It is coming up on that time of year once again. No, not tax time…something even worse. Before we know it swimsuit season will be here. Now, if you have spent the winter in the gym, you might just be thrilled at the thought of swimwear shopping. The rest of us are shuddering. Fortunately, you can find flattering swimsuits at all price ranges and suited to nearly any personal style and body type. What’s in this year? What works for you for the beach, lake or pool this spring and summer?

Women’s swimwear styles have expanded, and regardless of whether you prefer men’s swim trunks or a bikini, you’ll find a suit that meshes well with your style and allows you to enjoy the water. Mix and match tankini tops sold by many retailers including landsend.com will work well under a tee or on their own with a pair of trunks. The mix and match swimwear trend also works wellfor those o us who might need one size on the bottom and another on top. Girly-girls will rejoice this summer. The suits are retro, reminiscent of the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. For those of us with a few figure flaws to hide, many of these suits also cover the damaging evidence of too many sweet treats and holiday cocktails. Getglamorous.blogspot.com has some great designer shots of these suits.

For the boys, there are a number of trunk styles available and the growing popularity of rash guards allows you to cover a bit more and still look in style. For most guys, a more tailored style of trunks will be more flattering than the traditional elastic waist. Fortunately, these are already showing up in stores all over. Prints, particularly retro-inspired Hawaiian ones, are in style for guys this year. Lengths range from a long board short to a fairly short length. Choose the one that best suits your body type and personal preferences. You will find great trunks available at all price points, and may want to pick up several to offer a variety of options, whether you are planning a cruise with your partner or an office pool party. A visit to your local department store is a good place to start, but online retailers also offer a wide selection of trunks and rash guards.

Regardless of the trends, choose a suit that fits your body well. String bikinis and Speedos are not a comfortable or practical choice for most of us, but thankfully flattering and sexy swimwear is available in all sizes. Sadly, you do still have to go try it on if you actually want it to fit.

The funny thing of this story is that Gary George sounds like Sally Kern’s to me for some reason. They sound like Pleasantville, USA fictitious names for some reason. They are living in a fictitious land filled with hate and karma will come their way. People like George and Sally are trying their hardest to silence us and make us feel lower than life so our self esteem will be “gay bashed.” Ellen was so right when she said that we are not going to sit here and remain second class citizens. We pay taxes, we vote, we should not have to shut up and we will not shut up. I hope Oregon voters tell Gary George to Shut up when they vote again though!

My advice to the gay community is SHUT UP, just don’t talk about it. If you walk around talking about what you do in the bedroom, you should be on the pervert channel. - State Senator Gary George of Oregon, (sen.garygeorge@state.or.us)

Here is what a friend (Floyd Martin) wrote on a myspace bulletion that I totally agree with:

Yeah, Senator George,
I will stop talking about it when you take down all pictures of your wife and children, and stop wearing your wedding ring, and flaunting your heterosexuality. I will stop talking about it when all Americans are allowed to serve their country if they so desire, and to have all the legal benefits that other American couples are afforded. I will shut up when bigots like you do not exist in the world anymore, and unfortunately, thats not going to happen for a long time. So, your desire is not our wish. I have an idea, why don’t you shut up, and resign, and go crawl under the rock you came from. Free Speech and civil rights are not only for those that you agree with, and are too small-minded to see reality. Shame on you. — FD Martin Oklahoma City, OK

Sirius radio’s The Beat (ch. 86) has begun playing Madonna’s new single from her last recorded album from Warner Bros. records titled Hard Candy. The new single which debuted Monday on Sirius radio is called “4 minutes”. It has more of a hip hop feel with Justin Timberlake and Timberland in the background.

The artwork for Hard Candy has also been released on the Madonna.com site and looks hot!! I am excited to hear the rest of the CD when it comes out. If you have not seen the video of Madonna inducted in the Rock and Roll hall of fame on Youtube make sure you watch it. It is a 4 part video and I loved the story of Justin telling everyone of his B-12 injections from Madonna when she told him to “drop em” so she could stick him with a shot.

The full album release of Hard Candy comes April 29 in the US and April 28 internationally. See comments below for the video of Ellen dancing to Madonna’s new 4 Minutes song. Also, read our article on the seductive book by Madonna.

