Heather's Blogpile

Well - the bigots of the Virginia House and Senate passed the hateful House Bill 751, an Affirmation to the Virginia Defense of Marriage Act today. ... here's what they passed

Summary as passed: Affirmation of Marriage Act for the Commonwealth of Virginia. States that a civil union, partnership contract or other arrangement between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage is prohibited and that such an arrangement entered into in another state or jurisdiction is void in Virginia and any contractual rights created thereby are void and unenforceable.

Looks like we'll make that trip to Massachusetts in June after all to test the law - P'town here we come!

(floor) 04/21/04 House: VOTE: PASSAGE (69-Y 30-N) YEAS--Abbitt, Albo, Armstrong, Athey, Barlow, Bell, Black, Bryant, Byron, Callahan, Carrico, Cline, Cole, Cosgrove, Councill, Cox, Drake, Dudley, Fralin, Frederick, Gear, Griffith, Hamilton, Hargrove, Hogan, Hugo, Hurt, Ingram, Janis, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, S.C., Kilgore, Landes, Lewis, Lingamfelter, Louderback, Marrs, Marshall, D.W., Marshall, R.G., May, McDonnell, McDougle, McQuigg, Nixon, Nutter, O'Bannon, Oder, Orrock, Petersen, Phillips, Purkey, Putney, Rapp, Reese, Reid, Rust, Saxman, Scott, E.T., Shannon, Sherwood, Stump, Tata, Wardrup, Ware, R.L., Weatherholtz, Welch, Wright, Mr. Speaker--69. NAYS--Alexander, Amundson, BaCote, Baskerville, Bland, Brink, Dillard, Ebbin, Eisenberg, Hall, Howell, A.T., Hull, Jones, D.C., Keister, Melvin, Miles, Moran, Morgan, Plum, Pollard, Scott, J.M., Shuler, Sickles, Spruill, Suit, Van Landingham, Van Yahres, Ward, Ware, O., Watts--30. ABSTENTIONS--0. NOT VOTING--Parrish--1.

(floor) 04/21/04 Senate: VOTE: PASSAGE-ENROLLED BILL (27-Y 12-N)

YEAS--Bell, Blevins, Bolling, Chichester, Colgan, Cuccinelli, Devolites, Hanger, Hawkins, Houck, Mims, Newman, Norment, Obenshain, O'Brien, Potts, Puckett, Quayle, Rerras, Reynolds, Ruff, Stolle, Stosch, Wagner, Wampler, Watkins, Williams--27.

NAYS--Deeds, Edwards, Howell, Lambert, Locke, Lucas, Marsh, Miller, Puller, Saslaw, Ticer, Whipple--12.

RULE 36--0.

NOT VOTING--Martin--1.

Posted by Heather at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After Emma and I made calls to VA Senator Jeannemarie Devolites, asking her to vote against Virginia HB751, Emma and I got a letter from her afterwards that stated "I voted for HB751, as I do not support marriage or civil unions between those of the same gender".     Link to her scanned letter

So I thought I'd google her to see what kind of strong moral fiber was behind such a bold position.

Devolites' bio in a local paper states that she is divorced - hmmm . thats not very good in the eyes of her church ... well - maybe the Pope gave her special dispensation.

But all the local papers are abuzz about her upcoming marriage .... the WashPost says ...

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III and state Sen. Jeannemarie A. Devolites, Fairfax County Republicans, have begun to tell friends and colleagues they plan to marry in June.

Davis is a popular congressman seeking a sixth term in November whose influence in the national GOP grew with his recent chairmanship of the party's powerful fundraising arm. Devolites, a rising star in the state party, won a Senate seat last fall after three terms in the House of Delegates and had ambitions to run for lieutenant governor next year. She was the first Republican woman to hold a leadership post in the House and is the only female GOP senator.

Davis was elected to Congress in 1994 after serving on the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, of which he was chairman. Last fall he worked unsuccessfully to swing the balance of power on the county board, supporting the GOP candidates for chairman and several other seats. Now chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, he also headed the National Republican Congressional Committee, a group devoted to winning U.S. House seats, from 1998 through 2002. During that time, the committee spent more on nonfederal races in Virginia than in any other state, helping to consolidate Republican control in the General Assembly.

Devolites, who works as a technology consultant, benefited most from Davis's campaign donations, receiving more than $140,000 over the last four campaigns. He was her largest single donor.

Fox News has an interesting story about Devolites' daughter Ashley serving time for armed robbery (!)

