text:
From Parameters, Autumn 2000, pp. 138-52.
William J. Prior, "'We aren't here to do the decent thing': Saving Private Ryan and the Morality of War," pp. 138-45.
Vince Goulding, "Three Looks Back at Vietnam," pp. 146-48.
Earl H. Tilford, Jr., "Reviewing the Future," pp. 148-52.
Go to Autumn issue Table of Contents.
Go to Cumulative Article Index.
Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan has been justly praised as the most realistic portrait of combat on film. Less often appreciated is the film's sustained discussion of the morality of war. This aspect of the film is even more important, in my view, than the film's realism. In this essay I examine Spielberg's film, focusing on the relations among the several moral perspectives presented in it.
Four Perspectives
There are four distinct perspectives at work in the film. First, there is the perspective of the soldier as an individual, concerned with his own survival and with the well-being of his relatives at home. Second, there is the perspective of the soldier as member of a small unit in combat, dependent for his survival on cooperation with his fellow soldiers. Third, there is the perspective of the soldier as member of a nation-state. Fourth and finally, there is the universal perspective of the soldier as one moral agent among many, including the soldiers on the other side.
The fourth perspective is the one we normally associate in the contemporary world with the word "morality." It is important to note, however, that each of the perspectives above is, or can be seen as, a moral or ethical framework. Each is concerned with the well-being of people: the first, with the agent himself and his family; the second, with the members of the small combat unit; the third, with the citizens of the agent's nation; and the fourth, with human beings in general. Moreover, each perspective presents the agent with practical obligations that have, or claim to have, an absolute hold on him. These frameworks are related to each other in complex ways. They support each other, but they also conflict with each other, as I hope to show.
The Individual Perspective
The perspective of the soldier as an individual might well be called the perspective of the soldier as a civilian. (When I speak of the "individual" I do not mean that term in a narrow sense, one which prescinds from all family connections, but in a broad sense, which places the person in the context of his family and home.) The men in Captain Miller's unit identify themselves with their pre-military lives, with who they were "back home." We see this repeatedly in the film: they evoke the image of home to explain themselves to others. An example is the scene in the church in which Wade, the medical corpsman in the unit, talks about waiting for his mother to come home from work. Another is the scene in which Ryan talks to Miller about the last time he saw his brothers alive.
From the perspective of the individual, the mission of saving Private Ryan is a colossal mistake; or, as they describe it in the language of the GI, "fubar." Captain Miller's unit is being sent to rescue Ryan so that he may be sent home to his mother. But why should Ryan be deserving of such treatment? More to the point, why should the men of Miller's unit be sacrificed so that Ryan can be saved? As PFC Reiben states, "I got a mother, you got a mother, the Sarge has got a mother. I'm willing to bet that even the Captain's got a mother. Well, maybe not the Captain, but the rest of us have got mothers." Reiben's insistence on this perspective is part of what leads to his eventual mutiny, when he declares his intention to quit the mission after Miller releases the German prisoner.
The Perspective of a Member of a Small Combat Unit
Unfortunately, the perspective of the individual does not describe accurately the situation in which Reiben and others find themselves. They are not, after all, civilians, but members of a military unit. Their best chance of returning home to their civilian lives is cooperating with the other members of their unit in prosecuting the war. It is Miller who connects the two perspectives. In response to Reiben's mutiny he begins by revealing, for the first time, his civilian identity as a schoolteacher from Pennsylvania. His justification for seeking Ryan is that "if going to Reméal, and finding him so he can go home, if that earns me the right to get back to my wife, well then . . . then that's my mission." But the two perspectives are not fully compatible. Miller worries that serving in a combat unit in wartime may have made him no longer fit for civilian life: "Sometimes I wonder if I've changed so much, my wife is even gonna recognize me whenever it is I get back to her . . . and how I'll ever be able to . . . tell about days like today."
The morality of a small combat unit is perhaps the most ancient of the four moral perspectives we see in the film. Only the morality of the family can claim equal antiquity, and the individualism that is part of family life as I have described it is surely a more recent invention. The morality of the small combat unit is the morality of the tribe. It divides the world into two camps: friend and foe. The only true friends one has are the members of one's own unit. They are the people on whom one must rely if one is to survive. Even the higher-ups in one's own chain of command may justifiably be viewed with a jaundiced eye by the combat soldier. If the task of the soldier is to survive long enough to return home, then the high command seems bent on forestalling or preventing that outcome almost as much as the enemy, by sending him repeatedly into combat.
If the leaders of the high command are not the soldier's friends, however, certainly the enemy, who intend to kill him, are even less so. Befriending an enemy soldier, as Corporal Upham appears to do with the German prisoner, is an affront to the morality of the combat unit. It is an act of betrayal. The combat soldier is forbidden by practical necessity from extending any sympathy to the enemy. Acts that seem atrocities are justified by the hatred that is invoked in combat by the enemy's willingness to commit similar acts against one's companions. It is part of Spielberg's genius as a filmmaker that the acts of reprisal against the Germans on the beach seem fully in order to the viewer after only 15 minutes of cinematic violence against the invaders. It is astonishing how fast one can become a partisan. (Think in this context of the scene in which a German bunker disgorges several German soldiers, on fire from the assault of a flame-thrower, and an American soldier shouts, "Don't shoot 'em, let 'em burn.")
The bonds that form among combat soldiers are very deep, perhaps as deep as those within the family. This friendship has been glorified in some of the greatest literature in the history of the world. The Iliad, no less realistic about the violence and cruelty of war than Saving Private Ryan, focuses centrally on issues of loyalty that are rooted in friendship. Here is another example, just one of hundreds that might be chosen:
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,Miller's troops don't share such a romantic view of comradeship--note their sarcastic criticism of Upham's plan to write a novel about the brotherhood of comrades. They suggest that this is a project that could be undertaken only by one who is innocent, as Upham is, of the realities of combat. Yet they feel the bond nonetheless, as is shown whenever one of their number dies. It is also shown by the dialogue in the church in which Miller explains to Sergeant Horvath that one of soldiers of his own command, one Vecchio or one Caparzo, is "worth a hundred Ryans." One suspects that the real basis for the Rangers' scorn for Upham's planned novel, over and above the sarcasm that generally characterizes American soldiers, is that he has not earned the right to be part of the "band of brothers" of whom he wishes to write.
From this day to the ending of the world,
But in it we shall be remembered;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
(Shakespeare, King Henry V, Act IV, Scene III, 57-67)
The National Perspective
Fulfillment of one's duty as a soldier is seen by Miller, and by the others if they see the point at all, as a means to an end, the end of returning home safely. It can, however, become an end in its own right. A soldier may forget, or choose to disregard, his aim of getting home alive, and lay down his life for his comrades. This is essentially what Miller does when he decides to stay and defend Reméal. This decision is also connected with the third perspective displayed in the film, however, that of the morality of the nation. The small combat unit is part of a larger army, and that army serves the interests of the nation that fields it. Reméal needs to be held because the preservation of the bridge will benefit the Army and shorten the war.
National morality is not prominent in Saving Private Ryan, and where it is found it isn't expressed in terms of opposition to Germany, as one might expect, but in the rationale for the mission itself. When General Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff, is informed that Ryan has lost all of his brothers in the same week in combat, he determines to bring him home. That this determination is intended as a reflection of the character of the nation he serves is shown by Marshall's defense of his decision: he reads from a famous letter from Abraham Lincoln to a Mrs. Bixby, who lost her sons in the Civil War. The letter is filled with the values of national morality:
Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.
Dear Madam,
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
The Morality of WarA. Lincoln
As I have noted, the values of the different moral perspectives described and instanced in the film can conflict. The desire of the individual soldier to return safely to civilian life may conflict with his duty as a member of a small combat unit. Likewise, his duty as a member of that unit may conflict with the larger aims of the nation he serves. This is shown not only in the specific mission to save Ryan, which from the perspective of Miller's unit is the foolish waste of valuable lives, but also in the debate over whether to attack the German radar station the unit encounters on its way to Reméal. When Private Melish objects that "we can bypass this and still accomplish our mission," Miller responds, "I thought our mission was to win the war."
These conflicts, however, are easy to overlook or downplay in thinking about military service. The armies of all nations invoke, with greater or lesser success, the morality of the nation in justifying the specific assignments of particular units. And if the values of the individual are not so easy to reconcile with his military mission, it is easy to claim that the morality of the military unit and the nation somehow override or take precedence over individual concerns. The appeal to the morality of the nation, to national honor, is an appeal to a moral high ground, and it is often expressed in terms of a concern for the safety of the civilians the individual soldier cares about. So the conflicts, though real, might be seen as capable of being overcome. Individual and tribal morality might be subsumable under the morality of the nation. We might hope to develop a single perspective that justifies warfare, a perspective that I will call "the morality of war."
The Morality of Decency
This is not the case with the fourth perspective displayed in the film, which I will call the morality of decency. As noted above, the morality of decency is the perspective we today identify with morality simpliciter. Its fundamental concept is a universal respect for all human beings as moral agents. There are many different philosophical concepts and theories that can be used to articulate this concept. However the point is made, though, the morality of decency is at odds with the morality of war. War requires that the soldier view his personal survival, the completion of his particular mission, and the overall objectives of his nation as matters of overriding importance, to which everything else must be subordinated. The enemy soldier who intentionally stands in the way of these objectives is an impediment that must be removed, and not someone who must be accorded respect as a person. The aims of others who impede the completion of the mission are at best indifferent, of no importance.
