I'm tired of ...

calls from Mitt Romney and postcards from the superpac supporting him. It must be nice to run a positive campaign while having a superpac doing a hack job on everyone who might take a vote from you.

Unfortunately all the M.R. calls are recordings so I can only hang up. I can't get the satisfaction of telling the caller I will never vote for Romney.

Oremus pro invicem!

From The Church and the Land by Fr. Vincent McNabb:

It would be well to enumerate these primary needs if only for the sake of realizing how far we are from finding them provided by the present Industrial System. Our primary economic necessities are: (1) Food - i.e., bread, vegetables, milk, meat, malted liquors, etc.; (2) Clothing - i.e., woollen, linen, and cotton stuffs, well tanned or untanned leather; (3) Housing - i.e., a home of sufficient rooms, a homestead, fresh air, etc.; (4)Fuel; wood, coal, etc. All other things belong to man's secondary needs.

Now it may be startling to some men to be reminded that the present Factory System of Industrialization produces none of the primary needs of human existence. The land and the land alone gives us the simplicities of Food, Clothing, Housing, Fuel. Factory methods cannot give us these necessities of life; but they can give them a quality which makes them controllable by a small group of men who wish to make money by controlling them.

Well, we are far from relying solely on the land for our primary economic necessities, but we are farther along than we were 8 years ago. Virtually all our meat and 70% of our vegetables come from our land. Most dairy comes from our land. Bread .... well we don't grow or grind our own wheat, but we make at least some of our own bread. Clothing ... well, here is progress. Number 2 son had been hard at tanning deer hides this winter. Not much clothing has appeared, but it is in the works. And this year we are on all wood heat for the first time.

It is not that I believe one has to obtain all of his primary economic needs from the land as opposed to from the Industrial System, but doing so, or knowing how to do so as much as possible does provide some freedom.

Oremus pro invicem!

Happy Christmas!

Yes we are still celebrating. Mrs. Curley bought me a wonderful and useful gift: a Rapid Brew brand coffee percolator. We are also sporting a new red heeler puppy. Mrs. Curley also got me a book I have been longing to read: The Church and the Land by Fr. Vincent McNabb. Have just started reading it, I surmise it won't take me long to get through it.

Cold weather came in today. The pot belly stove is keeping up.

Not to brag, but I made a delicious duck sausage with lots of sage and a roasted garlic paste, courtesy of the book Charcuterie. It's a great resource. Several months ago I made some Canadian bacon also relying on Charcuterie.

This is really hog slaughter weather now-although we do it year round, we really get going now. And many new recipes to work on once the pork is in the freezer.

Oremus pro invicem!

I heard a supposed holiday comedy bit on the radio last night which reminded of some events in my own life long ago ....

Before Mrs. Curley and I were married, or even dating, we worked at a small high tech start-up. We didn't work much together, but somehow we seemed to be always kidding each other about one thing or another. She and a small crew worked 2nd shift. I was the shift problem solver or consultant but wasn't really part of the shift as I had other work to do. I was just there for them in case of need.

So one Christmas, the 2nd shift decided to do a Secret Santa deal where you picked a name out of the hat and bought a modest present. It was all to be secret until the present exchange.

Leading up to the name selection I gave Mrs. Curley a hard time about her planning on stuffing the hat with her own name so she'd get lots of presents.

When it was my turn to pick a name, I immediately turned to her and said, "So you DID stuff the hat!" In fact I had picked her name, but didn't let on other than an occasional kidding about fixing the game.

On other days, I would come up to her and say, "I'm having trouble deciding what to get my secret Santa; what do think of those Chia Pets you see advertised on TV?" She would raise her eyebrows and look at me with some skepticism, but say, "Oh I don't know. That might be okay."

Well Christmas came and I delivered a gift-not a Chia Pet. The following year we were both laid off and started dating. Now almost 20 years later and 7 children, I am still tempted to buy Mrs. Curley a Chia Pet when I see them in the store.


Oremus pro invicem!

I have been wanting to get in the shop to craft some Christmas presents, but so far my sons have been monopolizing the shop and my tools. There is only room for so many cooks. But I promised them I was kicking them out starting tomorrow as time is running short-although, I don't feel too much pressure to have everything made and finished by the 25th. Christmas is after all, a season.

Even better, I have been toying with the idea that I will have each one help me make their own present. The time spent together working and teaching may be more valuable than the gift itself.

************

A great friend of mine lost his mother in September and his father this week. We attended the Requiem Mass for the father yesterday in Columbia, SC. It was only the second Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form (TLM) I have ever been present at. A priest from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter flew in to offer the Mass.

