1.	At its second session (17-21 January 1994), the Preparatory Committee for the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons invited the Secretary-General to prepare for the Committee's third session (12-16 September 1994) a short background paper on the main developments since the Fourth Review Conference (1990), within and outside the framework of the United Nations, with regard to the implementation of the tenth paragraph of the preamble of the Treaty, i.e., the achievement of a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty. At its third session, the Committee requested the Secretariat to amend the paper in the light of comments made in the course of the session, to update it by taking into account current events and to submit it to the Conference. The present paper is submitted in response to that request.
2.	The question of nuclear-weapon test explosions represents one of the longest-standing issues on the disarmament agenda of the international community. It has been dealt with in the framework of multilateral, trilateral and bilateral negotiations since 1954, when India proposed a so-called "standstill agreement" on testing. Interest in the subject first arose as the general public became increasingly aware of the [potentially] harmful nature and effects of the fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests and as it became apparent that no region could avoid being affected by radioactive debris. The issue of the ban on nuclear-weapon tests was subsequently pursued intermittently as an element of comprehensive plans for arms control and disarmament, as a separate measure interlinked with progress in other disarmament areas and as an arms limitation issue on its own. In each case, the question of verification has played an important role and has influenced the course and outcome of the negotiations. By 1994, three treaties regarding nuclear testing - one multilateral (see paras. 5-7) and two bilateral (see para. 9) - had been concluded. They have limited the environments for carrying out such tests, on the one hand, and placed ceilings on the size of the explosions, on the other. The declared objective of the ongoing negotiations is to achieve a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty.
3.	It is estimated that from the beginning of the nuclear age on 16 July 1945, when the first atomic test was carried out at Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States of America, to the end of 1993, some 2,000 nuclear test explosions were conducted in the world as follows: United States, 1,051; 1/ Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 715; 2/ United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 44; 3/ France, 192; and China, 39. 4/ In addition, in 1974, India announced that it had conducted an underground explosion of a nuclear device for peaceful purposes. Of the total of all tests carried out so far, it is estimated that 579 took place in various environments prior to the signature of the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water (the Partial Test-Ban Treaty). With the conclusion of that Treaty in 1963, the three nuclear-weapon States parties ceased all their tests in the three prohibited environments. France and China, while not becoming parties to the Treaty, stopped such tests in 1975 and 1980, respectively. Since then, all the tests carried out have been confined to underground tests.
4.	Formal efforts to negotiate an international agreement to end nuclear tests were initiated in the five-Power Subcommittee of the United Nations Disarmament Commission in 1955. In 1957, the General Assembly included the question as a separate item on its agenda. The issue received further prominence with the convening in October 1958 of a tripartite Conference on the Discontinuance of Nuclear Weapon Tests, composed of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, which focused exclusively on the issue. The Conference adjourned its work in January 1962 without being able to complete the drafting of a treaty owing to persistent disagreement on the adequacy of national means of detection as the method of verification of the test-ban treaty in all environments. During the larger part of this period (1958-1961), the three nuclear-weapon States observed a unilateral voluntary moratorium on testing. In 1961, the Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament, meeting at Geneva, became the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament, and consideration of the test-ban issue was moved to that Committee in 1962.
5.	Building on some elements of progress made in the tripartite Conference before it adjourned, the objective of the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament continued to be the achievement of a comprehensive nuclear-weapon test agreement. Various differences in positions between the negotiating parties were further narrowed down. The main remaining problem, however, concerned verification. Apart from the questions of the number and location both of the control posts and of the automatic seismic stations, and their method of operation and ownership (national or international), the main difficulty centred on the number of international on-site inspections permitted to be carried out on the territory of the nuclear-weapon States: three or seven. The solution to this question remained elusive and prompted the three nuclear-weapon States members of the Committee, i.e., the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, to pursue an agreement with a more limited scope, in which the question of verification would not create a major problem since it could be ensured through national rather than international means. That meant leaving the underground tests outside the scope of the treaty, which, in the opinion of the Western nuclear-weapon States, required an international system of verification, including on-site inspections.
6.	Agreement was reached on 5 August 1963, when the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union signed, in Moscow, the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water. They also invited all other States to join in. The Treaty entered into force on 10 October 1963; as of 31 December 1994, there were 124 parties to the Treaty.
7.	The Treaty, which is of unlimited duration, affirmed in its preamble that the three original parties to the Treaty, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, were seeking to achieve the discontinuance of all test explosions of nuclear weapons for all time and were determined to continue negotiations to that end. That statement was reiterated five years later, in 1968, in the tenth preambular paragraph of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which recalled the determination expressed by the parties to the Partial Test-Ban Treaty to bring the testing of nuclear weapons to an end.
8.	Since the conclusion of the Partial Test-Ban Treaty, the efforts of the international community to ban nuclear-weapon tests have continued in two directions. On the one hand, appeals were made, mainly in the General Assembly, for transitional measures of restraint that would suspend testing or limit or reduce the size and number of tests pending the conclusion of a comprehensive ban. On the other hand, the nuclear-weapon States were urged to proceed expeditiously towards negotiating such a comprehensive ban.
10.	The conclusion of the two Treaties was welcomed by the international community. However, both in the Conference on Disarmament and in the General Assembly, a number of States repeated the view that the partial approach could not replace the need for a comprehensive ban on all tests, which remained an urgent objective. Year after year, the General Assembly has continued to stress this point in its resolutions.
11.	The efforts to arrive at a comprehensive ban on nuclear testing have taken place mainly in the Conference on Disarmament and its predecessors at Geneva. While the negotiations conducted in that body touched upon a number of intricate aspects of such a ban, they mostly focused on the question of verification, still perceived to be a crucial element in any such undertaking. It was not before the second half of the 1970s, however, that the considerations became fully focused on this particular aspect of such a Treaty. In 1976, the Conference on Disarmament agreed to establish an Ad Hoc Group of Scientific Experts to Consider International Cooperative Measures to Detect and Identify Seismic Events. This work has continued until the present and, on the whole, has achieved significant progress.
12.	The consideration of a comprehensive test-ban treaty received some special impetus at the first special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament, held in 1978. In the Final Document of the session, Assembly resolution S-10/2, adopted by consensus on 30 June 1978, the Assembly stated in paragraph 51 that a treaty prohibiting nuclear-weapon tests "should be concluded urgently and the result submitted for full consideration by the multilateral negotiating body with a view to the submission of a draft treaty to the General Assembly at the earliest possible date".
13.	The following year, 1979, the three nuclear-weapon States parties to the Partial Test-Ban Treaty - the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States - resumed trilateral talks on a comprehensive test-ban treaty. Their negotiations lasted until 1980 and made notable progress towards the achievement of a verifiable comprehensive agreement on the cessation of tests. A detailed report on the negotiations was presented to the multilateral negotiating body in 1980 7/ and, later that year, to the Second NPT Review Conference. Shortly afterwards, the negotiations were suspended. Nevertheless, efforts to achieve a comprehensive agreement on the cessation of tests continued within the framework of the multilateral negotiating body at Geneva. However, relations between the Western negotiating partners on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other had meanwhile worsened considerably.
14.	The deterioration in international relations as of the beginning of the 1980s led, in part, to changes in the policies of the major nuclear-weapon States on the question of a comprehensive test-ban treaty. Thus, the United States made public its view that nuclear testing was important for the security of the Western alliance, which depended on the maintenance of a reliable nuclear deterrence and that, consequently, it could consider a comprehensive test-ban treaty only as a "long-term objective" whose realization must be sought in the context of radical nuclear arms reductions, expanded confidence-building measures and, particularly, improved verification capabilities. France and the United Kingdom, in their policy pronouncements, reflected the same basic position on this issue. The non-aligned States, on the other hand, continued to maintain their long-standing view on the question of testing, namely, that a comprehensive test-ban treaty was an urgent requirement since it would make a significant contribution to ending the qualitative improvement of nuclear weapons and the development of new types of such weapons and of preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. This, by itself, they noted, would strengthen international peace and security of all States and would significantly advance the cause of nuclear disarmament, which the three nuclear-weapon States parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons were under commitment to pursue in good faith. These basic positions on the question of testing, particularly the one emphasizing its urgency and the second placing it in a broader context of disarmament and international security, permeated all subsequent efforts to restart the work on such a treaty.
15.	The Conference on Disarmament became seized of the matter once again in 1982, when for the first time an agreement was reached on the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee on a Nuclear Test Ban. The mandate of the Committee was a limited one, however. It achieved no tangible results in its work because of continued disagreement over the scope of that mandate. Some measure of progress was achieved, however, in the Ad Hoc Group of Scientific Experts to Consider International Cooperative Measures to Detect and Identify Seismic Events. The Group held a number of substantive discussions and submitted periodic reports to the Conference on Disarmament. More specifically, in 1984, the Group conducted what appeared to be a successful trial data exchange test for a proposed world seismic data network (GSETT-1). Subsequently, in 1991 the Group started a full-scale data exchange test (GSETT-2) (see para. 39 below).
16.	The issue continued also to figure prominently on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly. In addition to various resolutions urging the nuclear-weapon States to intensify negotiations on a comprehensive test-ban treaty (none adopted by consensus, however), the Assembly, in 1986 and 1987, called upon the nuclear-weapon States to provide information on their nuclear explosions and requested all other States that possessed data on such events to make them available to the United Nations. Since then, the Secretary-General has submitted annual reports to the Assembly with the data received.
17.	This, then, was the general background against which the Fourth NPT Review Conference was held in August 1990. The question of a comprehensive test-ban treaty was one of the main issues in the discussions at the Conference. However, the basic positions of the various political groups remained much the same, notwithstanding some progress in the consideration of the issue outside the framework of the Review Conference, most notably an agreement on a compromise mandate for the Ad Hoc Committee on a Nuclear Test Ban reached in the Conference on Disarmament earlier that year. Owing to the outstanding differences, as well as differing assessments of the state of the implementation of the Treaty's article VI (commitment to pursue disarmament efforts), the Conference was unable to adopt a final declaration.
18.	The question of a comprehensive test-ban treaty continued to be most actively pursued on the agenda of the international community following the Fourth Review Conference. In this connection, the States parties, both within and outside the framework of the United Nations, began to pursue several different approaches which, in their respective views, could advance the achievement of such a treaty. In the first place, this included action in the General Assembly. As in previous years, the Assembly adopted various resolutions that underlined the importance of the issue and called for various specific steps. Another approach, which attracted a great deal of attention, was a proposal to convert the Partial Test-Ban Treaty into a comprehensive test-ban treaty through an amendment procedure. Furthermore, in a major development, nuclear-weapon States were able to declare unilateral voluntary moratoriums on testing. Finally, the Conference on Disarmament, in its consideration of the issue, made a significant breakthrough regarding the mandate of its Ad Hoc Committee on a Nuclear Test Ban which enabled it to begin full-fledged negotiations. Some of these developments were a direct result of substantively changed circumstances in international relations characterized by unprecedented improvements in the relationship between the major military Powers.
19.	The consideration by the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session, in 1990, of the question of the cessation of nuclear-weapon tests reflected, to a large extent, the same differences in position on the issue which had characterized the work of the Fourth Review Conference earlier that year. As a result, the Assembly, as in previous years, adopted two resolutions on the subject-matter which placed different emphasis on various aspects and methods of achieving this objective. The two resolutions were initiated by Western non-nuclear-weapon States and non-aligned States, respectively. Some nuclear-weapon States cast a negative vote on both resolutions, some abstained and one voted in favour. The vote was very much a reflection of the generally held positions of those States on this issue.
20.	Considerable progress took place in the consideration of the question at the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly, in 1991. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Assembly was able to adopt one single resolution on a comprehensive test-ban treaty, calling for the early discontinuance of all nuclear-test explosions for all time. This was the result of efforts which had begun at the previous session. It proved possible owing to further convergence of positions among the non-nuclear-weapon States. Some nuclear-weapon States, however, continued to have reservations about specific provisions of the resolution and voted against it.
21. In 1992, at its forty-seventh session, the General Assembly again adopted one single resolution on the subject, although with one negative vote. A major breakthrough occurred at the forty-eighth session when the Assembly not only adopted one single resolution on the subject, but also for the first time, without a vote. This was made possible owing to an agreement reached in the Conference on Disarmament in August 1993 to begin negotiations on the issue. Thus, in resolution 48/70 of 16 December 1993, the Assembly welcomed the decision of the Conference, called upon all States to support the negotiation and urged the Conference "to proceed intensively, as a priority task, in its negotiation of such a universal and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty". At its forty-ninth session on 15 December 1994, the General Assembly adopted, once again by consensus, resolution 49/70, in which it urged all States participating in the Conference on Disarmament to negotiate intensively "as a high priority task", and to conclude a universal and multilaterally and effectively verifiable comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty which contributed to nuclear disarmament and the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in all its aspects. The five nuclear-weapon States were among the sponsors of the draft resolution.
22.	In the course of the deliberations on this issue in the General Assembly during this period, a number of States expressed the view that there was no "linkage" between the nuclear test ban and a moratorium on testing unilaterally declared by nuclear-weapon States, on the one hand, and the question of the indefinite extension of the non-proliferation Treaty, on the other.
24.	A majority of participating States favoured this course of action since, in their opinion, it provided the quickest possible way to achieve a complete cessation of nuclear testing. Other States, however, pointed to the difficulties of accepting the proposed approach and, therefore, did not consider it practical. The problem cited most frequently by the latter was that of verification of the ban on underground tests which, they thought, would not be adequately addressed in a simple amendment to the Treaty. With the amendment procedure, in the opinion of those States, the verification issue could not properly be resolved. In this connection, nuclear-weapon States and some non-nuclear-weapon States pointed to the Conference on Disarmament as the most proper venue for the negotiations of a comprehensive test ban.
26.	Pursuant to that decision, the President conducted consultations and in October 1992 an understanding was reached by a majority of the parties to the Treaty that a special meeting of States parties would be held in 1993. Its task would be to review the developments on the issue of nuclear testing and to take appropriate decisions.
28.	During the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly, on 4 October 1993, a meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Heads of Delegation of the Movement of the Non-Aligned Countries was held at United Nations Headquarters, under the chairmanship of Indonesia. In the communiqué of the meeting, 11/ the participants underscored the value of the de facto moratoriums on nuclear tests and, at the same time, of the commitment of the nuclear-weapon States to work towards a comprehensive test-ban treaty. They endorsed the work of the Amendment Conference in seeking the discontinuance of all tests in all environments and for all time. They also endorsed the decision by the Conference on Disarmament to give its Ad Hoc Committee on a Nuclear Test Ban a mandate to negotiate such a ban. They further affirmed that the pursuit of this objective under the auspices of the Amendment Conference and the Conference on Disarmament was mutually supportive and complementary. They stressed the importance of the expeditious conclusion of a comprehensive nuclear test ban in view of the contribution it could make to nuclear disarmament and to nuclear non-proliferation.
30.	The question of a moratorium on nuclear-weapon tests, a long-standing issue on the agenda of the international community, has achieved significant prominence since the 1990 Review Conference. In October 1991, President Mikhail Gorbachev, responding to an earlier initiative of President George Bush on a number of unilateral, related steps on nuclear arms control and disarmament and confidence-building measures, announced a series of steps that would be taken unilaterally by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. One of the measures announced was an immediate one-year unilateral moratorium on nuclear-weapon tests. He expressed the hope that other nuclear Powers would do the same.
31.	In April 1992, France announced its decision to suspend the testing of nuclear weapons until the end of 1992. Later that year, on 24 September, the United States Congress decided that no underground test of nuclear weapons would be conducted after 30 September 1992 and before 1 July 1993. The legislation also placed limits on the number of tests to be permitted annually after 1 July 1993 and prohibited testing altogether after 30 September 1996, unless another State conducted a nuclear test after that date. The United Kingdom, which was conducting its own test at the test sites of the United States, accepted the moratorium as well. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation decided to extend its one-year unilateral moratorium to 1 July 1993.
32.	In July 1993, the new United States Administration announced its decision to extend the moratorium on nuclear testing, at least until the end of September 1994, as long as no other nation tested, and called upon the other nuclear Powers to do the same. If those nations were to join the United States in observing the moratorium, the Administration said, the five nuclear Powers would be in the strongest possible position to negotiate a comprehensive nuclear test ban and to discourage other nations from developing their own nuclear arsenals. 13/ Also in July 1993, the Russian Federation announced the extension of its moratorium "for as long as the moratorium declared by other States is observed de jure and de facto by them". 14/ In February 1995, the Russian Federation reiterated its commitment to adhere to the indefinite trilateral moratorium on nuclear testing as long as similar moratoriums announced by other nuclear Powers were adhered to.
36.	Since the Fourth Review Conference in 1990, the status of nuclear-weapon tests conducted has been as follows: 18 tests were carried out in 1990; 14 tests in 1991; 8 tests in 1992; 1 test in 1993; and 2 tests in 1994. Of the total of 43 nuclear-weapon tests, China conducted 7 tests, France 12, the Soviet Union 1, the United Kingdom 2, and the United States carried out 21 tests.
37.	Following the decision on the mandate of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Nuclear Test Ban reached at the 1990 session, in which the Ad Hoc Committee was requested to initiate, as a step towards achieving a nuclear test-ban treaty, substantive work on specific and interrelated test-ban issues, including structure and scope as well as verification and compliance, the work of the Conference on Disarmament on this issue gained a new impetus. The consideration, at first, touched in broad terms upon the diverse aspects of such a treaty including, in particular, sensitive issues of the verification provisions.
38.	In all these considerations, the questions concerning verification provisions attracted the greatest attention. It was generally recognized that, in order to ensure compliance with a future test ban, an effective, internationally applicable verification system would be required. Some of the issues were: the substantial role that a global seismic monitoring network would have, especially in the underground test environment; the use of additional non-seismic verification technologies for the detection of nuclear tests in various environments, particularly in relation to evasion scenarios, and the possible use of such techniques for the detection of pre-testing preparations; the costs of a future verification system vis-à-vis its capabilities; the implementing agency, its powers and function and cost; the close interrelationship of applicable verification techniques and the scope of obligations under the treaty; and a possible mix of national and international means of verification, taking into account cost-effectiveness.
39.	Continuing its work on the subject of verification, the Ad Hoc Group of Scientific Experts to Consider International Cooperative Measures to Detect and Identify Seismic Events (see para. 15 above) completed a comprehensive seismological evaluation of its second technical test (GSETT-2). 19/ Taking into account that evaluation, it also focused on the reassessment of the initial concept of a global system for the exchange of seismic data worked out in 1989. 20/ The Group further discussed the schedule and plans for developing, testing and evaluating an experimental international seismic monitoring system. This effort, referred to as GSETT-3, is under way and the Group intended to start full-scale testing on a global scale by 1 January 1995.
40.	A new, substantively different stage in the work of the Conference on Disarmament on this issue was reached towards the end of its 1993 session. On 10 August 1993, the Conference took a consensus decision to give its Ad Hoc Committee on a Nuclear Test Ban a mandate to negotiate a comprehensive test-ban treaty. It also entrusted the Chairman of the Committee to initiate a process of consultations with a view to reaching agreement on specific wording for a negotiating mandate and on organizing the negotiations to begin in January 1994.
41.	Also during the Conference on Disarmament's 1993 session, Sweden submitted for further consideration a draft comprehensive test-ban treaty 21/ and a further revised draft during the inter-sessional work. 22/ Subsequently, Australia also submitted a draft which dealt with a structural outline of a comprehensive test-ban treaty 23/ and later submitted a resource paper on draft treaty elements.
"In the exercise of its responsibilities as the sole multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community, the Conference on Disarmament decides to re-establish an Ad Hoc Committee under item 1 of its agenda entitled 'Nuclear test ban', and to give priority to its work.
"The Conference directs the Ad Hoc Committee to negotiate intensively a universal and multilaterally and effectively verifiable comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty, which would contribute effectively to the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in all its aspects, to the process of nuclear disarmament and therefore to the enhancement of international peace and security.
"Pursuant to its mandate, the Ad Hoc Committee will take into account all existing proposals and future initiatives, as well as the work of the Ad Hoc Group of Scientific Experts to Consider International Cooperative Measures to Detect and Identify Seismic Events. The Conference requests the Ad Hoc Committee to establish the necessary working groups in order to carry forward effectively this negotiating mandate: these should include at least two working groups, one on verification and one on legal and institutional issues, which should be established in the initial stage of the negotiations, and any others which the Committee may subsequently decide upon.
44.	The results of the negotiations in the Ad Hoc Committee on the draft treaty are included in a rolling text which comprises three parts: part 1 represents the present stage of the elaboration of the treaty provisions which command a certain degree of consensus at this stage; part 2 contains provisions which need more extensive negotiation; and part 3 comprises a list of documents containing proposals of delegations.
46.	Upon resuming its work on 31 January 1995, the Conference on Disarmament re-established the Ad Hoc Committee on a Nuclear Test Ban with the same mandate as approved on 25 January 1994.
1/	Source: United States Department of Energy, Statement of 7 December 1993. The figure of 1,051 includes 204 unannounced nuclear tests between 1963 and 1990.
2/	The figure includes additional tests announced by the Soviet authorities in September 1990 for the period 1949-1990. Source: SIPRI Yearbook 1993, chap. 6, appendix 6A, pp. 254-257.
3/	CD/PV/658, p. 14, 5 August 1993.
4/	SIPRI Yearbook 1993, chap. 6; appendix 6A, pp. 254-257.
5/	The instruments of ratification of the two Treaties were exchanged on 11 December 1990.
6/	CD/PV.622, p. 7, 26 May 1992.
8/	The report of the Amendment Conference was issued as document PTBT/CONF/13/Rev.1.
9/	Ibid., part I, introduction, para. 26.
12/	A/49/287-S/1994/894, annex, chap. I, paras. 51 and 52.
14/	CD/PV.658, p. 17, 5 August 1993.
16/	CD/PV.693, p. 20, 31 January 1995.
17/	Arms Control Today, November 1993, p. 29.
26/	Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 27 (A/49/27), chap. III, sect. A.
28/	CD/PV.693, p. 20, January 1995.


