AndreaLight: According to the FBI definition: Program defines aggravated assault as an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. The Program further specifies that this type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon or by other means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. Attempted aggravated assault that involves the display of-or threat to use-a gun, knife, or other weapon is included in this crime category because serious personal injury would likely result if the assault were completed. When aggravated assault and larceny-theft occur together, the offense falls under the category of robbery.

Assaults, split about 50/50 on strangers versus people who know each other.

Mgeake: Really? I don't see the item on your agenda from last week. And I don't think the City of Norwalk has ever issued an RFP to solicit design, as in information architecture, graphic design, content management or branding of the City of Norwalk web site. Please cite if I'm wrong.

Wiltonian: I do not to discuss zoning issues here, but to be fair the zoning commission did not "initiate" anything in the hospital or spy v. spy issues. In a broad abstract way, some communities think there is much confusion in the land, starting with Kelo V. New London on whether economic impact should be a criteria for a bunch of things.

SecondHandRose: I enjoy discussing issues based on facts, science and/or the law. Three attributes that make any discussion interesting or compelling to continue.

OldTimer11: From the act:
“. . . a cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter, or paper) shall not contain, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke.”

jillcooks: The insurance markets being opened up is not a bad idea, but more impactful would be a deregulation of medical procedures, as in who can offer procedural services. A short example, Norwalk Hospital was denied the authorization to offer emergency angioplasty and open heart surgery in 2005 because of proximity to Greenwich and Bridgeport. They recently, as in July performed an emergency angioplasty. The fact that the State could deny a hospital what services it can provide is about as anti-competitive as you get. They process is called Certificate of Need, and more on the subject is here.

SeconhandRose: A repeat of talking points without any reference to facts is what you've done. You can claim you meant something else, but it's transparent to me, and hardly worthy of discussing.

SteveColarossi: You hit the nail on the head. Nothing about this suit does anything to advance concessions on the contract negotiation, in fact the BOE has decided to punt on that by going arbitration. This is once again wasting money that could otherwise go to the classroom. $400,000 for outside legal services is a large number. The Stamford BOE used $146k in 2008 and requested $230k in 09-10 and was approved for $205k.

SecondHandRose: You seem to like to parrot out "talking points" from somewhere. People don't sue doctors over diganostic tests, they sue doctors when someone ties or is permantantly injured by some surgical procedure. Think wrong arm being amputated.

Here's some facts:

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, based on suits occurring in the 75 largest counties in the US,

* 90% of all medical malpractice lawsuits are brought by patients who have suffered permanent injury, or by those representing someone who has died as a result of malpractice.

* The Bureau of Justice Statistics also reported that almost half of all medical malpractice lawsuits filed in the US are brought against surgeons.

* Nearly 33% of medical malpractice lawsuits are attributed to non surgeons.

* The success rate of medical malpractice suits is only nearly a quarter of the total number filed. This is a much lower percentage of success than other tort cases, however the amount of compensation awarded in malpractice cases is significantly higher.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) produced an article highlighting these medical malpractice lawsuit statistics, with regard to patient deaths:

* 106,000 patients die each year from the negative effects of medication
* 80,000 patients die each year due to complications from infections incurred in hospitals
* 20,000 deaths per year occur from other hospital errors
* 12,000 people die every year as a result of unnecessary surgery
* 7,000 medical malpractice deaths per year are attributed to medication errors in hospitals

Awesome!!