Regular readers will remember that recently we raised the question of who in the hell was giving Gov. Jim Gibbons bad legal advice, along the lines of, "sure, go ahead and let the Energy Department use Nevada’s own precious state water to cool the Black & Decker Magna-Screw the government is trying to shove up the state’s ass in the form of Yucca Mountain."

We asked because it had been reported that Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto told Gibbons to shut off the water faucet at Yucca Mountain. And since she is the state’s top law-enforcement officer, and since her office advises government agencies, we figured that would be the final word.

But no. The state engineer told the government it could go right on using state water while drilling test holes at Yucca Mountain that would be used to support the application to open a nuclear waste dump there. (After the federal government rejected certain conditions placed on the use of the water, the state engineer re-issued a cease-and-desist order, which the federal government has apparently ignored.)

What the hell was going on? Where was Gibbons getting his legal advice?

We asked those and other questions, and after some delays, Gibbons’ spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin replied with this:

"We are not going to publicize sensitive case strategy by discussing the specifics of legal advice. We believe the Attorney General would not make such a disclosure either. Regardless, the Governor always has and always will oppose the Yucca project. Furthermore, every decision regarding that project is made with the long-term goal of shutting the project down permanently."

Of course, this paragraph answered none of our questions. We never asked the governor’s office to discuss "case strategy," we never said the attorney general had discussed "case strategy" and we never suggested that Gibbons was in favor of the Yucca Mountain project. We asked who was giving the legal advice to the governor, since he clearly wasn’t following the opinions of the state’s attorney general.

After we noted the same in an e-mail back to Subbotin, we got another reply:

"The Governor, who is a lawyer himself, was briefed on the issue by attorneys at the Attorney General’s Office and by his in-house general counsel [Josh Hicks]. The content of any briefings, including any advice provided, is a sensitive attorney-client communication that will not be disclosed. Regardless, the Governor remains firmly opposed to the Yucca Mountain project and believes that the Water Engineer’s decision was a sound, reasonable decision that was consistent with Nevada’s long-term goal of permanently shutting down the project.

Once again, we never asked about the "content of any briefings." We just asked who was advising the governor and …

Oh my God! Did you read that first line? The part that says "The governor, who is a lawyer himself…"? Could it possibly be that the governor is giving himself legal advice about Yucca Mountain?!

We think it could. And that might explain why, when the attorney general was telling the governor to turn off the water, he let it flow instead. No wonder poor Subbotin has to insist in every e-mail that the governor is against Yucca Mountain! To take the facts on their face, it would seem like he loves Yucca Mountain the way he loves drinking rum on unreported cruises of the Caribbean!

By the way, people, a quick search of the State Bar of Nevada’s website turned up no evidence that Gibbons is a member, which means that while he may have graduated from law school, he’s not actually allowed to give people legal advice in the state of Nevada. And, for future reference, we totally think that should include giving advice to himself. Who knows? He might think he’s helping the anti-Yucca cause while accidentally going down there and helping crews to build it!

» We totally love this story from the Las Vegas Sun Wednesday, about a Christian insurance company diligently following the well-known Sermon on the Mount injunction to avoid the payment of premium taxes on policies sold in the several states. "Who Would Jesus Fuck Over?" is a great slogan for those little wrist bracelets, by the way.

Apparently, the Christian Care Medi-Share program covers only faithful Christians who don’t smoke, drink or use drugs. If your illness is found to be caused by sin, the company won’t pay. Ditto if you’re found to be pregnant without benefit of marriage.

Hey, that reminds us of a Bible story, you know, the one about that woman who "…was found to be with child of the Holy Ghost." Yeah, Mary! That’s her! Looks like she wouldn’t be able to get insurance through the Christian program, even if she was carrying the child who would found Christianity! That’s the breaks!

Oh, and get this: If you have a pre-existing condition, you’re shit outta luck! These guys may be running a ministry, but they’re not stupid! Pre-existing conditions cost, baby!

Anyway, because Christian Care Medi-Share is a "ministry" and not an "insurance company," they shouldn’t have to pay premium taxes, argues chief counsel Stephen Sullivan. "Members see this as a fulfillment of scripture. It’s not really for the state to determine if it is or isn’t a proper way to fulfill that scripture," he said.

Yeah, Nevada! Haven’t you guys ever read the Bible in Carson City? No, not the part of the Bible where Jesus Christ himself tells his disciples to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, or the time he tells them to pay taxes with the coins they found in the mouth of a fish they caught. No, not the part where St. Paul tells the Romans to "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers…" and that "Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God." Or the part later where he says "For this cause pay you tribute also … Render therefore to all their dues." And definitely not where St. Peter tells his followers to "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king as supreme; or unto governors…"

No, we’re talking about the passage that says Christians are entitled to do business and totally not pay taxes. What’s that? Oh, where is that specific passage? Um, that’s a good question. Let us get back to you on that. Or, better yet, why not ask Sullivan? He should be able to point that out right away…

» How can you tell who the real pros are at the Review-Journal? She’s the one who gives credit where credit is due.

» And finally today, the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Las Vegas, along with the Las Vegas Chapter of the Human Rights Campaign, the Stonewall Democratic Club and QVegas, are sponsoring a party to watch the presidential candidates forum, broadcast from Los Angeles.

The forum will focus on issues important to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, and will include Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Mike Gravel.

The party will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight at The Center, 953 E. Sahara Ave., Suite B-31. For more info, call 733-9800 or visit The Center’s website.