Avery in Hospital

New York Rangers super-pest Sean Avery is now in stable condition after lacerating his spleen during a playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Original reports had Avery arriving at St. Vincent's Medical Center after suffering cardiac arrest very early April 30, but he apparently walked into the hospital under his own power.

The Rangers trail the Penguins 3 games to 0 in their best of 7 second-round series.

Avery will be out for the remainder of the season, the Rangers said, but is expected to make a full recovery.

Now, I don't wish ill health upon anybody, but I only can think one word...karma.


Read the si.com update.

Drugs in Our Drinking Water?

Here's another argument against drinking bottled water -- ain't nuthin' but a party, y'all!

Painkillers and other drugs that are flushed down toilets will inevitably pour out of household taps in trace amounts around the world, a University of Toronto expert says.

Civil engineer Ron Hofmann, who specializes in drinking-water toxins, says a recent report finding painkillers, antibiotics and cholesterol-lowering drugs in the water coming from 15 southern Ontario treatment plants was "not surprising at all" to people in the field.

"There's a raft of studies that show these (drugs) are coming through the waste water treatment plants." he said.

Hofmann said the drugs enter the water supply when people pass trace amounts of unmetabolized medications through their urine, or throw unused pills down the sink or toilet.

Read the Toronto Star story.

Musician has OHIP revoked

Toronto musician Owen Pallett aka Final Fantasy has been stripped of his Ontario health benefits after the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care found Pallett to be ineligible for OHIP coverage on grounds that his time in Ontario didn't meet the minimum requirement of 153 days in any 12-month period. Pallet spends the majority of his time touring and recording outside of Ontario.

On the morning of February 26, Trinity-Spadina Member of Provincial Parliament Rosario Marchese and NDP Critic for Health and Long-Term Care, France Gelinas, sent a letter to George Smitherman, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, urging "immediate intervention to help Owen Pallett."

Pointing out that Pallett should be exempt from the 153 day requirement according to Regulation 552 of the Health Insurance Act because his Ontario absences were for employment purposes, Marchese and Gelinas call the Ministry's hasty decision to revoke the award-winning musician's health insurance "inappropriate and unnecessary,"

Yeah, no shit!

Read the story from Exclaim! here