Decency, however, requires that the enemy soldier be treated with respect and that the moral well-being of civilians be a matter of concern. We see the conflict between the two perspectives early in the film. In the first town visited by the patrol on its mission they encounter a bombed-out house inhabited by a French family. One of the soldiers, Caparzo, tries to rescue the daughter of this family. "I have to," he tells Captain Miller, "she reminds me of my niece." "The decent thing to do," Caparzo says, "would be to take her over to the next town"; to which Miller responds, "We aren't here to do the decent thing, we're here to follow fucking orders." When Caparzo is killed for his trouble, Miller tells his men, in anger and frustration, "That's why we can't take children with us." Later in the film Sergeant Horvath appeals to decency as a goal when he says, "Someday we might look back on this and decide that saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole godawful mess."
The crucial episode revealing the conflict between the morality of decency and that of war, however, is the one involving the treatment of the German soldier captured as a result of the assault on the radar station. Miller's soldiers, angry over the death of Wade, abuse the prisoner. (It is the one place in the film where they lose, or are at least apt to lose, the contemporary viewer's sympathy.) Upham objects to Miller that "This is not right." When Upham tries to ameliorate the condition of the captured soldier, he is treated with scorn by the others. It is Miller's decision to release the prisoner rather than shoot him, to follow Upham's morality rather than that of the other members of his unit, that precipitates Reiben's mutiny and Miller's justification of his conduct, described above.
Upham, inexperienced in combat, represents the morality of decency in a pure, abstract form, as adherence to a set of universal principles, one of which is respect for human life as such. The rules of conduct by which soldiers in combat are supposed to abide forbid the killing of prisoners. As the film illustrates on more than one occasion, both sides routinely ignored this rule when it conflicted with their objectives. From the standpoint of the mission of Miller's unit, killing or at least wounding and thereby disabling the prisoner is the only course of action that makes sense. Apart from Upham (and Sergeant Horvath, who keeps whatever doubts he may have about releasing the prisoner to himself in deference to his commander), the rest of Miller's unit is unanimously in favor of killing the prisoner. They want revenge for Wade, but they also know that releasing the prisoner is an act of folly from the military perspective.
Miller, unlike Upham, is a combat veteran. He isn't innocent about the danger involved in releasing the prisoner. But he is also a humane and decent man, who tries constantly to reconcile the morality of decency with his role as a combat commander. The lack of success he has (which is due, I think, to the fact that the two moralities are deeply and irreconcilably incompatible) is shown by the hand tremor he displays at intervals throughout the film. It is also shown in a scene in which he privately breaks down in tears in the aftermath of the assault on the radar station and the death of Wade. Unlike his soldiers, who are hardened to the reality of life in combat, Miller tries throughout the film to hold on to the morality of decency. His commitment to this morality is shown when he concludes his justification for releasing the prisoner by saying, "Every time I kill a man I feel farther from home." The prisoner is not simply an enemy soldier, but a man. Miller realizes that failure to respect the humanity of enemy soldiers, succumbing to the temptation simply to embrace the morality of war without qualification, would alienate him from his own humanity, from the best part of himself.
The Conflict of Perspectives: Home vs. the Battlefield
The morality of war and that of decency conflict. Steven Spielberg, a master filmmaker, uses the techniques and symbols of film to make this point, rather than the language of moral philosophy. The central symbol in his cinematic argument is that of home, and the central contrast is between home and the battlefield. Home, which is interestingly enough the milieu of the individual morality of the soldier as civilian, is the place in which we also find the morality of decency. It would appear that individual morality and universal morality complement each other better than either coheres with the morality of war.
We are introduced to the conflict between home and battle for the first time in the film after the opening sequence of carnage at Omaha Beach. Transitional scenes in the casualty branch of the Army and in General Marshall's office lead to the presentation of the Ryan home, photographed in the elegiac fashion of an Andrew Wyeth painting. In one of the film's many deftly handled scenes, accomplished completely without dialogue, we see in the collapse of Ryan's mother the power of war to bring its suffering into the very center of domestic tranquillity.
Home symbolizes for the soldiers of the film, as it does for soldiers in real life, the things in life that make it worth living. We have already seen that these things include the love of family and friends. Now it appears that they also include the morality of decency. This morality is part of a morally good, a "decent," life. At home, it is possible for people to behave well toward those who are strangers, and to accord respect even toward those with whom you have disagreements. At home, at least for the most part, you don't have enemies who are trying to kill you. The framing scenes of the film, much criticized as sentimental by critics who otherwise praised it highly, show clearly what the point of the mission was: to return Ryan home, to give him a chance to establish his own home and family, to give him a chance to live a good life. When he asks his wife whether he has been a good man, Ryan makes explicit his awareness of what he was saved for.
The contrast drawn between warfare and domestic life is an old one--it is just the contrast drawn in the earliest works of Western culture, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Miller, like Odysseus, wants nothing more than to get home to his wife. Unlike Odysseus, however, Miller doesn't live to return home. In the film's most ironic twist, he is killed by the prisoner he released. Miller's act of humanity toward the prisoner, like every other act of humanity in the film, is punished. Miller is killed, as was Caparzo, as a reward for trying to do the decent thing. If Miller had had someone in the scene to play Miller to his Caparzo, he would have said, in anger and frustration, "That's why we can't release prisoners."
Miller's humanity, Spielberg seems to be telling us, is out of place in combat, a fact that his more realistic soldiers realize clearly. They regard his decision to release the prisoner as folly. They also regard the mission itself as folly. As hardly any of them survive the mission, one might say they had good reasons for their view. Yet Spielberg does not say that Ryan should not have been saved. Saving Private Ryan confronts us with a conflict between the morality of warfare and the morality of decency. Spielberg shows us clearly the point of each, and its hold on us. He does not resolve the conflict; nor does he try to reconcile the two moralities. He says to us, "If you try to act in war as you would at home, it will probably cost you your life." He doesn't say, "Don't do it."
Can the Conflict Be Resolved? Three Approaches
What are we to make of the conflict between the morality of war and the morality of decency? Spielberg, as an artist, doesn't tell us. He vividly presents the conflict to the moviegoer, but offers no resolution. Philosophers have tried several resolutions. One is to attempt to combine the morality of decency with the morality of war by insisting that rules that respect the humanity of the enemy and civilians be followed in combat. This has been the approach of just war theorists. Spielberg shows how difficult that is, and how likely the attempt is to result in the deaths of the people who try to behave in a morally decent fashion in war. He also shows that, in the heat of combat, respect for the enemy is likely to be the first casualty of war--as soon as one's own comrades begin to die, it goes right out the window.
A second approach would be to order the conflicting moralities hierarchically. Most modern theorists who do this would rank the morality of decency above the morality of war. Many would reject the claim that the morality of war is a morality at all, since it fails to respect the basis of morality as they understand it. War, on this view, is essentially immoral. This is the view of the pacifist. It is a deeply satisfying moral position because of its purity, but it has been justly criticized as impractical.
A third possibility is acknowledgment of the conflict and of the irreconcilability of the morality of war and the morality of decency. This seems to be the position of Spielberg. This view acknowledges something the second approach does not: the fact that the obligations of a soldier in combat to his fellow soldiers, his unit, and his nation at least appear as absolute and inescapable. One must kill the enemy in combat, for reasons of survival and because of one's membership in a military unit with a mission to accomplish. One who holds this view may admit that the obligations of military service are situational, and that war exists to promote and preserve peace (as the mission to save Private Ryan was undertaken to return him home, where he could live a decent life); but he would also claim that the demands of combat are absolute in the situation of combat.
One might say that the morality of decency is out of place in combat. The attempt to apply that morality in combat must inevitably be unsatisfactory, and this third approach condemns the attempt as a moral error, an error of practical reasoning, not just as a bit of high-minded foolishness. Or it might be better to say that, although demands of decency might be always in order, and the Captain Millers of the world may always act on them, they are opposed in combat situations by weighty moral considerations on the other side.
This third approach legitimates the morality of war as a morality, although a limited one. It says that in certain situations it is not just permissible but morally required that people ignore the perspective of decency. The fear is that acceptance of this perspective might lead to the justification of atrocities and violations of the rules of war, such as the killing of prisoners. These things do occur, it might be said, but we can't condone or approve them.
Despite the dangers of this approach, and despite my own pacifist convictions, I am attracted to this position, for it grants to the morality of war something that many people, including those who oppose war, have long recognized: the status of a moral position. Everyone who is at all familiar with warfare, whether firsthand or by means of the accounts of others, is aware that war is ugly and brutal. Equally common, however, is the recognition that warfare can arouse some of the noblest moral values in people, values such as courage, friendship, and patriotism. Warfare provides occasions for heroic behavior not often found in peacetime, and can generate an ethos of self-sacrifice that is morally admirable. It seems to me that it won't do to ignore, reject, or diminish the importance of these facts.
This leaves me, however, as I think it leaves Spielberg, with an irreconcilable
conflict. Both the morality of war and the morality of decency place absolute
moral demands on people. These demands cannot be reconciled. To be a warrior
is to be required, morally required, to do things that the morality of
decency cannot approve. And this means that the modern warrior, educated
at home in the morality of decency, must inevitably feel conflict, and
indeed guilt, about his actions in combat.
Film: Spielberg, Steven. Saving Private Ryan. Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks SKG, Mark Gordon Productions, Mutual Film Company, Paramount Pictures. 1998.
The Author: Dr. William J. Prior is Professor of Philosophy and Director of Residential Learning Communities at Santa Clara University. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1975 from the University of Texas at Austin. Before his arrival at Santa Clara in 1986 he taught for 11 years at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the author of two books, Unity and Development in Plato's Metaphysics (1985) and Virtue and Knowledge (1991), and the editor of a four-volume collection of articles titled, Socrates: Critical Assessments. He has published more than a dozen articles, chiefly on ancient philosophy and ethics. The author thanks Dr. Martin Cook, of the US Army War College faculty, for his encouragement and his helpful comments on this essay.
