You may not be interested in jihad, but jihad is interested in you. Failure to educate yourself in the era of internet, google, and Amazon is laziness.  Sloth. Mortal Sin.
If you have time to read a book, it should be The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright. It goes back to the 14th century to explain the Hanbali school of Sunni Islam, and the Wahhabi/Salafi strains of this school. You will gain tremendous insight into what’s going on in the world.
If you don’t have time for that, do you have 15 minutes to read this article? It explains things in a very basic manner. The Wahhabi/Salafi sects reject everything that came after the very earliest times of the movement as satanic blasphemy, such that they are the only “true” Muslims.  That’s why you see them killing other Muslims in addition to everyone else.  So as the Muslim moves “deeper” into his faith, and the linear progression towards orthodoxy accelerates, he becomes weaponized (yes, weapons are part of the actual spiritual training). The west has coined a term for this process:  Radicalization.
However, “Radical Islam” is a misnomer.  While it does describe the extreme nature of the movement, it wrongly implies a periphery, a newness, a break with tradition, a revolution.  Wouldn’t it be more accurate to call it Orthodox Islam, or Conservative Islam, or Traditional Islam?  I suppose that wouldn’t sit too well with the other schools of Islam, even if it’s the truth.
Every politician on the national stage in every western country understands these facts.  Anyone who tells you Muslims have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism is a liar, and is a part of the problem. Anyone who leans on the fact that the majority of Muslims are peaceful, family people, obscures the facts at hand and is a part of the problem.
Oh, and changing the flag on your fb profile doesn’t mean shit, ever. Educate yourself, help to educate others, and start being part of the solution.

As I already declared in December 2015, the republic is dead.
What you have seen in the last few months, with dark horse candidates dominating the GOP field, is the dead cat bounce:  The notion that an outside candidate such as Trump or Cruz could win the nomination.  The possibility of real reform.  The possibility of curtailing, even a little, the massive corruption of the oligarchy.
Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
The events of the last week now prove that the GOPe will use any means necessary to nominate a candidate whom they own.  No matter Jeb’s failure to launch, Rubio’s robotics, nor Romney’s three strikes and you’re out.  The nominee must be someone who will not rock the boat, because the establishment (on both sides) is totally immoral and corrupt.  It is status quo either way.
This is no screed for Trump, by the way.  He’s certainly no conservative, and his behavior demonstrates he would be even more authoritarian than Obama.  Just imagine him on the international stage.  Countries are laughing at us.
Let’s face it, the GOPe would rather see Hillary win.  Yes, really.  They are closer to Hillary on policy. Hillary is safe. Hillary won’t take away their toys.  Hillary is, in objective reality, one of their own.
Think about the scenarios of how this plays out from here.  Visualize for thirty seconds how the general election campaigns play out post-conventions.  Can you come up with one scenario where she doesn’t win?  Unless she is in jail, I don’t see one.
Silver lining: This event may finally be the tipping point where a large number of sheep wake the hell up and decide not to be sheep anymore.  But choosing the red pill isn’t easy.

Confession.  Who needs that silly old thing anymore?

Confession is the only earthly means of regaining sanctifying grace after committing mortal sin.  I say earthly means, because God is not bound by the sacraments, and He can grant pardon if your contrition is perfect; that is, repentance out of sheer love for God, and not just fear of eternal punishment.  Since you can never really know how perfect your contrition is, it’s a lot more comforting to get your sorry ass in the confessional, often. It’s the only way to be sure.
The council opened amid a rapid escalation of the Loss of the Sense of Sin, and the continued secularization of western society.  The Modernists had been kept at bay for over 50 years, but they were only in hiding, and they saw this was their chance. Aggiornamento!
The Smoke of Satan entering the Church took many forms.  Marxist and sodomite infiltrators, moral destruction of seminaries, the Novus Ordo and its immediate openness to abuses, etc, etc. But Satan’s central point of attack was on Sacramental Confession. Why?  Go back and read the first paragraph.
The CARA Survey (this one is 2008) shows that 75% of Catholics go to confession less than once a year or never at all, and that 54% of Catholics who attend Mass every week think there is no need for confession at least once a year.  Follow the link for tons more data.
So OF COURSE this is the most diabolical success story of the last 50 years.  Can you tell me a more effective way to ensure the eternal damnation of millions of souls WHO ACTUALLY THINK THEY ARE GOOD CATHOLICS?
Oh, wait.

If someone comes to you and feels something must be removed from him, but perhaps he is unable to say it, but you understand … it’s all right, he says it this way, with the gesture of coming. First condition. Second, he is repentant. If someone comes to you it is because he doesn’t want to fall into these situations, but he doesn’t dare say it, he is afraid to say it and then not be able to do it. But if he cannot do it, ad impossibila nemo tenetur. And the Lord understands these things, the language of gestures. Have open arms, to understand what is inside that heart that cannot be said or said this way … somewhat because of shame … you understand me. You must receive everyone with the language with which they can speak.

