SPB News for Thursday.

A new report by the Black AIDS Institute finds that "if black America were a country, it would rank 16th in the world in the number of people living with the AIDS virus." According to the report, "nearly 600,000 African-Americans are living with H.I.V" while "up to 30,000 are becoming infected each year."

"Pacific Gas and Electric Co., California's largest investor-owned utility, has contributed $250,000 to defeat a ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage in the state." The contribution will be paid for using "shareholder-funded political accounts," not by the utility's revenue from customers.

House apologizes for slavery

Non-binding resolution apologizes for slavery, 'Jim Crow' injustices.

As for the jury comprised of five whites and seven blacks, "we were all really good friends," Hendrix told the Montgomery Advertiser in July 2006. "There was a bond between us. It never got personal. I think we were very fortunate that we had a very congenial group of people who respected each other and listened to each other."

Pentagon study says Bush's "war on terror" off target --Study calls for "fundamental rethinking of U.S. strategy" to focus on minimizing overt military action and increasing intelligence collection and partnerships with law enforcement agencies around the world A Pentagon-commissioned study published Wednesday said the Bush administration's 7-year-old war-on-terror is off target. The report, done by Rand Corp. under a Pentagon commission, said the current strategy for defeating al Qaida has not been successful and is unlikely to do better without a shift in emphasis. It said since 2001, al Qaida has conducted a greater number of attacks across a larger geographic area than at any time in its history.

Obama to House Dems: If Sanctions Fail, Israel Will Likely Strike Iran Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, met with House Democrats yesterday, talking about his trip abroad and his observations. Obama told the caucus, according to an attendee, "Nobody said this to me directly but I get the feeling from my talks that if the sanctions don’t work Israel is going to strike Iran."

Defense firm, ex-employee spar in court --Whistleblower defendant: The faulty $40,000 systems already in use represented both a threat to U.S. troops and a possible criminal defrauding of the Department of Defense. Dennis P. Glynn, a military veteran and electrical engineer, claims he was fired from his senior position at a New Hampshire defense contractor in December 2006 after he alerted the Department of Defense that hundreds of the anti-terrorist systems it bought for deployment in Iraq were defective at high temperatures. Glynn alleges more than 700 electronic jamming systems meant to frustrate the detonation of IEDs were not recalled from the battlefield, even after the problem was identified, because Impact Science & Technology Inc. executives did not want to jeopardize their relationship with the government or EDO Corp., which acquired IST shortly thereafter in September 2006.

Bush signs new rules for spy agencies --The order has been under revision for more than a year. It was carried on in secret. President [sic] Bush approved an order Wednesday that rewrites the rules governing spying by U.S. intelligence agencies, both in the United States and abroad, and strengthens the authority of the national intelligence director, according to a U.S. official and government documents. Executive Order 12333 lays out the responsibilities of each of the 16 agencies. The new order gives the national intelligence director, a position created in 2005, new authority over any intelligence information collected that pertains to more than one agency.

Aide to U.S. Senator Jim Webb found dead from apparent gunshot wound Authorities in Botetourt County this morning discovered the body of a well-known Democratic operative and U.S. Senate aide along U.S. 220, dead from an apparent gunshot wound. The body of Frederick W. Hutchins Jr., 26, of Roanoke was found shortly after 7 a.m. along southbound U.S. 220 by a Botetourt County deputy who had stopped to check on a vehicle parked on the highway's shoulder, according to the sheriff's office. Hutchins was an aide to U.S. Senator Jim Webb, D-Va. Hutchins had been shot in the head, and a gun was found beneath his body, Sheriff Ronnie Sprinkle said.

School to Put Students In 'Prison' Jumpsuits As Punishment (Gonzales, TX) A school in Texas will force students who don't follow the rules to wear prison-like jumpsuits in a controversial move this coming school year. Violators will be forced to wear the jumpsuit for the day, the report said.

McCain trumpets oil drilling as ad likens Obama to Britney On the stump and in a new television ad, John McCain attacked Democratic candidate Barack Obama, accusing him of preferring to be an international celebrity over trying to lower gasoline prices at home. McInsane's campaign unveiled a television ad attacking Obama called "Celeb" that will air in Colorado and other battleground states including Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.