Mahkno says I haven't answered his question: "have you found skinheads to be a group that is prone to macho posturing, threats, and violent behavior?"

Well, let me be direct: NO. Furthermore, you write "remember that many cultural stereotypes have an element of truth in them." You mean stereotypes like 'all asian women are sluts', 'all white girls are sluts', 'all black men are rapists', 'all Mexicans are passive pushovers', what? Which stereotype out there has an element of truth? The stereotype that 'Black people are less intelligent than whites'? That 'women are dumber then men'? Are you fucking kidding me?

I came up in the punk/skin orbit in Chicago of the 70's/80's, and as an habitue of the pub crawl scene, I can tell you I was way more scared as a woman of the drunken yuppie boys on Lincoln Avenue than I was of the guys at the punk bars. Does that make all yuppies leering rapists? I think not.

On the other hand, shall we dismiss the value of the lives of people like Carlo Guiliani [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Giuliani], Ilya Ulgar [http://rsmforum.proboards107.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=international&thread=1185197994&page=1#1185204808] or the host of other anarchists who've been murdered in recent years because their close cuts and cultural credentials don't comport with the social sensibilities of outlets like the Tribune? Please. Get a clue.