text:
Gay Rights: Not Question of If, But When
Although gay rights were given a mighty push by the Supreme Court, it is not clear Colorado is ready to overturn its constitutional ban. In 2016 possibly, but 2014 may be too soon. Opinion on the issues is still closely divided, and 2014 could be a lower turnout, anti-establishment-type election.
"A poll released two months ago indicated that Colorado residents now support gay marriage 51 percent to 43 percent. Among voters younger than 30, it passes by a 74 percent to 17 percent spread, according to left-leaning Public Policy Polling.
Public opinion, however, doesn't always translate to votes on Election Day, Denver pollster Floyd Ciruli said.
Catholics, including those who are older and some who identify as Democrats, would be less likely to support it. Latino and African-American voters also have traditionally opposed gay marriage.
Those demographics, however, are changing. African-American voters have shifted since President Obama said last year his opinion on the issue had "evolved," Ciruli said. Latinos younger than 30, for example, support gay marriage by more than 65 percent, which tracks with the rest of young voters on the issue in Colorado". (Denver Post, 6-27-13)
Denver Post: Colorado reacts to Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage
Pueblo Incumbent Forced Into Recall
State Senator Angela Giron is in a fight to keep her seat and she could lose. A local group of voters passionate about gun rights collected about than 13,000 signatures, and more than 12,000 were verified. That was more than enough to make the ballot and the 90 percent verification rate showed organizational skill.
Even though Giron's district is 50 percent Democrat, the special election will likely attract few voters and the Pueblo Freedom and Rights group have demonstrated their ability to attract voters and get them to take action. In addition, Pueblo Democrats often fight in primaries and sometimes punish incumbent officeholders. They just tossed out an incumbent DA.
Giron is now the second senate seat in southern Colorado in a recall.
Expect a lot of out-of-state money defending the Democrats and a lot of out-of-district visitors, both political celebrities and door-to-door walkers, trying to save the incumbents.
'"The signatures verified clearly shows a lot of passion in her district," said political analyst Floyd Ciruli. "And in a recall election, there's going to be low turnout, which raises questions if she can get her supporters out there."
Ciruli notes that Giron is married to Pueblo City Council President Steve Nawrocki.
"This will be a major fight," Ciruli said. "In Pueblo she's tied into the political circles and can get out her message and quite possibly the vote."' (Denver Post, 6-24-13)
Denver Post: Angela Giron recall effort moves forward with signatures certified
The Buzz: Democrats on defensive
What's Behind Colorado's Hard Left Turn?
Patrick Malone, reporter for the Fort Collins Coloradoan, just completed an analysis of the recent shifts in Colorado politics.
He made use of The Buzz to analyze the "Hard Left Turn" in the state during the last decade, from George W. Bush winning by 5 points in 2004 to Barack Obama's 5-point win in 2012.
'"The Democratic ideology and the liberal ideals have the advantage in Colorado right now," said Floyd Ciruli, who has closely watched Colorado politics for more than three decades.' (Coloradoan, 6-22-13)
See: The Buzz: Obama gained more than 200,000 voters as Colorado shifted Democratic
Russia is Not Europe and Not Much of an Ally
Mr. Putin appears to have a bad attitude toward the U.S. and Europe on both social and foreign policy issues. His most notorious statement expresses his general view on authoritarianism: "First and foremost it is worth acknowledging that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century."
Most recently, he has criticized Europe's and the West's excessive focus on homosexual rights, while the Duma and his government "outlaw gay propaganda" and same-sex adoptions. His criticism, no doubt, is a reflection of recent demonstrations against his increasingly authoritarian regime in Moscow.
And, of course, in his recent confrontation with President Obama, Putin argued for the superior moral position of Russia backing the Assad regime and not the rebels. Most of his policy is reactionary, but his public relations is smooth, if disingenuous.
Although Putin is clearly bothersome for the West, he is reflecting Russian public opinion. The level of Russian acceptance of homosexuality is closer to Pakistan than Britain, France, Germany or most countries in Europe. Russians' impression of Iran is far more favorable than any nation in Western Europe or even Egypt.
See Pew:
The global divide on homosexuality
Global views of Iran overwhelmingly negative
Syria – Messy
The key question for the President and country's foreign policy establishment is how to get into and out of Syria, make a contribution, avoid making a mess and hold down the cost. Unfortunately, the administration's dithering to find this sweet spot created a vacuum that Iran, Russia and the neighboring Shia are happy to fill.
And, American opinion is encouraging the drift. After years of being told by the administration that success is defined as withdrawal, Americans have no appetite for a surge into Syria. Two new opinion polls show a public opposed to a Syrian commitment.
In a series of follow-up questions, Pew probed the public's sense of obligation in opposing authoritarian regimes and stopping violence. Concern for those positions was slight. Not asked was the basic national security question of "is stopping Syria from becoming a satellite for Iranian and Russian aggression in the Middle East an important goal."
Pew obviously felt the main motivating factors for American involvement are humanitarian or democratic goals. But, the challenge in Syria is becoming more purely national interest.
Of course, at this point in the life of the Obama presidency, partisanship effects all public perception, making finding a majority for a foreign policy action nearly impossible.
Pew: Public remains opposed to arming Syrian rebels
Gallup: Americans disapprove of U.S. decision to arm Syrian rebels
Mellman is Wrong; Obama Losing Clout
Mark Mellman, probably the Democratic Party's best pollster and a ranking member of the Washington pundancy, recently wrote that polls showing President Obama in trouble are outliers and receiving too much coverage and commentary. He was especially critical of the coverage of a CNN poll showing Obama with a 45 percent approval, especially, needless to say, on CNN.
Mellman pointed out that the bulk of current polls show Obama about 50 percent or above in approval and there has been little or no real movement for months. He's not alone making the observation. Chris Cillizza, regular pundit for the Washington Post, produced charts showing opinion stability most of the year, and currently the ABC/Washington Post poll has Obama's approval at 51 percent and Pew at 49 percent.
Mellman attributes the stability to partisan polarization. A polarized electorate simply ignores factors, such as gridlock and scandals, and remains loyal to their party preference.
But, if Colorado is still a battleground and a swing state, Obama is in trouble. The latest Quinnipiac poll has Obama at 43 percent approval and 54 percent disapproval.
Mellman's argument doesn't hold water in Colorado because the key to winning a majority in polls and elections are independent voters. Obama is losing their approval of his performance 40 percent to 58 percent, which is worse than his weak statewide average.
Also, latest round of national polls appears to show a downward trend for Obama, with his Real Clear Politics average approval hitting 46 percent, a low not seen since early August 2012. Colorado continues to set the mark.
See The Buzz: Obama in trouble
Immigration Reform – Good for Congress
Immigration reform appears to be in trouble due to growing Republican resistance. It will be a mistake for the party to lose a chance to put the issue behind them and, more importantly, improve their reputation for being able to accomplish something.
Numerous polls show the public supports immigration reform at very high levels as long as it is framed as requiring undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. pay a penalty, learn English, pass a criminal background check, pay taxes, wait a minimum of 10 years before they are eligible for citizenship and have a job. The latest PPP poll claims 69 percent of Coloradans favor that position (PPP used 13 years and didn't include a job).
What is also clear is Congress will only recover its reputation by accomplishing something. Immigration reform may be one of the few items that has a reasonable chance of passing this year.
Congress is now on the bottom of a list of American institutions, most of which are below 50 percent of the public saying that they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in.
The top reason people disapprove of Congress is its lack of accomplishment.
The Buzz: Immigration reform will benefit Republican Party
The Buzz: Make immigrants pay taxes
The Buzz: RNC – Comprehensive immigration reform
Denver Post: Poll: More than 70 percent of Coloradans support immigration reform
Gallup: Gridlock is top reason Americans are critical of Congress
Gallup: Americans' confidence in Congress fails to lowest on record
Udall in Trouble?
Although Mark Udall as an incumbent senator seeking re-election can expect a moody electorate, the latest Quinnipiac poll shows his biggest challenge is the quarter of the electorate who can't rate his performance. Compared to Governor John Hickenlooper or President Barack Obama, Udall is not in terrible position.
Udall only has 31 percent disapproval verses the Governor with 43 percent and Obama with 54 percent. Udall, in fact, is receiving 27 percent of Republican approval and winning independents' approval 45 percent to 32 percent. Hickenlooper only has 19 percent of Republican support and is losing independents 44 percent to 47 percent.
It appears, however, Udall has lost ground. A PPP April survey had Udall with a 17 percent approval to disapproval spread, registering 50 percent approval to 33 percent disapproval. Hence, the latest poll reflects about a five point decline, some of which may be margin of error.
Denver Post: Poll: 40 percent of Coloradans say Udalldeserves re-election
Quinnipiac poll: Christie, Rubio, Clinton close in 2016Colorado race; Udall gets lukewarm reelection support for 2014
Udall Faces Challenges
The latest Quinnipiac poll headline claimed Senator Mark Udall "gets lukewarm" support. In fact, there are few U.S. senators up for re-election that are not facing an unhappy electorate. The latest Gallup poll puts confidence in Congress at 10 percent below big business and organized labor, mostly due to a lack of accomplishment.
But, Udall will face a special challenge in 2014. Turnout will be substantially below that when he ran in the 2008 presidential election and won by 53 percent to Bob Schaffer's 42 percent (Obama won by 7 points). It will be more like the lower turnout 2010 election. More than 2 million voters turned out in 2008 versus the neck-and-neck Michael Bennet vs. Ken Buck race when less than 1.7 million people showed up. The 434,000 voters who stayed home made a bigger difference for Democrats than Republicans.
Beyond general alienation with the Washington establishment and low turnout, 2014 could be a bad Democratic year. The normal second term midterm election blues, exasperated by a series of scandals, sluggish economy and warring in the Middle East, is making for a very difficult final election for the President as the head of his party.
Hickenlooper's Approval Drops 15 Points Since Last Fall
A year and a half out from his re-election, Governor Hickenlooper faces the first significant crises of his political career. A controversial death penalty decision and left-leaning legislative session has cost Hickenlooper's approval to drop 15 points since last September.
A Quinnipiac poll of September 19, 2012 registered a stunning 62 percent approval for the governor verses the latest June 13, 2013 poll showing Hickenlooper with a mere 47 percent approval. Voters are evenly divided on if he deserves re-election: 45 percent say he does and 44 percent say no. Independents are 6 points on the "no" side.
He has had extraordinary good fortune in his ten-year career as Denver mayor and now governor, usually recording approval or favorability ratings of 60 to 70 percent in the metro area. Although his first mayoral election was competitive in 2003, he won by a substantial margin and his election as governor was mostly a walk since the State Republican Party imploded with an incompetent nominee and far right independent candidate. Hickenlooper won in 2010 by 16 points against his nearest opponent in what was otherwise a good Republican year.
But, the good times are over.
Hickenlooper's Republican approval has collapsed to a mere 19 percent, and he is now losing independent voters 44 percent approval to 47 percent disapproval. His problems were exasperated by the liberal Denver-Boulder legislative agenda alienating rural Colorado. Hickenlooper is now losing the Western Slope 45 percent to 47 percent in approval and the non-metro Front Range and High Plains by 40 percent approval to 47 percent disapproval. His metro area approval is slightly above 50 percent.
