In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual 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.

• Can two handsome, young men be friends without everyone speculating they might be gay? Not if Defamer has anything to say about it (via Towleroad.com).

• If you're going to write a spoof article saying that Tom Cruise is gay, it darn well better be hilarious. And this one soooo isn't.

• We were all surprised to learn George Takei was so freakin' hilarious. But can he sing as well?

• The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is giving Archbishop Desmond Tutu its 2008 Outspoken Award and it's hard to argue with their choice.

• This article is so gay. And I mean that in the right way.

• MSNBC's Dan Abrams wants to know why the media is so willing to focus on the controversial statements made by Barack Obama's pastor, but ignores the incredible homophobia of one of John McCain's religious supporters. Because they're fair and balanced, silly!

• Dolly Parton's songs are going to be performed on American Idol and she's going to mentor the contestants? Guess I'll have to start watching again!

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

In addition to Keith Olbermann naming Fox News' John Gibson the "Worst Person in the World" for the insensitive insensitive jokes he made within an hour of news of Heath Ledger's death (which linked his death to his performance in Brokeback Mountain), MSNBC colleague Dan Abrams takes the notion of people connecting Brokeback to Heath's death head-on, calling it "insanity".

Definitely worth a look.

MSNBC talking head Keith Obermann is well established as one of the few news anchors out there willing to really speak up about controversial topics. (For the record, I think he's great.) He's repeatedly taken on the Bush Administration, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, and pretty much anyone else he suspects of being a hypocrite. Turns out Olbermann's outspokenness extends to his fellow news anchor Anderson Cooper of CNN. In a recent interview with New York Magazine Olbermann has this to say about Anderson (recently "outed" so to speak by Out magazine):

Don’t tell me you don’t want to talk about personal life when you wrote a book about your father’s death and your brother’s death. You can’t move this big mass of personal stuff out for public display, then people ask questions and you say, ‘Oh, no, I didn’t say there was going to be any questions.’ It’s the same thing as the Bush administration saying, ‘We’re going to war, but you really aren’t allowed to know why.

Don't hold back there, Keith!