Secrets don’t make friends. That is a saying I learned in elementary school, and it has stuck with me these many years. It isn’t just that secrets don’t make friends; they end friendships, relationships, marriages, etc. One of the largest groups of people to keep secrets these days is African American gay men. What! You might say. Gay men are out of the closet, black and white alike. We all remember the real world San Francisco, the openly gay, interracial poster couple season. You might say, ‘hey, our community may be small, but we’re here and all you have to do is open your eyes to see us. Well, in some cases that is true, but many eyes are open with the wool coming down, because the so-called down-low brother’s are multiplying faster than rainbow flags. In case you were not aware of the term, a down-low brother is a gay man in secret; many have girlfriends or even wives, possibly children. They may or may not consider themselves homosexual, but nevertheless they have sex with other men for pleasure, in secret. Now, I am not one to even comment on lifestyle choices. To each his own, have fun and look good doing it is my motto, but don’t involve anyone unwillingly or unknowingly in it. There is no excuse for lying and cheating, opposite and same sex alike, but there is something fundamentally wrong about keeping your real sexual identity from a partner or spouse. What choices do women have if their partners cannot even be honest about their sexuality? That is the ultimate in unfair. And Dangerous. Is it possible that a down-low brother, so obsessed with secrecy and denial, might disregard or forget the condom? Is it outrageous to think that a man who lies to his partners would also be inconsiderate of safe sex practices? This is not a ’straight women beware’ rant. This is a get up and take responsibility for the truth and your lifestyle, be honest and forthright, get out of the shadows and into the open air where sexual freedom and choice is not only in the hands of one partner. Keep your sex on the up and up.

Anne Lamott wrote an interesting article for salon.com defending her Christian faith and her liberalism (something which many people find hard to reconcile), the article is here (you need to watch a short ad to view the whole thing):

God doesn’t take sides: http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/04/27/gods_warning_signs/index.html

for more interesting discourse on christianity and liberal politics, check out jim wallis’ book ‘god’s politics: why the right gets it wrong and the left doesn’t get it’ … i haven’t read the book yet but i did see him interviewed on ‘the daily show’ with jon stewart, and he seemed to have intriguing ideas that i hope blast the stereotype of christians standing firmly on the side of the radical right.

Apple gets upset over a new biography of Steve Jobs and pulls books by the same publisher from its stores.

Click here for the article

-Jean Chen

I don’t get to watch good news much; that is well –produced and meaningful. You may wonder, isn’t that a contradiction in terms? No, not if you tune into Nick News on Sunday night at 8:30 PST and see a true news artist, Linda Ellerbee has been wowing us public and commercial TV for decades and she still welcomes the audience’s participation by inviting your mind to join in. Last week she did a countdown show, not of hits but of misses: What kids hate most about their school. The site posted a listing of topics and the top 10 included, I hate school lunches to bullying, problems with popularity, dress codes, guns on campus and some really incredible (and basic) educational skills; like how teachers teach to the standardized tests (not for general education and uplifting of the youthful spirit),

The most alarming concern for me was the lack of school materials including textbooks, computers and unbelievably, dictionaries. Pages for homework assignments were torn out and some kids could only share books at school, make it impossible to succeed in a class because they had no tools to learn. So they organized a student walk out to highlight the issue. Great I say, but is anyone listening? Better than that, Ellerbee decided to send the findings to the governor and Department of Education of each state and the White House.

At least in California, I hope our the Governator reads the report before he beheads anymore core players like the teachers, nurses and firefighters, In a recent L.A. Times article, Schwarznegger referred to these groups as “special interests that will run TV ads calling me cruel and heartless,” they will organize protests out in front of the Capitol. Hopefully people will march and write letters and speak up to save our suffering schools and those that keep education alive. There is the possibility of this and actions like Ellerbee’s poll of students at large, will make a difference and the governor will hang on to the promises he made during his bid to unseat Gray Davis. Otherwise our public service workers, our children and citizenry will have gained more than an actor in Sacramento, We will have gained a sorrow greater than ever imagined. If you let people down, how can they ever live up to their potential and follow their dreams? Compassion apparently is not a benefit gleaned in the school of political advancement.

I’ve been pretty anti-fast food the past couple of months. After reading the first half of Fast Food Nation and watching Super Size Me I swore the stuff off.

The whole Wendy’s finger-in-the-chili scandal turns out to likely have been a fraud. But what about this.