Free Republic

Thailand has ordered a crackdown on foreign tourists having religious images tattooed on their bodies while visiting the kingdom, official media said Wednesday. Tattoos with images such as of the Buddha may offend Thai people, Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat was quoted as telling reporters. He said his ministry had asked regional governors, particularly in tourist hotspots, to inspect tattoo studios and ask them not to use religious patterns, according to the state-run National News Bureau. It said he would push for a law banning people from etching sacred images onto their skin.

Lawyers representing Giovanni Ramirez, the man authorities insist is the "prime suspect" in the Bryan Stow beating case, are offering more reasons why their client is not connected to this crime. One issue is that of his hair, or the suspect's lack thereof, according to NBC Los Angeles, as well as a few more as-yet unproved claims. According to his legal team, Ramirez "did not have a shaved head -- as the suspects are described -- at the time of the Dodger Stadium opening day assault on a Giants fan." Ramirez's attorneys explain that his client had grown his hair...

Garcia’s tattoo detailed the shooting of 23-year-old John Juarez in Pico Rivera on Jan. 23, 2004. The case had turned stale until Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide investigator Kevin Lloyd saw a photo of Garcia’s tattoo and recognized the crime and details of the killing because he was a station sergeant in Pico Rivera at the time.

The school board in Skövde in western Sweden has backed local teacher Sam Aalto after he was criticised by a local politician, who argued that his surfeit tattoos and spiky hair set a bad example to students. "The media circus round this has surpassed my wildest expectations," Aalto told The Local. Father of five, Sam Aalto, is in his forties and has been teaching at Vasaskolan in Skövde for eight years. He is described by the school as highly competent and is liked by colleagues and students alike. The problems started when pensioner and local politician Sture Grönwall, 70, visited...

Ugly tattoos are everywhere. Some of the ugliness is because of body changes, but much of it is just poor workmanship and a lack of technology. Yet, there are tattoos which are truly works of art. Current technology and an influx of talented artists into the tattooing industry have revolutionized tattooing and helped to “beautify” the images. In previous generations, tattooing was predominantly limited to pagan religions, superstition, memorials, masculinity, brotherhood associations, gangs, marks of punishment, or marks of slavery. The industry had an obvious lack of female clientele. Its image was negative and most people chose to avoid association...

A Houston judge faces possible discipline for violating judicial ethics by reducing the bail of a recently arrested sheriff's deputy without notifying prosecutors, legal experts said. State District Judge Kevin Fine maintained that he acted within his authority when he reduced the deputy's bail by 90 percent, from $200,000 to $20,000, without notifying prosecutors. He took the action after the defendant's attorney approached him Thursday, Fine said. "I can lower the bond without any party present, sua sponte, on my own, I have that authority," Fine said. He said a $200,000 bail was essentially no bail. But legal experts said...

By changing the properties of conventional semiconductor wafers — from stiff and brittle to bendable and stretchable — engineers at the University of Illinois have opened the door to such devices as light-emitting diodes on a suture thread and even implantable biomedical tattoos. John Rogers, an Illinois engineering professor, said the researchers sliced silicon and other materials thinner by a factor of 100,000 — as if creating a sheet of paper from a two-by-four. Then, to achieve mechanics similar to those of a rubber band, they structured the material in a wavy, accordion-like shape. I spoke with Rogers last week...

Alaskans Standing Together, the independent expenditure committee funded by Native corporations, is handing out temporary tattoos at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention that say "Lisa Murkowski/Write-in for U.S. Senate." The monochrome tattoos are different from the red, white and blue tattoos that can be spotted on some Murkowski fans -- those are left over from the senator's 2004 campaign. (Check out the eighth photo in this gallery for a smoky example.) U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is running for re-election as a write-in candidate after losing the GOP primary to Republican Joe Miller, who is backed by the Tea Party...

