I don't know whether to laugh or cry ...

Your tax dollars doing crystal meth in the bathroom:  The Department of Homeland Security's Red Cell teams have determined, at great expense, that pressure cookers are a threat to national security.  (Sorry for the PDF.)

Yeah, you heard me right.  PRESSURE COOKERS.  Because you can put explosives in them.

What inane silliness will they come up with next?

OH MY GOD!!!!!!   CLOTHES ARE A DEADLY THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY!!!!11!   EVERY KNOWN SUICIDE BOMBER HAS BEEN WEARING CLOTHES!!!!   THE 9/11 HIJACKERS WORE CLOTHES!!!!!   SQUEAKY FROMME HAD CLOTHES ON!!!!!   FIDEL CASTRO WEARS CLOTHES!!!!!   HUGO CHAVEZ WEARS CLOTHES, THAT PROVES HE'S A TERRAHIST!!!1!1!1!

...

OK, that's quite enough.  This nonsense can stop now.  The Department of Homeland Security calls this "imagination" and "thinking out of the box."  I call it "paranoid ravings at taxpayer expense" and "complete idiocy."  And the 2005 DHS Appropriations bill contains almost $19 million for this nonsense.

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(Crossposted to neph_politics)

Latest update on Rita

The National Hurricane Center's 0700CDT advisory says Rita dropped slightly in intensity overnight, with eye pressure rising from 897mb to 907mb.  Sustained winds are in the 170mph range, and position is around 490 miles SE of Galveston, moving west-northwest at about 9mph.  The NHC predicts slow further weakening.

AT 7 AM CDT...1200Z...THE EYE OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 25.2 NORTH...LONGITUDE 88.3 WEST OR ABOUT 490 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS AND ABOUT 595 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS.

HEAVY RAINS ASSOCIATED WITH RITA ARE FORECAST TO BEGIN TO AFFECT THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO COASTAL AREAS TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY.  RITA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 15 INCHES FROM THE CENTRAL TEXAS COAST TO SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA.  RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE ELSEWHERE ACROSS SOUTHERN LOUISIANA ...INCLUDING THE NEW ORLEANS METROPOLITAN AREA.  AFTER RITA MOVES INLAND...TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER EASTERN TEXAS... AND CENTRAL AND EASTERN OKLAHOMA DURING SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

This could have been a lot worse; crossing the loop current boosted Katrina to category 5, but Rita doesn't seem to have picked up much energy from it.

Rita Cat4 and weakening

Eye pressure up to 913 millibars, winds down to 145mph sustained.  NHC 1900CDT update, summarized:

HURRICANE RITA INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER  21A
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
7 PM CDT THU SEP 22 2005

AT 7 PM CDT...0000Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR
LATITUDE 26.0 NORTH...LONGITUDE  89.9 WEST OR ABOUT 350 MILES...
565 KM...EAST-SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS AND ABOUT 290 MILES...
465 KM...SOUTHEAST OF CAMERON LOUISIANA.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 145 MPH...230 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS.
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO  60 MILES... 95 KM...
FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 205 MILES...335 KM.  ANY TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS IN THE NEW
ORLEANS AREA ARE EXPECTED TO BE CONFINED TO A FEW SQUALLS
ASSOCIATED WITH QUICKLY MOVING RAINBANDS.

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 15 TO 20 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE
LEVELS...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...CAN BE
EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER MAKES LANDFALL.

REPEATING THE 7 PM CDT POSITION...26.0 N... 89.9 W.  MOVEMENT
TOWARD...WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 10 MPH.  MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...145
MPH.  MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 913 MB.

Texas isn't off the hook, but with 350 miles to go, it looks like it's going to get off with a nasty battering and a lot of rain, instead of the catastrophic thrashing Rita looked to be shaping up to give it.

I know a lot of Texans who are doubtless very relieved.