No. No. No.  Go read the article linked above to 1P5.  This is explicitly forbidden, for reasons which should be obvious, and results in INVALID confession, i.e. your sins are not forgiven, unless your Indian name is Cat Got Tongue.
Does everyone remember that all the sacraments have Matter and Form to be valid?  Do you know the Matter for Sacramental Confession?  It’s the sins themselves, and the act of confession itself, which consists of contrition, actually confessing the sins, and satisfaction.  Did you get that?  Without the sins and the confession, there’s no sacrament.
So once again we are left wondering: is the Holy Father intentionally undermining the faith, resulting in a multitude of damned souls, or is he simply ignorant of Church teaching, resulting in a multitude of damned souls?
Doesn’t this mean that all the invalid “general absolution services” are okey dokey too? Why do we even need confessionals? “Everyone needing reconciliation, please don’t queue up. Sit in the pews and remain mute. Father Jazz Hands will absolve from the pulpit shortly.”
Please, God, make it stop.  For the sake of His sorrowful Passion.

I don’t know why the Officer in Charge gave the order to lay down weapons, remove body armor, surrender his craft and crew, and then apologize to the enemy that just captured all of the above.  Maybe he was taking orders himself, but he had an obligation to refuse those orders, and anyway, they say the radio was out.  In which case, his next in command had the obligation to refuse the order and relieve him.
You see, it’s this thing called the Code of Conduct. Of its six articles, three were violated:
II. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.
III. If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.
V. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause
Disgusting.

I’m talking about Ammon Bundy and his yahoo bunch.
Here’s why what they are doing is foolish and unjustified.  This is not their fight, the Hammonds don’t want help, and there is no imminent threat of death or injury.  The situation is entirely of their own creation.  While you can argue about unfair sentencing, the legal process, and constitutionality of laws, you have to do it whilst obeying the Rule of Law.  Otherwise, you violate the very thing you purport to defend.
I say they are messing with civil war, because they have families there with them.  Women and children.  If Fedgov decides t0 take their building back, it will be military ROEs, and they all die — google “Ruby Ridge” and “Waco Siege”.  There are many MANY patriots who, while not supportive of the actions of the Bundy crew, nevertheless would respond in some way were they slaughtered.
The best overall coverage on this is at Oath Keepers.

You can’t win a war without the military.
History lesson!
The Church Triumphant:  Souls who have attained and reside in Heaven.
The Church Suffering: Souls who have attained Heaven, but are currently undergoing their final purification in Purgatory.
The Church Militant:  The faithful on earth currently battling and struggling to attain perfection.
How is this a history lesson, you ask?  Because the abandonment of this ancient formula describing the threefold division of the Church is often overlooked among the most regrettable actions/inactions of Vatican II. The formula itself is expressly expunged; it appears not once in all the VII documents, nor in the current Catechism.  Although if you strain your neck, you might find a remnant in LG#14 and later in CCC 954.
Here’s why it matters.
The duties of the Church Militant can be broken down into a threefold engagement in spiritual and temporal warfare, to which we are all called:

1. The internal spiritual battle against personal sin, which subsists in all the faithful as the result of Original Sin and its ensuing Concupiscence, which is closely related to #2,
2. The external spiritual battle against demons, Powers and Principalities; those evil spirits prowling about the world seeking the ruin of souls
3. The external temporal battle against human institutions, laws, inequities and iniquities, imposed by men, which are contrary to Divine Law

The Catechism of Trent, Article IX, puts it very succinctly:

It is called militant, because it wages eternal war with those implacable enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil.

