1,881 research outputs found
Chapter Ten. Another Fistful by David Buchanan
No full textAnother Fistful The American Sniper Franchise and Clint Eastwood’s Post-9/11 American War Film as Neo-Western David Buchanan M uch has been said about the American Sniper franchise that Chris Kyle, Clint Eastwood, Jason Hall, and Bradley Cooper ushered into cultural significance in 2014. Yes, Kyle’s service as a Navy SEAL began and concluded far before his “autobiography” (a book cowritten with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice) appeared in 2012, but the book, the lies Kyle told about Jesse Ventura, the extra Silver Star he dishonestly claimed, and the murder that ended his life all make Chris Kyle a troubling icon for America’s post-9/11 wars. What is it about Kyle’s particular war experience and the manner in which he reflected on that experience that led to the franchise’s massive popularity, a popularity that exploded when Eastwood ’s film version of Kyle’s book appeared? The answer is troubling and elusive, but the debate that circles the American Sniper franchise is an important one, for the debate is about so much more than Chris Kyle. Not only does the franchise force many to consider the manner in which Americans care for and memorialize veterans, but it also asks us all to ponder the way military members conceive an enemy he or she is asked to kill on our behalf. At a minimum, Chris Kyle’s story and 170 David Buchanan the way Eastwood tells it forced many civilians, for the first time, to form and express opinions about a war that, in 2014, had become so easy to forget. As far as Eastwood’s film is concerned, however, the debate about American Sniper typically surrounds the dueling issues of authenticity, historiography , and the political moment that Kyle presents in his book and that Eastwood adapts to film. Sophia A. McClennen best summarizes the basic offensiveness of the American Sniper film. She writes: The logic of war is completely unquestioned, making this the most simplistic war film we have seen nominated for an Oscar in decades. But the fact that the film has no nuance, no context and no subtlety should not surprise us. . . . This is a movie that’s not just about a sniper, but also about an attitude that threatens to destroy any chance in our nation for political compromise and productive debate. And that’s what makes this movie really disturbing. And disturbing it most certainly is. Both the book and the movie focus on Kyle’s life before and during his service in Iraq, deployments that allowed this exceptionally effective and unapologetic Navy SEAL to amass a total of 160 confirmed kills as a sniper. So McClennen is right to say that the movie is disturbing. That phrase alone—160 confirmed kills as a sniper—should be enough to disturb anyone. But, since the movie appeared, one thing has become fairly clear about the debates that circle Chris Kyle and the movie Jason Hall (the screenwriter) and Clint Eastwood ushered into existence: what disturbs one American doesn’t always necessarily disturb any others. Indeed, some people aren’t disturbed at all by the puritanical savage/civilian binary that Kyle explicitly invokes in his book, a binary he puts to good use as he justifies, defends, explains, and compartmentalizes the actions he took as a sniper. Here is Kyle in his book: Savage, despicable evil. That’s what we were fighting in Iraq. That’s why a lot of people, myself included, called the enemy “savages.” There really was no other way to describe what we encountered there. People ask me all the time, “How many people have you killed?” My standard response is, “Does the answer make me less, or more, of a man?” [104.3.77.79] Project MUSE (2024-09-11 14:26 GMT) 171 Another Fistful The number is not important to me. I only wish I had killed more. Not for bragging rights, but because I believe the world is a better place without savages out there taking American lives. (4) It is important for Kyle that he maintains this binary, and his repeated utterance of such a Manichaean world view is sufficient fodder for most critics to, as Alex Trimble Young writes, “discredit the film’s humanization of Kyle” and thereby “neglect the nuances of its plot and camera work.” Translating unvarnished reportage into nuanced art is a difficult feat, so Young is..
