Reporting in from my vacation in the heartland of America. I’ve been spending a bit of time reading and writing on a typical American college campus. Lots of football players practicing for the big game on Saturday, and the basketball team has started early training—season starts in November. Browsing the off-campus bookstores, I ran across a US Army recruitment office—empty like a desert, but for the lonely, lonely recruiter in dress uniform and his gigantic, gold-fringed flag.

Outside on the main street, there was a banner proclaiming “We Support Our Troops: Past, Present, and Future!”

It’s good to plan ahead, I guess.