Visitors to the Sears Tower's new glass balconies all seem to agree: The first step is the hardest.

"It's like walking on ice," said Margaret Kemp, of Bishop, Calif., who said her heart was still pounding even after stepping away from the balcony. "That first step you take - 'am I going down?'"

Kemp was among the visitors who got a sneak preview of the balconies Wednesday. "The Ledge," as the balconies have been nicknamed, open to the public Thursday.

The balconies are suspended 1,353 feet in the air and jut out four feet from the building's 103rd floor Skydeck. They're actually more like boxes than balconies, with transparent walls, floor and ceiling.

Visitors are treated to unobstructed views of Chicago from the building's west side and a heart-stopping vista of the street and Chicago River below - for those brave enough to look straight down.

John Huston, one of the property owners of the Sears Tower, even admitted to getting "a little queasy" the first time he ventured out. But 30 or 40 trips later, he's got the hang of it.

"The Sears Tower has always been about superlatives - tallest, largest, most iconic," he said. "Today is also about superlatives. Today, we present you with 'the Ledge,' the world's most awesome view, the world's most precipitous view, the view with the most wow in the world."

The balconies can hold five tons, and the glass is an inch-and-a-half thick, officials said. Sears Tower officials have said the inspiration for the balconies came from the hundreds of forehead prints visitors left behind on Skydeck windows every week. Now, staff will have a new glass surface to clean: floors.

"It's very scary, but at the same time it's very cool," said Chanti Lawrence of Atlanta, adding that she's made her first step toward overcoming her fear of heights.

Adam Kane, 10, of Alton, Ill., rushed to the ledge with his friends and siblings, and they each eagerly pressed their faces to the glass bottom.

"Look at all those tiny things that are usually huge," Adam said.

The balconies are just one of the big changes coming to the Sears Tower. The building's name will change to Willis Tower later this summer. Last week, officials announced a 5-year, $350 million green renovation complete with wind turbines, roof gardens and solar panels.

With the ledge, visitors like Kemp said the nation's tallest building has succeeded in creating something they've never seen before.

"I had to live 70 years for a thrill like this," she said.

Apparently, there is no correlation between wisdom and aging...

I'm reminded of a joke I once heard: "What were the shirtless, mulletted white guy's last words?"

Dude...check THIS out!

A panel of New York National Guard officers has recommended that an Iraq war veteran who acknowledged his homosexuality must leave the service, his supporters said Tuesday.

First Lt. Dan Choi disclosed in March that he is gay, challenging the 1994 "don't ask, don't tell" law that requires the military to discharge troops who disclose their sexual orientation. Tuesday's ruling, made after a daylong hearing, is a step toward stripping Choi of his officer's commission and ending his career.

"It's disappointing, but not unexpected," said Sue Fulton, a spokeswoman for Knights Out, a group of gay and lesbian West Point alumni Choi helped found.

Fulton said the Guard's Federal Recognition Board heard from members of Choi's unit, his commanding officer and fellow soldiers who served in Iraq, and reviewed more than 150 letters of support for Choi, a 2003 West Point graduate and an Arab linguist.

"At the end of the day, they did not consider any of that material [to] whether he was a good soldier," she said. "It was solely about whether he said he was gay."

This has become ludicrous.  We're tossing talented, experienced soldiers--who volunteer to serve our country--back into civilian life not because of any act they have committed, but rather because of their sexual orientation.  Choi's case is even more galling, given that he's a combat veteran and talented Arab linguist in the middle of our struggle against Islamic extremism.

This is really simple.  Gays are serving in our military, and have for decades; "don't ask, don't tell" didn't do squat to either ferret them out or protect them in any tangible way unless they chose to deny themselves in public.  I knew gay soldiers during my military service, and was even the recipient of "suggestions" once or twice; a simple "not interested, I'm straight" was sufficient, and had no impact on unit cohesion or morale. 

The solution to this (non-)problem is ridiculously simple.

