Spin, spin, spin

I just read this article on PokerWorks about the "iron clad security" measures on the Cereus network (UltimateBlecch and Absolute Puker). Remember that the sites that are the subject of the story were the ones where owners and other insiders spent years playing against their customers while using their privileged access to view their opponents' hole cards; the sites which then repeatedly lied to their customers and the press about the problem, and which still have not made full restitution. These are the sites where once in a while the software will award the pot to the losing hand, if the hand happens to belong to the site's big-name sponsored pro. These are the sites that earlier this year were found not to bother encrypting the data stream, so that if you were on a wireless network anybody could "sniff" your information, look at your hole cards, and raid your account. These are the sites that, when notified of this problem, did not shut down or even tell its customers of the issue.

With that in mind, here's what I wondered when reading the PokerWorks article (which is pretty obviously bought and paid for by Cereus):

1. If somebody from the "PokerWorks staff" (the only attribution given, presumably because nobody could stand to have his or her name put on it without throwing up in disgust) actually wrote this--as opposed to it having been handed to PokerWorks by the Cereus PR department--did he or she then go home and burn his or her journalism diploma in shame after having reported that these two sites are built on a "foundation of safety and security"?

2. After Joe Sebok said, "We are committed to doing everything possible to safeguard our network and players," did he then burst out laughing, and, though not reported in the story, say to the reporter, "Sorry, it's really hard to say that shit with a straight face."

That's what I wonder.