Hickenlooper is in danger of surrendering his well-cultivated image of independent everyman.
The Buzz: Does Democratic legislative agenda threaten governor?
The Buzz: Hickenlooper in trouble?
The Buzz: Do the Republicans have a challenger toHickenlooper?
The Buzz: Will the liberals walk from Hickenlooper?
The Buzz: Hickenlooper for president?
The Buzz: 2014 – Criminal justice work for Republicans?
Quinnipiac poll: Obama hits 50% in Wisconsin, Virginia;Colorado is close
Quinnipiac poll: Colorado voters back death penalty almost3-1; early look shows close governor's race in 2014
Denver Post: Poll shows opening for GOP in 2014 Coloradogovernor's race
Denver Post: Poll: Coloradans support death penalty,disapprove of legislature
Obama Gained More Than 200,000 Voters as Colorado Shifted Democratic
In the eight years from President G.W. Bush's five-point Colorado re-election win in 2004 to President Obama's five-point win in 2012, Colorado has been transformed from a lean Republican state to lean Democratic.
A combination of new voters and changed opinion caused the shift. Although it is by no means permanent, it constitutes a new fact on the ground for the two parties.
Out of the 422,000 more voters participating in 2012 compared to 2004, 245,000, or 62 percent, were in the Denver metro area. Democrats won 86 percent of the additional votes, or 211,000 out of the 245,000 increase, offering the clearest explanation for their domination of Colorado politics in the first six months of 2013.
Obama won every metro county but Douglas, unexpectedly taking Arapahoe by a higher percentage than Jefferson. Democrats received 63 percent of their statewide vote from the metro area, which is 57 percent of the total vote.
Denver, not surprisingly, is the Democrats' best metro county, and had the biggest voter increase for them during the eight years.
See The Buzz:
New voters move Colorado to the left
Jefferson biggest vote total, but Denver added most voters since 2004
Denver Metropolitan Residents Value a College Education
Eighty-two percent of Denver metropolitan residents (seven-county registered voters) say a college education is "almost essential" or "very important" to "getting a good paying career."
Belief a college education is "essential" was especially held by persons with college, the Millennial and X generations (18 to 50 years old), and persons of higher income.
Renewables – The Last Straw
Senate Bill 252 will be referred to as the last straw legislation. Republicans are now in full revolt against Governor Hickenlooper and the Democratic legislative leadership.
Less than half (47%) of voters now approve Hickenlooper, with 68 percent of Republicans offering disapproval. Two Democratic members of the legislature are embattled in recall election efforts, including the Senate Democratic leader, and voters disapprove of the legislature's performance by 49 percent to 36 percent approval in a new Quinnipiac survey.
The renewable bill, which Hickenlooper signed, is cited as the final act against rural Colorado and business, especially agriculture and small towns, which launched the secession movement in northeast Colorado. The following is the Colorado Statesman's legislative coverage.
Hickenlooper's decision to finesse the controversy by setting up the advisory committee is "modus operandi," according to pollster Floyd Ciruli.
Ciruli told The Statesman Wednesday that it is similar to the governor's efforts on other issues this session, such as the death penalty decision on Nathan Dunlap or bills opposed by business that were also signed into law.
"Part of his strategy is that he calls himself socially liberal [on issues like gun control and civil unions] but I'm a businessman too," Ciruli said.
That strategy was made more difficult in 2013 because of the Democratic control of the General Assembly, he added. It was hard for the governor to finesse and find compromise this session because the sides "are so strongly entrenched that they either want a bill signed or a veto. Nothing in between will help."
The potential for political fallout for Hickenlooper exists, going into an election in 2014, but much depends on who the Republicans can put up against him. Ciruli cited a recent poll that showed there was a slight decline in Hickenlooper's overall favorability numbers. Liberal numbers went up, reflecting the governor's decisions on gun control and civil unions, but his conservative numbers sharply declined, Ciruli said.
Prior to the 2013 session, Hickenlooper could have run in a Republican primary and won, Ciruli said, with the caveat the Democrats felt he wasn't liberal enough. But with the decisions made this year, rank-and-file Republicans are ready for an alternative.
"They don't have confidence that [the governor] will be able to head off a very liberal legislature."
As to SB 252, Ciruli said that it's a polarizing and controversial issue, and while Hickenlooper tried to find a middle ground, "I don't think it will help him."
Ciruli said it's one of those ideological issues that applies to those in rural communities and the small power community, all groups that would be great for a Republican candidate. Business elites in Denver will probably stick by Hickenlooper, Ciruli predicted, but rank-and-file Republicans are ready for a good candidate, and if they find one, they will have a race. (Colorado Statesman, 6-8-13)
Bush's Popularity Nears Obama's
Former President G.W. Bush left office with record-low favorability, but has recovered enough to catch President Obama suffering through a low point in his second term.
As of June 10, more people had a favorable view of Bush (49%) than unfavorable (46%). A 14-point improvement from his Gallup record low in March 2009.
Bush caught Obama on his way down. Obama enjoyed 60 percent plus ratings throughout 2008 and 2009 and held his favorability in the mid to the high 50 percent range in early 2010. But by the end of 2010, the midterm shellacking and during the presidential campaign, his numbers dropped further. He recovered in the November election win, but congressional gridlock and scandals have taken a toll.
Bush still has had a long way to go for an ex-president. His dad, Bill Clinton and even Jimmy Carter had favorability ratings in the upper 60 percent range five years after leaving office.
See Gallup: Former President George W. Bush's image ratings improve
Nathan Dunlap and Governor Hickenlooper
Nathan Dunlap has another victim – John Hickenlooper. The latest Quinnipiac poll shows strong support for the death penalty in principle, high approval it should be applied to Dunlap and strong disapproval of the Governor's indefinite reprieve.
Bad news for Hickenlooper, who is just beginning his re-election campaign, while Republicans are searching for a winning issue and nominee. As stated in The Buzz in May:
"No one who knows John Hickenlooper is surprised he would not execute Nathan Dunlap. But, he will pay a political price." (The Buzz, May 29, 2013)
The poll's report of support for the death penalty and disapproval of the Governor's decision, whose overall approval is now below 50 percent, is no doubt a reflection of the circumstances of this case.
The Governor's presentation of his position and his apparent effort to finesse the issue with an indefinite reprieve was unpersuasive. He looked stressed and sounded indecisive. The victims' families shouting in the background provided extraordinary bad optics.
Dunlap is not a sympathetic person and the crime was heinous.
Although it was committed 20 years ago, a mass murder took place in the same city last year.
Although many influential people in Colorado oppose the death penalty, including the Denver Post, and the state seldom executes, support has remained consistently above 60 percent. And, it's clear Hickenlooper not only failed to convince people, but has damaged his re-election.
The Buzz: 2014 – Criminal justice works for Republicans
Denver Post: What poll means for death penalty in Colorado
Denver Post: Poll: Coloradans support death penalty, disapprove of legislature
Democrats on Defensive
There is a revolt brewing in Colorado, and the Democrats are the target. The aggressive, liberal session has already produced two active recall elections and the leading politicians in upwards of eight northeastern Colorado counties talking about a war on rural Colorado and secession.
Confirming Democrats are on the defensive, voters disapprove of the legislature's performance by 49 percent to only 36 percent approving in a new Quinnipiac poll (1065 registered voters, 6-5/10-13). Republicans and independents both strongly disapprove of their performance.
The metro area's approval and disapproval was closely divided, but the Western Slope disapproved 51 percent to 35 percent and the non-metro Front Range and High Plains disapproved 57 percent to 26 percent.
Greeley Tribune:
Floyd Ciruli, a pollster and political analyst from Denver, said the reality is that the new state of North Colorado will never happen. "I would say, politically, it's impossible," said Ciruli in a phone interview from his Denver office. "From my point of view when I first heard it, it sounded like a protest over the result of the last legislative session, which was probably the most liberal legislative session in the state's history. Obviously, there are some people who are happy, but there are a lot of people in the state who are angry and a whole bunch of them happen to live up in northeast Colorado."
Ciruli said he realizes how important Weld County is to Colorado, but residents who live elsewhere don't. "I don't think a lot of people recognize how significant Weld has become in a lot of the state's politics," Ciruli said. "I just don't think people realize that between growth, gas and oil and ag, how significant Weld County has become. It's still sort of a little, rural farm area in a lot of people's minds. I don't think they get it." (GOPUSA, 6-12-13)
Fracking has its Enemies
Many of the opponents of fracking claim it's mostly about the impacts on their cities, neighborhoods or groundwater supplies. But, the most serious advocates of fracking bans are really opponents of continued use of hydrocarbons, even less carbon-producing natural gas.
They don't support a bridge fuel to use for the expected 20 to 30 years needed to reach greater access to reliable and affordable renewable energy. Rather, they believe only by limiting access to hydrocarbon alternatives will their goal of wind and solar dominance be achieved.
Hence, they will use government; that is, cities, counties and the state to limit oil and gas production. And, fracking is the latest target.
Colorado is already in frequent local battles over bans and/or moratoriums in cities and counties. The state legislature has proposed regulations that would heavily regulate fracking, which only a gubernatorial veto has restrained. And, a statewide ballot initiative is a possibility.
A recent Los Angeles Times poll shows a statewide ban on fracking has support. More than half (58%) of Californians favor a moratorium on fracking. More than 70 percent want a ban or heavy regulation.
Oil and gas production in California is a multi-billion dollar business and voters in the affected areas are supporters. Even statewide voters support production when told it could lead to lower gas prices. But, clearly voters are concerned and total ban advocates have options.
See LA Times: Californians uneasy about fracking's safety, lack of oversight
Clinton Hurt by Benghazi
Hillary Clinton's leaving the administration was well timed. The President's last term may have hit its high point at his inaugural address.
Latest polls show the President's approval bobbing narrowly above and below 50 percent and his agenda adrift in a Washington roiling with scandal.
Even Clinton's sky-high favorability has dropped as the Benghazi hearings have been relaunched by House Republicans.
Clinton is still near her career high in favorability, even at 58 percent. Her low points were in the 1995-97 period when Democrats lost the House of Representatives and during much of her senate career (2006-2010). But, since dropping out of partisan politics as the Secretary of the State, she has been well above 60 percent in favorability.
Although she handled the Benghazi hearings well as she was leaving office, the continued focus on it is harder for her to deflect. She is now more tied to President Obama, who is having a tough summer.
If she runs for president, expect her numbers to collapse toward the partisan divide of 50/50 that seems to frame all of our politics.
Gallup: Hillary Clinton favorability slips slightly
Bloomberg: Clinton slips in poll after Benghazi hits, Christie's up
Ryan, Paul Lead Republican Pack
Among Republicans, congressman and former vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, leads in favorability, which is a combination of Republicans who know enough about him to offer a judgment and his fellow partisans who like him. Being a former nominee is usually an advantage, especially in the party of tradition.
