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From animated action to atomic bombs: The top 5 movies of 2023

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From animated action to atomic bombs: The top 5 movies of 2023

By Scott McDaniel, TheStatehouseFile.com
Top Films of 2023
Graphic by TheStatehouseFile.com.

5. “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro star in a true story of the oil-rich Osage tribe and the murderous greed of the pervading white man in 1920s Oklahoma. With incredible period sets and flawless acting, it’s a Martin Scorsese masterclass in filmmaking. Only its 3.5-hour runtime keeps it from being higher on the list.

4. “Return to Seoul”

A French woman embarks on a journey to South Korea and tries to connect with her biological parents who gave her up for adoption as a baby.

Rookie actress Ji-Min Park is enchanting as her character struggles to find her identity in a foreign land, culture and language. Her protective walls are up while silently studying the faces of the strangers who are her blood, searching for something familiar. But on the inside, you can tell she’s screaming, with any sense of belonging clouded by confused feelings of abandonment. The film’s emotion is palpable, showing how sometimes the more you reach out, the more you feel alone.

3. “Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse”

Miles Morales’s purpose as a superhero comes into question after he runs into a team of spider-people variants dedicated to protecting the multiverse.

Not just the best-animated movie of the year, this is one of the best movies—period. The visuals are stunning, the voice-acting terrific, and the action moves at a breakneck pace. There’s so much to take in and appreciate, it begs for a rewatch. It’s exhausting—in a good way.

2. “Past Lives”

Young Nora moves with her family from South Korea to Canada, then New York, leaving behind her childhood sweetheart, Hae-sung. What follows is a story of love and discovery that spans across oceans and decades before the two finally reunite in very different phases of their lives. Hae-sung is recently single when he flies to New York to meet up with Nora and her husband, Arthur.

It’s clear there’s no romantic outcome that will please all involved parties. But that’s OK. Director Celine Song manages to sidestep cinematic cliches, instead blending something both nostalgic and honest about the people who enter our lives, even if they sometimes must leave.

1. “Oppenheimer”

Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster provides a fascinating look at J. Robert Oppenheimer, the complicated man who led Allied efforts to build the atomic bomb that would end World War II.

Beyond its all-star cast, thrilling history and flawless direction is a reminder that Oppenheimer put God-like destruction in the hands of man—a decision there’s no coming back from. The bombs may have fallen on Japan 80 years ago, but the moral responsibility of this devastating technology weighs just as heavy today as it did then.

FOOTNOTE: Scott McDaniel is an assistant professor of journalism at Franklin College. He lives in Bargersville with his wife and three kids.

Explore McCormick’s Creek State Park

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Most of McCormick’s Creek State Park is open even though the campground is closed. Trails 1, 3, 4, 8, and 9 offer opportunities to explore what makes the park special during winter. With the woods “sleeping,” you can spot features hard to see the rest of the year.

Trails 3 and 9 offer a clearer view of geological and historical features while the leaves are off the trees. Trails 1 and 8 offer opportunities to see how the woods change during winter, and if you visit for the upcoming naturalist-led hike on Trail 4 on Dec. 22, you’ll have a chance to see how the view from the fire tower changes in the winter months.

The nature center offers regular naturalist programming and an exhibit hall featuring the park’s history, geology, ecology, and more.

Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

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Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

Booked Last 24 Hours – 2023-12-27

EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT

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EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT

 

 

FOOTNOTE:  EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.

Vanderburgh County Crash Report

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Crash Report – 2023-12-26

Better For The Supreme Court To Be Right Than Fast

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Better for the Supreme Court to be right than fast

The U.S. Supreme Court made the right call.

John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com

When the justices on America’s high bench opted not to honor Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request for expedited consideration of former President Donald Trump’s claims of presidential immunity from prosecution, they sent the correct signal.

Political observers touted the court’s refusal to skip over typical parts of the appeals process as a big victory for Trump.

It wasn’t—we’ll get to that in a moment—but the fact that such observations were routine illustrates why it was important that the Supreme Court take its time.

Donald Trump’s presidency and its aftermath have created immense challenges for a self-governing society.

Not the least of them is that his presence encourages almost everyone to view events through a distorting partisan prism. Because he makes everything—assaults on American institutions that have preserved American rights for more than two centuries—about him and not about the country he took an oath to defend, Trump warps perspective.

He pushes both his supporters and his detractors to ask the wrong questions.

Does this help Donald Trump? Does it hurt Donald Trump? Will Trump like it or will Trump hate it?