Scan Bill McCloud's What Should We Tell Our Children About Vietnam?, a collection of letters he received in response to a request for help in teaching Oklahoma junior high school students about the Vietnam War. The respondents run the gamut from Tom Hayden to Dean Rusk to Robert McNamara, and from the profound (seldom) to the banal (frequently). For the most part, they say pretty much what you would expect. No surprise there, but then, why should there be? Letters received from veterans and the families of men who didn't come home certainly have more impact and scholarly value. McCloud, who served in Vietnam from March 1968 to March 1969, clearly has high motives, and his effort fills a niche. That said, check his book out from the library if the mood strikes and light, easy reading is the order of the day.
Better perhaps, if education of self or others is the reader's ultimate objective, to seriously consider taking on David Kaiser's American Tragedy and Michael Lind's Vietnam the Necessary War. Both these substantial efforts are well researched, passionately written, and sure to evoke a response. That's where the similarity ends, as the titles of the books clearly indicate.
David Kaiser teaches at the Naval War College, and his research skills are readily apparent. Many of his sources are new, a point he makes early and often. The subtitle, "Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam War," is a little misleading, in that although his main focus is the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, he includes significant discussion of Dwight Eisenhower. This is nontrivial, because the drum Kaiser consistently beats carries the message that JFK inherited a can of worms, would have fixed it had he not been tragically killed, and that LBJ is responsible for all the bad things that followed . . . and they were all bad. Before you come to the conclusion that the author owns a beachfront cottage at Hyannis, however, several secondary themes emerge that demonstrate a balanced approach. Kaiser cites many instances which underscore the fact that Kennedy and his closest advisors were not on the same sheet of music when it came to events in Southeast Asia. He also describes the Departments of State and Defense as consistently pulling in opposite directions. Kaiser's assertion that Robert McNamara and Maxwell Taylor misled JFK is less surprising. Predictably, Lyndon Johnson is treated harshly, on both ethical and leadership grounds. But let's hold that thought. After all, the author has written about an "American tragedy" that another author thinks was a "necessary war."
Michael Lind is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and the Washington editor of Harper's Magazine. That's right, he's a conservative. That said, his book is a good follow-on to Kaiser's, principally because it carries America's involvement in Vietnam to its conclusion during the Nixon Administration. Lind also introduces new sources; of particular interest, those coming from the communist side. Another great utility of this particular book is its author's ability to tie events in Vietnam to American foreign policy today. That is, after all, the reason we study history.
Not surprisingly, Lind's thesis is that America's effort in Vietnam was a necessary, if painful, requirement in the ongoing proxy war between the United States and China/Russia. He even goes so far as to call it the Third World War. There are other eye-openers. Lind counters the conventional wisdom that Ho Chi Minh was a benevolent nationalist whom the United States could have co-opted with evidence that he was a Russian/Chinese puppet who willingly participated in the murder of thousands of his countrymen by Chinese advisors. Of particular note, and especially after digesting Kaiser, is Lind's portrayal of Lyndon Johnson as a President who made the right strategic decisions, albeit with methods that leave a bit to be desired. No Hyannis cottage for Lind; his treatment of JFK and his brother Robert would certainly not endear him to the Camelot crowd. Ironically, he even goes so far to make the statement that LBJ inherited a "disastrous situation" and that his biggest mistake was listening to General William Westmoreland. Lind demonstrates his balance, however, by castigating Richard Nixon for waiting too long to end American involvement, equating Vietnam to an auction where the buyer (the United States) had far overspent (in lives) for an item (Vietnam) that wasn't worth the price.
It is particularly interesting, and worthy of note by those in uniform, that these two authors, whose strategic analysis of the Vietnam War is so divergent, nonetheless share a common thesis regarding the US military effort. Both Kaiser and Lind challenge the conventional wisdom that US forces fought well but were not adequately supported by Washington. They are of the opinion that military operations in Vietnam, at the operational level of war, were unlikely to bring success and didn't even support strategic objectives. To a military establishment that has been weaned on the notion that "we won every battle [false], but lost the war [false in the eyes of Michael Lind, at least]," this might come as a bit of a surprise. The authors' contention is that the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs, and ultimately the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), reverted to their respective operational comfort zones and fell into the trap of conducting a firepower-based war of attrition rather than the more unconventional approach required. The operational lessons to be learned were from the British experience in Malaya, not our own in Korea, nor especially from the doctrine that was emerging in northern Europe.
Also noteworthy, Michael Lind provides some demographic and statistical data on the composition of the major political parties, support for the war, and who fought there that is extremely interesting and instructive to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of this watershed event in American diplomatic, military, and cultural history.
The best way to teach is, first, to learn for yourself, then pass along the information you think accurately portrays the past. The truth about how America got into and out of the Vietnam War might very well lie somewhere between the opinions of Kaiser and Lind. One thing is certain, however. These two well-documented works are sure to prompt the reader to dig deeper and, in the process, become a better strategic leader, junior high school teacher, or for that matter, informed American citizen.
Kaiser, David. American Tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam War. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard Univ., 2000.
Lind, Michael. Vietnam the Necessary War: A Reinterpretation of America's Most Disastrous Military Conflict. New York: The Free Press, 1999.
McCloud, Bill. What Should We Tell Our Children About Vietnam? Norman: Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1989.
The Reviewer: Colonel Vince Goulding is the senior US Marine Corps Representative at the US Army War College. He earned a B.A. degree in history from the University of South Carolina and an M.A. in history from the University of Oklahoma. He has held a variety of command and staff assignments, including command of 3d Battalion 3d Marines (3d Marine Division), and Marine Barracks, Japan. Prior to his current assignment, he was Director, Concepts Division, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Quantico, Va.
Without meaning to, this decade-long review process fostered an interservice rivalry as intense and bitter as any of the last half century. The Army and the Air Force have emerged as the two major protagonists, with their respective visions focused on dominant maneuver on the one hand and precision strike on the other. If this ongoing review process produces substantive changes, the outcome could be crucial to the future of one or both services. Moreover, it may alter the way America goes to war. Currently, the future of the Army may be more at risk than that of the Air Force. That is why Senator Gary Hart's 1998 book, The Minuteman: Restoring an Army of the People, is important.
While serving in the Senate, Gary Hart organized the Military Reform Caucus in the early 1980s to redirect the defense debate away from weapons procurement and toward a focus on strategy, tactics, doctrine, and leadership. The caucus attracted bipartisan support with Republicans Barry Goldwater and Newt Gingrich joining Hart and like-minded Democrats. During this period, Gary Hart became one of the nation's best-informed public servants on defense matters. His 1985 book, America Can Win: The Case for Military Reform, coauthored with then Senate staffer William S. Lind, provided a preview to debates that emerged a decade later. When Hart writes a book proposing that the Army can be cut to five regular active divisions, the Department of the Army had better pay attention.
Hart's thesis is that "America's Army" is more than a slogan, it is a historical imperative whereby citizens called to arms in times of national peril have defended the nation. He contends that an aroused citizenry in uniform is preferable to a standing army of professionals when the Army is called upon to fight and win the nation's wars. That being the case, Hart recommends that the Army, whose current force structure and firepower-centered doctrines are anachronistic remnants of Cold War requirements and no longer relevant, should be reduced drastically in its active component and bolstered in the Army Reserve and National Guard. A force of five active component divisions, when coupled with the Marine Corps, Hart contends, would be sufficient to meet the landpower requirements needed to parry the initial thrusts of any aggressor. If necessary, the National Guard, with its heavier divisions, could be mobilized to secure the final victory. With the resources saved by reducing the active component by five divisions, regular Army cadres could keep the Guard and Reserve trained as well as supplied with top-of-the-line equipment.
Fundamental to Hart's argument is the issue of deployability. He points out that there simply is not enough airlift and sealift to move our heavy divisions quickly enough to distant battlefields. Therefore, with necessity as the mother of invention, the bulk of the Army's heavy forces should be in the reserve components.
At stake, Hart contends, is whether the United States will continue with its Cold War military structures, while spreading its forces into numerical weakness in search of weaponry and new enemies to justify their existence. His is a clear challenge and, since the current review of forces, roles, and missions goes by the name the "Hart-Rudman Commission," the Army cannot ignore what many will perceive as a reasonable alternative to the Army as currently configured. However, there are two flaws to the Senator's argument and a strategic concept he fails to note.
First, the Army of the future will be highly sophisticated and its soldiers must train for a variety of missions using the latest in technology to the greatest advantage. What is needed is more time in training for the wide range of challenges from peacekeeping in complex terrain, to counterterrorism, to remaining ready to fight and win quickly and decisively when the high-tech drive-by shootings provided by air power and precision strike are not enough.
Second, Senator Hart seems to believe that power projection is more important than a continual strategic presence. Currently the Army is stationed around the globe at locations astride historic points of geostrategic friction and close to those areas where America's vital interests are most likely to be threatened. Real strategic speed comes from the ability to move both quickly and decisively. It is far better to win quickly, before the enemy can dictate the strategic terms of engagement, before opposing forces achieve their operational objectives and become entrenched, ready for what could then evolve into a bloody war of attrition. The force structures and strategic paradigms Senator Hart advocates would not allow the United States to get there "the firstest with the mostest." It simply does not make good strategic or operational sense to get there "with a little now, a little more later, and a lot later on."
The strategic concept Senator Hart fails to consider is that short of annihilating the enemy by bombing them back to the Stone Age, only land forces can provide decisive strategic victory. As it now stands, the leaders in Pyongyang, Baghdad, and Belgrade can thumb their noses at the world, confident that our response will be another high-tech strike which they can ride out. Our National Command Authority should have the option of moving vigorously to win decisively, should that be necessary. Only land forces can invade, supplant a regime, and change the leadership. If Kim, Saddam, and Milosevic feared being deposed, arrested, and put on trial for their crimes, they might be more effectively deterred. Only modern and robust land forces can provide important war-winning capabilities--as opposed to imposing effects to achieve a degree of control, which is about as much as air power strategies can accomplish.
