>>>>>>Scary, thank goodness they caught them (not much info yet - I think it is too recent to have more info but it is from the AP):
>>>>>>
http://cbs3.com/topstories/obama.plot.skinheads.2.849869.html>>>>>>
http://www.fox43.com/pages/landing_national/?ATF-says-it-has-disrupted-skinhead-plot-=1&blockID=118736&feedID=16>>>>>
>>>>>You mean skinheads don't like blacks?! ;-)
>>>>>
>>>>>I wonder what the significance of the numbers 14 and 88 is to them? Just a guess: one of them has GOT to be their average IQ.
>>>>
>>>>Coming in late here. 8 represents the 8th letter of the alphabet, H. 88 stands for "Heil Hitler."
>>>
>>>...and about six million other words or names beginning with an aitch. I was always amused by this arbitrariness of guesswork. Why must it mean that, when it can mean so many other things? Time to re-read Foucault's pendulum...
>>
>>Okay, to be specific, I've read that skinheads use 88 to stand for "Heil Hitler." I don't remember where I've read it, but I've seen it more than once and am fairly sure it came filtered through law enforcement folks who got it from the skinheads themselves.
>>
>>If you want, I can also browse my uncle's book ("The Racist Mind") and see whether he mentions it from his in-person research with skinheads.
>>
>>Tamar
>
>Lot of documentaries on skinheads and neo-Nazis including "Blood in the Face" (Instant on Netflix) confirm the 88 meaning. Popular Aryan brotherhood prison tattoo.
>
>I like the ideas of Neo-Nazis and ABs tattooing themselves with identifying marks. I would suggest the forehead.
This is not to in any way defend Neo-Nazis or the Aryan Brotherhood, but this discussion reminds me of one of the most striking movies I have seen in the past year (on DVD): "This is England". It is set during the Thatcher years and focuses on a young boy who falls in with a group of skinheads, before they had been co-opted from working class no-hopers by racists. In a historical sense it's important to remember that the original skinheads were not exactly what the term invokes now. IAC, good flick, and I encourage you to check it out. Don't worry, it's not one of those good-for-you preachy things. There is a story to it and good characterization. The skinheads become a sort of family for young Sean, who has recently lost a parent (won't spoil that one). I know I'm not making it sound like any fun at all, I didn't miss my calling of writing movie blurbs, LOL, but if you should find yourself interested in a movie a little off the beaten track, check it out. For a couple of hours it immerses you in a world completely foreign to your own and yet you find yourself captivated. IMO that is one of the points of movies as well as written fiction.