Those questions are beside the point—or at least they should be.

The proper questions involve determining what the law says, how justice should be determined and administered appropriately and which of many unfortunate options is best for the republic.

Donald Trump is neither more nor less important than any other person who has held the office of president. Every president is a steward of the republic, not a ruler. That is why we demand that presidents take oaths pledging to execute the duties of the office and “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The oath is a reminder that the person who occupies the Oval Office serves a greater cause than plain self-interest.

That cause is preserving the ability of free people to govern themselves.

This is an ongoing challenge. Every generation of Americans have had to wrestle with one existential question or another regarding our experiment in self-government.

Because of that, preserving the pillars of self-government has been so important for us as a nation.

One of those essential pillars is the judicial branch. If we Americans lack faith that fundamental issues of law will be weighed dispassionately, then it is hard to believe that human beings can govern themselves.

The safeguards built into the legal system—the myriad ways to challenge evidence, the many avenues for appeal—are there to reassure us that no one will be denied liberty or property without just consideration.

Donald Trump has been indicted four times on 91 criminal charges. He is the first president in American history to be indicted for criminal conduct.

Prosecuting him will establish precedents. His presidency and his ceaseless efforts to overturn the legitimate results of a presidential election already have shattered norms for a commander-in-chief’s conduct.

His attempts to evade legal accountability for his actions threaten to do the same.

For that reason, all who love this country and its institutions should demand that no steps in the process be skipped—that no safeguards of his or anyone else’s rights be forsaken.

It won’t cost much to do so.

The supposed win Trump scored with the court’s decision not to expedite his spurious claims of immunity will be short-lived. The appellate court will rule soon and then the matter will be before the Supreme Court.

The great Supreme Court justices with John Marshall have prided themselves on taking the long view, of placing eternal values above temporary considerations.

This court often hasn’t done that. The justices, particularly those who made their reputations as political animals, frequently have allowed themselves to take sides in the ideological battles of a rabidly partisan age.

The monumental questions involving Donald Trump’s prosecution give the members of the bench a chance to redeem themselves—and the court’s reputation.

There will be many opportunities—starting with demanding that Justice Clarence Thomas recuse himself because of his wife’s work on Trump’s behalf—for the justices to show that they serve the Constitution and the law.

Not any party or politician.

FOOTNOTE:  John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. The views expressed are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.

Letter To The Editor: Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion (DEI} Comes To Jasper, Indiana Memorial Hospital

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Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion (DEI} Comes To Jasper, Indiana Memorial Hospital 

By Richard Moss-MD

DECEMBER 26, 2023

The medical staff at our community hospital in Jasper, Indiana, a small, generally conservative berg in the middle of fields of corn and soy, received an email from hospital administration indicating that they would begin implementing DEI training.  I responded with the following:

“I received your email to the medical staff regarding the new DEI initiative at Memorial Hospital, including ‘talking points’ and ongoing ‘education and awareness training.’  I would like to share some thoughts with you, and others, about DEI.

“DEI”, as the world knows, refers to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  This concept, like many seemingly innocuous-sounding slogans or acronyms, carries with it aspects quite sinister.  It is a phrase that has swept the nation and all of our major institutions, including our universities and schools.  DEI has become the new mantra, indeed, a booming industry and ethos, dominating our culture.  But contained within it are concepts that are alien and antithetical to the Christian mission of Memorial Hospital, of “being for others.”  It is also hostile to the founding principles of the nation.

“DEI” is a hyperaggressive and politicized quota system, a radicalized version of affirmative action for certain so-called “marginalized” people.  It divides society into “groups” based on race, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, and so on.  It gives preference to certain favored groups, which include, in descending order: Muslims, transgenders, gays, blacks, Hispanics, and women.  It disadvantages other groups currently out of favor, chiefly whites, males, heterosexuals, and Christians.  Alas, there is another group that joins the list of the despised, perhaps the chief target of DEI hatred, the Jews.

Apart from being intensely divisive, it also reflects a worldview that is not compatible with our biblical tradition, which holds that each person is an individual uniquely made in the image of God.  This transcendent concept is peculiar to the West and accounts for its extraordinary success, chiefly here in the US, the greatest embodiment of Western thought and accomplishment, although certain alien ideologies, of which DEI is one, now threaten it.  But it is our emphasis on the individual, protecting individual rights and liberties, that has made Western nations in general, and America, in particular, so desirable and why all the world seeks to come here.  It explains our economic growth, standard of living, and extraordinary cultural and technological achievements.  It is based ultimately on the freedoms and protections of the individual precisely because we believe in the sanctity of each person.