Defense specialist Michael O'Hanlon, in Technological Change and the Future of Warfare, assesses the current debate with a focus on the revolution in military affairs (RMA). O'Hanlon finds that there is tremendous potential for technological development but also significant limitations. In this respect, O'Hanlon both compliments and contends with Hart in significant and thought-provoking ways.
As a departure point, O'Hanlon argues that the RMA is built on four premises, of which one is valid, two wrong, and the fourth arguable at best. He postulates the first premise is correct: improvements in computers and information systems will increase their effectiveness, fostering new applications in robotics and increased weapon capabilities. The second premise, that sensors will become so much more capable that the battlefield will become virtually transparent, a fundamental assumption of precision strike advocates, is wrong. Also incorrect is the third premise, that land, sea, and air vehicles will become significantly lighter, more lethal, and stealthy, thus making them more deployable. The fourth premise, that new types of weapons like directed-energy beams and advanced biological agents will be developed and widely deployed, is arguable.
If correct in these assumptions, O'Hanlon's skeptical view of the RMA provides both good and bad news for the Army. The good news is that envisioning precision strike and a strategy based on air power alone as the primary and supported force constitutes wishful thinking based on flawed historical interpretation. The bad news is that improvements in pyrotechnic and metallurgical technologies are not going to be as dramatic as many are now hoping. Guns are not going to become significantly more lethal, and while lighter armored vehicles may be more deployable, they are not likely to be more survivable than current systems. In other words, while we might get there "firstest," it may not be with "the mostest." But advocates of decisive victory though land force dominance need not despair, because O'Hanlon's skeptical view of the RMA, coupled with Gary Hart's challenge for the need to maintain a robust active component, offer an opportunity to make the Army of Transformation a reality.
If we follow O'Hanlon's arguments, current cutting-edge systems like the B-2 bomber, F-117, and F-22 are dangerously susceptible to advances in technological countermeasures. Stealth, after all, does not mean a system is invisible but that it is less visible. And while "less visible" is good, it also means that these systems, restricted as they are to nighttime operations and requiring massive support in electronic countermeasures, will become more and more vulnerable in the future as our potential enemies find ways to detect and knock them down. In short, the limitations O'Hanlon sees in the RMA are more likely to affect future precision strike capabilities than they are to affect the Army with its equities in strategic presence and dominant maneuver.
The area where precious defense resources can be used to best effect is to improve our airlift and sealift capabilities. While O'Hanlon does not think the speed of transport aircraft will increase much and that the speed of ships will not improve by more than a few knots in the next quarter to half-century, we can improve deployability by simply increasing the numbers of C-17s and Roll-On-Roll-Off ships. As for systems like the F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), O'Hanlon believes a small number should be purchased as "silver bullet systems." These planes are projected to be so capable that a relatively small number of F-22s can achieve air superiority while the JSFs and other stealth aircraft hit the most heavily defended targets. Meanwhile, larger numbers of updated F-16s, F/A-18s, and F-15s will be sufficient to ensure overwhelming air supremacy at a reasonable cost to the year 2020 and beyond.
In the final analysis, war is about people, not systems. Armies, air forces, and navies function with people who use and employ machines and weapons. In their anthology The Postmodern Military: Armed Forces After the Cold War, Charles C. Moskos, John Allen Williams, and David R. Segal address the changes in the armed forces of 13 nations fostered by the shift from a modern to a postmodern paradigm.
First it is important to understand what is meant by "postmodern." This is a notion, originating among literary circles in the 1960s, that the current era is one in which there are no absolutes, truth is relative, values are paramount to virtues, and there is a profound relativism to all discourse and relationships. Its operative terms are pluralism, fragmentation, heterogeneity, deconstruction, permeability, and ambiguity. Postmodern is a pretty good way of describing the international strategic environment that the US Commission on National Security/21st Century has described as a prelude to recommending a more relevant and appropriate national security strategy and structure.
More to the point, the Modern Military originated with the levee en masse armies of the French Revolution and lasted through World War II. In the Modern Military, officers tended to be aristocratic and poorly trained. In wartime, armies expanded by calling up the militias and by conscription. This model was replaced by the Late Modern Military during the Cold War, when large standing armies, led by a cadre of highly trained professional officers, served as much to deter as to fight. With the passing of the Cold War, the Postmodern Military finds itself faced with new missions, new priorities, and changes to its internal dynamics that respond to pressures far removed from its traditional roles and missions. It is in this kind of military that programs like "Consideration of Others" (CO2) have risen to a level of importance equal to that of training for combat.
The editors' approach was to have an international group of scholars examine the military structures of the United States and 12 other countries. They assessed each according to criteria like perceived threat, force structure, and mission definition, how their respective armed forces are perceived by their peoples, media relations, the role of women, and attitudes toward service by homosexuals and conscientious objectors. Their conclusion is that there have been five major organizational changes in the Postmodern Military. First, civilians play a larger role in most armed forces. Second, the differences between the services based on branch, rank, and combat versus noncombat roles has decreased. Third, there has been a change in military purpose from fighting wars to conducting missions not traditionally considered "military." Fourth, there has been much more extensive use of multinational military forces authorized by supranational institutions like the United Nations and NATO. Finally, military forces have themselves become increasingly "internationalized." As Professor John Allen Williams of Loyola University Chicago points out in the conclusion, "All of these changes are observable to some degree."
As for the US armed forces, Northwestern University sociologist Charles Moskos concludes that they are pretty typical in exhibiting the ambiguity and uncertainty implicit in postmodernism generally. They are, in fact, ahead of most other nations in integrating women into their ranks, and while the status of homosexuals in uniform remains contentious, the services' permeability to civilian mores as superseding traditional military virtues, for better or for worse, has been relatively substantial.[2]
Moskos and the other writers seem to ascribe a sense of historical inevitability to the current sociopolitical pressures shaping the various armed forces, especially those of the United States. For instance, in the United States, the Army and Navy have embraced programs like CO2 and proclaimed vigorous "zero tolerance" policies for both sexual harassment and hostility toward homosexuals in reaction to criticism engendered by highly publicized incidents and accompanying political pressures. One has to wonder what would happen if the leadership made a concerted effort to re-infuse the warrior spirit even at the risk of being dubbed "politically incorrect." The authors failed to consider the possibility that the services might be going through a phase that is both temporary and reversible given a different political climate.
In conclusion, change is neither comfortable nor easy. Military institutions are by their nature conservative and resistant to change. It is also natural for institutions to protect their prerogatives. While there are no easy answers to the complex issues raised by the uncertain and changing national security environment, it is good that we are addressing these matters. One hopes we can do so honestly and with the best interests of the nation at heart.
1. Information on the US Commission on National Security/21st Century, the Hart-Rudman Commission, including the Phase 1 and Phase 2 reports, is available on the Internet at http://www.nssg.gov/index.htm, accessed 12 July 2000.
2. For further reading on the effects of gender integration on the Army and Navy, see Stephanie Gutmann, The Kinder, Gentler Military: Can America's Gender-neutral Fighting Forces Still Win Wars? (New York: Scribner, 2000).
Hart, Gary. The Minuteman: Restoring an Army of the People. New York: Free Press, 1998.
Hart, Gary, and William S. Lind. America Can Win: The Case for Military Reform. Bethesda, Md.: Adler & Adler, 1986.
Moskos, Charles C., John Allen Williams, and David R. Segal. The Postmodern Military: Armed Forces After the Cold War. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2000.
O'Hanlon, Michael. Technological Change and the Future of Warfare. Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2000.
The Reviewer: Dr. Earl H. Tilford, Jr., is the Director of Research at the Strategic Studies institute of the US Army War College. During his Air Force career he taught at the Air Force Academy, served as Editor of the Air University Review, and served on the staff at the Center for Aerospace Doctrine, Research, and Education. He is the author of Crosswinds: What the Air Force Did in Vietnam, and Why.
Go to Autumn issue Table of Contents.
Go to Cumulative Article Index.
Go to Parameters home page.
Reviewed 16 August 2000. Please send comments or corrections to firstname.lastname@example.com


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Jami Attenberg's family tragedy arrives bearing the imprimatur of Jonathan Franzen, who has praised the author's "sympathy" and "artistry." Franzen's endorsement makes a fair amount of sense.
True, "The Middlesteins" does not strive for quite as many of the Great American Statements embodied by "The Corrections" and "Freedom," nor does this tersely written novel attempt to dazzle the reader with virtuosic bursts of Franzenian erudition. Nevertheless, "The Middlesteins" does stun with its blunt, unsparing and unflinching depictions of family dysfunction among the Jewish-American middle class in Chicago and its suburbs, a world where selfishness seems to predominate, relationships can often be a matter of convenience and compromise, and love soon fades, if it was ever present at all.
This piece first ran in Printers Row Journal, delivered to Printers Row members with the Sunday Chicago Tribune and by digital edition via email. Click here to learn about joining Printers Row.
Franzen's praise for this novel also serves as a subtle riposte to a familiar, if specious, meme about his own work — that his domestic fictions would probably be dismissed if a woman had written them. Though there is merit in this argument, it is unfortunately often made in the service of writers who do not approach Franzen's level of mastery and ambition. That's not really the case here. "The Middlesteins" has its own lofty goals, even if it expresses them somewhat more subtly than Franzen tends to. You don't riff on Saul Bellow's "Herzog" by naming your lead female character "Herzen" if you're not seeking entrance to the hallowed halls of American lit.
