is actually a lot of child porn around on the internet, which is not the case. (Or is it? Show us the säuglings, Ursula!) Instead, we are concerned that innocent content like that of our magazine might end up on the lists, since no one can check them, and since gay content has a tradition of being censored by the powers at be. A Finnish guy showed that less than one percent of the links on the Finnish censor list contained real cp. Whatever that meant, because how do you define child porn? That’s the given question to him, but even more so to the BKA and the politicians.

Anyway, if you live in Germany, I think you should take action against these measures by signing the ePetition at Deutscher Bundestag. It’s a bit complicated, because you have to register, but do take the time.

Read more at Netzpolitik.