patch from Charles Waldman--
define ThreadError (== thread.error); docs should be updated, too
diff --git a/Lib/threading.py b/Lib/threading.py
index ded573a..fb2eb21 100644
--- a/Lib/threading.py
+++ b/Lib/threading.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 _start_new_thread = thread.start_new_thread
 _allocate_lock = thread.allocate_lock
 _get_ident = thread.get_ident
+ThreadError = thread.error
 del thread
 
 _print_exc = traceback.print_exc