My sons being some of the few altar servers at our small parish, I go to several funerals every year. Very often there are very few communicants at these funerals. No wonder, we live in an area with few Catholics, so friends attending are often Protestant. But often times many of the family members themselves are not communicants. It may be the case that the deceased was a convert to the Faith, but also, I suspect, sometimes, the family members are no longer practicing Catholics.

This wasn't the case yesterday. The deceased had a large family and there were many, many communicants. Praise be to God for a life well-lived and a great passing on of the Faith to his children! May his sould and all the souls of the faithful departed, rest in peace!

Oremus pro invicem!

I am sure posts will be scarce the next week or so. I leave you with my latest article: here. Longtime readers here will recognize some of the content. Recycle you know!

Oremus pro invicem!

From the last print issue (ever) of Catholic World Report:

The US State Department reports that there is no Christian Church open to the public in Afghanistan.

The State Department has acknowledged that Afghanistan has seen a decrease in religious liberty in the past decade since American troops have been active there. The last know Christian church was demolished in 2010.

What a record we have. Most of the Christians have left Iraq also. Who's winning what wars????

Oremus pro invicem!

My latest at CatholicLane can be read here about Ayn Rand's influence on Congress. I conclude:

It would seem to me that Congress and the American people would do well to
think about Peter Maurin’s words rather than Ayn Rand’s.

Oremus pro invicem!

Smaller is better

The trend is mega-churches, and that all too often includes making larger and larger Catholic parishes. In the Church, I suppose the purpose is a consolidation of resources-both priests and financial resources. I think this is a mistake.

In a small parish, the priest can be a true shepard to all the flock. The priest really knows his flock, family by family, regardless of whether a particular person or family is involved in numerous committees and activities. I think this is critical to the spiritual welfare of the Church.

Likewise I think there are far too few dioceses. I think they should be smaller and more numerous. Thus the bishop can really get to know his flock.

In SC, the Catholic population is small, but the diocese is large geographically (the entire state.) When Bishop Baker was here, he spent his time tirelessly traveling the diocese and was very accessible. (I make no comment on our current Bishop simply because he hasn't been here very long and I don't know as much about his activities-although he has made the effort to visit every parish-but it took over a year. 90+ parishes over such an area is a tough job.)

Just another instance where I think smaller can be better....

Oremus pro invicem!

The Crisis

Probably the crisis in America to which almost every other ill can be traced is the absence of fathers in our families. Why doesn't our democracy work properly now? -The absence of fathers. His role can not be over stated: (from The Thinking Housewife via Jeff Culbreath

The ideal citizen in any high-functioning democracy is the father. He is more important politically than the mother; more important than the young man without children or the single woman; more important as a type than even the property owner. If I were to build an infant republic, I would limit the franchise to fathers, possibly making ownership of property an additional qualification.

.....For a woman, the world is too personal and parochial; she seeks security first. For the man without children, the future is sterile; even property or personal wealth will not make him care for those who will live many decades from now. The father is more apt to possess both public-spiritedness and loyalty, dispassion and compassion.

Oremus pro invicem!

What a glorious week full of blessing-too numerous to account. Praise God!

We have heat! After heroic efforts by my sons, the flue system in the chimney was taken down and a new Class A chimney installed. The potbelly stove arrived and was hooked up. As our Thanksgiving guests can attest-we have heat.

Our sow Sal gave farrowed last evening, giving birth to 13 live piglets. These piglets are the composite of the best of our herd. We are very excited about them.

Thanksgiving week was eventful with loads of work early and loads of fun late. Our turkey had not quite reached full size, so we supplemented the 14 pounder by adding a duck to the mix. Not much leftover turkey, but it was good and tender.

Our annual Turkey bowl with the boys ended in a tie. But Saturday everyone got in on the action. Mrs. Curley threw the winning touchdown pass to number one son (over my head and my coverage) to pull out a victory. Lots of fun.

We had several special visitors this year, but most special was having my Mom here at the homestead for the first time. She didn't hold any piglets, but she provided much joy, laughter and warmth to our holiday. (And just to avoid any confusion, my Mom was NOT the Mrs. Curley who threw the touchdown pass.)

Now to Advent!

Oremus pro invicem!

Here is my latest at http://www.catholiclane.com/ .

In other news, my town recently had a town council election. Living outside town limits, I do not get a vote, however the election reports were very interesting. The article stated that the top vote getter received 78 votes. The last sentence in the article stated that there were 73 registered voters. A misprint? or small town voter fraud?

Oremus pro invicem!