Next in line are two new conservative senators, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio. Each brings an advantage. Paul's father, former long-time congressman from Texas, has run for president as a Republican and Libertarian. Paul led a libertarian-oriented senate filibuster that gathered national attention and put the administration on the defense over its drone policy.
Marco Rubio, the Cuban senator from Florida, a critical swing state, appears made for a slot on the national ticket. He's currently demonstrating his talent trying to cajole the Republican Party into resolving its differences over immigration reform.
The name "Bush" still commands an audience, and Jeb Bush has always been considered the most talented of the family. The successful Florida governor may be too moderate for the likely Tea Party dominated 2016 round. But his grandmother, Barbara, may have summed up the overall feeling best at her son George's presidential library dedication: "We've had enough Bushes."
The strongest national candidate today is Governor Chris Christie, the hero of Hurricane Sandy. He has the highest national name identification of the list and highest overall favorability. But, in the Republican Party, he only captures fifth place.
One Billion for Schools: Reform or Bailout?
Supporters of the public school system in Colorado were disappointed that the Colorado Supreme Court did not rule there is a constitutional right to a "uniform and adequate" school system as defined by the plaintiffs and requiring a massive increase in public funding of the current system that serves 863,561 (includes 30,375 preschoolers) (2012) children in 178 school districts (179 with the Charter School Institute).
But, putting more money into the K-12 public system is always on multiple tracks: some local, some statewide, some legal, some legislative and some by ballot initiative. Reflecting that, Colorado voters will be asked to support a legislative-approved one billion dollar tax increase ballot issue in November.
Its chance of passage is mixed:
Although Colorado has moved to the left on a host of issues in recent years – gays, guns, drugs, etc. and last November local schools were very successful with tax referendums – a statewide income tax increase will be unprecedented.
Local schools and statewide funding tend to be framed differently for voters. People know more about their local districts, but have less knowledge and no positive feelings about providing the state more money.
There are reform elements in the package, but they tend to be at the margin. Incentives for improvements and funding for charter schools still reflect modest levels. Most money goes to equalize the current system.
Lurking in the background is the pension overhang story, which is often highlighted by news accounts of California's irresponsible public pension commitments. Some believe the Colorado PERA system is as ill-managed as California's and that a significant amount of the annual funds in this initiative will be diverted by local districts to prop up prior pension promises.
The 2013 electorate will look more like the tax unfriendly 2011 voters than the generous 2012 turnout. Off-year turnout tends to attract only committed, older and more passionate voters. In 2011, they buried a much more modest school funding package.
Lead From Rear – Lose Control
The U.S. Constitution, precedent and the nature of the problems give presidents their greatest power in foreign affairs. They set the agenda and shape public opinion.
President Obama has seen his primary task to substitute soft power, friendly persuasion, and collaboration for boots on the ground and unilateral action.
He has mostly succeeded and the public has generally followed. They are pleased to be out of Iraq, ready to leave Afghanistan, and the latest polls show disinterest in active participation in Syria beyond diplomacy, which they believe will fail.
The polls reflect Democrats who like the idealist rhetoric and non-military solutions, Republicans who do not like or trust the administration to do anything in foreign affairs and the public in general still focused on domestic concerns.
Unfortunately, presidential preferences sometimes are sabotaged by reality:
The reset relationship with Russia is worse, not better, than under Bush.
The friendly hand extended to Iran has been slapped away.
The rapid near total withdrawal from Iraq created a vacuum that has been filled with sectarian violence.
Afghanistan does not look to have much of a future after NATO and U.S. participation ends.
And, most importantly, the low-key, non-action in Syria against the all-out commitment of Iranians and Russians has reinvigorated the Assad regime. The conflict now is a platform for a much wider war, which the U.S. side is losing.
It's not clear the American public will shift views on the Obama record, but a steady decline in U.S. foreign clout and a wider, hotter Middle East conflict will be topics in the next presidential race.
See Gallup: Americans oppose U.S. military involvement in Syria
The IRS is a Dangerous Problem for the President
President Obama has prided himself on a first term with few unforced errors. The leaks were limited and the scandals seldom above the fold. Fast and furious, the guns and border security controversy never grabbed the attention of the general public.
But, the latest round of scandals is wearing down the White House and making Bill Clinton's "I need to go back to work for the American people" defense less effective. It's also directly damaging the President's credibility. And, the IRS targeting scandal has the potential to do the most damage.
The IRS is the most pervasive agency of the government, and many of citizens' encounters are irritating or downright hostile (56% hate or dislike doing their taxes, Pew 2013). A host of new polls show the believability that the President knew nothing about the IRS targeting is receding and the sense the administration is competent to run the government has declined.
Beyond the facts of the scandal is America's deep-seated concern about government and especially federal power.
Gallup just reported 54% of the public believes the "federal government today has too much power." Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to believe that (76% to 32%). (May 27, 2013)
Pew reported earlier in the year that trust in the federal government was low (26% government in Washington do the right thing "always" or "most of the time" and 73% only trust government "some of the time" or "never trust government") (volunteered) and a majority of the public believe their personal rights and freedoms were threatened (53%). (January 31, 2013)
The new disclosures concerning the domestic surveillance reinforce the issue's likely volume and duration.
Obama in Trouble
The approval rating of President Barack Obama has finally dropped into negative territory after nine months of being positive with periodic double-digit spreads.
The collapse has many causes and some dramatic effects. And, it is a complete reversal of White House expectations, which were to dominate Washington in 2013 with an aggressive liberal agenda and to defy the more common result of final midterm elections and pick up seats in the House next year.
Obama had slightly negative approval ratings most of the summer of 2012 leading up to the fall campaign, but at the end of the Democratic Convention (September), he entered into a positive approval trend that topped out at 12 points of approval over disapproval during the Christmas season. It was a 9-point spread at his inaugural, but began a steady decline, hitting lows of one point in early April and finally turning negative May 29 under the weight of harsh criticism for a myriad of scandals.
The President's 2013 decline has continued even though the economy has improved, if unevenly. Among the factors pulling him down are the continued partisan gridlock and its ability to frustrate his agenda, and now the distraction of scandals that are overwhelming the White House, especially after the high expectations from the "no drama" Obama operation of the first four years.
The main affect will be to place in jeopardy the Obama strategy of a permanent campaign using money and talent from the November re-election to lobby for his agenda and to ignite the base for the midterm. Next sign of more problems for Obama will be if Democrats running for election and up for re-election start to criticize as much as praise and begin to look for some distance. Watch for it.
Labor Big Loser in L.A. Mayor's Race
Organized labor bet on City Controller, Wendy Greuel, with millions of direct and independent PAC contributions to become the next mayor of Los Angeles. Their involvement became the main issue, and in a low turnout election, voters rejected early frontrunner Greuel and elected City Council member, Eric Garcetti, by 8 points (54% to 46%).
Early on, Greuel managed to unite both key elements in the business establishment with the most powerful local union, the Department of Water and Power. But, Garcetti, seeing an opening, went after the union connection at the moment underfunded pensions and government salary negotiations were major concerns for more fiscally conscious residents. Utility rates, which had been increasing steadily, were the catalyst that convinced a majority of homeowners Greuel might not negotiate with the tax and ratepayers' interests in mind. A specific attack advertisement by Garcetti on organized labor's Super PAC spending was the coup de gras.
The L.A. election serves an important message for Colorado municipal and state officials thinking of actions and legislation that tilt negotiations for government salaries and pensions toward organized self-interested groups.
Interestingly, Garcetti represents a new post-Latino leader. There was an initial discussion about if a person from an Italian grandfather and Mexican grandmother who lived in Mexico and a father and Jewish-American mother is sufficiently Hispanic to command the passion of voters from L.A.'s powerful Hispanic community.
The election results show Garcetti was the perfect candidate for the new diverse urban population. He won Eastside Latino and Westside Jewish votes, along with a significant bloc of fiscal conservatives and homeowners in L.A.'s huge Valley electorate.
See Los Angeles Times:
L.A. mayor's race: It's Eric Garcetti by wide margin
Steve Lopez: Labor unions the big loser in mayor's race
USC Price/L.A. Times poll: Garcetti's lead over Greuel at 7 percentage points in mayoral race
USC Price/L.A. Times poll calls Los Angeles mayoral race
Could 2014 be a Wave Election?
Colorado moved to the left in the 2012 presidential election, but 2014 could look like 2010 – a Republican wave election.
Turnout in non-presidential years is lower and key Democratic constituencies that have been activated by President Obama may stay home. Young voters, which gave Obama 60 percent of their vote in 2012, made up 19 percent of all voters, but they were only 12 percent in 2010.
Early polling indicators are mixed. Obama's approval ratings have gone south. His negative is now higher than his positive. But, the generic ballot test, one of the best tests of how a federal election will go, is still in Democrats' territory.
Is there a decent Republican who wants to be a U.S. Senator? They should run in 2014 – things could start to break Republican.
2014 – Criminal Justice Works for Republicans
Could criminal justice be a comeback issue for Republicans in 2014? There are already three candidates talking about running for the Colorado Attorney General seat. Of course, the seat is open and, hence, no incumbent, such as Governor Hickenlooper or Senator Udall, has to be confronted. But, there is also a sense that crime and the state's criminal justice system is becoming an issue and that a law and order approach might fit.
The clearly broken parole system is literally killing people. And, Hickenlooper's sudden and poorly explained derailing of the death penalty provides two above-the-fold issues for Republican candidates.
In fact, if the Republicans find a credible candidate for governor, crime is likely to be a top issue in that race. It moves prosecutors (like Buck or Suthers) up the list.
Hickenlooper's Approval Drops 15 Points Since Last...
Obama Gained More Than 200,000 Voters as Colorado ...
Denver Metropolitan Residents Value a College Educ...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In other words, a typical week for any rehabber at any given time...LWR had both an unexpected death and a much-anticipated release this week.
Let's get the bad news out of the way first: the red shoulder's x-ray showed a fracture that should have healed perfectly, with no flight impairment at all.
However, two days later, he keeled over overnight. Some birds just don't deal well with the stress of captivity, and that's all I can figure was going on with him.
The excellent news is that the red shoulder who'd been recovering from the wing fracture forever and was flying so beautifully in the raptor flight was released. No video, although I tried; he burst out of the box like he had a rocket booster on his tail. After some searching, though, I did manage to locate where he'd landed and get some pretty decent post-release photos.
All calls this week were from folks way out of LWR's range and were referred to rehabbers closer to them.
And that, people, is the sum total of this week's update!


