>>>>>>>>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.
>
>I've seen it and would also recommend it. Also American History X ( amazing Ed Norton performance)
Have not seen that one but remember it being spoken of well, and am an Ed Norton fan. While cleaning up the crud on the DVR this morning, i.e. the detritus left behind by the girls with their many recordings and their few deletions, I noticed it had recorded a new installment of Elvis Mitchell's sporadic interview series. This one is with Ed Norton. There was one earlier -- the series premiere IIRC -- with the criminally underappreciated director Sydney Pollock, recorded what turned out to be not long before his death.
