One mystery is whether Charles Taze Russell was a Freemason or a member of a a Secret Society. What is the truth? So far, there is no conclusive evidence that Charles Taze Russell was a Freemason. Involving research, you have to get verifiable resources to validate a point. According to Professor James Penton (in his book Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses, Third Edition, on pages 64 and 415), Russell was not a Freemason. Lloyd Evans and Bruce W. Schulz and R. M. de Vienne in their book deny that Charles Taze Russell was a Freemason. His uncle Thomas Birney, was a Freemason (as he was a member of the St. John Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons). Barbara Anderson was another scholar who wrote that Charles Taze Russell was not a Mason. Masonic groups deny that Charles Taze Russell was a Freemason too. This doesn't mean that Freemasonry is some quaint, holy group. For over 20 years, I have used Masonic sources to proves that Masons use deception on the Blue Lodges, some Masons promote the fallacy of human godhood, oaths filled with death are in Masonic degrees (even if they aren't to be taken literally), they merge various creeds' teachings into a New Age like theistic framework, and they promote other notorious falsehoods in claiming to have the true Light (when the Son of God has the light along with the Father and the Holy Spirit). Charles Taze Russell gave a speech to Masons to try to convert Masons to his religion in 1913. Occult imagery has been used in the Jehovah Witnesses like the winged sun disk, the cross and the crown, the two pillars, the All Seeing Eye, etc. Defenders claims that Adventists used this, but the original Christians never used such symbols to express themselves. Each of these symbols have occult relationships. For example, the All Seeing Eye was used by ancient Egyptians, and other pagan societies: "...his (Osiris) power was symbolized by an eye over the Sceptre. The Sun was termed by the Greeks the Eye of Jupiter, and the Eye of the world; and his (The Sun glyph) is the All-Seeing Eye in our Lodges." (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, pp. 15-16, 477). Here is another source on this image: "...upon the Path of Initiation, the initiate develops his tiny correspondence to the planetary `All-Seeing Eye.' (Alice Bailey & Djwhal Khul - Discipleship). Don't get it twisted now. I've got my receipts now. We know that Charles Taze Russell is not a Mason, but he used occult and Masonic words and concepts in his books and writings like New World, Golden Age, initiated, The Divine Order, Grand Master, Grand Architect of the Universe, new light, etc. These concepts are found in Theosophists, Universalists, New Ages, Hindus, etc. Charles Taze Russell used the Masonic Knights Templar logo on his literature. One Masonic History of Freemasonry book has that logo. Fritz Springmeier's The Watchtower and the Masons exposed many of the heresies in the Jehovah Witness organization. The Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is “God’s visible organization” on the earth (as found in The Watchtower, 10-1-67, p.587 and 1-15-83, p.12). This a notorious heresy. Since the Watchtower denies the incarnation of God, the immorality of the souls, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the Deity of Jesus Christ, you know that it is not a Christian religious group. That is not just importance to rebuke false doctrine. It is also important to give Jehovah Witnesses the opportunity to repent and leave the Jehovah Witnesses as tons of ex-Jehovah Witnesses have existed in preaching the true Gospel to humanity.
This year is the 60th year anniversary of the film Taxi Driver. Taxi Driver was ahead of its time featuring issues of politics, mental health issues, and a post-Vietnam War New York City (filled with deindustrialization, economic issues, debates on what to do about crime, and decay of much of its infrastructure). Taxi Driver is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and taxi driver Travis Bickle, whose mental state deteriorates as he works nights in the city. The film also features Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks (in his first feature film role). The film was filmed during the summer of 1975. The actors and actresses took pay cuts to make sure that the project would be finished with $.19 million in its budget (which was low). For the score, Bernard Herrmann composed what would be his final score. The music was finished mere hours before his death, and the film is dedicated to him. Theatrically released by Columbia Pictures on February 8, 1976, the film was critically and commercially successful despite generating controversy for both its graphic violence in the film's climax, and for the casting of 12-year-old Foster as a child prostitute. The film received numerous accolades, including the Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival and four nominations at the 49th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (for De Niro), and Best Supporting Actress (for Foster).