These workshops are intended for professional opera singers and advanced singing students who need assistance with their breakthrough in their international opera careers. The workshop covers audition training including selection of repertoire, internalisation of the aria content, and expression. In addition, the workshop focuses on the most important practical issues related to the preparation process for auditions.
At the end of the workshop, the participants will have the opportunity to audition for Sean Waugh, Artistic Planning Manager of San Francisco Opera and for the Kalle Kanttila, director of the world known opera agency "IOA Management", and will receive some personal feedback from both of them.
"IOA Management" is one of the most influential opera agencies in Europe with offices in Munich & Helsinki. IOA Management does not only work with all German Opera houses but also with important international opera houses such as the Royal Opera Stockholm, Danish Royal Opera, London Covent Garden, Paris National Opera, Finnish National Opera, Maggio Musicale di Firenze, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Glyndebourne Festival, Mariinsky Theater, Opera Tenerife, Teatro Real Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Opera Lyon, just to name a few. Besides their strong presence in Europe, IOA Management is one of the very few European opera agencies to collaborate also with almost all American opera houses including the New York Metropolitan Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Seattle Opera, among many others.
The Bavarian Opera Academy is a training centre which was established in Germany by Finnish opera agent Kalle Kanttila. The Bavarian Opera Academy organises monthly workshops for young singing talents. The purpose of these workshops is to build bridges between singers and opera houses, and to assist young singers with their breakthrough in their international opera careers.
BOA workshop participants have had so far the opportunity to audition for directors of the following opera houses: Vienna State Opera, Opera Cologne, Opera Dortmund, Opera Leipzig, Danish Royal Opera, Volksoper Wien, Weimar National Theater, Semperoper Dresden, State Opera Hamburg, State Opera Hannover, State Opera Stuttgart, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, State Opera Nuremberg and the opera houses of Essen, Heidelberg, Bonn and Basel.
Attention!! We select the participants for this workshop & audition only via an application process which should include your biography, photo & a current audio or video recording!
YES (For the 1st Round: $50 & for the 2nd Round: $50) - only singers who have successfully passed the 1st Round will be permitted to the 2nd Round on April 21st I am not able to participate in this workshop & audition but I would like to receive some feedback on my recordings and hope to take part at the next opportunity. For this service we charge $40.
The capacity of the workshop & audition is limited. In case of interest, please send the application form as soon as possible!
At our audition, organised by IOA Management, in May 2018 at the Finnish National Opera, were representatives from Finnish National Opera, Estonian National Oper, Danish National Opera (Copenhagen), Opera Erfurt, State Opera Hamburg, State Opera Stuttgart, Staatstheater Oldenburg, Opera Tampere, Opera Palermo (Teatro Massimo), Opera Tarto, Opera Magdeburg, Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf, Semperoper Dresden, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra.
At our audition, organised by IOA Management, in September 2017 at the Bavarian State Opera, were representatives from the Bavarian State Opera, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Wiener Staatsoper, Finnish National Opera, Salzburg Osterfestspiele, L'Opéra de Lille, Opera Graz, Opera St. Gallen, Opera Klagenfurt, Opera Basel, Opera Bonn, Nationaltheater Weimar, Opera Augsburg, Opera Biel-Solothurn, State Opera Nürnberg, Opera Novara, Italy, Opera Tartu, Estonia, Opera Magdeburg, Opera Malmö, Sweden, Sofia National Opera , Opera Coburg, Opera Regensburg, Volksoper Wien, Opera Trier, Staatstheater München, Opera Bielefeld, Opera Classica Europa, Staufer-Festspiele, State Opera Braunschweig, Gut Immling Opera Festival.