“DEI rejects that.  It is an identarian ideology, a “caste” system, so to speak, that divides society into intersectional groups based on perceived wrongs committed by alleged dominant power centers in society, which it perceives as intrinsically racist or sexist or homophobic, and so on.  Within the DEI calculus, there are oppressors and oppressed, victimizers and victims, and, as noted above, so-called “marginalized people.”  It emerges from standard Marxist ideology, except centered on culture or race rather than class, as originally conceived, hence the term “Cultural Marxism.”  DEI is an extension of “Cultural Marxism,” part of the “intersectional” hierarchy of “oppression” that divides society into odd categories, placing the groups allegedly most “oppressed” at the pinnacle of the pyramid, say blacks, women, or transgenders, and those designated most guilty of “oppression” at the bottom (whites, males, Christians, Jews).

‘DEI represents a vision that discards eternal notions of good and evil with a new measure: the alleged ‘powerless’ were good, and the ‘powerful’ were bad. We replaced colorblindness with race obsession… People were given authority in this new order not to recognize their gifts, hard work, accomplishments, or contributions to society, but in inverse proportion to the disadvantages their group had suffered, as defined by radical ideologues.’ (Bari Weiss)

“Rejecting the individual, reduces American society into a collection of groups or tribes, hence the “tribalization” of society.  This tribalization (racialization) is based on certain immutable, physical traits such as skin color and sex. This, by the way, has been the norm for all of human history and throughout the world.  America was unique in that it rejected tribalization, group characteristics, and superficial appearance, and elevated the individual, which accounted for its historic success, and the reason so many sought to live here.

“DEI, furthermore, has no place in any institution that values standards and color-blind meritocracy.  If diversity becomes the driving force behind hiring and promotion, or even a small part of it, rather than skill, accomplishment, and merit, then it necessarily compromises standards. If the goal is diversity, and to have proportional representation in Memorial Hospital’s workforce, based on race, sex, sexual orientation, and other such trivialities, even in part, and do not contemplate the individual and his unique abilities and contributions overall, then the system collapses and becomes simply one of groups or tribes competing with one another.  Meritocracy necessarily dies in such a system.  You can have DEI or meritocracy, but not both.

“Shall we now have quotas for our doctors, nurses, technicians, and janitors based on DEI principles of proportional allocations for blacks, Hispanics, Gays, Lesbians, Moslems, and transgenders – over more qualified individuals of the wrong color, sex, or sexual orientation?  Shall we treat patients based on such considerations?  Such a concept is antithetical to the mission of the hospital.  It betrays the purpose of our institution and its religious and biblical basis for current fashionable, destructive, and divisive Marxist goals that have no place here and should be unequivocally rejected. Further, why is “diversity” a goal?  Diversity is a challenge to overcome in the pursuit of “unity,” which is a far more important aspiration.

“DEI has become a quasi-religion.  It is part of a cadre of similarly destructive and related leftist concepts such as “Critical Race Theory,” “Social Justice,” “Queer Theory,” and “wokeism.”  DEI means the end of meritocracy, standards, quality of care, and the belief in the individual not as a member of a particular racial tribe but as a person forged in the image of God.  It is antithetical to our faith, traditions, and the founding principles of this nation. DEI prioritizes identity over excellence and balkanizes along racial and other lines.  Replacing hard work, initiative, and accomplishment with proportional representation of favored groups, elevates skin color, sex, or sexual orientation, over the sacred individual. It is also anti-white, anti-male, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, anti-Western, and anti-American.  Dissecting a society by superficial appearance is divisive, not inclusive.  It is nihilistic and foments hate and separatism.  It is destructive of the mission of the hospital, of “being there for others,” which is accomplished by providing the highest quality of care based on employing the finest individuals regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, and so on – and treating everyone, patients and staff, equally, as individuals.  That is the ideal you should strive for – not scrutinizing trivial, surface features. It would help if you rejected DEI, a poisonous ideology.  It shifts power to a corrupt agenda and bureaucracy that threatens achievers of every race and ethnic background, and, ultimately, America itself.  You must rip DEI out root and branch for the sake of our institution – and the God we hold dear.”

I sent this letter to the entire medical staff and hospital administrators including the CEO.  I also sent it to members of the hospital board.  I have heard nothing back and do not know if they plan to proceed with their disastrous plans.  I will continue to oppose it vigorously and must imagine that it is a small minority of leftist activists on the medical staff that pushed for it.  I will do all I can to ensure it does not stand.

