Late October 2023 News.

  

The Black Lives Matter movement came about in 2013. The reality is that BLM is in the early stages of its growth. For example, the NAACP has been around for over 100 years. The Chicago Defender newspaper has been around for decades. Ebony and Jet have been around for decades too. So, we have to wait and see what Black Lives Matter will evolve into to comprehensively evaluate its long-term legacy. During the times of the Hamas and Israeli war, BLM has been clear to defend Palestinian human rights. What Hamas did to Israeli civilians has no justification. Hamas is a terrorist organization whose leaders want to not only make Israel not exist at all, but one leader said that they want Christians and Jewish people to be ruled by radical extremists. For example, Senior Hamas Official Mahmoud Al-Zahar on December 12, 2022, said that he wants the entire planet to follow Hamas's law and desire no more Jewish people and no more Christian "traitors." That will never happen. Also, the dignity of Palestinian human life must be respected. There is no excuse for the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. There is no excuse for some far-right Israelis advocating leveling Gaza and other racist rhetoric against Palestinian people. There is no excuse for cutting off water, electricity, etc. in Gaza that will harm human life. Therefore, we have to be real in the situation and advocate for real liberation for Israelis and Palestinians in the region without occupation. People shouldn't blame every action by the Israeli government on every Israeli or every Jewish person on Earth. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is just a tragedy. Isaac Herzog is a liar to blame the Palestinian people for Hamas's evil actions. There is a distinction between Hamas terrorists (I don't agree with one chapter of BLM showing an image of a Hamas glider when Hamas murdered innocent men, women, children, and babies) and Palestinian people fighting for survival literally. Therefore, as a black person, I believe in Black Lives. I believe in oppressed people being free from injustice. Like always, Black Lives Matter. 

 

The heart of Christianity started with God. God, in his infinite Wisdom and Power, knew that Christians would exist to bring light and hope to the world. In life, there is sacrifice. Among humanity, there was a constant struggle between good and evil. In the end, good will always triumph over evil. We know of the stories of Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Many people of the Old Testament saved lives, stood up against the imperialism of various kingdoms (from Assyria to Babylon), and inspired moral living. Many of them also predicted the coming of the Messiah whom God has promised. There are dozens of prophecies of the Messiah found in the Old Testament being fulfilled by Jesus Christ (Yeshua Ha Mashiach). Jesus Christ preached the Gospel, was falsely arrested, was crucified on the cross, died, and rose from the dead. He was seen by tons of people before his ascension to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. In the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit inspired believers in the early Church to preach the truth about the Kingdom of Heaven, repentance, and faith in the Gospel. The church of God persisted and suffered massive persecution (as predicted by Jesus Christ and the Apostles in the New Testament of the Bible). Most of the Apostles were murdered. William Tyndale was murdered. The Second Temple was destroyed, demolished, and burned by Titus Vespasian as predicted by Jesus Christ in the book of Matthew too. The early Christians believed in the Apostles' Creed (as I do) and were murdered by the pagan Roman Empire. This persecution of Christians didn't cease after the Western Roman Empire ended in 476 A.D. Christians have been persecuted to this day in 2023 in India, Africa, Mexico, Iraq, Iran, China, Indonesia, and in other areas of the world. Therefore, we must be clear to defend truth, stand on our spiritual convictions, and advocate for justice for all. 

 

Cydney Gillon is one of the most talented health heroes of our generation. She was born on September 14, 1992. She is one of the rising stars of the fitness world too. She attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences. She also competed on the track team for the University of Pennsylvania from 2010 to 2014. Gillion was a contestant on Survivor: Kaoh Rong. She finished 4th place on the show. Now, she is a professional African-American IFBB professional figure and fitness competitor. She is the 2nd African American woman to win the IFBB Figure Olympia competition and the first 6-time consecutive winner of the IFBB Figure Olympia competition (from 2017 to 2022). 

