In the car earlier, as we were pulling away from our apartment, Gloriana was talking to the Confessor as the two were sitting in the back seat (BoE was in the passenger seat). At first I wasn't paying attention to what she was saying, then it hit me.

Just now the Confessor came up to his mother and informed her solemnly that he told his sister to do a time-out because she called him a dummy.

Caught the opening game with the Braves on tape delay on NASN with the kids, and though we missed the opening innings (where the Nats jumped ahead 2-1) it was a great game -- great way to break in the new stadium, particularly with Zimmermann's walk-off homer to win the game 3-2.

While Gloriana was decked out in her Nats ballcap and was swinging a Nats kiddie bat, the Confessor interestingly enough didn't want to wear his Nats or his Braves gear...until the Braves tied the game on an error by the Nats catcher and sending a runner home, when I asked him out of curiosity which team he wanted to win. The Braves, he said. (Em is now grinning ear to ear.) Shortly after that, the Nats got the winning run, and he was a bit unhappy about it...oh well, kid, welcome to baseball. :-)

I've seen some nonsense floating around the Web that John McCain supposedly doesn't qualify to run for the Presidency. Whatever you may think of him, it's simply untrue -- the result of a common misconception.

The premise of this is that McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone and not on US soil. To wit:

7 FAM 1116.1-4 Not Included in the Meaning of "In the United States"

(TL:CON-64; 11-30-95)

a. A U.S.-registered or documented ship on the high seas or in the exclusive economic zone is not considered to be part of the United States. A child born on such a vessel does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of the place of birth (Lam Mow v. Nagle, 24 F.2d 316 (9th Cir., 1928)).

b. A U.S.-registered aircraft outside U.S. airspace is not considered to be part of U.S. territory. A child born on such an aircraft outside U.S. airspace does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of the place of birth.

c. Despite widespread popular belief, U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic or consular facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a facility is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of birth.

Sounds damning, doesn't it? Well, it isn't.

Ius soli, the "right of the soil", is only one way to become a natural-born American citizen. The other way is ius sanguinis, "the right of the blood". Since McCain's parents were/are American citizens, he therefore is a natural-born citizen.

Similarly the Confessor is a natural-born American citizen and has American citizenship because I'm an American citizen. See US Code § 1401 (g):

(g) a person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than five years, at least two of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years...

Won't BoE be pleased to know she is an alien. Well, I always knew that, but I married her anyway. As for McCain,US Code § 1401 (c) says:

(c) a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents both of whom are citizens of the United States and one of whom has had a residence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions, prior to the birth of such person...

German citizenship law is pretty much ius sanguinis only, but since his mother is German, he thus also gets German citizenship. Currently Gloriana only has German citizenship, but she is entitled to American citizenship as well (we just haven't bothered to go to the embassy to claim it). Should either child live continuously for 14 years in America, and reach 35 years of age (as per the US Constitution, Article II, Section 1), he or she would thus also qualify to run for President -- just as John McCain does now.

Last week, Gloriana had her routine checkup at the pediatrician for her second birthday. BoE took her there (I had to take the Confessor to a different appointment and couldn't go) and told me about what happened.

The doctor had her do some tests to check on her development, and Gloriana kept exceeding expectations rather wildly. One in particular was pretty funny -- she was going to ask Gloriana to make a tower out of some bricks, but she'd hardly finished asking when Gloriana was already half-done.

On a similar note, for her birthday last week one of her godmothers gave her a puzzle with cutout animals, supposedly appropriate for two-year-olds (well, she did turn two). Gloriana unwrapped it, dumped out the pieces, and promptly put them right back in exactly the right spots without batting an eye. The godmother grinned and suggested eBay. :-)

Meanwhile it's become a running joke about how Gloriana leaves a trail of socks behind her wherever she goes. From all the grannies whose socks she charms off. Gloriana likes to chat them up, is all smiles and giggles, they coo over her and her blonde curls and big smile, and pop their socks are off, and off to the next granny she goes.