This is the Buffalo Grove-born Attenberg's fourth novel, and it spans more than 50 years and several generations of the Middlestein family: Edie Middlestein née Herzen, a lawyer, and her husband Richard, a pharmacist; their children, pot-smoking Benny and bitter, neurotic, defensive Robin; and two soon-to-be-B'nai-Mitzvahed grandchildren, Josh and Emily. But the focus here is primarily on Richard and Edie — especially Edie, who, from the novel's first pages when she is an overweight 5-year-old to the novel's penultimate chapter when she is retired, diabetic and obese, weighing more than 300 pounds, seems to be slowly committing suicide by gorging herself on the food. Edie has all too often substituted food for love. "(F)ood was a wonderful place to hide," she writes. The author describes in memorable detail Edie's fixations on the "salmon-pink special sauce" of a Big Mac and the "spongy pleasure" of its bun. If Laura Esquivel's "Like Water For Chocolate" succeeded in making food into an aphrodisiac, "The Middlesteins" is that novel's antidote.
Just about every scene involving Edie can be a heart-rending chore to endure — Edie stuffing herself with Chinese food; Edie eating a McRib alone at a table while her husband and children sit at another table; Edie sobbing after Richard finally leaves her, claiming that he can no longer watch the woman kill herself; Edie embarking upon one final, sweet, but inevitably doomed attempt at love. Nevertheless, throughout, Edie undeniably remains this novel's hero, its heart, Attenberg's Herzog. Edie pulses with life no matter how close she seems to dying, and her character is emblematic of the tough compassion Attenberg exhibits throughout her novel.
Were Edie not such a dominating and tragic figure, "The Middlesteins" could function effectively as dark comedy, satirizing the foibles of its all-too-self-involved and all-too-recognizable characters. Emily and Josh's absurdly gluttonous B'nai Mitzvah — complete with hip-hop dancing and a chocolate fountain — comes to mind. But Edie's slow self destruction undercuts the humor. It's as if Edie personifies the human cost of all the pointless cruelty in which the Middlesteins engage throughout the years. When Edie first begins dating Richard Middlestein and her father is in the hospital awaiting test results, Attenberg writes that, to Edie, "(N)othing was funny in this world, in her life, nothing." Many years and more than 200 pages later, Richard Middlestein comes to the same conclusion: "He tried to muster up a joke … but nothing was funny." It's a conclusion many readers of "The Middlesteins" might come to as well as laughter catches in their throats.
Attenberg tells her novel out of order, which lends a grim fatalism to the proceedings. On page one, Edie is a little girl asking her mother to carry her; by the next chapter, she is a sick, older woman suffering from an arterial disease and may not survive surgery. We learn that Richard will be divorcing his ailing wife several chapters before we witness the scenes of their early courtship. The author undercuts moments that would seem to be fraught with emotion by briefly summarizing them or offering sardonic, deadpan commentary. Robin Middlestein's assessment of her future husband, Daniel? "He'll do." Richard Middlestein's budding relationship with a lonely widow is described as "something resembling love." Attenberg sums up Benny Middlestein's attempt to save his mother's life by preventing her from eating on the night before her surgery thusly: "It did not bring them closer together, but it did not tear them apart."
Somehow, Attenberg manages to end her novel on an upbeat note — a glimmer of affection between two unlikely characters. Yet, the relief and pleasure that Attenberg's final lines provide is short-lived, for Attenberg has already told us much of what will happen after this moment. And even if she hadn't, as readers, by this point, we have already gone through too much to trust that this moment will endure, no more than we could ever have trusted this seemingly upbeat line that ended another devastating American novel: "She felt that nothing could kill her hope now, nothing," Franzen wrote of the matriarch Enid Lambert in "The Corrections." "She was seventy-five and she was going to make some changes in her life."
Adam Langer is the author of a memoir and four novels, including "The Thieves of Manhattan" and "Crossing California."
"The Middlesteins"
By Jami Attenberg, Grand Central, 288 pages, $24.99

subset: commoncrawl


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The Heat Is Online
Winter Storm Drops 2 Feet of Snow on New England
New England digs itself out of 2 feet of snow
Thousands of flights canceled, thousands of homes without power, thousands enjoy day off
The Associated Press
, Jan. 13, 2011
BOSTON — Much of New England continued to dig out from under more than 2 feet of snow and children in hundreds of communities enjoyed a second day off from school Thursday as power companies worked to restore energy to homes and businesses darkened by the region's third snowstorm in three weeks.
The winter storm that crippled the South earlier this week tread more lightly as it moved Northeast, before joining forces Wednesday with a system from the Midwest.
The storms announced their arrival in New England with claps of thunder and record amounts of snowfall in some cities.
As the storm swept north, the National Weather Service reported snow on the ground in every state except Florida.
That included Hawaii, which had 7 inches on the top of the Mauna Kea mountain. The winter weather was blamed for at least 18 deaths since Sunday when snow and ice hit the South.
Forecasters predicted sunshine Thursday in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, accompanied by wind gusts and temperatures below freezing.
Snow showers and strong winds should blow over Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
"People will still have to bundle up to go out to dig out of their driveways and sidewalks," meteorologist Rebecca Gould said.
Thousands of canceled flights
Scores of schools, businesses and government offices closed Wednesday, and some, including schools in Boston and Providence, R.I., planned to stay closed Thursday.
Airlines canceled more than 3,000 flights, mostly in the snowy Northeast, but said travelers wouldn't be stuck for days as they were after a Christmas weekend storm.
New York accounted for half the canceled flights, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.
Commuter rail service was delayed or suspended across the region, and Amtrak suspended service between New York City and Boston because of damage to the overhead power system south of Boston.
While motorists were warned to stay off the roads, Josh Clukey, 24, of Eastford, Conn., had no choice.
He ventured out when his pregnant wife began showing signs of labor early Wednesday. The drive to a hospital in Willimantic, normally 25 minutes, lasted a harrowing hour.
"It was a little scary. It was dark, and the snow was blowing all over the place," said Clukey, whose son, Ryland James, was born at 8:42 a.m.
"There was maybe only about 6 inches on the roads at the time, but the plows hadn't come out yet," he added.
Twitter snowball fight
In Maine, winds that gusted to 48 mph in Portland and 50 mph in Brooklin knocked out electricity for more than 7,000 Central Maine Power and Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. customers at the storm's peak, officials said.
Some places in the state could see 20 inches of snow by the time final measurements are taken, said weather service meteorologist John Jensenius.
In Portland, people who had the day off used Twitter and Facebook to organize a snowball fight, resulting in a so-called flash mob with dozens of young people in Deering Oaks Park.
"We heard there was going to be a big snowstorm. We said, 'Hey we're not working tomorrow so we should have a snowball fight.' It's sort of like being a kid again," said Scott Collins, 27.
Boston accumulated a one-day record 11.6 inches; Worcester, Mass., 15.5 inches; Connecticut's Bradley International Airport 22.5 inches, and Providence, R.I., 6.9 inches.
High snowfall tallies also included 26.3 inches in Chesterfield, Mass., 27 inches in Manchester, Conn., and 21.2 inches in West Gloucester, R.I.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said the storm left more than 100,000 people without power or heat by noon.
He declared a state of emergency. Scattered power outages were reported in Connecticut, Rhode Island and elsewhere in the region.
By Wednesday night, National Grid said 7,000 electricity customers in Massachusetts remained without power, down from about 75,000 during the height of the storm.
In New York, where city leaders took heavy criticism for their slow work after a Dec. 26 blizzard, officials rolled out a massive response that quickly cleared the streets.
They also received some help from nature, with only 9 inches of snow falling in Central Park — well short of 20 inches in last month's storm.
© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
©1998 to 2018 The Heat is Online


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Oh what stories you could tell! Well, here's your chance. Each month, The Pulse wants to hear your best anecdotes. We'll give you a topic of interest, you give us your best quick thinking, and you get a chance to be heard here on The Pulse. The writer of our favorite wisdom will receive a $50 to spend at Allheart.com!
This month, we want to know: If you were to give a nursing student one piece of advice, what would it be?
Please add a comment with your reply to this post. (Click here post your comment)


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Man Is Missing Half Of His Face [FBHW]
In this video, a man reveals his face after countless reconstructive surgeries. He is suffering from a squamous cell carcinoma, which is a type of skin cancer. Normally this disease can be treated if spotted early, but his developed on the inside of his nasal passage and wasn't discovered until after it had done considerable damage. In order to combat the cancer, this man had his eye and a large portion of his face removed.
When Producer Joe finds a video that he thinks is disgusting, everyone on the show has a different reaction. Free Beer usually refuses to watch, while Hot Wings always is willing to take a peek. Zane and Producer Steve will look at some, but not others. And finally, Joe is the only person who gets incredibly excited the more bizarre, weird, or gross the video is.
See what Free Beer and Hot Wings say about this slightly nauseating video below.
Part 1
Part 2
Oh my god... His mouth is closed, but his tongue is there! - Hot Wings
You can hardley tell that his face has been scooped out like a pint of Ben & Jerrys - Producer Joe


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Jeff's MCAD Blogging
Jeff Rowe
Jeffrey Rowe has more than 40 years of experience in all aspects of industrial design, mechanical engineering, and manufacturing. On the publishing side, he has written well over 1,000 articles for CAD, CAM, CAE, and other technical publications, as well as consulting in many capacities in the … More »
Metrology Meets Simulation: Hexagon Acquiring MSC Software
February 2nd, 2017 by Jeff Rowe
This week MSC Software Corporation, the company that brought you such products as Nastran, Patran, Marc, and Apex, announced that it had reached an agreement to be purchased by Hexagon AB for $834 million cash. Like all corporate acquisitions, this one is subject to clearance and standard regulatory filings, and is expected to be completed in April. For more than 50 years MSC has been a leading provider of CAE solutions, primarily simulation software for virtual product and manufacturing process development, and was one of the first 10 commercial software companies.