 

Dr. David Stacher was born on March 2, 1941. He has been an American physician and public health administrator for years. He was a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He was the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health and the 16th Surgeon General of the United States of America. He was the Surgeon General during the Presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He was born in the South in Anniston, Alabama. He earned his BS from Morehouse College and his MD and PhD from Case Western Reserve University. Stacher was part of the Civil Rights Movement and was arrested on many times to promote his human rights. Satcher has spoken out on the necessity to eliminate health inequality based upon race. He believes in a Medicare for all style single payer health plan. Her earned many awards. Also, he founded a quarterly academic journal entitled, The Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Undeserved. Both the Kaiser Family Foundation and Medical Library Association rate this journal as one of the nation's important public health journals. 

 

Dr. Uché Blackstock (who was born in Brooklyn, New York City) is an American emergency physician and former associate professor of emergency medicine at the New York University School of Medicine. She is the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, which has a primary mission to engage with healthcare and related organizations around bias and racism in healthcare with the goal of mobilizing for health equity and eradicating racialized health inequities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Blackstock used social media to share her experiences and concerns as a physician working on the front lines and on racial health disparities and inequities exposed by the pandemic. She is best known for her work amplifying the message on racial health inequities and her media appearances speaking on the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been featured on Meet the Press, PBS NewsHour, Slate, and Forbes among others. Blackstock became a Yahoo! News Medical Contributor in June 2020. Her sister is Oni Blackstock (who is her fraternal twin sister too). Oni Blackstock is a doctor too, and she has helped people with HIV/AIDS for many years. In March 2022, the Institute on Holistic Wealth, Founded By Best-Selling Author Keisha Blair, announced that Dr. Uche Blackstock was selected to be a Holistic Wealth Trailblazer, as part of the celebration of the release of Keisha Blair's book Holistic Wealth Expanded and Updated. 

 

There is a major study showing that strong, steady friendships may be an asset to your physiological health according to a study. Researchers discovered that positive social experiences could impact one's person's stress level and the ability to cope along with markers of physical health. This is found in a study from the journal Society for Personality and Social Psychology. The study followed more than 4,000 people over three weeks. They completed check-ins every three days on their smartphones or smartwatches regarding their positive and negative experiences with their closest social relationships. The study investigated their blood pressure, heart rate, stress, and coping. The study found that people with more positive experiences in social relationships are generally associated with better coping, lower stress, and lower systolic blood pressure (or spikes in blood pressure under stress). The lead study author is Brian Don of the University of Auckland who said that having social relationships which bounce between good and bad often can be unhelpful. Other scholars like Dr. Kathleen Mullan Harris, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said that healthy relationships can grow healthier bodies. Harris was not involved in the study. Adam Smiley Poswolsky in his book Friendship in the Age of Loneliness advocates good social relationships among human beings. Friendships can bring out the best in people from joy, laughter, excitement, affirmation, vulnerability, and human improvement. 

 

Operation Overlord was the name assigned to the establishment of a large-scale lodgment on the continent. The first phase, the amphibious invasion and establishment of a secure foothold, was codenamed Operation Neptune. To gain the air superiority needed to ensure a successful invasion, the Allies undertook a bombing campaign (codenamed Operation Pointblank) that targeted German aircraft production, fuel supplies, and airfields. Elaborate deceptions, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, were undertaken in the months leading up to the invasion to prevent the Germans from learning the timing and location of the invasion. The landings were to be preceded by airborne operations near Caen on the eastern flank to secure the Orne River bridges and north of Carentan on the western flank.  The Americans, assigned to land at Utah Beach and Omaha Beach, were to attempt to capture Carentan and Saint-Lô the first day, then cut off the Cotentin Peninsula and eventually capture the port facilities at Cherbourg. The British at Sword and Gold Beaches and Canadians at Juno Beach would protect the U.S. flank and attempt to establish airfields near Caen on the first day (A sixth beach, code-named "Band", was considered to the east of the Orne). A secure lodgment would be established with all invading forces linked together, with an attempt to hold all territory north of the Avranches-Falaise line within the first three weeks. Montgomery envisaged a ninety-day battle, lasting until all Allied forces reached the Seine River.