Somewhat oddly, lately she seems more interested in baseball than the Confessor. If the Braves aren't on, he won't watch (or only grudgingly), but she'll curl up next to Daddy and watch anyway, and gets into it.

That's my girl. :-D

Naturally I'm already having her fitted out for her chastity belt and constructing the high tower to lock her away, being a good father and all.

Somewhat oddly, the Confessor has decided to root for the Atlanta Braves.

Not too sure why, really. On NASN we don't have too many games to pick from, and it happens that they have shown some Braves games, and he decided to root for them. So now they seem to be "his" team, even though I'm not a Braves fan -- and his American babysitter is from Cleveland and an Indians fan, so she's a bit nonplussed. ;-)

So he's going around saying "Go Braves" and even already does the tomahawk chop.

Really odd. I have no idea where he got it from. He's got a Nats and Twins ballcap already. Guess I have to get him a Braves one.

What's really sad is that the Braves lost each game we've watched, and the game we saw today (tape delay) they got bombed by the Red Sox, 11-0. Even by the time we tuned in in the bottom of the 2nd, it was already 7-0. Yowza.

(We did see Sosa's 600th homer -- NASN cut away for Sosa's at-bats.)

And I have yet to see a full game by any of "my" teams -- Nats, Reds or Twins. I did see part of a Nats-Orioles game earlier this week as a fluke (NASN had a satellite feed problem and was showing it on tape delay instead, then cut away to show the scheduled game). Oh well. But the kids are already getting into baseball a lot -- funnily enough, the Confessor is already calling out "HOME RUN" on practically every hit. :-)

In another online forum -- unfortunately one that is closed to the public -- the topic of Dawkins, Harris, et. al. came up. Naturally yours truly was drawn into it (surprise, surprise). Most people there are of the agnostic, non-religious sort. A few are of the strong atheist sort. I am the only active believer type (as in, part of a specific religious group). I did, of course, mention my fandom of Sagan (including linking to that video I mentioned not long ago). Some others mentioned surprise that a believer like me could be a free thinker, but that didn't seem to make an impression on some others...for:

I have just been informed by one of the atheist types that I have no right to teach my children about my beliefs or that I should not take them with me to church, even if they express the wish to come along*. Furthermore, society (according to this fellow) has an overriding interest in protecting my children from my so-called superstitions (without of course bothering to examine just what it is I believe or why).

Welcome to fascism, 21st century style. I won't mince words. That's just what it is.

Yep, Smooch. Now you know why I'm worried by Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens and the rest. It's one thing to want a secular, neutral state (something I happen to think is a good idea). It's totally another to tell me how I should raise my children or even where I'm allowed to take them, just because someone doesn't like what I believe.

I don't think I have ever been so angry in my life.

* - I have never once made the Confessor go to church with me against his will. I generally go alone. Sometimes he asks to come along, and if so, I take him (but only on Sunday mornings -- vespers has has to stay home, because it's past his bedtime). Gloriana only comes along if BoE also wants to come; often BoE prefers to stay home anyway. And if the Confessor wants to leave the service, which he sometimes does, then we leave. The notion that I am forcing anything on him or Gloriana is infuriating and wrong.

Meanwhile, Gloriana has finally mastered the art of walking on her own, at the ripe old age of 18 months.

It was pretty funny yesterday. I was talking on the phone with my parents, sitting in the easy chair in the living room, when it dawned on me that Gloriana was walking back and forth between me and the coffee table (a distance of about five feet or so). Up until now she'd manage just a few steps and then grab something or fall over, but this time she was doing it all on her own without falling over.

So it was fun just watching her. I got up and moved to a different spot, and she would go to the coffee table, play for a few seconds with the train set that is on the table, then walk to the easy chair where I had been sitting, look at the book that was lying there for a few seconds, walk to Daddy (about six feet away from both the chair), smile at Daddy a few seconds, and back to the coffee table (just a couple feet), rinse and repeat.

Now of course we have to put the ball and chain on her.