FOOTNOTE: Richard Moss, M.D., a surgeon practicing in Jasper, IN, was a candidate for Congress in 2016 and 2018. He has written “A Surgeon’s Odyssey” and “Matilda’s Triumph,” available on amazon.com.  Contact him at richardmossmd.com or Richard Moss, M.D. on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The City-County Observer posted this article without bias or editing.  We welcome any similar or opposing views concerning this subject and shall publish them without opinion, bias, or editing. 

References:

Samuel Abrams, October 27, 2023, Hardly Inclusive, Diversity Mandates Have Politicized Campus Life, AEI,

https://www.aei.org/op-eds/hardly-inclusive-diversity-mandates-have-politicized-campus-life/?mkt_tok=NDc1LVBCUS05NzEAAAGPHwAcOhfxTKjA0ry-TyQlV8LbSY3A54s8IRtlCvVMotCsvmKbsk1nba_7GKoR4pMUiYsdg9llJ2cazMv1JyzjfYGWqfMGHUPkrTXJkZXMABrt9Q

Jeffrey Blehar, September 10, 2023, The Crushing Costs of DEI on University Campuses, National Review

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-crushing-costs-of-dei-on-university-campuses/

George Leef, July 17, 2023, Squandering Time and Money on DEI “Training,” National Review,

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/squandering-time-and-money-on-dei-training/

Nate Hochman, February 23, 2023, The Left Already Knows DEI Is A Lie, National Review,

https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/02/the-left-already-knows-that-dei-is-a-lie/

Scott Sturman, Joe Arbuckle, November 10, 2023, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Reign Supreme At The Airforce Academy, AMAC,

https://amac.us/blog/society/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-reign-supreme-at-the-air-force-academy/

Catherine Salgado, October 23, 2023, Former DEI Director: DEI ‘Deliberately Stokes’ Anti-Semitism at Colleges, PJ Media,

https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2023/10/23/former-dei-director-dei-deliberately-stokes-anti-semitism-at-colleges-n1737309

Robert Spencer, February 28, 2023, The Day Your Doctor Won’t Treat You If You Aren’t the Right Kind of Patient Is Closer Than You Might Think, PJ Media,

https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2023/02/28/the-day-your-doctor-wont-treat-you-if-you-arent-the-right-kind-of-patient-is-closer-than-you-might-think-n1674476

Bari Weiss, November 7, 2023, End DEI, Tablet

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/end-dei-bari-weiss-jews

UE Theatre Professor Receives National Recognition for Excellence in Undergraduate Training in Acting

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UE Theatre Professor Receives National Recognition for Excellence in Undergraduate Training in Acting

December 26, 2023

Amelia McClain, Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of Evansville, has been announced as the recipient of the University Resident Theatre Association (URTA)’s 2023 Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Training in Acting. McClain has been on the faculty at UE since 2018. In the Fall of 2021, McClain took leave from UE as a member of the Broadway cast in Aaron Sorkin’s TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, at the Shubert Theatre.

She received her BFA from the University of Evansville and MFA from the graduate acting program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. McClain is a member of the Actors Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild.

Before returning to her alma mater, she completed a year-long run on Broadway as Sandra in the smash-hit production of THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG. Also on Broadway, she worked on FOOL FOR LOVE, NOISES OFF, THE HEIDI CHRONICLES, THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES, and the Tony Award-winning VANYA & SONIA & MASHA & SPIKE. McClain has been in over 20 productions off-Broadway and in regional theatres across the country.

Lillian Grace Carlson, a current UE senior, said “I have been lucky enough to work with Amelia as my Acting Professor closely these last two years. She is the one who taught me that no matter how impossible it seems, if you keep going, and keep putting in the work, the impossible is possible. When I have been at my lowest lows as a student, Amelia’s teachings continuously play in my head, and they keep me going. She has taught me what it means to be an incredibly hard-working actor, artist, and human being. I feel prepared to walk out of college because of the rigor she has taught me to endure. Truly, when I didn’t believe in myself as an actor or even a person, Amelia taught me how to refocus those insecurities into strength and determination for my art. Amelia McClain is one of the main reasons I now know why I want to be an actor and what I want in my future.”