Tattoo artist Jamie Clinton gives 22-year-old Danielle Rondeau a tattoo of a blue bird on her ribcage at Stingray Body Art in Allston. Danielle Rondeau, 22, a senior sociology major at Northeastern University, calmly lies on her side on top of a black, padded table. She sighs quietly, her body relaxed. “Ready?” asks her aunt Marie. Rondeau lifts up her black V-neck T-shirt, revealing her midriff and a small metal post through her bellybutton. Rondeau remains still and collected, seemingly unaffected by the constant sound of needles buzzing in the narrow cubicles surrounding her. “Good to go,” she says. The...

Woman alleges 'Sox' tattooed backward on thigh By: Todd J. Behme October 08, 2010 (Crain's) — A Chicago White Sox logo was tattooed backward onto a woman's thigh, she alleges in a lawsuit filed Thursday. Eugenia “Gina” Bebis of Elmwood Park went to Mystic Tattoo Art & Body Piercing in Chicago in early June for a tattoo made up mainly of the Sox logo, according to the suit. She consulted with an employee, Micah St. John, and he worked up a proof of the design, the suit says. Mr. St. John then inked the tattoo on the outside of her...

When Joseph Lash needs to renew the license for each of his three tattoo parlors, it costs him $300 per store and his shops are then set for three years for $900. But under a bill passed by the Michigan Senate earlier this week, the cost for renewing all of his three parlors for just one year would be $1,500. This means the three-year cost to renew all of his business licenses would jump from $900 to $4,500 if the tattoo tax became law. "That sucks," said Lash, who owns The Electric Chair tattoo parlors in Flint, Clio and Bay...

"Show us your tattoo" contest draws critics BY STEVE PARKER Posted: Friday, October 1, 2010 11:36 am The Modesto Bee is reporting that it's online "show us your tattoo" contest met with some criticism. The contest -- which ended Thursday -- was aimed at attracting younger readers. Interactive media director Dan Day wrote: It's that under-30 generation we're trying to reach with the contest, hoping they'll stop by our website to view a few tattoos and maybe even pick up a copy of the newspaper. In a column explaining the contest, Day said he heard from critics: "What kind of...

Mention the 1st Amendment and an array of images come to mind: a printing press, a protest sign, a street-corner preacher, the fingers of a citizen journalist pecking out a bulletin for the blogosphere. Now there is another icon of free expression: the illustrated man (or woman). Last week the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled — correctly — that tattoos are a form of protected expression and that the city of Hermosa Beach may not impose a blanket ban on tattoo parlors. The decision arose from a challenge by a tattooist to the city's municipal code, which allows...

Why would any thinking human voluntarily be permanently stained with some cheesy "clipart" that used to be reserved for tourist t-shirt shops? Tattooing is RIDICULOUS. Wallpaper you walk around in and can never change. A blight that looks akin to a hemotoma or varicose explosion without close inspection. Tattooing is UGLY. I'll say it. It is a sideshow low class defilement of one's perfectly evolved and largest organ-- the miraculous skin. People take their gift of healthy skin and WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE, BY DESIGN..unblemished, glowing...for granted. Why is this fact lost on so many? Too many have switched off...

(Tattoo artists and tattoo lovers are finding creative ways to make their mark on environmental issues.) Tattoos aren’t the first things that come to mind when I think of environmental activism, but green-minded tattoo fans from San Francisco to Melbourne are linking the two activities together with creative events. First, there’s TATZOO, an eco-contest that promises free tattoos in exchange for help protecting endangered species! Fifteen finalists were selected on Aug. 5 based on their ideas for raising awareness about the leatherback turtle, California condor, or other endangered species local to the Bay area. Those tattoo-loving finalists now need to...

These are real pictures of people who have tattoos and piercings that probably keep them from gainful employment.

Nearly one in three Britons aged 16-44 has a tattoo, according to research. A massive boom in body art has been led by celebrities, footballers and other high-profile figures over the past couple of decades. A fifth of all adults have a permanent tattoo, but this rises to a 29 per cent of men and women aged 16-44, the study revealed.