Medical and research trainees have the unique opportunity to interact with a faculty of nearly 200 experts in pediatric hematology and pediatric oncology in one of the top hospitals for children with cancer and blood disorders. As an expansive center that has experience with every form of childhood cancer and blood disorder, our professional and educational development programs offer extensive, in-depth exposure to a multitude of pediatric hematologic and oncologic issues.
Our patient population represents every form of childhood cancer and blood disorder, which allows physicians and researchers to interact side-by-side together professionally, as well as academically with trainees in a carefully supervised training environment.
Email us at TXCHEducation@texaschildrens.org if you have questions regarding the educational opportunities we offer at Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Centers.


The graphic novel is written by academics Sherine Hamdy and Coleman Nye, and illustrated by artists Sarula Bao and Caroline Brewer.
Upon its release in November 2017, the graphic novel Lissa: A Story about Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution gained several positive reviews among academics and scholars. The film as featured in the ethnoGRAPHIC series published by the University of Toronto Press.
Combining between drawings and dialogue Lissa is a graphic narrative, a fictional story based in years of ethnographic fieldwork. The book is told in three parts, and revolves around two young women Anna and Layla. The writers tells their story as they evolve from adolescence into early adulthood. The two women, one American and one Egyptian, face different medical dilemmas.
The first two parts of the ethnography gives a due care to serious medical decisions which they and their families are challenged by. The main argument in the book can be understood in the context where the state creates and exacerbates pain. The two characters deal with choices about breast cancer genetic risk and organ transplantation, and readers are invited to engage in the character's intimate moments, personal histories, family demands, cultural expectations, and economic access.
The novel touches on social class, imperialism, transnational labor migrations, the lack of medical access in poor counties, the privatization of medicine in the U.S., the supposed "fatalism" of people who refuse high-tech medical intervention, international capital, oil extraction and militarization.
The book provides two complicated social worlds, while artistically and anthropologically trying to push forward the similarity between the two cases. The differences for examples and their contrasting views, are due to their living in completely different realities. Layla's community emphasizes more on collective action and relying heavily on divine intervention. On the other hand Anaa is raised to act as an independent agent and to think for herself.
For example, Anna's story line has sweeping lines of DNA strands connecting to chemical toxins that are embodied in the treatment of a patient living with cancer, carcinogens in the environment and household carcinogens that transform our bodies, which takes the readers to her family history and Anna's cancer genealogy. Another storyline follows Layla's father who is infected with parasites and schistosomiasis in water, and it also tackles power grids and industrial pollution, the politics and greed associated with wheat production.
The two conflicts puts the two characters in an almost similar experience, and the symbolism and authorship of Hamdy and Nye create a space for looking into the medical systems. The storytelling in the work, is innovative in a sense that it compare people's lives without broad stroke generalizations. The novel also well covered several aspects of cyberactivism, social media and texting, tools that were instrumental in communicating during the revolution. The artists used drawings Facebook pages or a series of texts, helping readers to digest the digital communication that were essential in the time of the novel.
The sequence of the comic panels which the artists direct makes readers not only delve into the lives of Anna and Layla, and immerse themselves into the pain that comes with medical hardships, but also investigate the the complexities of socio-political revolution. Lissa ends with an arguably with with some hope as one character says "Our scars tell the story of where we've been and remind us of how far we still have to go. We still have so much to fight for. There's still time (242)." The book depicts violence, trauma, and fear, but at the same time it believes in decency and camaraderie.
The book also combines between real and the fictional overlap for example using graffiti and graphics from the Egyptian Revolution.
Sherine Hamdy, anthropology associate professor, studies medical anthropology and science and technology in the Middle East. She's an experimental ethnographer who uses comics to bring her research to a wider audience. She's also working on another graphic novel, under contract with Penguin, in Young Adult fiction. Preliminarily called Jabs, it is the story of a young Muslim woman coming of age in New York, grappling with everyday racism, sexism, family tragedy, and cultural misunderstanding. Outside of her work in comics, she published Our Bodies Belong to God: Organ Transplants, Islam, and the Struggles for Human Dignity in Egypt.
Sarula Bao graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 2016 with a BFA in illustration. Based in Brooklyn, New York, she explores in her sequential work the queer Chinese-American experience.
Caroline Brewer graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 2016 with a degree in illustration and a concentration in literary arts and studies. Along with Marianne Khalil, Brewer is the author and illustrator of Autodesk's science fiction anthology Four.


