Monthly Archives: August 2017

Comedy is currently more prescriptive than at any time I can remember. Prescriptive of words, of subjects, even of opinions. And that is worrying. The current industry-standard stand-up has to abide by a list of prohibitions that make a gluten-free, vegan shopping expedition seem simple. There are 328 recognised gender identities, Leo Kearse tells his packed audience, and reads a few from his phone. Canada has just passed a law making the non-use of the correct gender pronoun in any given situation an offence, he says. He thinks this is a bit much.

Kearse makes a properly funny show out of his problems with political correctness, the hypocrisy of the left, and misinformation. Kearse offers to make us Tory, but his points are not particularly Political, just political. I am a huge Jeremy Corbyn fan but when Kearse rips into him it is funny. Incorrect, in my opinion, but funny. I comprehensively disagree with him on global warming but I laughed out loud. Kearse has a way with words and his description of the result of a fortnight at a Pray The Gay Away camp is with me still. He is enthusiastic and persuasive in his exasperation with micro-aggressions and safe spaces, no-platforming and triggering. He, like an increasing number of comics around the Fringe, is taking another look at equality, so hard fought for by early feminists. Todays feminists just go for the nice stuff, suggests Kearse before pointing out that 97 per cent of workplace deaths are male. This is a solid hour of honest funny which will change your attitude to bananas forever.

Of course, the poster boy for alternative alternative comedy is Andrew Lawrence, whose current thoughts on equality of the sexes centre, he tells us, on the now obviously unfair and sexist caveat on boys hitting girls, when they can hit anything and everyone else. I will leave that one with you but remind you that it is a joke. That is what Lawrence does. He says things for comic effect. His show is funny. Lawrences material is dark and deeply self-deprecating, bitter and somehow managing to be both biting and tongue in cheek, which is difficult to do without drawing blood. He has, he tells us, always regarded comedy as a barometer for freedom of speech. If it is then we are heading into a deep depression. He is a wonderful technician and if you cannot appreciate what he does up there on his comedy tightrope, juggling shock, disgust, outrage and laughter, then I am truly sorry for you.

Gavin Webster takes the genial Geordie approach to frustration with quotas and militant liberals. He comes from a land of sectarianism and hard knocks, where turning the other cheek can be dangerous. His show is pretty much solid laughs making hard points. He explains why Geordies would have made good, if reluctant Nazis, explores uxoricide, and shares with us the four kinds of people he hates. Hippies take quite a lot of stick. Of course the Geordie accent makes his impotent raging and bewilderment at socio-economic unfairnesses lovable rather than threatening. And we agree with him. Especially when it comes to his irrefutable reason for not having more women on panel shows. He is not remotely interested in when Diwali is and resents the amount of time womens football gets on telly, he paints a chuckle-worthy picture of a dystopian future where humour has been outlawed, and tags it with a great callback to end on a huge laugh. This is great blokey stuff. I identify as a girl-bloke so I loved it.

Chris McGlade is angry. His is the most unleashed of the four shows, as he prowls his Cave down off the stage, getting in the faces of his audience and howling his frustration with bourgeois advantages and the way the world looks down on the working classes. He plays the working mans club circuit and loathes the way proper joke-telling is sneered at. But then he gets into politics and rips into Obama and the 26,000 bombs he dropped, the Thought Police culture we are living in and the increasing number of caveats in our lives. He rails against the unfairness of the strictures on cigarette sales and his suggestions for warning signs on other items are brilliant. Newcastle Brown and Crispy Creme doughnuts should be packaged the McGlade way. I know Im a scary man, go with it, he reassures an American couple in the front row. And they do. He gets his teeth into taboo words and how words can be weaponised and this is gripping stuff. And when he gets onto PC and gender politics and how society is being divided and controlled, and urges us to fight back for the sake of generations to come, I felt like grabbing a banner and marching. This is weaponised comedy, locked and loaded. It is awesome.

These guys are part of a growing group in the crowd pointing out that the kings and queens of political correctness might not be as well dressed as they are thought to be. Andrew Doyle, another comic in the group, calls the current climate of professional liberalism a dogma. And dogma is never good. All of these guys are terrific comics. Take a walk on the comedy wild side and see them.