Pre-Order Now!

Next week we will present a gay fashion exclusive on summer swimwear 2008 but until then let’s leave you with an interesting site I came across. This site presents an option that Muslim women may not have had before from Australia, the same country that Aussie Bum originated from.

You normally see Muslim women in public pools such as the Hurricane Harbor having to wear their full clothing due to religious reasons. I thought this was a neat option found at ahiida.com for those with Islamic roots.

You may have heard this rumor just as I did: Australia is to ban internet porn. What on earth…? Well, I started looking into this recently and tried to find out more information about this potentially life-shattering edict from the Oz government, if indeed the rumors were true.

I did my usual searching about on the net and found some related articles and info, which I’ve put together for you, to try and explain what exactly is, or isn’t, going on.

It was around August 2007 that news started breaking that Australia was going to ‘clean up internet porn’ but how it was going to do this was another matter. Then Prime Minister, John Howard, announced that a whole heap of cash was going to be made available to assist a new programme, ‘Assisting Australian Families Online’ which would come under the auspices of NetAlert – Australia’s internet safety advisory body. Some say that this was just a ploy to recruit the Christian voters in the upcoming elections, (the announcement was made in a webcast that went out to 770 churches and which was watched by an estimated 100,000 Christians,) so bear that in mind.

The scheme works in two ways: families can opt to have a filtering programme installed on their home PCs or they can requests a ‘clean’ internet connection – one from a service provider that is responsible from blocking porno content at ISP level. (At the main hub.) These options take up most of the budget and the rest goes on publicity, an awareness campaign and ‘internet police’ and prosecutions. The main thrust of this action, of course, is to protect children from unscrupulous website owners and others who provide CP, but there were concerns from legitimate adult webmasters (providing 18+ adult entertainment) that their businesses could also be affected.

There were more concerns about the scheme when, soon after the filter system went public, a teenage hacker managed to find a way around it within half an hour. A second version was released and this took the lad 40 minutes to get through.

The caldron bubbled some more as new legislation was proposed that would make the owning of five or more pornographic movies an offense, (in the Northern Territories) even if they were for ‘home use’ as opposed to distribution. There were, some say, good reasons behind this move, again to do with trying to stamp down on the occurrences of CP in those areas but the ideas were called ‘draconian’ by the New Zealand Herald and slammed by the Australian Christian Lobby as not going far enough, after all, what about other parts of the country?

So it seems, from what I could find out, that the screaming headline of ‘Australia bans porn’ is not as dramatic as it sounds and you don’t need to be too concerned that it is a trend that will start to spread to other countries. There were (and still are as far as I know, though the controversy seems to have died down recently) plans to help parents limit the kind of content that was accessible on their home PCs, via a couple of methods. This can only be good news if you have young children who are adept at using the computer and internet (as more and more are) and you don’t want them to stumble across inappropriate content. The idea that a government can tell you what you, as an adult, can and can’t view totally smacks of censorship and I doubt that it would be stood for by human rights campaigners. Though don’t forget that in some other countries the government have already taken this step. For example, in China a law has existed since 1997 that makes it a criminal offense to produce a piece of work (art, literature etc.) that is deemed a ‘computer crime’ and promotes, among other things, ‘pornography.’

And there is one other thing to remember. The attempt by Howard to woo the Christian vote on the back of a ‘clean up the net campaign’ didn’t help him. A new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was elected in December 2007.

Final Point:  Who wants to visit a country that bans porn or takes away basic rights? Not someone who demands freedom.  This is a right every adult should have.  It should be the parents decision to put filters on what their kids view online not the government or internet provider.  What will they ban next?

It is sad that when I was searching for gay resources online I would find a hate site in the top 6 results. Top 4 results if you do not count gay.com and wikipedia.org as being two sites (since they are double listed). The site listed is lovegodsway.org but the title of the site clearly says “God Hates Fags! Love Gods Way!”. The same bozos that brought us godhatesfags.com.

I would expect to find more gay news related resources such as GayWired.com, PlanetOut.com, 365gay.com, etc. The strange thing is that neither MSN nor Yahoo search has the hate group listed in the top 10. So I suppose maybe some googlebombing is taking place? Similar to the tactics websites used to get George Bush to rank high on the term “idiot.”