With 2016 proforma sales of $230, MSC will continue to run as an independent business unit within Hexagon's Manufacturing Intelligence (HMI) division. HMI's main businesses are in the automotive, aerospace, machinery, consumer electronics, and other discrete manufacturing markets. Process-oriented solutions are essential for manufacturers, and MSC's products address key design and engineering processes for CAE.
Financial Good Times Roll For PTC With Increasing Contributions From IoT
January 26th, 2017 by Jeff Rowe
Most large PLM companies deal with three groups of people that are necessary for survival – employees, customers, and investors. Every company regards and treats the three groups differently, but most of the successful ones acknowledge the importance of all three – although some companies are better at it than others and some companies regard one or more of the groups as necessary evils.
Each of the groups gets the information it needs to make decisions from different sources, such as press releases, news feeds, whitepapers, eBooks, financial reports, and so on. Financial reports for tech companies are especially interesting not only because of what they say, but what they might imply. And, while some companies try to report "alternative facts," financial figures don't lie, and some things are obvious, but there are always numbers subject to speculative interpretation.
That brings me to PTC's most recent financial report that was made public last week. There were some surprises, some good, some not so good, but in many ways reinforced and reflected the direction of the company, namely IoT. Admittedly, IoT was not the biggest source of revenue for PTC, but it't clear that it is increasingly important to the health and wealth of the company.
Read the rest of Financial Good Times Roll For PTC With Increasing Contributions From IoT
RS Components' Free DesignSpark Tops 200,000 User Activations With Continuing Growth
January 23rd, 2017 by Jeff Rowe
Last month, RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc, a global distributor for electromechanical engineering components announced that user activations of DesignSpark Mechanical (DSM), the company's free-for-download 3D modeling and design tool, had reached a cumulative total of 200,000. According to the company, the volume of total activations of the software continues to increase at a rate of between four and five percent per month.
Developed in conjunction with SpaceClaim, DesignSpark Mechanical is a key tool in the RS DesignSpark initiative for providing resources that enable engineers to rapidly develop prototypes in the product concept design stage. Originally launched in late 2013 with a second version offering new functionality introduced the following year, the software is also available with extended engineering options (DS Mechanical Exchange and DS Mechanical Drawing) that costs $995 for the pair.
"DesignSpark Mechanical is a powerful 3D solid modeling tool that has rapidly been accepted by professionals, students and the maker communities, who have found enormous utility in the tool, enabling them to quickly develop 3D prototypes and bring their concepts and products to market in a very fast time," said Mike Brojak, Head of DesignSpark Customer Solutions at RS. "Meeting this milestone is another hallmark of success for our DesignSpark initiative, which empowers engineers and designers in the maker community and from the smallest start-up to large organizations."
Read the rest of RS Components' Free DesignSpark Tops 200,000 User Activations With Continuing Growth
PTC Selected as IIoT Company Of The Year For 2016
January 5th, 2017 by Jeff Rowe
Just about a year ago, PTC received the IoT Innovation Vendor of the Year Award from marketing analytics and consulting firm Compass Intelligence at the 2016 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The Compass Intelligence Annual Awards recognize the best Internet of Things (IoT) products and services offered in the market during the past year.
In the view of the award presenting organization, PTC had become a leading provider of technology that enables its customers to realize the value inherent in the Internet of Things. As well, in their opinion, PTC's CEO, Jim Heppelmann, had become a major thought leader, having coauthored two seminal HBR articles that describe the implications of the IoT and offering companies a blueprint to get started on their own IoT journeys.
This week PTC announced that it had been named Industrial Internet of Things Company of the Year by IoT Breakthrough, an independent organization dedicated to recognizing IoT products and companies that stand out in the industry. PTC also received the IoT Breakthrough award for "Industrial IoT Solution of the Year" for its Kepware KEPServerEX industrial connectivity software.
Read the rest of PTC Selected as IIoT Company Of The Year For 2016
The Catalysts For Connected Manufacturing
December 15th, 2016 by Jeff Rowe
Cloud computing is helping more manufacturers become more agile and competitive, but it is by no means the only aspect of improving manufacturing practices. There are actually several technologies involved with making connected smart manufacturing a reality.
That's just part of the findings of the 2016 State of Manufacturing study written by Plex Systems and based on survey responses from approximately 200 manufacturers.
Last year's State of Manufacturing Technology report validated that the cloud is one of the primary catalysts for technology usage overall. Fundamentally, the cloud reduces the IT cost and personnel burden for core systems and administration, opening up resources for greater innovation and much needed focus on higher-value technology projects. The core capabilities inherent in modern cloud solutions—mobility, ease of integration, configurability, and the elimination of upgrade cycles— also make it easier and less expensive for manufacturers to connect their people, equipment, materials, suppliers, and customers.
This year's survey discusses an emerging trend: connected manufacturing. Organizations are building on the connectivity of the cloud and leveraging integration that extends from mobile devices to plant floor equipment, customers to suppliers, and people to materials. These capabilities are providing a new application foundation for everything from agile process design to enterprise supply-chain management, innovation, and product quality.
Re-Use Your CAD: The ModelCHECK Handbook
December 8th, 2016 by Jeff Rowe
I read a lot of books, mostly non-fiction and technical in both hardcopy and digital formats. Although I get through most of them, there are some I don't even try to finish, and a few become favorites that I keep for future reading and reference. I recently read a book entitled Re-Use Your CAD: The ModelCHECK Handbook by Rosemary Astheimer. When I saw Handbook in the title, I thought it would be another dry reference book, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was much more than that — it's a good learning and reference resource.
The book's author, Rosemary L. Astheimer, is an application engineer for Action Engineering, as well as a Continuing Lecturer for the Polytechnic Institute at Purdue University. She received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and her Masters of Software Engineering from Brandeis University. Before joining the faculty in 2014, Ms. Astheimer spent over 15 years working in the CAD software industry. She began her career in software support, transitioned into a pre-sales application engineer focusing on business development of new products and was most recently a product manager.
I first met and interviewed Ms. Astheimer at PTC's LiveWorx 2016 in Boston. She knows her stuff.
What Is ModelCHECK?
Siemens Goes ECAD With Mentor Graphics Acquisition
December 1st, 2016 by Jeff Rowe
By acquiring one of ECAD's giants, Mentor Graphics, Siemens continues to round out its design capabilities far beyond its MCAD roots as part of its Vision 2020 quest. Siemens says the acquisition is an extension of "shaping the Digital Industrial Enterprise by expanding its portfolio for industrial software."
Under terms of the agreement, Siemens will acquire Mentor for $37.25 per share in cash, which represents a value of $4.5 billion. The offer price represents a 21% premium to Mentor's closing price on November 11, 2016, the last trading day prior to the announcement.
Major Mentor shareholder Elliott Management has committed to support the transaction. In many ways, I don't think Mentor had much of a chance of fending off the acquisition, as its profits were minuscule (and had been for some time), and got strong-armed by Elliott who owns a good chunk (~8%) of Mentor. By the way, Elliott blessed the offer.
Elliott Management, run by billionaire Paul Singer, said when it raised its stake it saw numerous opportunities to boost Mentor's "deeply undervalued" shares and had started talks with the company's management and board. According to the company, the acquisition is a "great outcome" for Mentor shareholders as the company will benefit from Siemens's increased scale and greater resources.
The acquisition extends Siemens' Digital Enterprise Software portfolio with Mentor's electronics IC and systems design, simulation, and manufacturing software – capabilities essential for smart connected products, such as autonomous vehicles.
Looking Ahead: 2017 MCADCafe Editorial Lineup
November 24th, 2016 by Jeff Rowe
It's almost the end of November, so with just over a month left of this year, it's not too early to start thinking about what we'll be covering in 2017. The calendar below reflects what we perceive as some of the most important topics today, as well as feedback from our readers and other supporters.
The main theme for each month will be covered in an extended article or series of articles so that the topic can be covered in a more comprehensive way. We'll also be covering some of the major MCAD events throughout the year, reporting what we see and hear from vendors, partners, and attendees.
We'll also be covering some of the major MCAD events throughout the year, reporting what we see and hear from vendors, partners, and attendees. All of the events we attend will include daily written coverage and Tweets throughout event days, as well as video and audio interviews.
If you have any thoughts of topics you would like to see covered in 2015, feel free to contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com or 719.221.1867.
We look forward to an exciting 2017and providing you with the MCAD content you want most for improving your design, engineering, and manufacturing processes.
Keep MCADCafe.com your source for all things MCAD because 2017 is going to be a great year!
2017 MCADCafe Editorial Calendar of Monthly Topics
January 2017 – CAM Trends
February 2017 — Cloud Computing with MCAD Applications
Show Coverage — SolidWorks World 2017
Read the rest of Looking Ahead: 2017 MCADCafe Editorial Lineup
Are We Finally Witnessing the Future of Making Things?
November 17th, 2016 by Jeff Rowe
Along with almost 10,000 other attendees, I was in Las Vegas this week at Autodesk University and am still trying to comprehend if I've just seen the future of manufacturing.
To a large extent, Autodesk's vision for the future of making things stems from what it calls generative design.
So what is generative design? According to Autodesk's official definition, generative design mimics nature's evolutionary approach to design.
AU 2016: The Future Of Making Things
In the digital realm, designers and engineers input design goals into generative design software, along with parameters, such as manufacturing methods, materials, and cost constraints. Using cloud computing, the software quickly explores all possible permutations of a solution, generating design alternatives. The software then tests and learns from each iteration what works, what doesn't, and what works best.