Although Taxi Driver generated further controversy for inspiring John Hinckley Jr.'s attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, the film has remained popular. According to STRAND Magazine, it is considered one of the greatest films ever made, and one of the most culturally significant and inspirational of its time. In 2022, Sight & Sound named it the 29th-best film ever in its decennial critics' poll, and the 12th-greatest film of all time on its directors' poll, tied with Barry Lyndon. In 1994, the film was designated as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" significant by the U.S. Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. The film starts in New York City with Vietnam War veteran Travis Bickle working as a night shift taxi driver to deal with his chronic insomnia and loneliness. It was like Travis Bickle (played by Robert DeNiro) in the film goes into more madness as the film continues. He goes into adult movie theaters and creates a diary that deals with aphorisms like "you're only as healthy as you feel." He becomes disgusted with the crime and urban decay that he witnesses in the city and dreams about getting "the scum off the streets."
Travis becomes infatuated with Betsy, a campaign worker for Senator and presidential candidate Charles Palantine. Travis enters the campaign office where she works and asks her to join him for coffee, to which she agrees. Betsy agrees to go on a second date with him, during which he takes her to an adult movie theater, which she leaves immediately. He attempts to reconcile with her but fails. Enraged, he storms into the campaign office where she works and berates her before being kicked out of the office.
Experiencing an existential crisis and seeing various acts of prostitution throughout the city, Travis confides in a fellow taxi driver, nicknamed Wizard, about his violent thoughts. However, Wizard dismisses them and assures him that he will be fine. To find an outlet for his rage, Travis follows an intense physical training regimen. He gets in contact with black market gun dealer Easy Andy and buys four handguns. At home, Travis practices drawing his weapons, going as far as creating a quick-draw firearm hidden in his sleeve. He begins attending Palantine's rallies to scope out his security. One night, Travis shoots a man attempting to rob a convenience store run by his friend, leaving before the cops arrive as the convenience store owner proceeds to beat the non-responsive robber.
In his trips around the city, Travis regularly encounters Iris, a 12-year-old child prostitute. Tricking her pimp and abusive lover Sport into thinking that he wants to solicit her, Travis meets with her in private and tries to persuade her to stop prostituting herself. Travis shaves his hair into a mohawk and attends a public rally where he plans to assassinate Palantine. However, Secret Service agents see Travis putting his hand inside his jacket and approach him, which escalates to a chase. Travis escapes pursuit and makes it home undetected.
That evening, Travis drives to the brothel where Iris works to kill Sport. He enters the building and shoots Sport and one of Iris's clients, a mafioso. Travis is shot several times but manages to kill the two men. He fights with the bouncer, whom he manages to stab through the hand with his knife and kill with a gunshot to the head. Travis attempts to die by suicide, but has no bullets. Severely injured, he slumps on a couch next to a sobbing Iris. As the police respond to the scene, a delirious Travis mimics shooting himself in the head with his bloody finger. Travis goes into a coma due to his injuries, but he is hailed by the press as a heroic vigilante and not prosecuted for the murders. He receives a letter from Iris's parents in Pittsburgh, who thank him and reveal that she is safe and attending school. After recovering, Travis returns to work, where he encounters Betsy as a fare. Betsy tells him that she followed his story in the newspapers. Travis drops her off at her home but declines to take her money, driving off with a smile. He becomes agitated after noticing something in his rearview mirror but continues driving into the night. Taxi Driver represents the vigilante films that were common in the 1970s. DeNiro's character is an anti-hero but isn't truly treated for his mental health issues or his insecurities about life. The lesson of the film is that it is important to disagree with crime vigorously, but there are moral avenues to combat evil, not through dangerous vigilantism.
Him is a 2025 American supernatural horror film co-written and directed by Justin Tipping. The film stars Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, and Jim Jefferies. Its plot follows a young up-and-coming football player (Withers) training at the isolated compound of an aging, nearly retired quarterback (Wayans). Him was released in the United States on September 19, 2025, by Universal Pictures. The film was controversial and had tons of symbolism in it. After me realizing what this film, it is certainly one of the most occult films of the 2020s. It revealed how many elites embrace occultism and the corruption found in many segments of the sports industry. Young Cameron "Cam" Cade watches his favorite football team, the San Antonio Saviors, win the league championship. His joy turns to distress when his quarterback idol, Isaiah White, suffers a violent, possibly career-ending injury while scoring the winning touchdown. Cam's father tells him that real men are willing to make such sacrifices. Years later, Cam's father has died, and Cam is now a rising football star. Encouraged by his family and girlfriend, he trains for the league combine. While practicing late on an empty field, Cam is ambushed and assaulted by an unidentified figure in a goat costume, causing a head injury that endangers his career.
