Contrary to what some believe, all black opinion is not informed by what is discussed in houses of worship and barber shops. However, it would be foolish to deny that black churches, especially in the south, wield a lot of political and social power. That power could be used to help fight HIV and AIDS in the black community, but, by many accounts, the church is not doing its job in that arena.

For example, one HIV-positive church goer interviewed by the AP expected more from his minister after he was diagnosed than an instruction to "pray for forgiveness." This why Reverend Deborah Warren started the Regional Interfaith AIDS network in 1992 to change attitudes about HIV and AIDS and get the church more involved in prevention. Unfortunately, of the 700 churches in the Charlotte, NC, area, only 75 have joined the network.

CONTINUED »

When we talk about black people and AIDS, our minds often shift to Africa, where the AIDS epidemic has completely destroyed communities and left generations of orphans. A new report from the Black AIDS Institute says that we should also be paying close attention to AIDS in the black American community. According "Left Behind - Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS," the number of African Americans with AIDS is comparable to the numbers in some African countries.

CONTINUED »

In her new article in The Times of London, epidemiologist Elizabeth Pisani, an AIDS researcher for more than 10 years, says she believes political correctness has impeded the eradication of HIV and AIDS in Africa. Specifically, that the many nations and medical groups working to prevent the spread of the disease are unwilling to express this truth: "HIV is largely a sexually transmitted infection, so there must be something different about sex in Africa."

To help make her point, Pisani notes that though the popular assumption holds that poverty and a lack of education are the main reasons AIDS has spread like wildfire throughout sub-Saharan Africa, other impoverished nations are not nearly as plagued by the illness:

The truth is that a society in which many people have two or three partners on the go at any one time will produce a bigger epidemic than a society where people may have 10 partners in five years, but only one at a time. And it’s a fact that in parts of Africa, it’s more common for both men and women to have two or three simultaneous relationships than to have serial partners. Do people behave in this way because they are poor and ignorant? Not in Bangladesh, or Bolivia, or dozens of other countries where incomes and literacy are low. Indeed, in Africa, the incidence of HIV infection is highest in the richest households and the richest countries.

Pisani says these issues go unspoken because many people consider them racist. But without acknowledging them, she stresses, finding a way to combat the spread of HIV becomes even more nebulous than it already is.

Her grim solution? "Pray for better leaders."

The long, discouraging, and expensive struggle to find an AIDS vaccine has hit a major road block, and scientists are left confused as to what went wrong and where to go from here. Two field tests for the "most promising contender" out of the possible AIDS vaccines, "made from a common respiratory virus called adenovirus type 5 that had been crippled and then loaded with fragments of HIV," have been halted after it was discovered in one of the field tests that the vaccine not only didn't prevent the virus but may have also increased the risk of contracting it.

That National Institutes of Health are meeting next week to figure out where to go from here with the AIDS vaccine program. But scientists are saying the prognosis is grim.

"None of the products currently in the pipeline has any reasonable chance of being effective in field trials," Ronald C. Desrosiers, a molecular geneticist at Harvard University, declared last month at an AIDS conference in Boston. "We simply do not know at the present time how to design a vaccine that will be effective against HIV."

If you're waiting for the good news, there wasn't much of any in this story, sadly. [WP]

CONDOMS, CONDOMS, CONDOMS According to CDC data, there was an 80 percent rise in HIV infections among gay black men from 2001 to 2005. Eighty percent. "This dramatic increase in HIV rates is yet another in a series of clarion calls to Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services that young people need culturally relevant and realistic sex education to protect their health and save their lives," urged Debra Hauser, Executive Vice President at Advocates for Youth.

"The fact that this report comes on the heels of new data showing that 1 in 4 teen girls has had a sexually transmitted disease is further proof that the Administration's failed abstinence-only policy is putting young people in danger."

• Green funerals might be natural and good for the environment, but the whole concept is pretty hard to get used to.

