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To tattoo or not to tattoo? That was definitely not the question. At least, it wasn't the question being asked by the people ready to think ink Friday at the Adam's Mark Hotel, where the inaugural Denver Tattoo Convention was convening. And whether you want to label the scene unfurling in the hotel's Grand Ballroom bizarre or beguiling - judging from the displays of flora, fauna and phantasmagoria, to say nothing of "weird eyeball things" - on assorted backs, chests, arms, legs, hands, necks and nether regions, this is definitely an event to dye for. "You can feel the energy....

Karl is a double amputee, but not by accident, birth or disease. He is an amputee by choice. Six years ago, Karl (who asked that his real name not be used) sat alone in a parked car with 100 pounds of dry ice and an obsession to destroy his legs. "The first thing I did was I used a wooden flour scoop to scoop some granulated dry ice into the bucket. … It filled the wastebasket with carbon dioxide gas, which was 79 degrees below zero," he said. Over the next 45 minutes, Karl put his legs in the wastebasket...

Tattoos and piercings are ways for an individual to express their personality, but most employers are looking for presentable employees. "I think that appearance is very important, [because] it lets the employer know that you know how to take care of yourself," said Eric Constantine, the manager of Athlete's House in Nashville. It can be a very difficult choice whether or not to have your ears pierced or to get a tattoo, as Lisa Stevens, a freshman, found out. "I really wanted the lifeguard job at the local pool back home," she said. "The only thing was that I also...

Authorities have charged a Massachusetts woman whose daughter nearly died after trying to pierce her own navel. Prosecutors say the mother failed to seek medical treatment after the 13-year-old developed a near-fatal infection. Deborah Robinson faces a felony count of permitting bodily injury to a child under 14, and a misdemeanor count of child endangerment. Authorities say the girl was likely in extreme pain within a day or two after the start of her infection, which caused organ damage. She was hospitalized last week after family members called paramedics to the home, where she was found emaciated and near death....

NASHUA — A Brookline woman is suing a Nashua tattoo shop because of a belly button piercing that allegedly went horribly awry. Kaitlin M. Brew, 20, said an employee at Tattoo America pierced much too deep, poking straight through to Brew's stomach. The injury, which went undiagnosed for more than two years, caused months of constant pain and eventually required exploratory surgery, Brew said. "It's not a pretty thing whatsoever, I have to admit," Brew said yesterday, describing her experience. A Brookline woman is suing Tattoo America, a Nashua tattoo and body-piercing shop, because of an injury allegedly inflicted by...

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - A woman who was fired by Costco in 2001 for refusing to remove her eyebrow ring has accused the company of religious discrimination, saying she is a member of the Church of Body Modification. Kimberly M. Cloutier said she wears her eyebrow ring as a sign of faith. She has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider hearing the case. The church, established in 1999, counts about 1,000 members who participate in practices such as piercing and tattooing, according to a December ruling by the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a trial judge's...

Here's the first of an amazing series of photos, audio and video files taken at the San Francisco Anarchist Bookfair by "Zombie". The entire series can be seen here.WARNING: Several of the images and files on the page -- especially the sixth image from the top -- are highly work-unfriendly, and might disturb Freepers not used to the open-air freak show that is San Francisco "alternative culture." Proceed with caution!

Have you heard of "cutting"? If you're a parent, you'd better read up. "Cutting" refers to self-mutilation – using knives, razor blades or even safety pins to deliberately harm one's own body – and it's spreading to a school near you. Actresses Angelina Jolie and Christina Ricci did it. So did Courtney Love and the late Princess Diana. On the Internet, there are scores of websites (with titles such as "Blood Red," "Razor Blade Kisses" and "The Cutting World") featuring "famous self-injurers," photos of teenagers' self-inflicted wounds and descriptions of their techniques. The destructive practice has been depicted in films...

Have you heard of "cutting"? If you're a parent, you'd better read up. "Cutting" refers to self-mutilation -- using knives, razor blades or even safety pins to deliberately harm one's own body -- and it's spreading to a school near you. Actresses Angelina Jolie and Christina Ricci did it. So did Courtney Love and the late Princess Diana. On the Internet, there are scores of websites (with titles such as "Blood Red," "Razor Blade Kisses" and "The Cutting World") featuring "famous self-injurers," photos of teenagers' self-inflicted wounds and descriptions of their techniques. The destructive practice has been depicted in films...

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- It's a disturbing new trend in teens. One in four young girls do something to their bodies called self-mutilation. In 19-year-old Esther Maassen's case, a razor blade, basically anything sharp is what she would use on her feet. "Anything sharp so I could see myself bleed," she says. Why she does it may surprise you. "A lot of people don't get it. They drink when they get upset or something. We cut." It's not a suicide attempt but an addiction. Those who do it say it helps to relieve stress. "It wasn't the children you would suspect,"...

<p>COLUMBIA, Mo. — Members of a sorority were urged to lie about their health to qualify as donors in a competitive blood drive at the University of Missouri-Columbia (search), a school that once set a world record for blood collection.</p>

The last issue of Family Research Report highlighted the growing visibility and legal status of so-called ‘transsexuals.’ The mental health profession created the condition of ‘transsexualism’ during the past century — along with the condition of ‘homosexuality’ — but it hasn’t stopped there. Today, a small but growing number of people want to have one of their legs or arms cut off. One internet-based listserv, whose membership was 1,400 two and a half years ago, has 3,670 subscribers today. According to some of our mental health experts, these poor, suffering individuals need help, and the only thing that works is...

<p>Gathering observes international day to remember those slain in acts of intolerance.</p> <p>They were killed because they were different.</p> <p>But today, during a vigil calling for an end to violence that claimed at least 37 lives in the past 12 months, those men, women and children whose lives blurred traditional gender lines will be remembered as friends, family members, loved ones -- and victims of hatred, intolerance and ignorance.</p>

Wed Nov 13, 6:04 PM ET Michael Jackson testifies in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, Wednesday, Nov 13, 2002 in Santa Maria, Calif. Jackson took the witness stand Wednesday in a $21 million lawsuit by Avram, his longtime promoter, that accuses the singer of backing out of two millennium concerts. (AP Photo/Spencer Weiner, pool)