The Real Reason the Number of AIDS Cases Around the World Appears to Be Down

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

For Sale

Even though the former chairman of the Bill Clinton Foundation says donors to the Clinton Presidential Library were assured their names would not be revealed — ABC News is reporting that the Clinton Foundation has sold portions of the list to other foundations and non-profit groups. The names of more than 38,000 donors were sold between June of 2006 and May of this year. Mr. Clinton himself told reporters in September that the names should not be disclosed — "A lot of people gave me money with the understanding that they could give anonymously. And if they gave publicly, they would be the target for every other politician in America."

The Clinton Foundation says the list it sold included donors who gave $100 or less in response to direct mail solicitations.

New Math

The United Nations AIDS agency and the World Health Organization say worldwide AIDS cases have fallen by more than six million this year — but critics contend that is a correction from vastly over inflated numbers in the past. Many researchers say the U.N. previously overstated the extent of the epidemic deliberately — in order to gather more political and financial support.

Former WHO staffer Dr. Jim Chin says — "They've finally got caught with their pants down." Dr. Chin says it is difficult to tell how much of the decrease is due to new methodology — and how much reflects successes in AIDS treatment and prevention.

Role Model

Former longtime ABC News correspondent and anchor Carole Simpson is being accused of setting a poor example for the journalism students she now teaches at Emerson College in Boston.

Simpson took her class to a Hillary Clinton rally and then said to Clinton and the audience — "I want to tell you tonight, because I happen to be here with my students, that I endorse you for president of the United States. It's very freeing now that I'm not a journalist and I can speak my mind, and I wanted you to know I think you are the woman, and I think this is the time."

The professor who teaches the course with Simpson immediately told her the comments were inappropriate. Simpson then offered to resign, but the school declined. She now admits she made a mistake. But Simpson is considering an offer to appear at campaign events on behalf of Senator Clinton.

Hit Parade

And people by the thousands are downloading a ring tone inspired by Spanish King Juan Carlos' recent putdown of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez — when the king said to Chavez — "Why don't you just shut up?" A half-million people have downloaded the ring tone — and not just in Spain. A group of Venezuelan students is also doing it — one saying — "It's a form of protest. It's something that a lot of people would like to tell the president."

The company selling the ring tone used an actor to recreate the phrase in order to avoid legal issues — and it has made more than $2 million so far.

— FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.