Motivated by his agent, Tom, Cam plans to attend the combine to pursue the Saviors' quarterback position, despite the risk of permanent brain damage if he sustains another injury. While overstimulated due to his concussion, Cam lashes out at his brother and Tom, ultimately refusing to participate in the combine. Tom later reveals that Isaiah is considering retirement and has offered to train Cam for a week at a remote desert compound to prove himself a worthy successor. Cam accepts and travels there, encountering crazed Isaiah fans led by Marjorie, who try to intimidate him out of replacing their hero.
At the compound, Isaiah puts Cam through disturbing challenges, including a practice drill where a jugs machine repeatedly hits a player in the face and another drill where Cam severely headbutts another player. Cam secretly receives shots of Isaiah's blood, which he is led to believe is an energy booster, and experiences frequent hallucinations of masked figures, which he attributes to the concussion. While in a sauna, Cam is attacked by Marjorie and overpowers her. Isaiah arrives and kills her, leaving Cam unsettled by his apparent lack of remorse for doing so. As Cam tries to leave, Isaiah's wife, Elsie, apologizes for Isaiah's behavior and seduces Cam. Cam wakes the next morning to Isaiah holding him at gunpoint, demanding to know if Cam and Elsie slept together. Isaiah ridicules Cam for feeling guilty about cheating on his girlfriend, saying winners are remorseless.
Elsie invites Cam to a secret party to meet the owners of the Saviors. When Cam arrives, Marco, the team doctor, whispers to him to "run" before leaving. The owners offer Cam a strange red liquid, which he drinks, unaware that it is Isaiah's blood. A disoriented Cam finds Marco's severed head in a plastic-lined room. Elsie comforts him as he loses consciousness. Cam later wakes up in an ice bath at Isaiah's compound, connected to an IV of Isaiah's blood. He rips out the IV, injects a serum given by Marco, and grabs a jagged trophy, aiming to kill Isaiah and escape. Cam finds Isaiah watching a video of cheering fans. Isaiah reveals he is part of a line of manufactured "Greatest of All Time" (G.O.A.T.) players who gain enhanced abilities from ritual blood transferred down a lineage. Isaiah tells Cam they must fight to the death with one G.O.A.T. transfusion victor. After a struggle, Cam bludgeons Isaiah to death with a helmet.
Cam leaves the room and steps onto a football field, where he finds Elsie, the Saviors' owners, and Tom, all wearing animal masks. They present him with a contract to sign, revealing that Cam's father arranged for him to be the next G.O.A.T. They explain that the earlier masked attack was orchestrated to lead Cam to the Saviors as no one else would want to draft him. Cam refuses to sign the contract. After an owner threatens to kill his family for refusing to sign, Cam snaps and kills the masked attacker — who is revealed to be Isaiah and Cam's trainer, Malek — using a hammer pick axe. An enraged Elsie attempts to attack Cam, but she dies accidentally stabbing herself in the neck, while he kills all the owners with a sword. However, he spares Tom, who is dragged into a pentagram and destroyed by an unseen force. Outside the compound, a bloodied Cam walks past masked cheerleaders and into the desert. There are alternative endings in the film too. Marlon Wayans plays Isaiah White (who is a quarterback for the San Antonio Saviors), Tyriq Withers play Cameron Cade, Tierra Whack played Adrienne (Cam's girlfriend), and Julia Fox plays Elsie White (Isaiah's wife). The film HIM is one of the most symbolic films of the 2020s. It has trauma programming rituals, Pentagrams, adrenochrome symbols. So, despite it not being popular, the film outlines how the elite can groom athletic stars for decades. The film is about a young man being a heroic person to joined the occult elite's world. The HIM film poster shows the protagonist posing like he is Jesus crucified standing on a pentagram. Another poster shows a severed human inside a horned helmet. It doesn't get anymore blatant than that. The movie cites the San Antonio Saviors versus the Atlanta Masons. In the film, a goat-headed assailant hits Cam over the head, Cam's hone shows the address of 1717 Masonic Ave. (1717 is the year when the Grand Lodge of England was created in the modern age). There is a graphic scene of sexual humiliation and submission. The movie shows the mass media asking him questions. So, I wouldn't recommend people watching this film because of its occult, graphic scenes that I can't mention here. Yet, we should realize that films like HIM are not covert. The movie shows Cam in a scene that copies the Last Supper where he replaces Jesus in mocking Christianity in my opinion. The movie has a logo looking like the Masonic square and compass in the scene with Cam and Zay. The rest of the film shows Cam being involved in a satanic ritual to sell his soul to play football. They are overt in promoting graphic occult propaganda that can't save a soul. Only God can save souls. We should reject wicked rituals and live in righteousness in opposition to the agenda of the global elite.