The Allied Powers wanted to deceive the Nazis in making sure that they didn't know their locations via Operation Bodyguard. Operation Fortitude including Fortitude North, a misinformation campaign using fake radio traffic to lead the Germans into expecting an attack on Norway, and Fortitude South was a major deception involving the creation of a fictitious First United States Army Group under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, supposedly located in Kent and Sussex. Fortitude South was intended to deceive the Germans into believing that the main attack would take place at Calais. Genuine radio messages from the 21st Army Group were first routed to Kent via landline and then broadcast, to give the Germans the impression that most of the Allied troops were stationed there. Patton was stationed in England until July 6, thus continuing to deceive the Germans into believing a second attack would take place at Calais.

Many of the German radar stations on the French coast were destroyed in preparation for the landings. In addition, on the night before the invasion, a small group of Special Air Service operators deployed dummy paratroopers over Le Havre and Isigny. These dummies led the Germans to believe that an additional airborne landing had occurred. On that same night, in Operation Taxable, No. 617 Squadron RAF dropped strips of "window", metal foil that caused a radar return which was mistakenly interpreted by German radar operators as a naval convoy near Le Havre. The illusion was bolstered by a group of small vessels towing barrage balloons. A similar deception was undertaken near Boulogne-sur-Mer in the Pas de Calais area by No. 218 Squadron RAF in Operation Glimmer.

The invasion planners wanted the weather to be right. The moon, the tides, and the time of day must be in order. They wanted a full moon because it would provide illumination for aircraft pilots and have the highest tides. The Allies wanted to schedule the landings for shortly before dawn, midway between low and high tide, with the tide coming in. This would improve the visibility of obstacles on the beach while minimizing the amount of time the men would be exposed in the open. Eisenhower had tentatively selected June 5 as the date for the assault. However, on June 4, conditions were unsuitable for a landing: high winds and heavy seas made it impossible to launch landing craft, and low clouds would prevent aircraft from finding their targets.

Surface weather analysis map showing weather fronts on June 5.

Group Captain James Stagg of the Royal Air Force (RAF) met Eisenhower on the evening of June 4. He and his meteorological team predicted that the weather would improve enough for the invasion to proceed on June 6. The Allied leaders debated the dates on when to go as a major storm going to the Normandy coast from June 19 to 22 would make the beach landings impossible. So, they decided to proceed on June 6, 1944. Allied control of the Atlantic meant German meteorologists had less information than the Allies on incoming weather patterns. As the Luftwaffe meteorological center in Paris was predicting two weeks of stormy weather, many Wehrmacht commanders left their posts to attend war games in Rennes, and men in many units were given leave. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel returned to Germany for his wife's birthday and to petition Hitler for additional Panzer divisions. The Nazi depleted much of their forces after the Eastern Front battles. There were 50 Nazi divisions in France and the Low Countries. In early 1944, the German Western Front (OB West) was significantly weakened by personnel and materiel transfers to the Eastern Front. During the Soviet Dnieper–Carpathian offensive (24 December 1943 – 17 April 1944), the German High Command was forced to transfer the entire II SS Panzer Corps from France, consisting of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions, as well as the 349th Infantry Division, 507th Heavy Panzer Battalion and the 311th and 322nd StuG Assault Gun Brigades. All told, the German forces stationed in France were deprived of 45,827 troops and 363 tanks, assault guns, and self-propelled anti-tank guns. It was the first major transfer of forces from France to the east since the creation of Führer Directive 51, which eased restrictions on troop transfers to the eastern front.

The 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler", 9th, 11th, 19th and 116th Panzer divisions, alongside the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich", had only arrived in March–May 1944 to France for extensive refit after being badly damaged during the Dnieper-Carpathian operation. Seven of the eleven panzer or panzergrenadier divisions stationed in France were not fully operational or only partially mobile in early June 1944. The Nazi Rommel believed that the Allied forces would invade on the Normandy coast, so he advocated fortifications on the coast. The battle was about to start. General D. Eisenhower was the Commander of Allied Fores in the Normandy invasion. Commander of the UK General Bernard Montgomery (of the 21st Army Group) was involved too. The Allied forces worked with the French Resistance too. The French Resistance with the Allied backing wanted to sabotage the rail system, destroy electrical facilities, cutting underground telephone plus teleprinter cables and delay the Axis forces from reinforce the Nazis at Normandy. A 1965 report from the Counter-insurgency Information Analysis Center details the results of the French Resistance's sabotage efforts: "In the southeast, 52 locomotives were destroyed on 6 June and the railway line cut in more than 500 places. Normandy was isolated as of 7 June."