This is a placeholder page for Vanessa Durham, which means this person is not currently on this site. We do suggest using the tools below to find Vanessa Durham.
You are visiting the placeholder page for Vanessa Durham. This page is here because someone used our placeholder utility to look for Vanessa Durham. We created this page automatically in hopes Vanessa Durham would find it. If you are not Vanessa Durham, but are an alumni of Ballard High School Louisville, KY, register on this site for free now.


"Christ Incorporated" has just 5 pages left, and if all goes according to plan, it'll wrap up before the end of May. At that point I'm gonna go on a brief hiatus of a month or two to work ahead on the next arc/book and get on top of my schedule a bit more than I have been of late. Giving myself a little time to write and draw without a weekly deadline should help me recharge. It's been a weird couple of years for me in a lot of ways, and the comics over that period have been inadvertently defined by my own mental state. And I feel like that worked well in some ways, and didn't quite work in other ways… which has given me some perspective on the story I want to tell going forward.
I'm very excited about the next book, and my hope is it'll offer a lot of variety and growth while tapping into and improving the energy this comic had in the beginning. And I'll announce more about that very soon. In the meantime, we've got some major beats in the next several updates, and I hope you'll check those out and what comes next.


text:
2026. Boris Zilber and Chris Daw
Modular curves and their pseudo-analytic cover
Submission date: 23 July 2021
We find a natural L_{ω_1,ω}-axiomatisation Σ of a structure on the upper half-plane ℍ as the covering space of modular curves. The main theorem states that Σ has a unique model in every uncountable cardinal.
The proof relies heavily on the theory of complex multiplication and the work on Langland's conjecture on the conjugation of Shimura varieties. We also use the earlier work on a related problem by C.Daw and A.Harris. The essential difference between the setting of this work and that of the current paper is that the former was in the language which named the CM-points of the modular curves while our results here are over ℚ.
Mathematics Subject Classification: 03C45, 11G18
Last updated: August 2 2021 16:09 Please send your corrections to:


text:
The Federated Auto Parts 300 is a discontinued NASCAR Nationwide Series race that took place at Nashville Superspeedway. The race was one of two races held at the track, which received a second date on the then-Busch Series schedule one year after the track opened. Traditionally run in early June since its 2002 inception, the race moved to late July in 2011 as part of a schedule realignment.

Past winners

2005: Race postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to rain.

Multiple winners (drivers)

Multiple winners (teams)

Manufacturer wins

See also
Tennessee Lottery 250 – Current Xfinity race at the track
Rackley Roofing 200 – Current Truck Series race at the track