The military functions by its own law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and a slew of regulation promulgated by the Department of Defense and/or each service.  Let's add eight simple words--only eight words--to that law and those regulations as needed.  Let me give just a few hypothetical examples:

* Sexual or romantic relationships within the chain of command are prohibited, regardless of the gender of the persons involved.

* Rape is a capital crime, regardless of the gender of the persons involved. (Yes, rape is a death-penalty offense under the UCMJ.)

* Command authority will not be used to pressure soldiers for sexual favors, regardless of the gender of the persons involved.

Get the picture?  This will put the focus of military law/regulation where it belongs--on tangible actions--instead of allowing it to play off fear and insecurity on either side of the equation.  We keep good soldiers unless/until they commit some act that violates regulations, whether that violation is guy-and-girl, girl-and-girl, or guy-and-guy.  It's the act, not the person; let's stop surrendering good, brave soldiers to nonsense like this.

A government advisory panel voted Tuesday to recommend eliminating prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen with narcotics -- such as Vicodin and Percocet -- because of their risk for overdose and for severe liver injury.

The panel, assembled by the Food and Drug Administration, voted 20 to 17 to advise the FDA to remove such prescription combination drugs from the market.

The group recommended that the FDA "send a clear message that there's a high likelihood of overdose from prescription narcotics and acetaminophen products," Dr. Sandra L. Kweder of the FDA's Office of New Drugs said at a news conference after Tuesday's meeting.

The panel was meeting for the second day to vote on recommendations to reduce the risk of serious liver injury associated with acetaminophen, which is found not only in prescription drugs, but also in over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol and NyQuil. [...]

It also advised the FDA to lower the maximum daily dose of acetaminophen in over-the-counter and prescription medications, and to address the formulations and dosing recommendations for children.

This is bound to be controversial.  The FDA is not required to accept the recommendations of its advisory panels, but it does so in the vast majority of cases.  You can bet, however, that Big Pharma will be ALL over this one, trying to put pressure on the FDA to let this one slide.  Since its introduction to the US commercial market in the early 1950s, acetominophen (also known as paracetamol) has become a stock ingredient in an astonishing array of over-the-counter medicines.  New guidelines on dosage will require the reformulation of almost all such medicines.  Despite the commercial implications, this seems long overdue; paracetamol toxicity, which can affect some people even at "normal" dosages, is the most frequent cause of acute liver failure in the "Western world."

Yikes. Given a choice between a stuffy nose and liver damage, I'll live with the congestion.

* The SCOTUS reversal of Ricci v. DiStefano and its potential effect upon Sotomayor's confirmation

* Mark Sanford's continuing revelations (additional women, other trips to meet his Argentinian mistress)

* The Minnesota Supreme Court's finding that Al Franken won the Senate election

* Iran's affirmation of Ahmadinejad's election and the continuing (if lessening) protests

* Ron Paul's proposed legislation to "Audit the Fed"

Have at it - but no threadjacking!  *chuckle*

Tuesday marked the deadline for American troops to pull out of Iraq's towns and cities -- a long-anticipated date that has been met by street festivals in Baghdad.

Celebrations were tempered, however, by fears of renewed violence as insurgents seek to use the date to stage new attacks.

Newscasters on state TV network Al-Iraqiya draped Iraqi flags around their necks as an on-screen clock counted down to midnight Monday (5 p.m. ET). Earlier Monday evening, hundreds of people danced and sang in a central Baghdad park to mark the U.S. pullout.

"I feel the same way as any Iraqi feels -- I will feel my freedom and liberation when I don't see an American stopping an Iraqi on the street," said Awatef Jwad of Baghdad.

[...]

While many Iraqis publicly said they are glad to see Americans out of their neighborhoods, some cited worries about what the future may hold without the U.S. military nearby.

"Without the Americans, we were afraid of each other," said Hanaa Abdul Hassan of Baghdad.

"And now that the Americans are leaving, we will be more afraid. We knew the Americans were holding them back, so now I don't know what's going to happen," she said, without specifying who "they" were.