In the naval operation, the overall command was British Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, who had served as Flag officer at Dover during the Dunkirk evacuation four years earlier. He had also been responsible for the naval planning of the invasion of North Africa in 1942, and one of the two fleets carrying troops for the invasion of Sicily the following year. command was British Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, who had served as Flag officer at Dover during the Dunkirk evacuation four years earlier. He had also been responsible for the naval planning of the invasion of North Africa in 1942, and one of the two fleets carrying troops for the invasion of Sicily the following year. The Nazis attacked many ships. The bombing of Normandy began around midnight with more than 2,200 British, Canadian, and U.S. bombers attacking targets along the coast and further inland. The coastal bombing attack was largely ineffective at Omaha, because low cloud cover made the assigned targets difficult to see. Concerned about inflicting casualties on their own troops, many bombers delayed their attacks too long and failed to hit the beach defenses. The Germans had 570 aircraft stationed in Normandy and the Low Countries on D-Day, and another 964 in Germany. Minesweepers began clearing channels for the invasion fleet shortly after midnight and finished just after dawn without encountering the enemy. The Western Task Force included the battleships Arkansas, Nevada, and Texas, plus eight cruisers, twenty-eight destroyers, and one monitor. The Eastern Task Force included the battleships Ramillies and Warspite and the monitor Roberts, twelve cruisers, and thirty-seven destroyers. Naval bombardment of areas behind the beach commenced at 05:45, while it was still dark, with the gunners switching to pre-assigned targets on the beach as soon as it was light enough to see, at 05:50. Since troops were scheduled to land at Utah and Omaha starting at 06:30 (an hour earlier than the British beaches), these areas received only about 40 minutes of naval bombardment before the assault troops began to land on the shore.

Airborne operations were involved in Normandy too. The airborne mission was to allow military forces to seize bridges, road crossing, and terrain features (like the eastern and western ranks of the landing areas), so the Axis Powers will not have enough time to counterstrike. The U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were assigned to objectives west of Utah Beach, where they hoped to capture and control the few narrow causeways through terrain that had been intentionally flooded by the Germans. Reports from Allied intelligence in mid-May of the arrival of the German 91st Infantry Division meant the intended drop zones had to be shifted eastward and to the south. The British 6th Airborne Division, on the eastern flank, was assigned to capture intact the bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne, destroy five bridges over the Dives 6 miles (9.7 km) to the east, and destroy the Merville Gun Battery overlooking Sword Beach. Free French paratroopers from the British SAS Brigade were assigned to objectives in Brittany from 5 June until August in Operations Dingson, Samwest, and Cooney. The U.S. airborne landings started early too. Troops of the 82nd Airborne began arriving around 02:30, with the primary objective of capturing two bridges over the River Merderet and destroying two bridges over the Douve. The first Allied action of D-Day was the capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges via a glider assault at 00:16 (since renamed Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge). Both bridges were quickly captured intact, with light casualties by the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Regiment. They were then reinforced by members of the 5th Parachute Brigade and the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion. More gliders came on the scene. British and Canadian forces had a key role in the Normandy landings indeed. 

Some of the landing craft had been modified to provide close support fire, and self-propelled amphibious Duplex-Drive tanks (DD tanks), specially designed for the Normandy landings, were to land shortly before the infantry to provide covering fire. However, few arrived in advance of the infantry, and many sank before reaching the shore, especially at Omaha. There were many beaches involved in the landing. Utah Beach was defended by the two battalions of the 919th Grenadier Regiment. Members of the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division were the first to land, arriving at 06:30. Their landing craft was pushed to the south by strong currents, and they found themselves about 2,000 yards (1.8 km) from their intended landing zone. 