Waiting over

Mabel calved Friday night around 9:35 PM - a bull calf. She licked him and licked him. We got in there and dried him off a bit too. It was really cold out. I think it got down to 28 F that night. We saw him stand, but we went in before he found her udder. Saturday he couldn't figure out how to get milk out of the udder until late in the afternoon. We tried to teach him or get him to drink from a bucket, but he is a slow learner.

Harry the sow farrowed Saturday afternoon. We think she had 13 live births, but will confirm this morning. The sun was going down as she was finishing. Harry is a trooper. I think this is her fifth litter. We raised her from a weaner.

The other things we are still waiting for. The boys are manually taking the masonry flue out of our chimney so the new Class A chimney can fit. We are hoping to finish the installation and have heat by Monday night ....

Oremus pro invicem!

Blarney

The difference between blarney and baloney via Fulton Sheen (paraphrased):

When meeting for the first time a woman of 40ish:

Baloney: You don't look a day over 18!

Blarney: Tell me your age so I know that age when women are most beautiful!

Another way he puts it:

Blarney is flattery so thin you love it. Baloney is flattery so thick you hate it.

Oremus pro invicem!

Waiting

.... for Mabel to calve (due on the 10th, but nothing yet).

....for Harry the sow to farrow-any day now, but not overdue.

... for my wood stove to come in (due tomorrow), but first we have to finish installing the chimney and masonry.

... for the peanut harvest to end-making progress everyday, but the frost last week hurt the hay yield.

*******************

This weekend we started the simple chore of replacing our front door with one given us. The new door had a window which will hopefully lighten our electric bill and bring some much needed sun in on cold winter days. Alas, we found a whole lot of old termite damage. But there was a hidden blessing. After ripping out all the damaged wood, we had an opening large enough for a double front door. What's more, someone else had given us a set of double French doors which were sitting idle in the garage. So while the job isn't completely finished, the doors are in and so is a lot of light. Thank God for hidden blessings and generous, helpful neighbors!

Oremus pro invicem!

Feeding Hogs Dairy

From Pork Production (1928 by William Smith):

The by-products of the dairy are more highly prized by hog-men than perhaps any other form of protein supplement. The value of skim milk and buttermilk is such as to make pork production a valuable adjunct to profitable dairying when either of these products are available for swine feeding.

...or in other words 4.18 pounds of milk had the equivalent of 1 pound of corn. (for weight gain-ed)

We don't feed our hogs much pure corn. However, an added incentive for feeding milk is the taste of the pork. The pork from hogs feed milk as a supplement has a sweet creamy taste not found elsewhere.

Oremus pro invicem!

I am not a hippie!

Here's my latest: http://catholiclane.com/is-agrarianism-just-for-hippies/.

Oremus pro invicem!

Why Peanuts

I have mentioned frequently we are harvesting peanuts from 4 acres leased from our neighbor. Why peanuts? Here are some reasons from Practical Farming For the South (1944 by B.F. Bullock):

Peanuts belong to the great soil-building legume family, and are one of the most useful crops grown on American soil. ... Peanut hay that has been properly harvested and handled in a way to preserve the leaves will rank along with any of the other legume hays as a high class roughage for dairy cows. Hogs will develop more rapidly on peanuts than on any other single crop grown on the average farms. ... Chickens are also very fond of peanuts and will thrive on them. In fact every creature on the farm, from the children to the watchdog, likes peanuts and will thrive on them if not permitted to eat too many.

So there you have it.

Now remember to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory everyday, but especially during November.

Oremus pro invicem!

A Modest Proposal for our Economy

So what about the “Occupy X” movement? Granted there seems to be all sorts of people there without a real focus other than ‘down with corporate greed’. I am not going to argue the merits or lack thereof of the variety of complaints and participants. But I do think the “Occupy” movement and the Tea Party movement considered together are signs of discontent not really seen across middle-class America in some years. The Republicans’ (partial) embrace of the Tea Party and disdain for the Occupy may be a serious political mistake. At the same time both movements don’t bode well for the current administration either. If the Republicans nominate someone who looks like he’s in bed with corporate/financial America, Obama will win a second term. If however they can come up with a viable candidate at this late stage who can come up with a jobs plan which isn’t merely an increase of taxes on the poorest and a decrease of taxes on the wealthiest (think “9-9-9” and “Flat Tax”) then they may capture the imagination of worried Americans. Under the current conditions, both parties will come out losers in the long-term regardless of the outcome of the 2012 election unless there is a clear break from the past.

