It is hard not to think of this black and white bubbe meise while reviewing the most recent chapters in the battle over the future of the partially excavated, purportedly moribund Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in southwestern Nevada.

I have family in Tennessee. Tennessee is home to lots that is good about America: barbecue, blues, jazz, Elvis, the St. Jude Memorial Research Center/Children’s Hospital, not to mention some gorgeous scenery and important history. But gods have mercy on us, they are crazy there. And it is just getting worse. …

It’s back! Remember the 50 billion the world’s greatest zombie-feeding station debate club wanted to give away to those nice folks who just can’t keep their nuclear waste to themselves? Remember how the nuclear pork had mutated into a part of the stimulus bill, and how the House/Senate conferees excised the whole thing in February?