In thinking about a recent Op-Ed that I posted on my legal blog, I realized that many Americans don't really understand the facts regarding the civil justice system.  Here's a few:

• Medical errors are the THIRD leading cause of death in the United States. (Source: The JOURNAL of the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (JAMA) Vol 284, No 4).

• Malpractice claims make up less than 1% of the health care costs in America.  So, even if you completely eliminated all malpractice claims, 99% of the costs would still be present. (Source: Congressional Budget Office, Limiting Tort Liability for Medical Malpractice 1, 6).
  

First came the news that likely Republican candidate Steve Laffey had decided against a 2010 gubernatorial bid.  Now, longtime Democratic candidate for Governor, Providence Mayor David Cicilline, has opted against a run and instead will be running for his 3rd term as Mayor in 2010.

Cicilline made his announcement on his blog and on this YouTube video release:

A new Brown University poll of 474 likely Democratic primary voters in Rhode Island (2/9-2/10 with a MoE of 5%) shows that Hillary Clinton holds a slim lead over Barack Obama.

• Hillary Clinton - 36%
• Barack Obama - 28%
• Uncommitted - 27%
• Undecided - 9%
  

Remember that Brown University's last poll in September showed Clinton with 35% and 16% for Obama.  Thus, Obama has seen significant movement while Clinton has stagnated.

The poll also shows these general election match-ups:

• Clinton-43%  McCain-32%  Undecided-25%
• Obama-42%  McCain-30%  Undecided-28% 

Obama supporters in Rhode Island are encouraged to come to the headquarters kickoff and meeting this Wednesday night at 600pm at 245 Westminster St. in downtown Providence.  Email GObamaRI@gmail.com if you have any questions. 

We all know that Sen. Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq War and for the recent war-mongering resolution against Iran.  But with the economy tanking, what exactly is her record on important economic issues? 

Note: Since Hillary Clinton and her allies find it perfectly appropriate to discuss presidential candidate's records so as to best "educate" the voters, I decided to look at her economic record so as to educate all of us:

Free Trade

Sen. Clinton supported NAFTA and its devastating impact on manufacturing jobs, the enviroment and the global economy. 

Four years after NAFTA passed and after it was largely criticized by labor and environmental groups, Clinton said this in 1998 during a keynote speech given at the Davos Economic Summit.  Clinton praised business leaders for mounting "a very effective business effort in the US on behalf of NAFTA," adding later that "it is certainly clear that we have not by any means finished the job that has begun." 

Just last year, on Feb. 1, 2007, despite all of the evidence about the destruction of the middle class through NAFTA, Sen. Clinton said this:

"I think NAFTA was, in principle, a good idea." 

Sen. Clinton went on to vote for free trade agreements with Singapore, Oman, Chile and Vietnam.   

Finally, in 2000, Sen. Clinton supported "most favored nation" trade status for China despite concerns about China’s human rights record. 

Of course, now that she's in the heat of a presidential race, Sen. Clinton says we need a "time-out" on trade. No one knows when this time-out will end. Maybe after the election?

The RI Future blog has the scoop that John Edwards has picked up a huge labor endorsement: the half million members of the Carpenters Union:

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America endorsed Democratic candidate John Edwards for President at a closed door executive board meeting this week.  With over 500,000 carpenters and tradespeople, the union is a huge pick-up for Edwards - especially in light of the Fire Fighters endorsement for Dodd and the UTU endorsement of Clinton.  The union's public announcement will likely come the first week of September at an event in New Hampshire. 

I am absolutely outraged about yesterday's front page BeloJo story about a racial slur used by Ralph Papitto, the outgoing chairman of the board of trustees at Roger Williams University after whom the law is named. First, I am outraged that he said it and that, according to university president Roy Nirschel, it may not have been the first time. Second, I am outraged that the whistle-blowers have been kicked off the board. Third, I am outraged that the University tried to cover it up with this press release from last week quoting Papitto's accomplishment of "the expansion of the board of trustees to include more international and diverse members." What a joke.

There's more below the fold.

At midnight last night, the contract for 43,000 workers at over 230 Stop & Shop stores expired threatening a massive New England wide grocery store strike.

The workers, represented by several locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers union (in RI, Local 328), have already authorized a strike in order to pressure the Dutch conglomerate Royal Ahold NV which owns Stop & Shop to stop their demands of slashing affordable health care benefits.

If there is a strike this week, there are three important things that you can do to help: first, do NOT cross the picket line and shop at Stop & Shop (shop at Shaw's instead); second, tell all of your friends and family to NOT cross the picket line either; third, go to your local Stop & Shop and pick up a sign and join the strikers for an hour or two.

This is outrageous.

A barrage of mysterious emails have been sent out in the last week in bulk to nearly 100 recipients at a time attacking Sheldon Whitehouse in the most vile and tasteless manner. Recipients of this email include news outlets and community leaders throughout the state. The email sender has the name of "Noname Nolast" and the email address "againstsheldon@yahoo.com"

My blog technology administer Alex tracked down the ISP address of this mysterious emailer and guess what?

This email is coming from the United States Senate!