With the rise of hate crimes lately including the killing of a teenager in gay California and neo-conservative religious radicals going up against gays we need as much love and support as we can get and not expect to be bashed just by searching online. We should all at least try to get google to remove this or lower it down for the term “gay”. I am not trying to tell google how to run their search engine but it is unfair that they are using the same techniques of google bombing to rank high on this highly popular term.

Gays are infiltrating city councils. Gays are like Terrorists, like Islam, they have more suicides, get diseases more… These are just a few of the comments this old hag made in Oklahoma City. I am originally from Oklahoma and am sickened that there is such hate from such a backwards witch.

No Society that has embraced gays has lasted more than two decades? I would like to know where this so-called Representative got her facts.
“It will destroy our young people and it will destroy this nation.” Yes, you will Representative Sally Kern of District 84, a Republican in Oklahoma City.

You may reach Rep. Sally Kern at 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 332, Oklahoma City, OK 73105. Her email is sallykern@okhouse.gov. Feel free to send her a piece of your mind. If you live in her district in Oklahoma be sure and get out and vote. This is what happens when you do not get off your hides to vote people like this get into office and spread their hate. Hate is the disease that she already has!!

Rep. Sally Kern’s gets our Worst Person of the World vote for today!

I just do not understand why You tube videos will not play on this site so here is the link.

To find a place to start my investigation into the Russian gay scene and clubs in particular, I went to gay.ru where you have the option to view the pages in English. I was looking for the hot spots in the country and it soon became clear from my searches that there were two main places to go. Moscow, as you would expect, it being the capital city and Saint Petersburg.

You should check out the very informative pages at Gay.ru before you start to think about the club scene as here you can also read up on the background to gays and the law, history of he gay movement and other general subjects related to queerness in the country. Once you are armed with the background information you can start looking for the club scene.

Saint Petersburg is a Russian city located in the North-western Federal District of the country on the Neva river and is named after Peter the Great who founded it in 1703. I’m sure he wouldn’t know what to make of it these days though, especially if he were to call in at “Sinners” which boasts “Four floors, one dance floor, bars, splendid romantic view from the top of the roof. Full striptease all night long. Nude dancers mix with the crowd and occasionally offer paint and brushes to visitors to draw on their exposed bodies.” Sounds like fun to me!

There used to be another night club in the city called the 69 Club but word has it that this is now used by predominantly heterosexual teenagers so is probably best avoided. For other entertainments you could try the cafes, “Kabaret” – “Charming drag queen talk show. Cosy and relaxed atmosphere. Inexpensive bar, karaoke, large dance floor, huge darkroom. Fridays and Saturdays are overcrowded, many good looking cadets from the Navy Academy.” Sounds like even more fun! And the “Mono Club” which is considerably smaller and mixed.

There are also four saunas in this city and you can find the full details of all of these places here.

Moscow is the capital of Russia and so we expect it to be bigger, bolder and more liberal. Actually there were only three night clubs listed at Gay.ru when I looked. “Chance Club” is open every night and is now a revamped version of the oldest club in the city. The quality of the crowd varies but it is the biggest and most used of the clubs so you’re probably going to score if you go there for a night out!

The “Three Monkeys” club is also open all week and has several floors, internet access, drag shows, go-go boys and a ‘cinema’ room. Like all of the clubs there is a cover charge or an entrance fee and these vary from venue to venue but generally the entrance charges seem to be cheaper (sometimes even free) for men. Guys at Chance, for example, pay 150 Rubles to get in while women pay 300! That’s around $24.00 for a girl to access a night club in case you were wondering. The third listed club, “Propaganda”, hosts a gay/mixed tea dance on a Sunday where you get good value for money with cheaper drinks and no cover charge.

From my quick look at these places it seems that the country is more liberal and accepting than I first thought it would be. The write ups and reviews of these clubs make them sound like any club you might find in New York or London – though we know that the sexy Russian boys will be a different matter! Check Gay.ru as it’s one of the more informed sites about gay Russia and also lists saunas, cafes and other entertainments in various locations around the country. Also make sure you check out the ‘life in Russia’ section as this will tell you what to expect generally if and when you go and visit.