References

External links

Former NASCAR races
NASCAR Xfinity Series races

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The Naughtiest of the Noughties
The Best Nude Performances, 2000-2009
LOG-IN to MEMBERS' PAGE
Uncle Scoopy's Fun House at scoopy.net is a daily internet e-zine dedicated to keeping its readers abreast and abuttock of the latest in celebrity nudity.
Having produced a new dated edition every single day since 1995, it may be the oldest continually updated blog still in existence. It's part of the Scoopy universe of sites, which includes The Movie House, French Cinema Nudity, and Other Crap.
Most of the "Top 20" lists we have produced over the years have been formed by polls which represent the consensus view of many people who are acquainted with the major nude scenes of the previous year.
This list varies from that tradition in that it covers an entire decade, and is simply the opinion of one person, me, Greg, aka Uncle Scoopy.
My opinion is no less subjective than any of yours, but I actually have seen and written about every significant nude scene in the past ten years, and have given some thought to which ones were truly special and not just the "flavors of the day."
The rankings from top to bottom don't mean much. I tried to include the most meritorious performances and I tried to restrict the list to major actresses (eliminating obscure films and performers like Margo Stiller in 9 Songs), so I felt pretty good about the choices on the list. Once I had the items collected, however, I had no idea how to sequence them, because it's all so subjective. You could probably reverse the order in each category and have just as good a list ...
... but it doesn't really matter, does it? It's all about finding some more beauty to admire.
Here are some choices I could have included for one category or another:
Several performances could easily have made the list but were edged out by other performances by the same actress: Emily Mortimer in Young Adam, Salma Hayek in Ask the Dust, Gretchen Mol in Forever Mine, Heather Graham in Adrift in Manhattan, Maggie Gyllenhaal in Strip Search and pretty much every other Kate Winslet movie, especially Iris.
Victoria Abril in Pour Elle, or Bryce Howard in Manderlay might have been the "most explicit" winner, but Chloe Sevigny was impossible to beat because she didn't use any doubles for her oral sex scene.
Charlotte Rampling, or maybe Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give, might have won the GILF award, but there was just no competing with Mimi's prolonged frontal and rear nudity in good light.
If I had made a deeper depth chart for the cable queens, it would have included Mary-Louise Parker in Angels in America and Sonya Walger on Tell Me You Love Me
Other honorable mentions have to go to: Ludivine Sagnier in La Petite Lili, Chloe Hunter in Spun (a sure top finisher with a more famous actress), Alexis Dziena in Broken Flowers, Valeria Golino in Il Sole Nero, Asia Argento in The Last Mistress, Daneel Harris in Ten Inch Hero, Charlotte Gainsbourg in Antichrist, Paz de la Huerta in The Limits of Control, and Betsy Rue in My Bloody Valentine.
For comparison or further study, you may want to consider the following list, which summarizes all of our polls for the decade.
The Top Nude Scenes of 2000
Flavor of a day gone by
Katie Holmes in The Gift
(6.7 at IMDb)
Looking back on this scene without knowing the context, you would never guess that it was the single most popular scene in the history of our site. Unlike most of the scenes on this page, it does not feature sex or full-frontal nudity. It's just a brief nighttime topless scene from a woman who is no longer especially popular.
But in the year 2000, Katie Holmes was America's dream date and she had never taken off her top on camera. When she finally did so, her chest was so perfect that we were absolutely dazzled.
Cable Queens
Polly Walker in Rome
season 1, various episodes
(9.2 on IMDb)
She was an established actress of some reputation. She has a spectacular mature figure, and she showed it all from every angle in good light. It was a highly acclaimed series in its first year. 'Nuff said.
Alice Henley in Rome
At the time it was aired it was the most explicit TV sex scene ever created for a non-exploitation production. It did not hold the crown long. Tell Me You Love Me came along a few months later and changed the rules completely.
Michelle Borth in Tell Me You Love Me
The scene to the right was and still remains the most explicit TV scene ever shot for a mainstream production. Michelle got naked many other times in the run of the series as well, and my guess is that her sex scenes were not faked. If they were, it was an impressive impersonation.
Whether the sex was real or just a convincing simulation, Tell Me You Love Me definitely raised the bar for adult content in legitimate cable dramas.
Broadcast TV
Charlotte Ross in NYPD Blue
There's really no competition in this category. Not only is this the best nude scene in the history of network TV, and by a wide margin, but it is likely to remain so for many years, based upon the prevailing attitudes. In fact, the current climate is so puritanical that it seems hard to believe this could have happened on ABC in 2003. Or at all.
Mimi Rogers in The Door in the Floor
There were other sexy women of granny age, like Diane Keaton and Charlotte Rampling, who gave it all up for art or entertainment, but nobody showed it like Mimi, and nobody had as much to show.
Most explicit
Chloe Sevigny in The Brown Bunny
Oral sex performed on camera in real time in mainstream films by non-porn actresses is one of the rarest sights in the cinema. It has happened fewer than a dozen times in film history, and I can't name another instance with an established American actress.
Chloe made history in this film.
Film Clips Film Review Buy DVD
Big budget blockbusters and wannabes
Angelina Jolie in Original Sin
Well, they thought Original Sin might be a blockbuster. It starred Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas. Tom Jane played the villain. It was a remake of a Truffaut classic starring Belmondo and Catherine DeNeuve. It was distributed to about 2200 theaters ...
... where it was a micro-bomb. ($16m)
Apparently not that many people were interested in watching beautiful superstars perform in soft-core porn scenes within a corny erotic thriller filled with gaping plot holes. Be that as it may, this remains probably the most explicit action ever filmed between two A-listers.
Rebecca Romijn in Femme Fatale
Brian DePalma directed. Banderas starred. It appeared on 1000 screens. It was barely noticed ($6m gross.) Banderas in another flop!
Was it a good idea?
It is always a good idea to have Rebecca Romijn running around stark naked.
Carla Gugino in Sin City
Here's a would-be blockbuster that actually pulled it off. Not only did it rake in $158m worldwide, but it is rated among the top 100 films of all time at IMDb.
That rating may be a bit exaggerated, but there's no question that Robert Rodriguez brought a comic book to life virtually unchanged, that Mickey Rourke scored an incredible comeback as Marv, and that Carla Gugino dazzled us with a bold scene that kept very little hidden.
Rosario Dawson in Alexander
Beautiful woman naked, great body, interesting scene ... my kind of "sword and sandals" action. Of course the movie itself was a mega-bomb. Created at a cost of $155 million, it grossed only $34m stateside and was ridiculed by critics on both sides of the Atlantic.
But I didn't hear anybody say that Rosario Dawson looked bad naked.
Favorite foreign films
Laetitia Casta in Le Grand Appartement
Her body was used as the model for the woman who symbolizes the French Republic. Vive la France!
To be honest, her nude scene isn't even the best one in this film. But, dude, she's Laetitia Casta!
Monica Bellucci in Irreversible
Monica Bellucci in Malena
Irreversible's 7.3 at IMDb is misleading. It's effective enough, but it's a multi-lingual art film told in reverse, and an unpleasant one at that, so 99 viewers of 100 will find to be utterly unwatchable.
Except of course for the fact that Monica Bellucci is stark naked (top right).
If you want to see her take off her clothes in a more traditional and accessible type of movie, watch Malena (bottom right), which is one of the best from the superb craftsman Giuseppe Tornatore.
Film Reviews (Irreversible ... Malena)
Paz Vega in Sex and Lucia
Writer/director Julio Medem said: "After the loss of her long-time boyfriend, she seeks refuge on a quiet, secluded Mediterranean island. There, bathed in an atmosphere of fresh air and dazzling sun, Lucía begins to discover the dark corners of her past relationship, as if they were forbidden passages of a novel which the author now, from afar, allows her to read."
If he says so ... I had no idea what was goin' on.
But Paz looked great, even on digital video.
Actresses nominated for major awards
Laura Linney in Maze
Linney didn't get an Oscar nomination for this particular film, but she has been nominated for three Oscars in other films, so she definitely belongs in this group.
And the nudity here absolutely rates among the best of the decade, perhaps the best in the Ginger League.
Salma Hayek in Frida
Nominated as Best Actress for this very film.
Her nudity in this film also earned her second place in our 2002 poll for the best nude performance. Salma has finished second twice, and in each of those years she narrowly lost to one of my top four of the decade (Heather Graham in Killing Me Softly and Gretchen Mol in The Notorious Bettie Page). If Frida and Ask the Dust had been released in different years, Salma might well be a two-time champion!
Kate Winslet in The Reader
Nudity in the film. Even more left on the cutting room floor! (But presented on the DVD.)
I don't think that any other actress in history has combined acting awards and nudity like Kate. Kate won the Best Actress Oscar for this very performance, and has also been nominated for five other acting Oscars. She also received an Oscar nomination for Iris, which also could have made this list.
Halle Berry in Monster's Ball
Halle is the only actress to win Best Actress and Best Nude Scene in the same year. What's more, she also had the second best nude scene that same year!
Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary
This is one kinky film! Not many other mainstream actresses would even have considered taking this role.
Maggie didn't get an Oscar nomination for this role, but her characterization did earn her a Golden Globe nomination, one of two she has merited in her career.
Best of the millennium
8 real actresses doing full frontal nudity
Alexandra Kingston in Essex Boys
If you've watched ER and wondered what Dr. Corday looks like naked, here's your answer: fantastic.
Emily Mortimer in Lovely and Amazing
There is something very special, very vulnerable about Emily's nudity in this film. She plays an insecure aspiring actress and at one point she stands naked in the light and asks a more experienced performer to critique her body. He managed to find plenty of flaws, but I like her just fine the way she is.
Ashley Judd in Bug
Ashley is no stranger to nudity, and had even done full-frontal scenes before this film, but there was nothing in her mainstream career that led us to predict that she, age 38 and safely elevated to stardom, would do scenes like this in a movie like this. It's the kind of weird, low-budget arthouse film that David Lynch might find "a little out there." Surprisingly, it was directed by 70-year-old William Friedkin, who was nominated for two "Best Director" Oscars back in the early 70s, winning one for The French Connection.
Wei Tang in Lust, Caution
I have to love it when a director who is truly great at visual imagery decides to load up a film with female nudity. Ang Lee can compete with anyone when it comes to the visual poetry of his films, and Wei Tang is one of his greatest sonnets.
Heather Graham in Killing Me Softly
... or as I called it at the time, "Shakespeare in Lust," since it featured Shakespeare and Rollergirl goin' at it constantly. Our panel voted this the top nude scene of 2002.
The British critics ripped this film apart so mercilessly that it was never released in North American theaters. To this day it remains one of the few films rated a perfect zero at Rotten Tomatoes. Zero? For a film with Heather Graham naked constantly? Does the SAT exam for film critic school require an 800 in gayness?
Caroline Dhavernas in The Tulse Luper Suitcases
The other three performances in my top four were the top nude scenes of their years, but this was not. Yet it nearly matches the top two in every important way: degree of explicitness, duration of nudity, good lighting, beauty of the actress. The only thing that kept this from being a number one finisher is that a TV show named Wonderfalls did not become a hit despite lavish critical praise for its scripts and its fresh-faced star, Ms Dhavernas. If she had been a big star as of December 2004, this nudity would have won going away. Of course if she had been a big star, she might not have done such scenes, not even for the eccentric genius Peter Greenaway.
But I like to think she would have.
Gretchen Mol in The Notorious Bettie Page
A biopic featuring the magnificent Gretchen Mol as nude model Bettie Page? Cut me a slice of that! The Vanity Fair editor who called Gretchen "the next big thing" back in 1998 should have been right. She should have been a superstar. And for those of us who love beautiful film nudity, she already is.
Our panel chose this as the #1 nude scene of 2006 in a neck-and-neck race with Salma Hayek in Ask the Dust.
Eva Green in The Dreamers
She was young and had never done a nude scene before. She was part of a famous acting family. She has an incredible body, and showed every inch of it in good light. She was naked for a good portion of the film's running time. The nudity was both erotic and creative. And the whole thing was filmed by the masterful Bertolucci.
The result: this was the runaway winner for the best nude performance of 2004, and it's my choice as the nude performance of the decade.
The Movie House Other Crap The Fun House
Why wait until the end of the decade? See all the nude scenes when they happen, in the highest quality available.
And catch all the paparazzi shots as well!
And don't forget the archives, which include about a million pictures of naked celebrities and tens of thousands of film clips, including plenty in high definition, with more added daily.
There's no better value on the internet than an annual subscription to scoopy.net for less than thirty cents per day!