On the nuclear energy topic I have to agree with pulse. Time will tell how this event plays out but it's actually a good sign that it's so far been relatively limited in the scope of it's serious impact. When viewed against the claimed global, long term environmental damage said to be caused by the burning of fossil fuels the environmental impact of atomic power is a drop in the bucket. Fossil fuels won't last forever and nuclear energy is a comparatively clean alternative until other forms of energy production can be developed. If people want their plug in cars (and I'd be happy to have one) the electricity still has to be generated somehow.
As for terrorism, yeah, the U.S. has been relatively free of the foreign variety but the bottom line is, as screwed up as we are all on our own, if someone from the outside fucks with one of us he's fucking with all of us and we will do our best to return the favor. We are a friendly, goofy, forgiving people but there is a point in our national psyche where some shit will not be tolerated and we will rise up. Just ask the Japanese who we are now doing our best to support; we had to beat them into submission a generation ago when they didn't realize they were already beaten two years before the end of the war, helped them rebuild and have become great friends. We are the decendants of tough people who set out on a dangerous journey to a strange land and soft as we have become that toughness remains - that's also part of the lesson the Japanese learned; you prod a sleeping giant at your peril. They thought we'd roll over because we were soft but it didn't turn out that way.