WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 (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.
New kid on the block -- The New York Observer says Conrad Black, the owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post, has joined a group of investors that intends to spend up to $15 million to launch the New York Sun, which is being touted as a rival to the New York Times.
Stargazing -- Campaigns and Elections magazine's Ron Faucheux lets us know that the search for the rising political stars of politics 2002 has begun. Rising Stars include up-and-coming political party leaders, campaign consultants, public affairs executives, campaign managers, Political Action Committee officials and issue advocates with substantial career achievements. Current candidates for public office and elected officials will not be considered. Winners will be profiled in the magazine and the deadline for nominations is Dec. 28.
Lonely quest -- For years U.S. Naval Reserve Officer Sam Wright has been working to ensure that overseas military personnel and national guard members have their civilian rights protected while they are on duty. While most all employees are covered by laws protecting their jobs, status and benefits when they are called up, the same protections do not apply to students. Wright believes Congress needs to enact federal legislation to ensure that college and graduate students who are called up have their academic standing protected, their place held in graduate school, and are shielded from economic hardships like loss of pre-paid tuition if a student is forced to leave school in the middle of the term.
Mapmaker, mapmaker, make me a map -- Tennessee Democrats are asking a three-judge federal panel to draw the new lines for the state's 132 General Assembly seats and nine congressional districts. Republicans in the state argue that there is no longer sufficient time for the Legislature to act and give voters adequate notice of the new lines for the 2002 election. John Ryder, the attorney for the GOP, was also critical of the state's office of solicitor general for taking the position that no action can be taken before a plan is enacted.
"The state is trying to put the (GOP) in an untenable position," Ryder told the Tennessee press. "We can't yell 'Stop, thief!' until something has been stolen. The Legislature might do any number of things, or it might do nothing."
No to 'Mini-Me' -- The Democratic Leadership Council has weighed in on the latest developments in the cloning debate. In a piece entitled "Human Cloning: No to Mini-Me, Yes to Research," the group argues that the announcement that a Massachusetts company has created the first known cloned human cells should not be a signal to "revive previously stalled legislation to ban all forms of human cloning."
"We agree," the DLC says, "that Congress should act to ban cloning aimed at producing 'Mini-Me' replicas of human beings." But the group says future policy proscriptions are simple: "It's simple: say 'no' to Mini-Me, but yes to life-saving research."
Testing teacher -- The Progressive Policy Institute, a Democrat think tank, is calling for a comprehensive re-evaluation and revision of current teacher certification standards. In a paper written by Dr. Frederick Hess, director of the Virginia Center for Educational Policy Studies at the University of Virginia, a call is issued for "competitive certification" to expand the pool of potential teachers and address issues of current teacher quality.
Hess proposes an alternative competitive system that would provide flexibility and responsibility to schools and districts to identify and hire qualified teachers. In a release, PPI said, "Approaches could include innovative measures such as replacing teacher certification with continuous teacher training or professional development and transforming 'practice teaching' into a 'residency program,' not unlike that found in the medical profession."
Outta' here - The Supreme Court has rejected a plea by the United Steelworkers of America labor union to declare the North American Free Trade Agreement unconstitutional because it was not ratified by an affirmative two-thirds vote of the United States Senate. That is the constitutionally mandated majority for treaties. Lower courts have held that NAFTA is not a treaty.
In other news, they're playing hockey in hell -- The Nov. 26 online edition of Pravda, the former official organ of the Soviet Communist Party, ran an op-ed piece by noted conservative commentator Pat Buchanan on the need to end undeclared wars in the United States. Buchanan, one of the staunchest anti-communists in the Reagan White House, would likely once have rather been accused of voting for Democrat George McGovern for president in 1972 than appear in Pravda's pages. How times have changed.
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