In other words, with generative design, there is not necessarily a single solution to a problem, instead, there are potentially thousands of solutions that address the initial problem.
Read the rest of Are We Finally Witnessing the Future of Making Things?


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In-stock, ships in 1-2 days
Double click on above image to view full picture
Availability: In stock
A new twist to Charles & Ray's innovative and fun take on the traditional coat rack. First created in 1953 using multicolored balls, now available in monochromatic black!
The Hang-it-All is as functional as it is fun; it can hold coats, hats, purses, laptop cases and much more.
In stock and ready to ship!
Powder coated rack with solid wood balls
Includes mounting hardware kit with drywall anchors & screws
14.75" Height 19.75" Width 6.5" Depth


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- Miles 33,115
- Stock Number 19045A
- Exterior Laser Blue
- Transmission Automatic
- Interior N/A
- 26 City* 34 Hwy
- Upfront Price $8,448
Configure Price Alert
Pricing includes incentives for which everyone qualifies. Guests may also qualify for additional, conditional incentives not included in the displayed price. Therefore, upfront price could be less than advertised price. While every reasonable effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this information, we are not responsible for any errors or omissions contained on websites. Please verify any information in question with Bergstrom Automotive. Prices do not include additional fees and costs of closing, including government fees and taxes, any finance charges, any dealer documentation fees, any emissions testing fees or other fees. All prices, specifications and availability subject to change without notice.
*These estimates reflect new EPA methods beginning with 2008 models. Your actual mileage will vary depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle. Actual mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits and vehicle's condition. Mileage estimates may be derived from previous year model.
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The fabulous family-friendly Festé returns for another year to Derby on September 26-27.
The city centre's streets will once again act as the perfect platform, through a multitude of exciting outdoor performance areas, to play host to Derby Festé 2014, the ever popular post-summer annual extravaganza of city-wide live performances and breath-taking acts.
Derby Festé 2014 will be produced and presented by Derby LIVE, Déda, QUAD and Derby Theatre in association with the Without Walls Associate Touring Network.
Since this annual cultural highlight started in 2007, Derby Festé has established itself as one of the best UK streetarts festivals and has attracted some of the highest quality acts, from across the UK and abroad, to the city's streets.
Organisers of Derby Festé 2014 are thrilled to announce some of the acts for this year. Without Walls, who played a huge role in producing Festé last year, will present for 2014: Faust presented by Bad Taste Company, an outrageous re-imagining of Goethe's classic; Les Enfants Terrible presented by Imaginary Menagerie, an enormous, exotic caravan which suspiciously arrives in Derby complete with strange characters who will entertain, amuse and beguile; Captive presented by Motionhouse, a dazzling blend of dance and aerial work which is powerfully physical, emotionally charged and extraordinary; Something to Hold created by Pif Paf and Kevin Finnan, a beautiful tale spun on a thrilling new aerial sculpture which transforms world of action, metal and rope; The Next Level by Prodigal, breath-taking Parkour played out on an urban playground; Candoco with Two for C, choreographed by award-winning Javier de Frutos and inspired by Tennessee Williams's Camino Real.
Stephen Munn, artistic lead for Derby Festé said: "This year we welcome Derby Theatre on board as a full artistic partner which is another great example of the city's cultural organisations working together."
Derby Festé will get off to a flying start this year with its launch event. Flown is the name of the show by Pirates Of The Carabina and can be seen at Derby Theatre on September 12-13.
This will be a captivating night, packed with thrills, extraordinary feats, laughs and fantastic live music, complete with a stunning troupe of acrobats, aerialists, daredevil stuntmen and musicians
Tickets to see Flown are £12, concessions £8. For more information and to book tickets call 01332 593939. For more on Festé , visit www.derbyfeste.com


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Pets, Pets, Pets
A "Grim" but true feline fairy tale
If you are reincarnated as a feline, stay out of North Hempstead. The Town of North Hempstead Shelter in Port Washington does not accept cats and has not done so for at least ten years, merely because they don't have to by NYS law. To exclude cats from a town shelter is as absurd as a public school that won't admit boys. It's beyond belief that North Hempstead's educated and affluentresidents (household median income over $95,000) plus animal lovers everywhere continue to stand for this.
I usually defend Long Island municipal shelters because I see the progress they have made over the last thirty years. However, this criticism is long overdue, and two recent developments- a misleading 5/10 article in Newsday "Haven at last for unwanted cats" and North Hempstead's refusal last week to help Nassau SPCA shelter the 40 cats taken from an Albertson hoarder- force clarification. Bottom line: North Hempstead's cat policies lack common sense and compassion.
Let me start by saying I've only been to N. Hempstead Shelter once, last year for a planning meeting of the Pit Bull Symposium. I saw the hole in the ground that for ten years was supposed to become the cat shelter, but for this query no one at the Town except for the "public information officer" would speak to me. I've yet to receive the answers to my questions- only a vague response that they might begin working on getting new bids at the end of 2009. Bottom line: The Town is stalling and placating. They don't need a separate cat shelter. They could start small by resurrecting their old cat room or converting space within the kennels/ garage to take in cats for adoption or to reunite with guardians like N. Hempstead used to do.
Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman's statement in Newsday "We don't want to become the euthanasia center for cats….That's usually the primary function of cat shelters" is rubbish. Any cat advocate who buys into this bogus claim is helping the Supervisor to delay.
As a wise lady who knows more about running an animal shelter than I ever will said, "We need solidarity in the cat community. Otherwise officials shirk their responsibilities and hold us hostage to our love of animals." Other LI towns are sheltering, medicating, spay/neutering and placing hundreds of adoptable cats. Due to space, intake is selective and staggered. Brookhaven is pre-vaccinating waiting cats before admission. Most towns also have a TNR (Trap Neuter Return) plan for ferals.
It is kitten season so numbers fluctuate daily but I conducted an unofficial cat/kitten census. As of June 17th the totals in Nassau and Suffolk town shelters ranged from 39 to 125. "Despite our small size, the Animal Lovers League (ALL) , the municipal shelter for the City of Glen Cove, not only shelters cats but has for years provided free feral cat spay/neuter clinics in-house to address rampant breeding," stated Joan Philips, ALL co-founder. Bottom line: While dog intake is tied to socio- economics; cat overpopulation is ubiquitous, even outside mansions, even behind Town Hall. Somehow N. Hempstead Shelter doesn't see them and still has zero cats.
Since 2003 North Hempstead's only cat service has been a perfunctory, mutating TNR program. Their total amount sterilized is a drop in the bucket. They hired a part-time TNR program coordinator (why?) and contracted for trapping and altering cats with two private rescues -HUGS and Last Hope (which like the construction company is in a dispute for thousands of dollars' surgical reimbursement). Newsday claims N. Hempstead held TNR clinics but that never happened.
Hoarder situations, like the Albertson cat house, are common and complex. The SPCA seized 40 cats that N. Hempstead flatly refused to take. The SPCA investigates and removes the animals, but it is the Town shelter's responsibility to house the seized animals as a triage center while they are evaluated for disease, age and sociability. Then they can reach out to private rescues for some assistance. Meanwhile the Town, social work agencies, SPCA, and Board of Health must monitor the home and former owner for the sake of the neighbors and to keep the offender from repeating this cycle of animal abuse.
N. Hempstead's shelter director, Sue Hassett, has been there about 30 years. She prides herself on her Shelter Connection (volunteer) program for her minimal dog population. However, during her tenure she has allowed the eyesore of a hole to suffice as a cat shelter. She could have appealed to the Town and Supervisor Kaiman for a change of feline policy. They could have instituted a Cat Shelter Connection. She and the Supervisor chose not to do so. Instead they chose to treat cats as pariahs.
It's an election year. Cats don't vote, yet animal lovers do. Let Supervisor Kaiman (516- 869-6311 or firstname.lastname@example.com) know that. Keep reminding him. Bottom line: Maybe he'll open the slammed doors to cats before the polls open.
For Adoption at Oyster Bay Town Shelter (677-5784) Miller Pl. Syosset: Cats: "Hazel" # 016 a sweet tabby in the lobby is one of several feline siblings at the shelter a long time. Her silver sister "Alice" #018 was featured here several weeks ago.
Dogs: "Rusty"- yellow Lab; "Gypsy"-Cattle Dog mix.
Special Dog Plea: "Spot" a Lab/Beagle mix about 8 years old (shown here) was adopted from Hempstead Shelter 4 years ago. He desperately needs re-homing because his guardian is on a respirator and headed for a nursing home. "Spot" instantly makes friends with new people. Visit www.wagodon.com/spot/ or call 516-662-2903 to inquire about "Spot".


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dngrwill needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 39 designs submitted by 9 freelance designers.
We already have the base part of the logo. Now we need a few additional items to go with everything.
CL Benson
Desired Color Scheme:
Any - no flourescent colors
Desired Style:
Classic, Distinct, High End / Expensive Appeal
Accepted File Formats:
Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai)
This company has been around for over 25 years. We will provide the base element of the logo (a signature) and two comps other logo comps that had been provided from a previous designer.
 We are looking for you to:
- Turn the signature into a vector format
- Add an object to it
- Use any colors (no flourescents)Â
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Oil-resistant, Robust, Compact Photoelectric Sensor
|Sensing method
|Sensing distance
15 m
|Light source
Infrared LED (Emission wave length: 870 nm)
|Connection method
Pre-wired models (Cable length: 2 m)
As of March 3, 2017
|Square type
|Sensing method
|Sensing distance
|15 m
|Standard sensing object
|Opaque 12 mm dia. min.
|Directional angle
|Emitter: 3 to 15 DEG
Receiver: 3 to 15 DEG
|Light source
|Infrared LED (Emission wave length: 870 nm)
|Power supply voltage
|10 to 30 VDC (ripple (p-p) 10% included)
|Current consumption
|Emitter: 20 mA max.
