Following this assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• Mathew Mitcham appears on the cover of this month's DNA magazine. Could this guy be any cuter?

• It may have all started with Ellen's 1997 Time magazine coming out cover, but since then People Magazine has pretty decisively become the "go to venue" for closeted celebrities looking to make the freeing leap into self-disclosure. (Hey, I'm just throwing this out there, but if you are a closeted celebrity ready to come out but looking to buck the trend — drop us a line. (I mean us as in AfterElton.com, not US Weekly.)

While we're on the subject of those ubiquitous coming out covers — does it seem like maybe folks are running out of ways to quote "I'm gay" in big block letters? Here's a little quiz — match the celebrity with the block quote that apperared on their coming out cover:

1. Ellen DeGeneres                    A. "I'm Gay"

2. Lance Bass                              B. Yep, I'm Gay"

3. Neil Patrick Harris                 C. Yes, I'm Gay"

4.  Clay Aiken                              D. "I am a very content gay man"

Answers appear at bottom of post. Let us know how you did in the comments! Also, if you were coming out on the cover of People, what would your quote say?

• Sarah Palin might owe her slot on the Republican ticket to gay rumors surrounding Condoleeza Rice.  Ianundercover.com claims to have talked to a prominent member of the RNC who said McCain’s inner circle believed Rice was the perfect candidate after Barack opted against choosing Hillary Clinton as a running mate. McCain’s camp “never expected traditionally Democratic Blacks and women to vote for Rice in large numbers, but believed that if she could just sway 5-10% of Blacks and 10% of women to defect, it could be enough to tilt the election towards McCain in a number of crucial swing states.”

What ultimately took Rice out of the running were persistent rumors about her sexual orientation. (The Secretary has always kept mum about her private life but shares a home and a bank account with another woman, Randy Bean.)

Explained the RNC source, “Whether or not her relationship with Bean means Condi is light in the loafers is not the point. It’s hard to prove one way or another. The fact is that by the time the media finished dissecting it, not a Christian conservative in the country would have gone to the polls in November and that’s ultimately what nixed the Rice candidacy.”

• Christina Aguilera is releasing a greatest hits album, Keeps Getting Better: A Decade OF Hits. The CD will contain 2 new tracks, and will be available exclusively at Target starting November 11th. Love the cover. Very Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

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