Camar Phyllis Jones is a physician, epidemiologist, and anti-racism activist. She studies the effects of racism and social inequalities on health. She helped to use her work to define institutional racism in the context of modern U.S. race relations. She earned her B.A. from Wellesley College, Stanford University School of Medicine (M.D.), and John Hopkins University (M.P.H., Ph.D.). She earned an honorary degree from Smith College.
Dr. Kelvin Brown is a licensed medical physician, surgeon, marathoner, author, public health expert, and father. He is the Founder and CEO of the software setup Syncosystem, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the founder of Vital Outreach Foundation. The mission of the foundation is to provide much-needed health-related products and services to those in need. He created Precision Health and Weight Loss Centers, which worked hard successfully for 18 years. He has a B.S. from Christian Brothers University, M.PH. from Emory University, M.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (USAOM), and General Surgery, Emory University Hospitals. He has studied biology, chemistry, bariatrics, psychology, health policy, epidemiology, and general surgery.
Here are many studies involving health:
1. According to the Journal of Sport and Health Science article on February 17, 2026, this simple exercise habit may keep your brain younger. The study showed that adults who exercised regularly for a year had brains that appeared nearly a year younger on MRI scans. This research is found from the AdventHealth Research Institute. Regular exercise has been proven to improve brain power. Researchers found that a consistent aerobic workout routine may help the brain to remain biologically young. This relates to better thinking, stronger memory, and better overall well-being. This is done, according to the study of adults (this study enrolled 130 healthy adults aged 26 to 58. Those assigned to exercise did 60-minute sessions and other home workouts to reach about 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week, as matching the recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine). Those who completed a structured year-long aerobic exercise program (as compared to people who didn't increase their physical activity). Brain PAD is called Brain Predicted Age Difference. Dr. Lu Wan, the lead author and data scientist at the AdventHealth Research Institute said that a simple, guideline-based exercise program can make the brain look measurably younger than over just 12 months. It is important to study VO2 levels too or oxygen uptake. Scientists want people to intervene with such workouts in middle age at the 30s, 40s, and 50s to reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive decline in general.
2. There is a study that exercise variety, not just the amount, is linked to a lower risk of premature mortality. This new study was done by researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. It cited that consistently engaging in a variety of exercises like walking, weightlifting, and gardening can lower the risk of premature mortality, even when total physical activity level was held constant. The study was published on January 20, 2026, Tuesday in the BMJ Medicine. The researched used health and lifestyle ate from more than 110,000 adult men and women over the course of more than 30 years. It was collected by the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow Up Study. The study found that participants who engaged in the highest variety of exercises had a 19 percent lower risk of premature death compared to those who engaged in the lowest variety. These activities can be jogging, running, bicycling, calisthenics, tennis, lifting weights, racquetball, etc. According to Yang Hu, research scientist in the Department of Nutrition, engaging in multiple types of physical activities (not just one) will cause many benefits.
3. There is a study that says that not eating foods three hours before bedtime could benefit heart health. The study found that extended fasting could improve blood pressure and heart rate patterns during sleep according to a study. This study was conducted by Northwestern University. The study found that an overnight fast for two hours and not eating for three hours prior to sleep were shown to improve cardiovascular and metabolic health. These results were found among middle aged and older adults, who are a higher risk for cardiometabolic disease, as stated in a university press release. The study lasted for almost 8 weeks. It was published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.