Leo Kearse: I Can Make You Tory, Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters, until 28 Aug (not 15); Andrew Lawrence: The Happy Accident Tour, Assembly Rooms, ends today; Gavin Webster: Its About Time We Had More Women in There, The Stand Comedy Club 2, until 27 Aug (not 14); Chris McGlade: Ignorance Is Chris, Just The Tonic at the Caves, until Aug 27 (not 14 or 21); Andrew Doyle: Thought Crimes, The Stand Comedy Club, until 27 Aug (not 14)

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Comedians stand up for the politically incorrect at Edinburgh Fringe - The Scotsman

Political correctness is getting worse every year, and CNNs recent firing of pro-Trump analyst Jeffrey Lord is a prime example of that trend, comedian Bill Maher said in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN.

Its getting worse. I dont know how long Im going to last. Really, I mean, its worse every year. The things that they go after people for now, Maher told Fareed Zakaria.

The HBO host was discussing the role that political correctness has played in paving the way for a Trump presidency.

What they love about him is hes politically incorrect, Maher said of Trumps supporters.

Even though they know that hes bad in a lot of ways, they would rather be on his team than those insufferable people on the left. Thats what they think.

Notably, the interview was taped before Saturdays white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Va. One woman was killed after a 20-year-old man who was affiliated with racist groups plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters.

In their interview, Zakaria asked Maher about what he said was a certain kind of Puritanism and censorship prevalent on the left.

Thats when Maher mused about how long he can last in show business given his anti-PC posture. Maher, a liberal who is heavily critical of Trump, has been criticized from the left and right over controversial comments hes made throughout his TV career.

Conservatives have accused him of sexism for making derogatory comments about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Hes been accused of Islamophobia for criticizing radical Islam. And earlier this year, he was skewered for using the N-word during one of his shows.

Maher pointed to CNNs decision on Thursday to fire Trump loyalist Jeffrey Lord over a tweet as an example of PC run amok.

Your colleague, I dont agree with him, Jeffrey Lord, CNN got rid of him because he said Sieg Heil on a tweet. It was a joke. This has got to stop, this idea of people have to go away if theyve offended me even for one moment. How about just move on, turn the page, go to the next thing in your life, said Maher.

Maher attributed the rise of political correctness to parenting.

This idea that you cannot suffer one moment of pain, this comes I think from bad parenting, said Maher, also asserting that there is an alarming number of millennials who really dont even believe in free speech.

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In CNN Interview, Bill Maher Criticizes Network's Firing Of Jeffrey Lord [VIDEO] - The Daily Caller

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Learn to identify & play against the "sticky bun," the "roly poly," the "chirper" & the "butterfly."

Ashley Adams lists four new poker archetypes commonly found in low-stakes no-limit hold'em games.

I became a serious poker player in the early 1990s when limit stud and limit hold'em were the most popular games. In those days, there were three well known poker "archetypes" that survive to this day.

You are almost surely familiar with them the "rock," the "maniac" and the "calling station."

Each of those names captured an entire category of player one often faced at the tables. A "rock" was (and is) an extremely tight player. A "maniac" is an extremely loose and aggressive player. And a "calling station" is extremely loose and passive, often checking and calling and very seldom betting and raising.

By the early-to-mid 2000s the game had changed, with no-limit hold'em swiftly becoming the most popular game. Soon the game became more sophisticated, with different, creating a need for more nuanced categories to describe players.

"Tight-aggressive" ("TAG") and "loose-aggressive" ("LAG") joined the lexicon as phrases describing certain types of players. So did "nits" (a "rock" by another name), "LAGtards" (self-explanatory and more than a little politically incorrect), and "donkeys" (replacing the old school "pigeon" or "fish").

Sure, there were other words thrown about to describe poker players, but as far as archetypes or primary categories were concerned, that just about covered it.

But the times they are a changing (again), meaning some new archetypes are needed. I've taken the time to identify a few that more closely resemble some of the more complex types of players we face today, especially at the lower limits of $1/$2 and $2/$5 no limit hold'em.

A "sticky bun" is a rock of sorts. But it's a rock who has a very hard time folding to action after the flop.

Preflop he's a nit, but postflop he's the antithesis of weak-tight, c-betting with a very weak range and then calling action from his opponents with a similarly weak postflop range.

He's the type of player you want to float with a broad range, expecting him both to continue the action after the flop, even if he hasn't hit anything, and then to call your return fire if you hit a monster.

You want him at your table. Hey, who doesn't like a sticky bun?