Receiver: 20 mA max.
|Control output
|PNP open collector output
30 VDC max.
Load current: 100 mA max.
Residual voltage: 2 V max.
|Operation mode
|Light-ON/Dark-ON selectable
|Protective circuit
|Output short-circuit protection
Output reverse polarity protection
Power supply reverse polarity protection
|Response time
|1 ms max. (Operate or reset)
|Sensitivity setting
|Single-turn adjustment
|Ambient illuminance
|Incandescent lamp: 3000 lux max., Sunlight: 10000 lux max.
|Ambient temperature (Operating)
|-25 to 55 ℃
(with no icing or condensation)
|Ambient temperature (Storage)
|-40 to 70 ℃
(with no icing or condensation)
|Ambient humidity
|Operating: 35 to 85%
Storage: 35 to 95%
(with no icing or condensation)
|Insulation resistance
|20 MΩ min. at 500 VDC
|Dielectric strength
|1000 VAC at 50/60 Hz for 1 min
|Vibration resistance
|10 to 55 Hz, 1.5-mm double amplitude for 2 hours each in X, Y, and Z directions
|Shock resistance
|500 m/s**2 for 3 times each in X, Y, and Z directions
|Degree of protection
Company standard: Oil-proof
|Connection method
|Pre-wired models (Cable length: 2 m)
|Operation indicator (yellow), Stability indicator (green), Power indicator (green)
|Weight (packed state)
|Approx. 150 g
|Case: SUS316L
Lens: Methacrylate resin
Display: PEI (Polyetherimide)
Volume method: PEEK
Cable: Oil-resistant vinyl chloride
Seals: Fluorocarbon rubber
|Instruction manual
As of March 3, 2017
As of March 3, 2017
As of March 3, 2017
As of March 3, 2017
As of March 3, 2017
about this Product


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This is really a good article and inspired me to get set up with the eye-fi to use with my Ipad 2 and my 5D mark II. I went and purchased the eye-fi connect x2 and used my exsisting SD to CF adapter ( http://www.amazon.com/SDHC-Compact-A...6347758&sr=8-4 ). Unfortunately it did not work. Both my 5D mII and my 7D was not able to read nor format the card. I worked on regular SD cards.
So my questions are... :
1. SD to CF Adapter: Do only certain brand of adapter work? If so, can someone post a link on where I can get a known brand that works?
2. Eye-Fi: In the article, only the x2 Pro and the x2 mobile were mentioned. Does it mean that my x2 Connect will not work?
I tried the Eye-Fi X2 Connect with my G11, IPAD 2 with the Eye-Fi IPAD app..... works like a charm!!!! - but I need it to work with either my 5D MII and 7D for production work.. Can someone help??


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From Fedora Project Wiki
General ideas/discussion intended to ensure a successful GNOME3 release in Fedora 15.
What is Success?
A successful GNOME3 and Fedora 15 release are defined as:
- runs on a reasonable range of graphics hardware
- offers a graceful fallback for the rest
- has working controls for common things like keyboards, monitors, network, sound and power
- all desktop applications work. 'core gnome' applications follow somewhat higher standards for integration and appearance, including
- being ported to GTK+3
- don't show status icons (http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/Design/Guidelines/MessageTray/Compatibility)
- don't use parent-less dialogs (http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/Design/Whiteboards/SystemDialogs/Compatibility)
- install hi-res icon that renders well in the shell overview
- more information about app integration: http://live.gnome.org/ThreePointZero/AppIntegration
Open tasks
- graceful fallback - code is needed to gracefully handle the following scenarios ...
- Insufficient hardware - the system hardware is known to not handle gnome-shell, and fallback mode is recommended
- shell failure - The shell crashes or fails to start for an unknown reason, a suitable fallback should be offered instead
- When is the upstream decision made as to whether 2.91.x will become 3.0?
- See http://live.gnome.org/action/edit/TwoPointNinetyone/ for the schedule
- How is the upstream decision made as to whether 2.91.x will become 3.0? Is it dependent on blocker bug resolution, or release criteria?
- Release readiness is monitored by the release team, based on information from various sources such as weekly blocker bug summaries (http://mail.gnome.org/archives/desktop-devel-list/2011-January/msg00170.html), buildability (http://build.gnome.org), etc. There are no fixed criteria.
- If GnomeShell isn't considered ready by upstream, how will Fedora proceed?
- Fedora 15 slips until GNOME3 is ready
- Fedora 15 ships GNOME3 in fall-back mode only (shell with metacity+panel)
- Fedora 15 ships Fedora 14 GNOME
- <your idea here>
- Where can I find GnomeShell marketing plans for upstream GNOME and Fedora?
- http://www.gnome3.org is the new GNOME 3 website
- What testing (GNOME and Fedora) is planned for GnomeShell?
- For GNOME development releases, see the schedule at http://live.gnome.org/action/edit/TwoPointNinetyone/. These get smoke-tested by the release-team and get some community testing as well. A considerable amount of testing comes in the form of having GNOME development versions in rawhide (currently 2.91.5). There are several Fedora test plans scheduled to test various aspects of GNOME3 (FIXME: link to test day schedule)
- What happened to the Fedora 14-vintage GNOME shell favorites sidebar allowing selection+presentation of favorite applications and folders?
- it was just an experiment that did not work out; it is not part of the final GNOME 3 design
- How should multi-monitor support behave with GnomeShell in Fedora 15?
- Currently, GnomeShell just treats any additional monitors as extra space to put windows in but otherwise more or less ignores them. When you go into overview mode, it only takes effect on one screen, the others are just left blank. There's nothing yet done to integrate the workspace model the Shell encourages with multi-monitor setups. There's a bug for this, but again, AFAICT no particular commitment to fixing it up before the 3.0 release. (This isn't actually much of a 'regression' compared to GNOME 2, which was similarly lax about doing much with extra screens, but it's the sort of thing people might expect GNOME 3 to have fixed).
- What is the procedure to manually revert to fallback mode?
- Fallback mode is just that: a fallback. Therefore it is not planned to have a manual 'choose your UI' UI. You can of course open the hood and rewire what gnome-session does in the files /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/gnome.session and /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/classic-gnome.session. Doing so might void your warranty...


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Top Stories
Kumbo Council Staff/EXCO Drilled on Child Protection Issues
Holding against the backdrop of Kumbo Council's partnership with the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS) the main objective of this workshop was for participants to gain knowledge on the various dispositions available and also to take concrete actions to protect children. In attendance were eighty (80) staff members of...
Kumbo Council strengthens Cooperation ties with Lacrosse-Wisconsin
A delegation of seven made up of the following persons:
1) Sara Sullivan - Former City of La Crosse Council Member and Official Representative of La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat
2) Nickijo Hager- Vice President of Mission and Organizational Learning, Mayo Clinic - Franciscan
3) Sister Helen Elsbernd - Vice President, Franciscan Sisters...
Kumbo Council KOICA Partnership
Within the framework of the partnership between Kumbo Council and the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a workshop on Rural Development was organized to sensitize participants on the training opportunities available in Korea and to design and provide comprehensive training programs which take cognizance of local realities for the next...
Kumbo Council Seeks ways to curb mental illnesses
In collaboration with the Family Care Center of the Banso Baptist Hospital that treats people with mental, neurological and substance use disorders, Kumbo Council held a workshop titled ''No Health Without Mental Health''. The objective of this workshop was to develop the capacity of community members to ensure sustainable mental...
CBM's Working Visit to Kumbo Council
This visit was in line the memorandum of understanding the Kumbo Council signed with the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services in 2015. The MOU has as main objective to promote inclusive development, making sure that persons with disability involved in all project stages. The CBM team therefore came to evaluate...
Mayor's Cup, a pathway to peace and unity
The 11th edition of the Kumbo Council Mayor's Cup Competition final was played 18th December 2016. This is an annual sports event organized by the Kumbo Council since 2006 to encourage youths and to expose their sporting talents in games such football, handball and basketball.The Football Final was played between...
12th Edition of Mayor's Day
As tradition demands, Kumbo Council commemorated the 12th edition of Mayor's Day on 20th and 21st April 2017. Unlike previous edition, it was a two day event beginning on day one with a visit at the Kumbo Principal Prison where the over 129 inmates received basic needs and a grinding...
Plans for 2017 x-rayed during Budget Session
Kumbo Council on Thursday, December 1, 2016, voted a budget balanced in income and expenditure at the sum of FCFA 896,295,752, in an ordinary Council session.
In comparison to last year's budget, there is an increase of 11.3% worth FCFA 91.467.150 in absolute terms. This projected increase is because rigorous revenue...
Kumbo Council Wins FEICOM Award Again
Kumbo Council again emerged victorious at the Special Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance, FEICOM, and National Award for Councils' Local Development Best Practices. She won the second edition for the Regional Prize for Northwest Region launched in partnership with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT, worth FCFA 2...
Kumbo Council's Excellence Awards
Forty (40) public and lay private schools in Kumbo each received a prize of excellence from the Kumbo Council for their performances during the end of course examinations in the 2015/2016 academic year. This initiative came into being some five years ago to encourage schools that perform extremely well by...
Kids Corner of Kumbo Public Library
The Kumbo Council Bernard Fonlon Information Centre; the Kumbo Public Library. Nowadays, many people think that libraries are a thing of the past due to the digital revolution and the rise of a gadget captivated society, thus the role of libraries is being undervalued especially by youths. That...
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