WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Capital Comment -- News notes, political rumors, and important events that shape politics and public policy in Washington and the world from United Press International.
Long march forward -- The official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, reports that Chinese educational departments "are breaking the nation's thousands-year-long taboo concerning discussion of sex, and are to let children have more access to sex information."
According to the report, comprehensive sex courses that cover such issues as sexual ethics, procreation, AIDS prevention and behavior are being made available to middle-school students in more than 10 major cities including Shanghai, Wuhan, Harbin and Xi'an. Xinhua says that about 20 million children reach puberty in China each year.
Out, for now -- Colorado Republican Rep. Bob Schaffer will be retiring from Congress at the end of the current term but not necessarily from public life. Schaffer, a former state legislator, pledged to voters during his first congressional campaign to serve no more than six years and is leaving because of it. However, sources in Washington expect that GOP Gov. Bill Owens will likely tap Schaffer as his running mate for the next election. Owens and current Colorado Lt. Gov. Joe Rogers have a notoriously contentious relationship, leading many to suspect that Rogers will run for a congressional seat rather than re-election. Early betting is that Marilyn Musgrave, currently a member of the state legislature, will try to succeed Schaffer in Congress.
Great expectations -- One reason that Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is so high on getting Iowa GOP Rep. Greg Ganske elected to the Senate is that it will take some of the pressure off him -- the medical pressure. Several times during his Senate tenure, Frist has been called upon to perform emergency medical procedures on tourists who are stricken while in the Capitol -- and at least one time for the benefit of South Carolina's 99-year-old Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond. Frist tells groups, one suspects in jest, that having another doctor in the Senate could make things a little easier on him.
Money Grebe-ing -- National Review reports that Michael W. Grebe, chief executive officer of the Milwaukee-based law firm of Foley and Lardner, will be named the next president of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation . The Bradley Foundation is one of the most important philanthropic groups on the right, underwriting a number of conservative causes. Grebe starts in July.
Marching to a different drummer -- Supporters of market economics are mobilizing for the first-ever Walk for Capitalism on Dec. 2. Conceived by an Australian talk show host named Prodos to generate a show of support for capitalism and human freedom, organizers say that events will take place in more than 100 cities around the world including Washington.
Oh, so that's what makes them different -- Author and Clinton defender Gene Lyons offers this view on the difference between the two political parties in an interview with the liberal media Web site Buzzflash: "Metaphorically speaking, Democrats have become the women's party and the Republicans are the man's party. That's certainly true in the South. I mean, being a Republican, for most men, is a matter of 'are you a real man?' You don't have to go any further than gun control for an example. It's got to do with being masculine, decisive, forceful. It's almost as if we've now recreated the war between the sexes in political terms. The Democrats are the party of 'let's be reasonable about this, can we agree, let's talk this out, maybe we should try counseling.' The Republicans are the party of shout and scream, and break things, and get their way or else ... Democrats won't go there - most Democrats won't. I thought that was what was so entertaining about Larry Flynt...(He) was willing to be as low-down and dirty as they were, except without the pretense of morality."
You won't see this very often -- Shannon Reeves, president of the Oakland, Calif., chapter of the NAACP, is now the secretary of the California Republican Party. Reeves, who lost a campaign for mayor of Oakland several years ago, claims credit for taking his NAACP chapter from 400 to over 4,000 members during his tenure.
Not incorrect -- Monday's Capital Comment passed along a claim from Iain Murray of the non-partisan Statistical Assessment Service that The New York Times erred when it referred to Start II as an accomplishment of the presidential administration of Bush the elder. However, Paul Wilkinson, who runs the communications end of California GOP Rep. Chris Cox's leadership office, directed us to page 34 of the Speaker's Advisory Group on Russia report that says, "During Yeltsin's June 1992 visit to Washington he and President Bush signed agreements that engendered great hopes for enduring cooperation between Washington and Moscow. Most significant was a joint understanding that was to serve as the framework for the START II Treaty that Presidents Yeltsin and Bush signed on January 3, 1993" when the current president's father was, indeed, still the nation's chief executive.
And the award goes to... -- The World Peace Prize Awarding Council is awarding their top prize to Annette Lu, the vice president of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Lu, the first woman to receive the prize, is being recognized for "her outstanding achievements in advancing peace and stability, for her dedicated commitment to democracy in Taiwan, and for advancing the cause of women's rights."
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