This player type is based on that suburban lawn insect that fascinates children. A "roly poly" is only about a centimeter or so long, has multiple legs, and typically is seen crawling slowly through strands of grass.

But as soon as one experiences any danger in the form of a stick or a finger coming its way, it rolls up into a tight sphere the size of a small ball bearing, remaining in that form until many minutes after the danger abates.

Similarly, a poker roly poly has one move preflop only. He may raise light, and it may be a fairly large raise. But come the flop, if he hasn't hit it, he'll roll up and go away in the face of any action.

You can float him from any position. If you're out of position, a small donk bet on the flop will almost always scare him away unless he actually hit. If you're in late position, bet when he checks and fold when he bets. He, too, will add to your bottom line.

Here is another, different example of a generally poor player, in this case one who one craves some action preflop. The "chirper" sees others raise preflop, so he does so, too, but but without any real purpose or meaning.

His move is a small raise, typically from any position, with a huge, weak range, just to spice the pot a little. It's preflop noise, signifying nothing just the chirping of a little bird, and should be largely ignored.

Call, raise or fold as you would an unraised pot (with allowances for the slightly larger size of the pot). If you're a fairly tight player, the chirper is a mild annoyance, meaninglessly inflating pots. You'll do fine with him at the table as long as you can ignore his noise, and have a bankroll to absorb the slightly bigger game.

Finally, the "butterfly" is a solid player who likes to float the flop, hoping to chill action or take the pot away on the turn.

Against such players, you should be less inclined to c-bet with medium strength or weaker hands out of position, and more inclined to reraise on the turn and river if you read him for having made this habitual-for-him float move.

But be careful. Good floaters are often very good players. Though they float like a butterfly, they can come back and sting you like a bee.

Profiling players and being able to recognize which categories they fit into is an important part of winning poker. The clearer your picture of the habits of your opponents, the better able you will be to exploit them.

Without making too much of these new differentiated categories, I think you'll find that they may help you recognize and then exploit some of the typical behavior patterns of poker players today.

They may also prompt you to think of other archetypes for the characters you see at the table. If you come up with any, I'd be interested in knowing what they are.

Ashley Adams has been playing poker for 50 years and writing about it since 2000. He is the author of hundreds of articles and two books, Winning 7-Card Stud (Kensington 2003) and Winning No-Limit Hold'em (Lighthouse 2012). He is also the host of poker radio show House of Cards. See http://www.houseofcardsradio.com for broadcast times, stations, and podcasts.

Photos: "Sticky buns..." (adapted), Amber DeGrace, CC BY 2.0; "Roll E Pole E" (adapted), Frank Boston, CC BY 2.0; "Chirp!" (adapted), hedera.baltica, CC BY-SA 2.0; "Butterfly" (adapted), Conal Gallagher, CC BY 2.0.

Have you ever wanted to write your own articles about poker? Maybe you've got some experiences or opinions about poker that you'd like to share. PokerNews is proud to launch The PN Blog where you can have a platform to make your voice heard. Learn more here.

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Player Profiling: Four New Poker Archetypes - PokerNews.com

The vehicle attack that left a civil rights activist dead and 19 others injured on Saturday was the product of continuous incitement to violence across extreme rightwing echo chambers. After police announced the disbanding of the far-right protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, the live stream chat room of the alt-right writer Baked Alaska was flooded with calls to kill Jews, black people and counter-protesters. And members of the anti-communist channel in the chat application Discord vowed to push back harder until the enemy is completely defeated.

Shortly after the incident one user of the message board 4Chan wrote of the killer: Whoever he is, he is a hero. I salute him. Others expressed regret that the car had not been bigger, reflecting a climate of denial, justification and belittlement around the vehicle attack mirrored in the White Houses muted response.

With thousands marching under the banner of You will not replace us, the event represented one of the largest gatherings of the US extreme right this century. Billed as a protest against the removal of the statue of the confederate general Robert E Lee, and in defence of freedom of speech, the rally attracted a broad church of groups from libertarians to white supremacists. Key figures from the alt-right, the far-right movement in the US, rubbed shoulders with militant constitutionalists, southern nationalists and neo-Nazis. Several branches of the Ku Klux Klan were in attendance, as well as delegations representing the white-supremacist Daily Stormer website and the notorious National Socialist Movement. The event was endorsed on the other side of the Atlantic by the Greek ultra-nationalists Golden Dawn and self-described German identitarians.