Jack Russell, a 2021 UE alumnus, added this tribute, “Amelia McClain taught me and my peers with strength, heart, and specificity to each of our needs. Amelia impacted me so much as a student because she led by example. The tools that she was giving to us were the very tools that she uses to book jobs on Broadway. She taught us to be selfless, aware, and precise with our work. She didn’t care about creating actors with talent, she cared about creating actors who knew how to work hard and care about the process. Truly, Amelia gave me the education I’ve always dreamed of. I am eternally grateful for her impact on my life. Without it, I don’t think I could pursue this career path.”

Founded in 1969, the University Resident Theatre Association works to ensure the continued renewal of American theatre by supporting excellence in the professional training of new artists. The “2023 Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Training” will be formally presented at the URTAs, an audition event in which more than 1,200 candidates pursuing graduate training in theatre take part each year in January.

 

Fall 2023 Senior Art Show On Display Through New Year

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The University of Southern Indiana Fall 2023 Senior Art Exhibition is on display in the Arts Center through January 19, 2024.

For the first time, the exhibition will take over the public spaces of the Arts Center and transform the whole building into a gallery. Students exhibiting are seniors and will be showcasing the art they have worked on throughout their careers as artists/designers.

The student artists are Rich Bennett, Ethan Brinkley, Caitlyn Ebert, Osborne Fithian, Courtney Gardner, Danielle Bohlen, Inka Kobylanski, Semira Pearson, Megan Raleigh, Jessica Shearer, Al Sheets, Steven Steele, Ethan Thieneman, Jaeda Thomason and Maliah White.

To learn more about the artists and to get a sneak peek of their work, visit usiseniorexhibitionfall2023.weebly.com.

A reception will be held from 4-6 p.m. Friday, December 15 in the Arts Center. This event is open to the public at no charge.

UE Athletics Continues Success In Graduation Success Rate

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Aces Finish Second In The MVC In GSS

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Recently the NCAA released its most up-to-date Graduation Success Rate (GSR) report and the University of Evansville came in second among schools in the Missouri Valley Conference.  Evansville’s score of 96 tied Bradley for the second-highest total in the league and was two behind Belmont, who finished with a 98.

Evansville’s rate of 96 was six points above the national average of 90.  Scores are from the most recent graduating class for which the required six years of information is available. A graduation rate (percent) is based on a comparison of the number of students who entered a college or university and the number of those who graduated within six years.  The NCAA Graduation Success Rate measures an athletics department’s ability to graduate student-athletes through accounting for transfer students, which expands on the Federal Graduation Rate, which only measures the graduation of freshmen.

“This accomplishment is a testament to the work put in by our student-athletes, coaches, and staff,” UE Athletics Director Ziggy Siegfried exclaimed.  “The University of Evansville is committed to academic success and our GSR numbers reflect that goal.”

Multiple Purple Aces programs acquired perfect scores of 100.  Those programs include baseball, men’s cross country/track & field, men’s golf, women’s cross country/track & field, women’s golf, women’s soccer, women’s swimming and diving and volleyball.  Beginning in Spring 2020, a portion of Division I revenue was distributed to member schools based on the academic achievement of student-athletes. The model allows schools with higher graduation rates and academic success to qualify for more funds.

THE CRITERIA
A school earns an academic unit by meeting any ONE of the three standards.

  • Graduation Success Rate for a most recently available year is equal to or greater than 90 percent. The average of single-year rates for all teams is used.
  • The difference between student-athlete and student-body percentages in the most recently published Federal Graduation Rate is equal to or greater than 13 percentage points.
  • Academic Progress Rate for the previous year is equal to or greater than 985. The average of single-year scores for all teams is used to determine eligibility for this standard.

NCAA GSR INFORMATION

All colleges and universities are required by NCAA legislation and federal law (the Student Right-to-Know act from 1990) to report student graduation rates, and those institutions offering athletics aid are required to report for their student-athletes as well. The NCAA acquires student-athlete graduation rate data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Post-Secondary Data System Graduation Rate Survey (IPEDS-GRS).

The student-athlete graduation rate calculated directly based on IPEDS-GRS (which is the methodology the U.S. Department of Education requires) is the proportion of first-year, full-time student-athletes who entered a school on athletics aid and graduated from that institution within six years. This federal rate does not account for students who transfer from their original institution and graduate elsewhere; they are considered non-graduates at both the college they left and the one from which they eventually graduate.

The NCAA GSR differs from the federal calculation in two important ways. First, the GSR holds colleges accountable for those student-athletes who transfer into their school. Second, the GSR does not penalize colleges whose student-athletes transfer in good academic standing.  Essentially, those student-athletes are moved into another college’s cohort.

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