[Guest post by DRJ]

From GatewayPundit:

“Reporter: Some of your advisers today said that this announcement [that Iran has a second nuclear enrichment facility in Qom or will allow inspections of it?] was a “victory.” Do you consider this a victory and, if so, why didn’t you announce it earlier since you’ve known since you were President-elect?

Obama: Well, this isn’t a football game so I’m not interested in victory. I’m interested in resolving the problem. The problem is that Iran repeatedly says that it’s pursuing nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes and its actions contradict its words.”

Obama speaks like a lawyer who isn’t a football fan because ending the threat from rogue nations like Iran is more like a football game than mediation. Like football, international relations has a scoreboard and I don’t want this one to read “Iran, 1 — Israel, 0.”

— DRJ

[Guest post by DRJ]

Week 4 brings news and more upsets — Tebow was injured and Oregon upset Cal, Virginia Tech beat Miami, Florida State lost to South Florida, and Iowa is leading Penn State in the 4th — but nothing beats last year’s Coach of the Year, Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach, as he walked off the field at halftime of the Tech-Houston game explaining how Tech “ignited” its running game:
(Note: This may not be verbatim but it’s close.)

ESPN reporter: Specifically what did you do to ignite the running game?

Coach Leach: “Just ran it, you know. Yeah, it’s not that hard. Sometimes when you run the ball it ignites things a little bit.”

This is an open thread on Week 4.

— DRJ

[Guest post by DRJ]

Have you ever noticed the consistency of Obama’s smile? Eric Spiegelman has:

Barack Obama’s amazingly consistent smile from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

Never underestimate the power of a smile. After all, look what it did for her.

— DRJ

[Guest post by DRJ]

President Obama says Iran’s “pattern of evasion” brings added urgency to upcoming international talks:

“Obama warned Iran on Friday it would face “sanctions that bite” if it did not come clean.

“This is a serious challenge to the global non-proliferation regime and continues a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion,” he said in his weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday.

“That is why international negotiations with Iran scheduled for October 1 now take on added urgency,” he said.”

Never let a serious crisis go to waste?

— DRJ

[Guest post by DRJ]

Since FDR’s fireside chats, Presidents have spoken to Americans in the President’s Weekly Radio Address. President Obama changed to a weekly video address, but I don’t recall any President describing his address like this:

Sami Sukar at Mere Musings noticed this months ago. Meanwhile, can you believe it’s been just over 6 months since Obama’s Our Weekly Address promised health care reform and $2T in deficit reduction?

— DRJ

[Guest post by DRJ]

Iran today said it will allow inspectors access to its uranium enrichment facility at Qom:

“The presence of a second uranium-enrichment site that could potentially produce material for a nuclear weapon has provided one of the strongest indications yet that Iran has something to hide — despite its repeated assertions that its program is only to generate power.

That impression was reinforced by a close aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said the site will be operational “soon” and would pose a threat to those who oppose Iran.

“This new facility, God willing, will become operational soon and will blind the eyes of the enemies,” Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani told the semi-official Fars news agency.”

The purpose of the second facility is to protect Iran’s nuclear facilities from outside threats:

“Given the threats we face every day, we are required to take the necessary precautionary measures, spread our facilities and protect our human assets. Therefore, the facility is to guarantee the continuation of our nuclear activities under any conditions,” he told the television.

Iran did not say when inspections would be allowed and a spokesman claimed Iran is in compliance with UN notification requirements:

“Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who heads Iran’s nuclear program, said on national television that inspectors from the IAEA could visit the site, though he did not specify when.

Salehi said there was nothing secret about the site and that Iran complied with U.N. rules that require it to inform the world body’s nuclear agency six months before a uranium enrichment facility becomes operational.

“Under (NPT) rules, we are required to inform the IAEA of the existence of such a facility 180 days before introducing materials but we are announcing it more than a year earlier,” he said.

The Iranians claim to have withdrawn from an agreement with the IAEA requiring them to notify the agency of the intent to build any new nuclear facilities and instead are now only subject to the six-month notification requirement before a facility becomes operational.”

The announcement followed President Obama’s warning of grave consequences unless Iran agreed to “a serious meaningful dialogue” over its nuclear program. The White House responded to Iran’s offer by urging Iran’s “complete and immediate cooperation with the IAEA.”

Iran seems to be following the North Korean playbook.

— DRJ

[Guest post by DRJ]

I didn’t realize the New Jersey schoolchildren who sang praises to President Obama performed two pro-Obama songs at a school assembly:

“The root of the controversy was in February, back when gripes about freshly inaugurated President Barack Obama were still mostly hushed.

That month, a group of smiley and fidgety students at B. Bernice Young School sang a medley of two short songs at an assembly praising the president. The first song begins, “Mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack Hussein Obama/He said that all must lend a hand/To make this country strong again.”

The second one was set to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and included the refrain, “Hooray, Mr. President.”

While the performance is seven months old, the widespread outrage is new and came about because of the discovery of a YouTube video of the performance.”

I thought this was a classroom activity but apparently what’s been posted was a rehearsal for a school-wide performance.

— DRJ

[Guest post by DRJ]

We’ve debated the difference between moral and legal choices in the past. The Savage family of Ohio knows the difference:

“The Savages say a fertility clinic outside Ohio transferred the wrong frozen embryo in February. Ten days later, they got a call from a doctor at the clinic saying she was pregnant with someone else’s child.

The Savages said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday they never considered terminating the pregnancy or trying to fight for custody.

They have hired attorneys who say they are working to make sure the fertility clinic accepts responsibility.

The Morells, who live in Troy, Mich., found out about the fertility clinic mistake a day after the Savages.

The two couples knew nothing about each other. Shannon Morell feared that the pregnant woman would choose abortion, ending their chance to give their 2-year-old twin girls a sibling.

A few days passed before they learned that the Savages were not only willing to continue with the pregnancy but also to hand over the baby without hesitation.”

Carolyn Savage, age 40, gave birth to the Morell’s new baby boy on Thursday. She has requested privacy, saying “Our family is going through a very difficult time.”

— DRJ