America is discontented. We only know one system, and we know it is broken for most of us. The issue is jobs. Manufacturing jobs continue to go overseas. Trade jobs (with a few notable exceptions like plumbers and electricians) have disappeared as people will settle for cheaper but almost disposable goods, for example shoes. Small shopkeepers have disappeared as they can’t compete with big box stores who get cheap (and disposable) imports from overseas. Small farms have disappeared as government regulations and government subsidies for big Ag have made it practically impossible for small farmers to make a living. College education has become high class and high expense job training. In the current economy graduates carrying $40K to upwards of $100K of student loan debt can’t find jobs. Increasingly, the low paying service economy is the only remaining option for many Americans.

No national candidate is proposing a turnaround to this trend. Even if we pull out of the current recession, the future is not bright. But we can turn this around. It may take some time and struggle and sacrifice, but we can arrive at an economy where a family can earn an honest and rewarding living and have greater control over their life and destiny. The modest proposal is not a quick fix, but a journey, a process towards a more just economy.

Returning manufacturing to America can be achieved through the introduction of tariffs on imported goods. These tariffs must be steep enough to allow American manufacturers compete with cheap imports while paying living wages for workers. Some may argue that trade wars may erupt, hurting our economy. However, the loss of manufacturing in this country is a worse fate.

Encourage the creation of small businesses, both retail shops and manufacturing endeavors by tax policy. The lowest taxes will be levied on small businesses. If a business expands to multiple locations, surtaxes are levied. As a company expands to locations outside its original region, more surtaxes are levied. These measures will allow local and regional businesses. Employee owned businesses would also enjoy a lower tax burdens. These tax policies will encourage both small, local retail businesses and return viability to local craftsmen and trades. Small manufacturing endeavors will also be encouraged to flourish. Jobs will be created which provide real living wages to owners and employees and invigorate local and regional economies. As businesses grow and become more profitable they can expand, but will contribute more to the community as their profits rise.

End government subsidies to large (factory) farms and big Ag. Restrict FDA regulations to where they are needed, i.e. the large farms. Let the free market work locally. Locally grown food will be fresher, tastier and safer. There been numerous e coli or salmonella outbreaks in recent years which have affected millions of Americans, and which have been difficult to track because the infected food has come from miles and miles away from those who are affected. Local problems will affect less Americans and will be quick to track down. Enterprising small farmers will once again feed Americans good produce and meat while earning a living wage.

Government must begin to operate on the principle of Subsidiary. Federal and State governments should return control of education and other regulations to local communities and to the family. Surely there are areas where the State and Federal government has a role, sometimes a primary role, but family, town, and county authority should not be usurped unless necessary.

In all this local and regional economies can thrive. Trades can make a comeback and regulate themselves. Small shopkeepers and small farmers can make decent wages. College will not be the only ticket to be a property owner with a semblance of control over one’s life.

The local community will be strengthened. Small rural towns have seen an exodus of young people to cities where money and jobs are more plentiful. This weakens the family and thus the community and ultimately the entire country. One of our greatest challenges in America presently is the absence of fathers in family life. While there are many causes, one cause is the transient way we live with no job security and constant relocation. Extended family communities can be the glue to keep troubled families together.

Another benefit to more robust local and regional economies is a lower consumption of energy resources.

The modest proposal hasn’t covered all aspects of economy and society; it is a proposal seeking more ideas and discussion. There are aspects which may be hard for some to adjust to. The plan requires a national will to become less of a consumption society. While it proposes more and better jobs, with better wages and more control for most Americans, at the same time, many goods will be more expensive. However, these goods will be made to last.

In America we value the ownership of private property. This has become to mean that we own our own home. But few of us really do, as many have found out in recent years. Ownership of private property also should mean that we own the means to production, that is that we really own our homes and for as many people as possible our own source of employment, whether it be a private business or as a shareholder in a larger business. Our economic system has come to a point where workers are merely tools for greater profit, to be acquired or discarded as the quarterly numbers dictate. Workers have a dignity which is not respected by too many corporations. Corporations must remember that they exist not just for profits but to provide fulfilling work and wages for their workers.

This is not just an economic plan, but also a spiritual plan for the human person.

Oremus pro invicem!

My first piece at Catholic Lane is up today. While we should remember to pray for the holy souls in purgatory every day, November is dedicated to this spiritual work of charity.

Here's the intro:

I lost my Dad in 1999. He was a wonderful father and certainly considered by all to be a good man. He and my Mom passed on their love of God and love of the Faith to me. As a Catholic, I knew about Purgatory; that place or state where a soul which dies in God’s grace, but is not completely spotless must work off the punishment due to confessed sins and unconfessed venial sins. While my Dad was a knight in shining armor to me, it was also probable, or at least possible, that he was doing time in Purgatory. The thought that he may be suffering inspired in me the deep desire to relieve that suffering.

Read the rest here .

Oremus pro invicem!