By hijacking topics such as the preservation of southern heritage, free speech, anti-left sentiments, and pro-white and anti-immigration attitudes, the organisers gained traction across this broad spectrum of extreme rightwing thinking. While the event was framed on /pol/ 4chans politically incorrect message board as a way to fight a totalitarian communist crackdown and defend the right of southerners, the Daily Stormer was rather more frank in promoting it as the starting point to end Jewish influence in America.

Who coined the term 'alt-right'?

The white supremacist Richard Spencer devised the term in 2010. He has described the movement as "identity politics for white Americans and for Europeans around the world".

What does it stand for?

The movement supports extreme rightwing ideologies, including white nationalism used interchangeably with white supremacism and antisemitism. It positions itself broadly against egalitarianism, democracy, universalism and multiculturalism.

Some "alt-right" supporters have argued that their hardline, extremist positions are not truly meant,but are a way to disrupt conventional and accepted thinking. Memes, irony and ambiguity are sometimes used in an attempt to wrongfoot critics.

How does the 'alt-right' relate to the Trump administration?

The Trump administration includes figures who are associated with the "alt-right", including the former Breitbart News executive chairman Steve Bannon, now the White House chief strategist. Many of Trump's policy positions have won favour with the movement.

Thank you for your feedback.

This illustrates a dangerous convergence of ideology and goals from groups that have traditionally been fragmented and prone to internal conflict. Infighting is part of every movement but it doesnt have to be, the radical libertarian politician Augustus Invictus, who was announced as a speaker at the rally, posted on Facebook. A few days before the Charlottesville rally, an article explaining Why We Should UniteTheRight was circulated on Gab, the alt-rights Twitter equivalent. Were in the earliest stages of a mass movement wrote the alt-right blogger Hunter Wallace.

This coalition-building includes overtures to (relatively) less extreme groups, commonly labelled the alt-light. For example, several members of the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights, the Proud Boys and reporters from media such as Infowars and Rebel Media expressed their sympathies with the marchers. Although spats still occur within the far-right ecosystems, this attempt to cross ideologies and borders to unite far-right factions represents a global trend: across Europe identitarian movements are strengthening ties, while groups such as Britain First and Scottish Dawn are collaborating with the Polish extreme right. By focusing on common ideological threads, and putting aside differences, the extreme right is actively trying to mobilise en masse.

Radicalising moderates is a key objective for groups at the heart of this movement. We want to hit the average. We want normal people, Andrew Anglin wrote in the Daily Stormer. Tactics vary, with several groups privileging the weaponisation of internet culture to reach the young. Some obsess over aesthetics in an apparent attempt to distance themselves from neo-Nazi insignia and imagery, to present a more approachable face to outsiders: the Ku Klux Klan urged members to dress casually, while for Anglin the priority is to be hip and sexy. The rally certainly acted as a powerful publicity boost, with the Discord server increasing its membership by a thousand in the week leading up to it.

Our analysis at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) suggests that attendance was motivated by a variety of grievances and ideological triggers. Examining Twitter traffic around the #UniteTheRight hashtag, we found that 31% of expressed grievances focused on race with keywords such as white genocide and anti-white and 27% on the left, with frequent denouncing of anti-fascists and communists. Then came frustration around freedom of speech (22%), southern heritage (13%) and the establishment (4%). However, all converged in the concern that the heritage, privilege and future of the white man is under threat. Let there be no doubt that this a white supremacist phenomenon.

The fact that the extreme right has been able to mobilise people from across its hitherto disparate ideological spectrum and galvanise thousands into promoting and attending should be a wake-up call. And this has happened as the Trump administration ends US government support for countering far-right extremism in order to focus exclusively on Islamist terrorism. All this should signal the need to take the danger posed by neo-Nazism and white supremacism cloaked in broadly political, non-violent rhetoric more seriously.

At ISD we will continue to closely follow the trends and trajectories of extreme rightwing groups and to push back against the normalisation of hateful ideologies. But this is incumbent upon all of us: we must all be vigilant and must all mobilise to prevent the polarisation that enables the rise of far-right extremism which spawns terrorist attacks of the sort we saw on Saturday.

Julie Ebner and Jacob Davey are researchers at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue; Ebners book The Rage: The Vicious Circle of Islamist and Far-Right Extremism is published by IB Tauris next month

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The far right has learned to mobilise and radicalise. Charlottesville's a wake-up call - The Guardian