"A jury this morning found two Fresno Bulldog gang members not guilty of aggravated mayhem for inking a gang tattoo on a 7-year-old boy during Easter break 2009."

"A widely regarded Southern symbol of pride and states' rights is standing in the way of would-be Marines in their quest to serve their country – a Confederate battle flag. Straight out of high school, one 18-year-old Tennessee man was determined to serve his country as a Marine. His friend said he passed the pre-enlistment tests and physical exams and looked forward with excitement to the day he would ship out to boot camp. Shortly before he was scheduled to leave Nashville for boot camp, the Marine Corps rejected him. Now, the young man, who wishes to remain unnamed and...

A widely regarded Southern symbol of pride and states' rights is standing in the way of would-be Marines in their quest to serve their country – a Confederate battle flag. Straight out of high school, one 18-year-old Tennessee man was determined to serve his country as a Marine. His friend said he passed the pre-enlistment tests and physical exams and looked forward with excitement to the day he would ship out to boot camp. But there would be no shouting drill instructors, no rigorous physical training and no action-packed stories for the aspiring Marine to share with his family. Shortly...

A widely regarded Southern symbol of pride and states' rights is standing in the way of would-be Marines in their quest to serve their country – a Confederate battle flag. Straight out of high school, one 18-year-old Tennessee man was determined to serve his country as a Marine. His friend said he passed the pre-enlistment tests and physical exams and looked forward with excitement to the day he would ship out to boot camp. But there would be no shouting drill instructors, no rigorous physical training and no action-packed stories for the aspiring Marine to share with his family. Shortly...

<p>He is a 59-year-old great-grandfather, retired truck driver and survivor of open-heart surgeries who lives in a tidy home in north Wichita.</p> <p>He has tattoos from the top of his head to the last digits of his toes and everywhere in between. Everywhere.</p>

Less than two weeks after taking home the best actress Oscar for her role in "The Blind Side," Sandra Bullock pulled out of the film's London premiere amid tabloid reports that she is having marital troubles with husband Jesse James, according to People magazine. In a statement released to People, Bullock wrote, "Due to unforeseen personal reasons, a trip abroad to support 'The Blindside' has been deemed impossible at this time. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and thank you for your continued support of the film." According to an article in In Touch magazine, a model...

It’s either one of the more brazen and courageous judicial rulings we’ve heard of in a long time, or one of the most ill-considered examples of judicial activism we’ve heard of in a long time. Your take on it will likely depend on your take on the death penalty. The news is this, and it’s pretty striking: A state district judge in Houston granted a pretrial motion declaring the death penalty unconstitutional. The ruling, made by State District Judge Kevin Fine, came in response to a motion filed by lawyers for a man accused of fatally shooting a Houston woman...

LOUISVILLE — A 20-year-old man who police say put a tattoo on the rear end of a 1-year-old girl is facing a felony child endangering charge. Lee. M. Deitrick is accused of applying the tattoo in early November while the child was visiting his home at 1317 W. Main St. The tattoo, which is the letter “A,” could not be removed, according to a complaint police filed with Canton Municipal Court.

DALLAS, Texas -- A study by researchers at Texas Tech University found a link between the number of more tattoos a person has and the amount of "deviance" they were involved in. But that isn't the whole story. A survey of close to 2,000 college students by a group of researchers known as the "Body Art Team" found that people who have four or more tats are more likely to report the regular use of marijuana, the occasional use of other illegal drugs and a history of being arrested. To a lesser degree, they were also more likely to binge...

WOAH…Cameron is that you!?! Woah! Honestly, I don’t recall seeing Cameron Diaz in this condition ever in my life! We were used to that beautiful smile of hers and fresh look, which always made her so natural looking and now….wow!

