We remember tragedy so that we can heal.

Five years ago today, I woke to a beautiful, crisp morning. I went to my first period class, which I recall was rather boring. When I got out of class at 8:50 a.m. CDT, I went to the commons, like always, to hang out with my Brothers until my next class. When I arrived there, the sight was unbelievable.

Above the couches, two TVs were on, tuned to CNN. They showed a live shot of the New York skyline with the twin towers billowing smoke. Everybody watched with rapt attention.

A few minutes later, the live feed showed the south tower collapse. A half hour after that, the other tower fell. Around that time, CNN showed footage of explosions in Kabul, Afghanistan. One of the ROTC cadets near me said, “We’re going to war, boys.”

I remember going to another class, but I remember only that nobody could concentrate.

I remember looking into the bright blue sky and seeing no jet contrails.

I remember going to the cafeteria. In the Kahn room, somebody had set up a projector showing a cable news feed on a giant screen. Students ate their lunches in complete silence while watching the news.

I remember trying to get news from the web and finding most major news sites completely unresponsive.

I remember a mad rush to fill up with gas at the Bigfoot gas station next to campus. Word went out that other stations had jacked up prices to obscene levels, but the Bigfoot still sold regular unleaded for $1.40/gallon. Dave Atkinson took a photo of the hiked prices at a different station. Before long, lines stretched for a block away from the Bigfoot. The state police were soon summoned to calm heated tempers. The gas rush epitomized the fear of what had become of the world.

This morning, CNN streamed their complete coverage from September 11, 2001, starting at 7:30 a.m. CDT, in real time. The transition from fluffy morning news to shock and confusion was surreal. When I saw the towers collapse again, the exact same images I saw five years prior, I couldn’t stop a tear from welling in my eye.

(Yeah, the item mentioned below has been around for a few months; no cable + no real TV = pop culture delay.)

As many of you know, Comedy Central has been airing the “lost” episodes of the Dave Chappelle show, which were filmed before Chappelle’s sudden departure. One of the skits in one of those episodes was a send-up of the fact that the late rapper Tupac Shakur has released about half a dozen albums since his death in 1996 (with another coming this November).

I ran across that skit on YouTube this evening, and I found it absolutely hilarious. Tight beat, too. Give it a look.

I have been camping as long as I can remember. When I was a child, my family would go camping on the North Shore of Lake Superior near Two Harbors, Minnesota. I took my first camping trip without my family when I was 12; it was my first Boy Scout campout. My lasting memories of that trip are that I brought waaaaay too much stuff and that my first Dutch-oven peach cobbler experience tasted great.

Since that trip, I’ve camped numerous times at a multitude of fantastic spots. With rare exception, they were Boy Scout outings, and they were almost always great fun. Two of those events stand out as my favorites: my second trip to the BWCA in 1997 and my trip to Philmont in 1998. If you’ve ever been to either location, you understand why those two are the best of the best.

Since Philmont, I haven’t done much in the way of camping. In fact, excluding the night I spent in a park in Pamplona, Spain, I haven’t done any camping of any kind since Joe’s bachelor party in 2003. Three years. That’s a long time. Too long.

That’s going to change tonight.

At the beginning of the week, I noticed that I had nothing planned for the upcoming weekend. Furthermore, I noted that “Go camping up north again” was on my long-term list of things to do. At that moment, I knew my fate: I would take a couple of vacation days and go camping.

My initial plan was to go backpacking on Isle Royale, which is something I’ve wanted to do for almost a decade. Sadly, it became obvious that I couldn’t pull off such a trip with only a couple days notice. It’s still on my list; I intend to spend a week on the island next summer. (In the off-chance that somebody else wants to go, let me know; otherwise, I’ll do it alone.)

With a firmer grasp of reality, I altered my plans to focus on the North Shore, particularly the Grand Marais area. I plan to stay at state parks and the like; while not as nice as the backcountry, state parks are far more conducive to last-minute trips. While I’m up there, I plan to hike the many trails, watch the numerous waterfalls, and absorb the view of the lake. The number one goal will be relaxation.

This will be the first time I’ve ever gone camping by myself. I can’t wait.

I just got back from Snakes on a Plane. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t too bad. Sure, the premise is ludicrous, but once you get beyond that, it’s fairly decent. I was almost — dare I say it? — impressed by the filmmaker’s attention to detail. Sure, they had the wrong fire trucks at LAX, but they gave reasonable explanations for many of the plot elements.

I wasn’t expecting much from SoaP; I was shocked when it turned out to be more than just the hype. Go see it.

We can no longer bring liquids and gels onto commercial flights. Asinine.

In Britain, passengers can’t bring much more than money and a passport onto commercial flights. Asinine.

Two years ago, I carried a fueled Zippo onto a commercial transatlantic flight. That I could do that legally was also asinine.

Obviously, there needs to be some middle ground. We shouldn’t allow people to carry knives, firearms, or explosives onto planes. On the other hand, we shouldn’t be restricting so many mundane items. Where does it stop?

Britain has banned portable electronic devices because they could be used as detonation devices. The ban covers everything from laptops to cell phones, and it might include wristwatches. But does it include hearing aids? I highly doubt it. If a detonator could be made from a wristwatch, then it could certainly be made from a hearing aid. All of that security; all of those inconvenient restrictions; all circumvented by an “essential medical device.” Should we ban hearing aids? I don’t think so.

We take our shoes off at the airport nowadays so that they can be scanned for explosives. However, enforcement is not consistent. I’ve been allowed to walk through wearing sandals a number of times. Imagine how much plastic explosive could be smuggled aboard if it were formed into the shape of sandals. Even if sandals were scanned, that wouldn’t stop anybody from smuggling things aboard “down there.”

The real threat doesn’t come from passengers passing through normal security checkpoints, worthless as they are. If somebody really wants to get something through that checkpoint, I have no doubt that they would manage it. The real threat comes from the gaping back door. CNN is reporting that “Among those arrested were … a Heathrow Airport employee with an all-area access pass…”

Bloody hell! You’re telling me that we’re jumping though all of these hoops at the front of the airport when at least one of the conspirators had a pass to bypass security?!? Jhuyytjuhhyujr5fujhy … Sorry, just banging my head on my keyboard there. Very frustrating.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad that planes were not blown up. I’m glad that the conspiracy was uncovered (although I somehow can’t stop thinking about Operation Northwoods). I would much rather go without my cell phone than die. All I’m trying to say is that our priorities are misplaced.

Instead of causing all kinds of inconvenience at airport security checkpoints, let’s focus on intelligence work. Intelligence work (including an initial tip) led to the shutdown of this plot. We should rely on intelligence work to foil future plots as well — just don’t invade my privacy in the process. If we try to stop everybody at the checkpoint, then the real threats will simply avoid the checkpoint. In the meantime, there will be a lot of thirsty, bored, unproductive people on flights.