Brew Fail

Well, that sucks.
You'll recall that I was brewing up an Irish Red beer last February; which turned out great, by the way.  I took a bit of a break to concentrate on mead for my friend's wedding reception and then I started a brown ale.  Which I ruined.  It was only a one gallon fermenter but still.  Down the drain.
It started off poorly when the wort boiled over.  Huge hoppy, malty mess all over the stove top.  Then I got it into the fermenter and the yeast took off for a day.  Just about blew the airlock off the stopper.  Lots of foam.  And then it just stopped, 24 hours of massive activity then nothing.  The yeast settled to the bottom and it never fermented.
I think I burned the sugar when I was brewing up the malt.  Or it could have blown all the sugar out one of those times it all overflowed.
Anyway, I did admit to not being an expert.  I've gotten a couple successful batches out and this time I didn't.  I'll obviously keep trying. 

Boy Scouts of America passes membership resolution

The Boy Scouts of America have completed the review of their youth membership policy and released a statement.

"For 103 years, the Boy Scouts of America has been a part of the fabric of this nation, with a focus on working together to deliver the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training.
"Based on growing input from within the Scouting family, the BSA leadership chose to conduct an additional review of the organization's long-standing membership policy and its impact on Scouting's mission. This review created an outpouring of feedback from the Scouting family and the American public, from both those who agree with the current policy and those who support a change.
"Today, following this review, the most comprehensive listening exercise in Scouting's history the approximate 1,400 voting members of the Boy Scouts of America's National Council approved a resolution to remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone. The resolution also reinforces that Scouting is a youth program, and any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting. A change to the current membership policy for adult leaders was not under consideration; thus, the policy for adults remains in place. The BSA thanks all the national voting members who participated in this process and vote.
"This policy change is effective Jan. 1, 2014, allowing the Boy Scouts of America the transition time needed to communicate and implement this policy to its approximately 116,000 Scouting units.
"The Boy Scouts of America will not sacrifice its mission, or the youth served by the movement, by allowing the organization to be consumed by a single, divisive, and unresolved societal issue. As the National Executive Committee just completed a lengthy review process, there are no plans for further review on this matter.

"While people have different opinions about this policy, we can all agree that kids are better off when they are in Scouting. Going forward, our Scouting family will continue to focus on reaching and serving youth in order to help them grow into good, strong citizens. America's youth need Scouting, and by focusing on the goals that unite us, we can continue to accomplish incredible things for young people and the communities we serve."

I campaigned in favor of this change and I am proud to see the Boy Scouts of America take this step forward to support our youth, our country, and our future.

Blogger Problems

I've reported this issue several times but it isn't getting fixed.  Well, there's several issues between Blogger and Firefox and but this one is about not being signed in when I view my blog in order to moderate it.  Blogger just refuses to keep me signed in.  I want to, need to, moderate comments because as much as I enjoy porn website link spam, I really enjoy being able to report spam and block it from this family-friendly blog.  So until I can do something about this, all comments are hidden. 
There's another problem where Blogger and Firefox don't work together and that's when I publish a post and Blogger is supposed to automatically share to Google+.  I just get a grayed-out screen and the browser fails to display the sharing window.  I may end up turning that off and relying on manual sharing even on Chrome.
Well, that's enough complaining for now.  I'll clean up the comments when I get home and continue to report problems when a Google feature doesn't work with a common browser. 

Dead duck

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon.  As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest.
After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry.  Your duck has passed away."
The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure.  Your duck is dead," replied the vet.
"How can you be so sure?" she protested.  "I mean, you haven't done any tests on him or anything!  He might just be in a coma or something."
The vet rolled his eyes, turned around, and left the room.  He returned a few minutes later with a large black Labrador Retriever.  As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, placed his front paws on the examination table, and sniffed the duck from beak to tail.  He then looked up at the vet and shook his head.
The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room.  A few minutes later, he returned with a cat.  The cat jumped up onto the table and also sniffed the bird from head to webbed toes.  The cat sat back on her haunches, shook her head, and strolled out of the room.
The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm so sorry, but I can confirm that this is a deceased duck." 
As the woman walked out of the office through the reception room, the veterinarian's assistant handed her the bill. 
"Fifteen hundred dollars!" she cried, "$1500 just to tell me my duck is dead?!"
"Yes, ma'am," the veterinarian explained.  "Twenty dollars for the appointment, $990 for the cat scan, and $490 for the lab report."