Here's hoping that the Iraqi security forces are the equal of whatever will be thrown their way in the next few days.  It's a near-certainty that those insurgents who remain at large will continue their recent spate of attacks, but this day has been a long time (and much blood) in coming.

Those who supported the war in Iraq will undoubtedly trumpet this day as a vindication of the decision to invade, while those who opposed the war will--just as undoubtedly--use today a an argument for a speedy return to status quo ante and completing a rapid withdrawl of US forces.  Setting that aside, I think that both sides can agree that we'll be wishing/hoping/praying for relative calm in Iraq, a strong and steady presence from the Iraqi government when that calm is broken, and continued improvements in that nation.

Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya arrived in Costa Rica on Sunday after a military-led coup, a Honduran government official told CNN.

The Honduran military arrested Zelaya early Sunday morning, the same day he vowed to follow through with a referendum that Honduras' Supreme Court had ruled illegal.

"They detained the president and sent him out of the country," the government official said.

If you read Spanish, there's excellent coverage from Tegucigalpa's El Heraldo, and their Twitter feed is buzzing right along.

There are reports of Nicaraguan and Venezuelan "forces" (apparently not military, but rather political operatives) in Honduras; that's what the military is saying, but only in unsourced accounts to the media. In addition, it has been reported that Nicaraguan, Cuban and Venezuelan diplomats have been kidnapped and/or beaten by masked gunmen.

According to El Heraldo (28 minutes ago via twitter), the US government has denied any involvement in the matter, after Zelaya "asked Obama for clarification" (my translation).

This is a pretty tangled web.  We're always leery of military action against a civilian government, but Zelaya was playing hardball in his attempts to gain an additional term as President.  Honduras' constitution forbids such a thing, but Zelaya was planning a "poll" to determine whether a constitutional assembly could be formed to accomplish that very task.  The Supreme Court told him that such a "poll" was unconstitutional in and of itself, and the military refused to support Zelaya in his efforts.  Zelaya fired the military chief of staff, but the Supreme Court ruled that act illegal as well, precipitating the events of today. 

It appears that the president of the national Congress, Roberto Micheletti, is to be sworn in as interim President (and such may have already occurred).  That seems a good step to me; even in tumultuous times, I'd rather see a civilian in power then a military junta.  I'm also heartened by the fact that, while the state-run television station has been shut down, other media outlets (notably El Heraldo) seem to be running with the story.

More as events warrant...

In an unexpected move, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed the US Senate vacancy bill which takes away the governor’s power to appoint someone to a vacant US Senate seat.

“Although the current process for filling a Senate vacancy has worked well in our state for many decades, this bill gives directly to the people of Connecticut the decision on who would fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate,” Rell said in a press release. “Since taking office as Governor, I have done everything in my power to make Connecticut a model for all states when it comes to openness, transparency and citizen participation in government.”

“We are fortunate to live in a participatory democracy, where our people do indeed have a voice in how they are governed,” Rell said. “This law is consistent with my long-held belief that we should take every action possible to involve our citizens in their government.”

Under the new law, Connecticut's Governor must issue a writ of election within 10 days of a vacancy, and said election will occur 150 days after the writ is issued.

I like it.  No more pussyfooting around with lists of "potential appointees," no more backroom deals, and no more "wonder who?" trial balloons in the media.   The simplicity is perfect - got a vacant Senate seat? Have an election!  Sure, it's more symbolic than anything else--Senate vacancies are fairly uncommon in most states--but that kind of symbolism is important, as is the notion of an executive voluntarily limiting their own power.

Of course, there was also some inexplicable opposition, incoherently phrased:

Republican lawmakers had called the bill a “power grab” during lengthy debates in both the House and the Senate.

Um...enabling the voters to select their replacement Senator is a "power grab?"  For whom?  Sheesh...

Kudos to the legislators who pushed it through, and to Governor Rell for supporting and signing it.  I'd like to see other states take this ball and run with it...