• With a new law making HIV testing a part of pre-natal care and a requirement for some newborns, New Jersey is on the forefront of the fight against HIV transmission to babies.

• India is definitely the outsourcing capital of the world…

• If not their parents, at least somebody is interested in keeping young black kids at healthy weights.

In the past, Stereohyped has been slightly slackerish in its sports coverage. Perhaps this signed Dwyane Wade basketball makes up for it…a little? If you bid on it, as part of the Bid 2 Beat Aids auction, and win, I promise he won't conduct a sting operation to steal it from you at gunpoint. Scout's honor!

Whether you like Dwyane Wade or just like giving to AIDS charities, you can bid here to make this basketball your very own.

All proceeds from the Bid 2 Beat AIDS auction go toward LIFEbeat, the music industry’s charitable organization dedicated to reaching Americas youth with the message of HIV/AIDS prevention. There’s lots more on the Bid 2 Beat AIDS eBay page, so peruse at your leisure. The auctions end Monday.

Stereohyped has teamed up with the non-profit LIFEbeat and the Bid 2 Beat AIDS charity auction to raise awareness and provide support to the AIDS community. All funds generated go directly to LIFEbeat.

• Gay black men are “more than twice as likely to be infected with the AIDS virus than their white counterparts.” Can we get that put on a condom box? [QT]

• Naomi Campbell should invest in better disguises when she visits her new man. [PH]

• Rappers are dropping like flies today. [TMZ]

• Kissing is an important part of romantic relationships. Apparently, an actual study was needed to come to this conclusion. [Jossip]

• Dave Chappelle took to the Laugh Factory stage Sunday and beat his own stand up record by staying there for six hours and 12 minutes. He was supposedly inspired after he heard Dane Cook was trying to take his title. Hey Dane, what did the five fingers say to the face?[CNN]

• Talking: so easy, a caveman could do it.

• Superbugs are invading America's schools! What should we do!?! Just practice simple hygiene, apparently.

• African American caregivers are less healthy than white caregivers. Huh?

• Blacks…HIV…renal failure…all bad…

• In case you've been living under a rock, white people are smarter than blacks. Don't shoot the messenger! It's a fact.

• African American medical school enrollment increased this year, as did the number of proud, braggy black grandmas. [DFP]

• BET will air the story of Frank Lucas, the man who inspired the movie American Gangster. But, uh, kids? Don't try this in your home town. [PR]

• Damn, C-Murder must regret his first choice in rap alias every single day. [AP]

• I wrote about this yesterday, but I detected a hints warmth and understanding toward the racist old researcher in this Fox piece. [FOX]

• Let's steer clear of the sugar daddies, ladies. [MNT]

• The FDA just approved a new HIV drug that attacks the virus in a different way — great news for patients who have developed a resistance to current HIV drugs.

• Calling Supreme Court justices — women are just as likely to get abortions when it's illegal as they are when it's not.

• Breast cancer treatment differs between black and white women. No way!

• Prostate cancer is more likely to return in blacks than in whites.

• First borns have higher IQs? As a last born, i recent the implications.

• I draw the line at the B Phone. I think. [NYP]

• Charlie Crist, Florida's new Republican governor, isn't afraid to be seen with black people, believe it or not. [AP]

• Are black churches doing enough to educate about HIV/AIDS? The short answer is no, but at least some of them are trying. [AJC]

• Aww, Aaron McGruder. Okay, that's all. Carry on. [SJMN]

• Of course (this is what you do in college), Columbia students are rallying against nooses. [CNN]

• Damn. This study made me take a long, hard look in the mirror. Actually, it was a long hard look into my web cam, which is mirror-like. A little.

• Women and blacks are somehow less deserving of heart devices than white men.

• Hopefully, $35 million in CDC grant money will increase HIV testing in the black community.

• The appendix finally gets a little appreciation.

• Soon, our clothes might help prevent us from coming into contact with germs.