Pointe du Hoc, a prominent headland situated between Utah and Omaha, was assigned to two hundred men of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Rudder. Their task was to scale the 30 m (98 ft) cliffs with grappling hooks, ropes, and ladders to destroy the coastal gun battery located at the top. The cliffs were defended by the German 352nd Infantry Division and French collaborators firing from above. Allied destroyers USS Satterlee and HMS Talybont provided fire support. After scaling the cliffs, the Rangers discovered that the guns had already been withdrawn. They located the weapons, unguarded but ready to use, in an orchard some 550 metres (600 yd) south of the point and disabled them with explosives.

The Rangers fended off numerous counter-attacks from the German 914th Grenadier Regiment. The men were isolated, and some were captured. By dawn on 7 June, Rudder had only 90 men able to fight. Relief did not arrive until 8 June, when members of the 743rd Tank Battalion and others arrived. By then, Rudder's men had run out of ammunition and were using captured German weapons. Several men were killed as a result, because the German weapons made a distinctive noise, and the men were mistaken for the enemy. By the end of the battle, the Rangers casualties were 135 dead and wounded, while German casualties were 50 killed and 40 captured. An unknown number of French collaborators were executed.

Omaha Beach was the most defended beach shown in the movies and documentaries heavily about D-Day. This area was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division and the 29th Infantry Division. They allied with the 352nd Infantry Division rather than the expected single regiment. Strong currents forced many landing craft east of their intended position or caused them to be delayed. For fear of hitting the landing craft, U.S. bombers delayed releasing their loads and as a result most of the beach obstacles at Omaha remained undamaged when the men came ashore. Many of the landing craft ran aground on sandbars, and the men had to wade 50–100m in water up to their necks while under fire to get to the beach. In spite of the rough seas, DD tanks of two companies of the 741st Tank Battalion were dropped 5,000 yards (4,600 m) from shore; however, 27 of the 32 flooded and sank, with the loss of 33 crew. Some tanks, disabled on the beach, continued to provide covering fire until their ammunition ran out or they were swamped by the rising tide.

Casualties were around 2,000, as the men were subjected to fire from the cliffs above. Problems clearing the beach of obstructions led to the beachmaster calling a halt to further landings of vehicles at 08:30. A group of destroyers arrived around this time to provide fire support so landings could resume. Exit from the beach was possible only via five heavily defended gullies, and by late morning barely 600 men had reached the higher ground. By noon, as the artillery fire took its toll and the Germans started to run out of ammunition, the Americans were able to clear some lanes on the beaches. They also started clearing the gullies of enemy defenses so that vehicles could move off the beach. The tenuous beachhead was expanded over the following days, and the D-Day objectives for Omaha were accomplished by June 9. Landings on Gold Beach took place on 07:25. There was a landing on Juno Beach too. Many Canadian soldiers were on Gold Beach. Sword Beach had many British forces. French liberation leader Commander Phillippe Kieffer helped the Allied Forces in battle too. Allied casualties on Sword Beach were as high as 1,000. 

 

There is rarely a film in the 21st century that has seen this level of popularity and debate as the John Wick film series. The movie series is a modern-day American neo-noir action thriller media franchise created by Derek Kolstad. The story revolves around John Wick, who is a former hitman. He knows martial arts, sharpshooting skills, and wears bulletproof suits. In his life, his wife died of cancer, and he mourns continually Many events caused John Wick to go back to be a hitman. In the first John Wick, John Wick tries to escape the life of a professional hitman. In the movie, the hitman society acts like a secret society with codes, coins used as entrance-level devices, and the existence of the High Table that regulates assassins worldwide. John Wick in the first John Wick of 2014 encounters members of a Russian gang. John Wick tries to ignore then when one member offers to buy his car, but they brutally beat John Wick in his own house and murder his dog. Therefore, John Wick seeks revenge and murders on prominent Russian Mafia's member's son and that son's father in the first movie of the series. In that movie, MMA, kung fu, BJJ, and other forms of martial arts are used. It combines old-school movies and new-school techniques. Easily, the John Wick series is one of the top five greatest action film series of the 21st century along with Ip Man, etc. In the film, the rule exists of no violence on Continental Hotel grounds (yet, that rule is violated). 

