Extra! Extra!

I was browsing online and came across two major stories (to me, at least):

Online Poker Sites Under F.B.I. Indictment: The four largest online poker rooms in the world (among whom are two on which I hold accounts) were charged with bank fraud and money laundering, in what amounts to the latest in the long struggle to end online poker in the U.S. If you visit the U.S. websites for Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, you'll get a message that the domain names have been seized. Both of those companies have moved their sites to European domains.

What does this mean for online poker players in the U.S? Only time will tell, but it doesn't look good: players who had money in accounts with any of the four sites indicted by the F.B.I cannot access any of their funds, which is bad news if you happened to have several million dollars, as some players do.

What does this mean for online poker players in Canada, including me? Actually, nothing. The U.S. is the only country whose government has actively tried to shut down online poker, and the FBI's indictment affects U.S. players only. So, other than the annoyance of having to go to a new domain location now, their is essentially no difference.

SUN TV News is coming this Monday: A new private news channel is coming to Canada on April 18th, 2011, and it features two of my favourite media personalities Ezra Levant and Charles Adler, both of who will be hosting their own shows.

How do I know Sun TV News will be good?

• Because of the aforementioned involvement of Levant and Adler
• Because they market themselves as the home of "hard news and straight talk", and call themselves "Controversially Canadian". When was the last time CBC or CTV dared to call itself controversial?
• Because opponents of the new network refer to it as "Fox News North" and "Tory TV" (For the record, Sun TV News has no affiliation with either Fox or the Conservative Party)
• Because Margaret Atwood herself has very publicly signed an online petition to stop Sun TV, calling it "American-style hate-media" and "hate-filled propaganda" (the CEO of Sun TV pointed out that the hatred for right-wing views is precisely why Canada needs a right-wing network which doesn't fall into bland political correctness) 

I read here that Shaw Cable will offer the channel in Western Canada and Ontario. Cannot wait to see my BFF's Ezra and Charles duking it out with the Liberals.