Involving professional wrestling, there is massive training and qualifications. Physical fitness is viewed as the minimum requirement for entry in the field. Most professional wrestlers have least some athletic background or training like in the past with Kurt Angle, Ron Simmons, Undertaker, Stone Cold, The Rock, and the present with Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, Charlotte Flair, etc. Professional wrestlers have formal training in specialized professional wrestling schools or academics. These places are independent or associated with a specific promotion. No one goes into professional wrestling with a free ride. Candidates are usually trained and coached by experienced professional wrestlers. Training regiments include both athletic and performative aspects of professional wrestling like physical fitness, choreography, and dramatization. Trainees are usually pitted against each other or with their instructors in matches before small crowds to demonstrate and refine their skill in improvisation, mock combat, and stage presence. There are risk in professional wrestling too. Many people faced life changing injuries, accidents, and deaths like Owen Hart. Some strikes in wrestling are stiff, especially in Japan. Stiff means using excessive force when using a move that will cause real increased legitimate pain a professional wrestler. Professional wrestlers know of the risk. As Professional wrestler Davey Richards have said in 2015, "We train to take damage, we know we are going to take damge and we accept that."
During Anna J. Cooper's later years, she continued to be an author, educator, and public speaker. In 1893, she gave the opening address at the World's Congress of Representative Women in Chicago. She was one of five African American women invited to speak at this event, along with Fannie Barrier Williams, Sarah Jane Woodson Early, Hallie Quinn Brown, and Fanny Jackson Coppin. In the 1902 speech, she said the following words: "...A nation's greatness is not dependent upon the things it make and uses. Things without thoughts [ sic] are mere vulgarities. America can boast her expanse of territory, her gilded domes, her paving stones of silver dollars; but the question of deepest moment in this nation today is its men and its women, the elevation at which it receives its "vision" into the firmament of eternal truth." (The Ethics of the Negro Question", September 5, 1902). In 1914, at 56, Cooper began courses for her doctoral degree at Columbia University. However, she was forced to interrupt her studies in 1915 when she adopted her late half-brother's five children upon their mother's death. Later, she transferred her credits to the University of Paris, which did not accept her Columbia thesis, an edition of Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne. Over a decade, she researched and composed her dissertation, completing her coursework in 1924. Cooper defended her thesis "The Attitude of France on the Question of Slavery Between 1789 and 1848" in 1925. Cooper's retirement from Washington Colored High School in 1930 was not the end of her political activism.
The same year she retired, she accepted the position of president at Frelinghuysen University, a school founded to provide classes for D.C. residents lacking access to higher education. Cooper worked for Frelinghuysen for twenty years, first as president and then as registrar, and left the school only a decade before she died in 1964 at the age of 105. At the age of 65, she became the fourth Black woman in American history to earn a Doctor of Philosophy degree. Her work was eventually published in an anthology of medieval French literature and was requested for classes and the bookstore at Harvard. In 1929, Cooper was elected to succeed Jesse Lawson as president of Frelinghuysen University, a post she assumed in 1930. Under Cooper's leadership in the 1930s, Frelinghuysen University focused on increasing literacy among the African American working poor and providing liberal arts and vocational education for unskilled workers. Karen A. Johnson writes in "In Service for the Common Good" Anna Julia Cooper and Adult Education that Cooper practiced a "decolonizing pedagogy", further saying: "Cooper believed that the essential purpose for a "decolonizing" approach to adult education content was to assist her students in developing their abilities to question dominant thought ... Cooper's ultimate goal for her learning adults was their preparation for intellectual enlightenment as well as to equip them to battle for a better society at large." After the university found servicing its mortgage prohibitive, she moved the institution to her own house. Cooper retired from her position as president in 1940, but she continued her involvement with the university, taking a position as its registrar.
Anna Julia Cooper's educational philosophy was deeply rooted in the belief that education is a transformative tool for social change and racial uplift, particularly for African Americans. As an educator and later the president of Frelinghuysen University, Cooper championed a holistic approach to learning that went beyond mere vocational training. She emphasized that education should cultivate critical thinking, self-improvement, and active civic engagement, preparing students to be not only skilled but socially responsible individuals. Scholars argue that Anna Julia Cooper's work has been overshadowed by more celebrated figures like W.E.B. Du Bois, even though her contributions often preceded or paralleled his ideas. For example, Cooper addressed concepts akin to “double consciousness” and critiqued portrayals of Black Americans in literature well before Du Bois, who frequently referenced her ideas without providing proper attribution. On February 27, 1964, Cooper died in Washington, D.C., at the age of 105 from a heart attack. Her memorial was held in a chapel on the campus of Saint Augustine's College, in Raleigh, North Carolina, where her academic career began. She was buried alongside her husband at the City Cemetery in Raleigh.
By Timothy