Dring the John Wick: Chapter 2 series of 2017, John Wick continues to seek revenge against the Mafia figures. Yet, he finds a truce with the brother of the man he killed in John Wick 1. John Wick returns to his house with his new pet dog. One man from Italy comes to Wick's home and tries to offer him a deal. The deal is that Santino D'Antonio (played by Riccardo Scamarcio) wants John Wick (played by Keanu Reeves) to go out to kill his own sister (played by Gianna D'Antonio). John Wick refuses at first, and then he goes to Italy to follow the plan (after Wick's blows up by Santino). The sister Gianna committed suicide by cutting herself to death and John Wick shot her in the head. Gianna's chief bodyguard (played by Common) is angry at Gianna's death. So, Cassian (played by Common) fights John Wick. They go to the Continental where they stop. Then, they continue to fight in the subway with a knife stuck at Cassian aorta (if Cassian gets the knife out, he dies). John Wick fights the forces of Santino D'Antonio throughout the city. Wick defeats Santino's security enforcer Ares (played by Ruby Rose). Later, John Wick and D'Antonio discuss the terms of their battle in the Continental. Then, John Wick kills D'Antonio in the Continental Hotel which shocks Wick's friend Winston Scott (played by Ian McShane), who owns and manages the New York City Continental Hotel. This is where things change forever. John Wick is now excommunicato because he murdered a person on Continental grounds. By the end of John Wick 2, John Wick is given 30 minutes to escape. John Wick runs with his dog across New York City. 

John Wick 3: Parabellum starts with John Wick running into the New York City library to find his pendant. He had little time, so he sent his dog to the Continental Hotel. John Wicks fights a tall man in the library before time is up. He is healed by the doctor (played by Randall Duk Kim). Time is up, so John Wick runs around New York City to survive assassins. John Wick goes into a building to meet with his allies in the Ruska Roma crime syndicate. He gives them a rosary and they give him safe passage to Casablanca. John Wick goes into North Africa. The Adjudicator of the High Table criticized Winston for his refusal to stop John Wick when he killed D'Antonio. She or the Adjudicator also punishes the Bowery King with 7 cuts. The Adjudicator and her assassins unite in trying to kill John Wick.

In Cascablanca, John Wick met her former friend Sofia Al-Azwar (played by Halle Berry). John Wick wants to see the Elder who is the only person above the High Table. Sofia sends John to the Elder. John states that he wants to live to keep the memory of the love he once had with his late wife. The Elder agrees to forgive John if John kills Winston and remains subservient to the High Table for the remainder of his life. To show his fealty, John severs his ring finger and gives his wedding ring to The Elder.

John goes back to New York City and is attacked by Zero and his students before going into the Continental for protection. Winston and John Wick unite to fight Zero and the High Table forces in the Continental. After killing all the enforcers, John is ambushed by Zero and his students; John proceeds to kill all but two. Zero battles John but is eventually defeated and left to die. On the roof of the Continental, The Adjudicator agrees to a parley with Winston, who offers allegiance to the High Table. John arrives; Winston shoots him, and John falls to the street below. Winston reassumes his position, and the severely injured John is secretly delivered to the Bowery King in an underground bunker; the two agree to join forces against the High Table.