Poem
No full textTitle(s): Dad's Army
Charles Jason Lee is the author of The Metaphysics of Mass Art (Mellen, 1999) and Pervasive Perversions (Free Association Books, 2005). His poetry collections include The Day Elvis Died, Polaroid Noise, and God's Potato Peeler. Lee has taught at the universities of Central Lancashire, Essex, East London, and St Martin's College
Adaptive hidden Markov model estimation and applications
No full textInitially introduced in the late 1960's and early 1970's, hidden Markov models (HMMs) have become increasingly popular in the last decade. The major reason for the increasing popularity of HMMs has been the richness of the model class and the power of the signal processing tools. \ud
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In this thesis we propose several algorithms for estimation of HMM parameters. Initially, we propose recursive prediction error algorithms for separately estimating the state values and the state transition probability matrix. Local convergence results and corresponding convergence rates are obtained via an ordinary differential equation (ODE) approach. Suboptimal extended least squares algorithms are also presented and convergence results are established in idealized situations. These algorithms exploit the discrete-valued nature of HMMs. \ud
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Following this, globally convergent parameter estimators for HMMs are presented. These estimators have parallels to the well known Baum-Welch EM algorithm for off-line estimation of HMM parameters. Almost sure convergence results and convergence rates results are established using martingale convergence results, the Kronecker lemma and an ODE approach. This inspires the proposal of globally convergent parameter estimators for partially observed linear systems and hybrid linear systems. Almost sure convergence results are established using martingale convergence results, the Kronecker lemma and an ODE approach. Finally, as a contribution towards applications, optimal HMM filters are developed for demodulation of differentially encoded transmission systems and a decision feedback equalizer is proposed
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This Emotional Closet : women's relationships with clothing
No full texttextClothes are objects presented in society to be experienced and translated by others. This thesis identifies three female stereotypes found in literature: mother, virgin, and whore. By addressing the historical and social context that exist in American culture, I can begin to explain how these three stereotypes are dependent upon appearance perception. In exploring the identities that clothing can communicate, I hope to contribute an understanding of the phenomenological aspects in everyday dressing. This thesis will also discuss how my research informed my choices in the development and creation of an immersive theatrical experience, This Emotional Closet.Theatre and Danc
Spinal anaesthesia for brachytherapy for carcinoma of the cervix a comparison of two dose regimes of hypebaric bupivacaine
No full textIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.The main purpose of the study was to help establish the best dose regimen of hyperbaric bupivacaine, when combined with intrathecal fentanyl, for spinal anaesthesia for brachytherapy for carcinoma of the cervix. This procedure is performed as a day case at Groote Schuur Hospital
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ShelfLife@Texas November 2012 Blog Archive
No full textCONTENTS: Round-Up: The 2012 Presidential Election -- Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark to present “From Civil Rights to Human Rights” on Monday, Nov. 12 -- Renowned Poets Read and Discuss their Works at Spanish an Portuguese Symposium -- Author and Scholar, Elaine Scarry, Examines Beauty and Fairness -- The Novel vs. the Internet: A Conversation with Paul La Farge || BOOKS MENTIONED IN CONTENTS: "Liberty's Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from The Founders to Obama" by Jeremi Suri -- "Presidential Power and Accountability: Toward a Presidential Accountability System" by Bruce Buchanan -- "Democracy Prevention: The Politics of the U.S.-Egyptian Alliance" by Jason Brownlee -- "The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace" by H.W. Brands -- "The Triumph of Israel's Radical Right" by Ami Pedahzur -- 'On Beauty and Being Just" by Elaine Scarry -- "Luminous Airplanes" by Paul La FargeDivision of Campus and Community Engagemen
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rename_map.csv
No full textWe re-sequenced the Pseudoperonospora cubensis transcriptome to provide the first extensive transcriptome-wide survey of alternative splicing in an obligate biotrophic pathogen during host infection. The libraries from biological replicates of cucumber leaves infected with Ps. cubensis for 2, 3, 4, and 8 days post inoculation (dpi) were re-sequenced using 100-mer paired-end (PE) sequencing on four channels of an Illumina HiSeq. As a first step in the characterization of alternative splicing, we used the RNA-Seq reads to reannotate the Ps. cubensis genome, which is deposited as a gff file, along with a relational table that associates the most current annotation to the previous Ps. cubensis annotation
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Updates_supplementalTable.csv
No full textWe re-sequenced the Pseudoperonospora cubensis transcriptome to provide the first extensive transcriptome-wide survey of alternative splicing in an obligate biotrophic pathogen during host infection. The libraries from biological replicates of cucumber leaves infected with Ps. cubensis for 2, 3, 4, and 8 days post inoculation (dpi) were re-sequenced using 100-mer paired-end (PE) sequencing on four channels of an Illumina HiSeq. As a first step in the characterization of alternative splicing, we used the RNA-Seq reads to reannotate the Ps. cubensis genome, which is deposited as a gff file, along with a relational table that associates the most current annotation to the previous Ps. cubensis annotation
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PCU_annotation.gff
No full textWe re-sequenced the Pseudoperonospora cubensis transcriptome to provide the first extensive transcriptome-wide survey of alternative splicing in an obligate biotrophic pathogen during host infection. The libraries from biological replicates of cucumber leaves infected with Ps. cubensis for 2, 3, 4, and 8 days post inoculation (dpi) were re-sequenced using 100-mer paired-end (PE) sequencing on four channels of an Illumina HiSeq. As a first step in the characterization of alternative splicing, we used the RNA-Seq reads to reannotate the Ps. cubensis genome, which is deposited as a gff file, along with a relational table that associates the most current annotation to the previous Ps. cubensis annotation
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