Does any of this language sound familiar?  Have you ever heard a sermon preached on spiritual warfare?  Have you ever heard a sermon on rooting out personal sin? Have you ever heard a sermon on your duty to fight unjust laws and unjust men?  You haven’t? Welcome to the post-conciliar Church.
Just as the wrecking ball takes multiple swings to bring down an edifice, omission of this precise formula was but one blow in the brick by brick demolition of the faith orchestrated by the modernist marxist infiltrators who hijacked the council and the faith.
We are talking here about the perennial battle for human souls. Pretty important stuff – free will in all its glory and horror. Not the kind of thing very lightly discarded, you would think. But the council had a job to do, namely, to open the Church to the modern world.  As if the Church needed fixing and the modern world was the ideal.  So we could not POSSIBLY go on talking about PEOPLE needing fixing. That’s so pharisaical, man. Make love not war.
Mankind itself was the idol of this council, and the culture demanded its feminization, sterilization, and exaltation all at the same time. But before it could install man on the throne as king of kings, something else had to be done first.  The very nature of the Church, as both transcendent and immutable, had to be abrogated.  Yet, obvi (smh), it is impossible to even entertain the notion that the Church can/should adapt Christ’s teachings to the culture of the day, while at the same time maintaining that she remains transcendent and immutable.  It’s called the law of noncontradiction.
Sorry to harp so much on root cause; it’s hard for me not to go down that rabbit hole every time, because it is key to understanding how we got here.  I highly recommend going back further and studying the entire history of modernism dating to the 19th century, and then back even further to the errors of Lockean philosophy which birthed the false interpretations of liberty and equality during the Enlightenment.
So now we got us some history, such that we may rediscover two essential bricks we have lost in the demolition: Masculine leadership and the sense of the supernatural. These are the two major theaters where the war must be won.  Let’s explore each individually and then tie back to the premise.
The concept and imagery of the Church Militant is dependent on the idea of masculine leadership manifested in battle and struggle.  The Latin root militans denotes foremost being a soldier and servant in a military sense, and secondarily as one in struggle. Masculine leadership is not optional.  It is mandatory in every aspect of this total war.  While both men and women are engaged in this battle, it is masculine leadership which must be the focus.  The yawning void of masculine leadership we face today is the result of a civilization drowning in narcissism and Feminism, abetted by a feminized priesthood, a feminized liturgy (mainly the Mass, but also the Hours and other things), and feminized churches – the buildings themselves. These are the areas where the battle lines need first be drawn, the troops assembled and trained.  That means laymen, you and I, are where the buck stops.  It’s not the priests, it’s not the bishops.  There will be some standouts among the clergy, as you will see in a moment. But the PRIMARY force for change are LAYMEN:  Lay men committing themselves to personal sanctity as the first and foundational step. Lay men executing masculine leadership with their wives and children united with them. The battle lines also lie outside the Church.  The unjust laws, abortion, pornography, promotion of fornication, etc.  Also, conversely, the violation of the Rule of Law by intentional refusal to enforce just laws.
Moving on to the second major theater of operation: The supernatural. We must speak forcefully about the reality of the supernatural.  Those demons are real, and their first tactic is always to hide from the light.  We must proclaim this reality and call out the grim destiny of those who refuse to believe it.  Recall again we are speaking here of a moral duty, and the task is not for the faint-hearted.  This is about doing battle with fallen angels, created beings possessing intellects orders of magnitude greater than our own.  They have been thrown out of heaven for their refusal to serve, and their only goal is to drag more souls to Hell by convincing said souls to refuse to serve.  Our hope rests only in God, who does not send his servants into battle unarmed.  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty to God, unto the pulling down of fortifications, destroying counsels.
Some of the best contemporary thought on this issue comes from Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix AZ USA in his Apostolic Exhortation “Into the Breach”.  Please do go read every word over there. A sobering sample:

“Men, do not hesitate to engage in the battle that is raging around you, the battle that is wounding our children and families, the battle that is distorting the dignity of both women and men. This battle is often hidden, but the battle is real. It is primarily spiritual…progressively killing the remaining Christian ethos in our society and culture, and even in our own homes. The world is under attack by Satan, as our Lord said it would be (1 Peter 5:8-14). This battle is occurring in the Church herself, and the devastation is all too evident…this is a serious breach, a gaping hole in Christ’s battle lines…the losses are staggering.”

“The Father sent his Son to reveal what it means to be a man, and the fullness of this revelation becomes evident on the Cross. He tells us that it was for this reason that He came into the world, that it is his earnest desire to give himself totally to us. Herein lies the fullness of masculinity; each Catholic man must be prepared to give himself completely, to charge into the breach, to engage in spiritual combat, to defend women, children, and others against the wickedness and snares of the devil!
Looking to what the secular world holds up as “manly” is in fact to look at shadows – or even at outright counterfeits – of masculinity. The idolatry of celebrities at this time is a particular temptation, but to build one’s masculine identity on such fleeting models is to build an identity on sand. My Catholic sons and brothers, we can only build a certain foundation for masculinity on the rock, Jesus Christ. We look to our Savior to be transformed in Him, to be the men we are called to be, and to let others see Him in us.”

Now back to the premise:  You can’t win a war without the military.
We are the military.
Ora et labora.  Pray unceasingly and take action. Don’t pretend it will be easy and neat, nay, it will be hard and ugly.
Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. Matt 5:11-12
 
 
 

62%, actually. Market Watch has it all, go read the details over there.
Read the headline again, and ponder the SHTF scenarios.  200MM people without the means to buy FOOD for more than a few weeks following said SHTF event.  That’s IF they can even access those funds; we all know the ATMs won’t work, because the money isn’t really there at all.  Many of these same people are living day to day on EBT cards, and those won’t work either.
Is there really any doubt that we will soon face massive domestic terror trigger events?  Do you understand how quickly terror devolves into mass panic?
Close your eyes, and actually VISUALIZE what this will look like.  In your state. In your city.  In your neighborhood.  On your street.  At your door.
You don’t have enough ammo.