John Wick Chapter 4 is probably the longest and most emotional film of the John Wick film series. It shows tons of action and advanced special effects. It starts in the area of North Africa when John Wick kills the Elder. Later, he united with King Bowery. The Continental leader Winston is summoned to met the Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont, a High Table member. He goes with his concierge, Charon. Marquis is angry at how John Wick is alive after killing a high-level member of the Continental. Winston pleads his case, but the Marquis destroys the Continental New York building and Charon in cold blood. Winston is angry and wants revenge. John Wick goes into the Osaka Continental for refuge. Marquis hires Caine (played by Donnie Yen), a blind High Table assassin to kill his old friend John Wick. Caine is threatened to do it or his daughter is murdered. In Osaka, Wick's friend Shimauzu Koji fights Chidi (or Marquis's 2nd in command) along with Table assassins and Caine. Caine defeats Koji, and his daughter is angry at John Wick. Wick goes into hiding in New York to speak with Winston and the Bowery King. John Wick and Marquis agree for a final duel. If John wins, he is free. If John loses, he submits to the High Table and dies. John Wick goes to Berlin to get help from the Ruska Roma crime syndicate. They refuse to help him unless he kills High Table member Killa Harkan. John Wick kills Killa in a strong battle after a poker game. Nobody also tracks John Wick to get his bounty on John Wick. Winston relays John's challenge to the Marquis, acting as John's 'second', and requests that, should John win, the New York Continental be rebuilt, fully funded by the High Table. In Paris, John and the Marquis decide on the duel's parameters — dueling pistols at sunrise the following day at Sacré-Cœur — in a meeting moderated by the Harbinger, the Table's emissary. The Marquis nominates a reluctant Caine to take his place, while the Harbinger warns that John and Winston will be executed should either fail to appear on time. The Bowery King arrives in Paris to give John a pistol and a new ballistic suit.

The Marquis intends to prevent John from arriving at the duel in time by placing a $26 million bounty on him. John fights off hordes of assassins on his way to Sacré-Cœur, including Mr. Nobody, who negotiates a bounty increase to $40 million. During their confrontation, John prevents Chidi from killing Mr. Nobody's dog, causing Mr. Nobody to abandon his pursuit of John. After Caine and Mr. Nobody assist John in fighting off several assassins — including Chidi, whom Mr. Nobody kills — on the Rue Foyatier, they reach the summit just in time for the duel. John and Caine wound each other through two rounds of dueling, and the third round comes to a halt when Caine severely wounds John. Demanding the right to administer the coup de grâce, the Marquis eagerly swaps places with Caine. Winston chides the Marquis for his arrogance, revealing that John has not yet fired his third bullet; John shoots the Marquis dead.

The Harbinger grants Caine and John their freedom from the High Table, and Winston is reinstated. John reflects upon his life and marriage before succumbing to his injuries. Sometime later, back in New York, Winston and the Bowery King bid farewell to John at his grave, located next to that of his late wife Helen. In a post-credits scene, Caine returns to Paris to reunite with his daughter but is approached by a vengeful, knife-wielding Akira. 

This is not the end of the John Wick series. There are John Wick video games. There is the show called The Continental: From the World of John Wick in 2023. There is speculation that John Wick could be alive or not. There is a new film called Ballerina coming out in 2024. Ballerina is an upcoming American action thriller film directed by Len Wiseman and written by Shay Hatten. It is the first spin-off of the John Wick franchise and is set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). It stars Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves. In the film, ballerina-assassin Rooney (Armas) hunts those who killed her family.

Lionsgate acquired Hatten's spec script for the film in 2017, leading to him contributing to the final screenplay for Parabellum and then serving as the lead writer for Chapter 4. In October 2019, Wiseman was hired as director, with franchise director Chad Stahelski confirmed as a producer by May 2020. Ballerina was officially announced in April 2022, with de Armas confirmed to be replacing Unity Phelan, who portrayed the character in Parabellum, in the lead role; by that November, the rest of the main cast was rounded out. Principal photography began soon after, taking place in Prague.

The film is scheduled to be released on June 7, 2024. This work is dedicated to the late Lance Reddick as Reddick's role as Charon is also found in the Ballerina film. In real life, are there crime families with professional assassins? Yes. In real life, is there is a High Table-like setting that deals with international affairs and other matters in a mysterious fashion. Yes, there is the Bohemian Grove, the Bilderberg Group, and other organizations with infrastructure that deal with international matters. So, the John Wick series mixes truth with fiction which describes an underworld that presents the truth in plain sight. Even the word excommando comes from the word excommunication (found in spiritual circles) meaning to be banned from being part of a religious organization. 

By Timothy