Virginia State Lawmaker's Daughter Goes on Crime Spree

Thursday, March 21, 2002

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The daughter of a leading northern Virginia state legislator pleaded guilty in federal court to armed robbery and faces up to 27 years in prison for a five-week crime spree that stretched from New York to Virginia.

Ashley E. Devolites, 20, admitted in court documents that she and two men from New York state robbed a string of gas stations last summer, using a 1990 Honda registered to her parents.

Devolites's mother Jeannemarie is a Republican whip in the House of Delegates and has represented part of Fairfax County since 1998.

Jeannemarie Devolites declined to comment after the hearing Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton. The defendant's father, John Devolites, who is divorced from her mother, said: "We love Ashley and it's a really tough time. ... She got herself in with some really tough people."

Ashley Devolites served as the trio's driver or lookout, but she was responsible for selecting targets in Virginia, according to court documents. Four of the nine robberies occurred in Virginia, including two in Fairfax, one in McLean and a holdup of a pedestrian in the parking lot of Tysons Corner Center, officials said.

The robberies began in July and ended Aug. 17, when the two men were arrested in Suffolk County, N.Y., after robbing a gas station while Devolites waited in a nearby motel, court records showed.

Her attorney, David Deane, said that his client cooperated with the investigation. But court records said Devolites "knowingly and intentionally provided misleading information which hindered and delayed the investigation of this case."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Mellin declined to comment.

She will be sentenced June 14 (2002).

Here's what I say " I don't support politicians who come from such high moral ground and presume to act as judge and gatekeeper to my family. I do not support their right to decide how my family will live, or why our family gets to be treated as second-class citizens. "

Posted by Heather at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Emma and I went to Dad's house Saturday to help him finish sorting through all the piles of stuff left from 40 years of living in the same house. I have a scarey collection of old photos now (grin) my original birth certificate (with footprints!), and tons of old books and things .

After we finished in the attic and swept things down, we went to look at the pool to see what Dad would have to do to clean it out and set it up for summer. He drains it each fall, but it collects leaves and a bit of rainfall/snow-melt over the winter. I walked down into the nearly empty pool and took a look at the pile of leaves in the bottom of the pool - and noticed movement in the muck! A bit closer look and I saw eyes peering from under a leaf. After a quick move by me (and, no doubt the fact that he was slow in the cool air), I had a big bullfrog in my hand!

Emma got me an old cookie tin from the trash and we put him right in - and I went back to hunt for more. After 15 minutes, it was quite productive - we had 4 large frogs in the box. It looked like there we two different kinds of frogs - 2 were a dark green, two were more of a tannish brown. I'll have to research a bit when I get time to see what the difference means. But it was after 3pm, so we said our goodbyes and headed off.

On a good day its a 1 hour drive back to Fairfax. We were quite lucky - an hour later and we were in our driveway. First order of business - release the frogs! We took the tin around back to the pond. I could feel the frogs moving around in the box - they were eager to get out!

There is a little lagoon dug out of the clay and rocks at one side of the pond - its just a bit larger than a 2 feet across and maybe 1-2 inches deep, with some old leaves on the bottom, with easy aceess to the main pond nearby - perfect for frogs. I noticed a couple of goldfish had slipped around the rocks and gotten into it - can't have them there if we expect frog eggs and tadpoles! They saw me and rushed out of the lagoon into the deeper pond, so I used a couple of small stones and a brick to block the opens the fish had swum through.

I leaned down near the lagoon and, opening the lid a bit, stuck the tin into the lagoon to put some of the pond water in with the frogs. Very little reaction from them - so I took the lid off the tin and gently poured the water and the frogs into the lagoon - two of them jumped away as fast as possible, over the rocks and into the larger pond where they swam around a bit. Two others just hunkered down into the leaves, with just their eyes and nose above the water.

The goldfish were very curious at these strange new things in their pond! They saw around the swimming frogs and seemed to sniff at them Some of the goldfish have gotten quite large since I started the pond with them nearly 2 years ago.

Anyway - we unpacked the rest of the car, and called in a pizza order, and after it arrived, we sat down to watch Angel.

About 10 minutes into the show I heard something (a fan motor?) so I hit the mute .... then opened the door. Wow - what a sound! Those frogs are LOUD! Well, if we wanted that feeling of being in the country - I'd say we've got it.

Posted by Heather at 9:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Maryland Classic Motorcycle Day May 23, 2004 Butler's orchard, Germantown, MD.

Triumph Come Home Rallye June 11th, 12th, & 13th, 2004, Spring Grove, PA -

VA British Motorcycle Club Rallye October 3rd 2004 - Leesburg, VA

Posted by Heather at 7:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)