Big Voting is taking place in Ohio, Texas, and Oklahoma.  While Texas and Oklahoma are duking it out over Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama the people of OKC are fearing the highrollers playing monopoly with tax payers money.  Here is a comment from Floyd Martin of Oklahoma City, a contributer of Hard News Online and Floyd’s Newsletter:

Clay Bennett, the man who owns the Supersonics (or whatever they are called), is a notorious homophobe, and thats part of the reason the good people of Seattle would not let them bully them into paying for a new staduim.

He is also one of the richest men in Oklahoma City, and if he wants to bring an NBA team here, he should, but not on the backs of the poorest people that reside here. The little old lady shopping at Buy For Less, deciding whether she should buy groceries or get her medication this month, will pay a penny sales tax every time she makes a purchase. So will I, the Gay man ,who Bennett and Cornett and thier cronies so passionatly oppose and donated millions to anti-Gay campaigns in the state of Washington. That little old lady at Buy For Less will never attend a game at the Ford Center, nor will I. In
my case, not so much on principle, just not interested in pro basketball. When we pay teachers what we pay athletes, then I might care. Until then, I do not. That same aforementioned senior citizen might like basketball, but she could not afford to go the games. Funny thing is, also as mentioned before, she and everyone else in this city will be paying for it.

I have lived in this city all of my life, and am very interested in city government. I know this town like the back of my hand, (give me an address, I’ll tell you which house it is…)I have lived and worked in all areas of it for almost 42 years., and am probably the only person you know that watches all of the meetings religiously on Channel 20. I would run for office if I thought I could get elected. Of course, I want to see the city progress. Of course, I want to see the merchants and waiters in Bricktown do well, but a sales tax for an NBA team is NOT the answer.

The concerts will still come to The Ford Center. They make money and thats the driving force behind that business. To infer that that won’t happen suddenly because we don’t extend this sales tax is pure bullshit. Yes, they will.

I was opposed to the original MAPS Project. I didn’t trust this city. We had a brand new jail that was flooding and that people could kick bricks out and escape. We had a failed string of pearls project that never went anywhere, and someone stole all of the federal money. I was wrong, and I admit it.

I was all for Maps For Kids, as a lifelong resident and product of the Oklahoma City Public Schools. We got three new high schools out of the deal, and although I haven’t paid much attention to John Marshall, Grant and Douglass are beautiful.

Mick Cornett is correct when he says that your taxes will not increase if you vote yes for this. What he isn’t telling you is that your sales tax will GO DOWN at the end of this month if you vote no. Thats right, Maps for Kids expires at the end of March, 2008.

When MAPS for Kids was about to expire, the city asked on thier website if we should extend the sales tax for MAPS 3, and if so, what for. The response was that yes, we should, and that we needed to improve public transportation. With the rising cost of fuel, and the fact that our bus system pure and simple SUCKS, that was a good idea. That has all been placed on the back burner, as Bennett and McClendon and the ilk approached thier buddy, Cornett, about buying them a basketball team.

With the money they have, that team will come to OKC. No one has said that it wouldn’t, and as far as I know, they arn’t even looking anywhere else. Thats fine, I just don’t want to pay for it.

People I have lots of love and respect for feel very different then I about this issue. I am glad that they are passionate, and I am probably going to be on the losing end of this stick, but I will vote No, and it it passes, its certainly not the end of the world, not for me, not for you, and damn sure not for the snake oil salesmen who promise economic development in this city because of an NBA team. (You know, one of the tribes wants to build a mega-casino at Hefner and I-35 that would hire 1,900 people. Cornett is very much against that. I realize cities do not get sales tax or much of anything else from tribal ventures, but 1,900 of your citizens employed and paying sales tax on everything they purchase has got to be an economic boon, compared to maybe 50 full-time employees and maybe 100 temporary employees during basketball season).

One more point and I will shut up. This whole staduim to lure pro sports teams things is a dangerous road for municipalities to go down. There is always going to be another city, facing a resurgence, willing to pay for a new staduim or whatever to snag them away. Businessmen like Bennett know this. We are a temporary stop on this journey. Three years from now, they will be asking you again to pay for thier arena, because Wichita or Omaha, or whoever is building a new one.

Vote how you like. So will I.
Thank you for reading.

Floyd D. Martin, Jr.
Oklahoma City, OK