A teenager who claimed 56 stars were tattooed on her face while she slept has admitted she lied and was awake the whole time. London's Daily Telegraph reported Kimberley Vlaminck, who said she fell asleep after asking for only three stars, lied because her father was "furious."

The tattooist embroiled in a row with a teenage girl who claims he tattooed 56 stars on her face when she only asked for three has said he will help pay for them to be removed. Rouslan Toumaniantz said today that Kimberley Vlaminck 'absolutely' agreed she wanted 56 stars tattooed on the left side of her face.

The tattooist embroiled in a row with a teenage girl who claims he tattooed 56 stars on her face when she only asked for three has said he will help pay for them to be removed. Rouslan Toumaniantz said today that Kimberley Vlaminck 'absolutely' agreed she wanted 56 stars tattooed on the left side of her face. But now the 18-year-old is suing Toumaniantz, claiming she had asked him for only three stars - and had fallen asleep during the procedure, waking up to a nightmare in her Belgian hometown of Courtrai.

A teenage girl is suing a tattoo artist for £10,000 after she allegedly asked him for three stars on her face - but ended up with 56. Eighteen-year-old Kimberley Vlaminck paid £55 for 'the graffiti that has ruined my life' in her Belgian home town of Courtrai. Kimberley says the tattoos have ruined her life She claimed the Romanian tattooist who performed the artwork misunderstood her French and English. She claims she fell asleep while he was doing his work... and awoke to 'this nightmare'. 'It is terrible for me,' said Kimberley. 'I cannot go out on to the street,...

Kimberley Vlaminck, 18, claimed that she asked for only three stars to be tattooed near her left eye as a present from her father, Diego, who was upholding a family tradition of tattoos. "My father wanted to pay because in our family everyone has a tattoo," she said. As her father ate an ice cream outside, Miss Vlaeminck claims she fell asleep before waking up to find her face covered in the "nightmare" tattoos.

A teenage girl is suing a tattoo artist for £10,000 after she allegedly asked him for three stars on her face - but ended up with 56. Eighteen-year-old Kimberley Vlaminck paid £55 for 'the graffiti that has ruined my life' in her Belgian home town of Courtrai.

Megan has blown apart Hollywood's casting couch culture - insisting several leading film directors have tried to bed her since she found fame. The Transformers beauty has attended a number meetings with top moviemakers to discuss potential roles. But she was shocked when they made moves on her during the interviews - and immediately turned them down.

ABOUT THE SHOW: The artist that electrified audiences in A&E's hit series Inked is in a new tattoo series that takes us beyond the shop. Tattoo Highway follows artist Thomas Pendelton as he travels the country in a mobile tattoo parlor of his own design, a converted 1970s Silver Eagle Tour Bus. On the outside, it's a moving metal canvas of Thomas' art; on the inside, it's a fully functional tattoo parlor. Whether he's tattooing a Crown Dancer for an Apache Elder in New Mexico or a bat-winged heart on a mortician's chest in Sacramento, Thomas is on the road...

EN ROUTE TO DENVER, May 12, 2009 – The 22-year-old soldier, dressed down in a black T-shirt and jeans on a flight to his new unit at Fort Carson, Colo., is the face of the 21,000 additional troops flowing into Afghanistan as part of the new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy. The heavily tattooed arm of Army Cpl. “KC” reveals the history, loyalties and dreams of a soldier who’s seen two combat deployments during four and a half years of service and is preparing for another one, to Afghanistan, in June. DoD photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

A little girls’ icon gets ink. Can ‘Pole Dance Barbie’ be far behind? By Matt Philbin Culture and Media Institute March 10, 2009 We can be sure she’s not the first of her generation to mark her 50th birthday by getting tattoos. After all, the cultivation of youth-obsessed narcissism and bad taste is a Baby Boomer hallmark (see Clinton, Bill). But “Totally Stylin’ Tattoos Barbie” is no less disturbing for being a product of her generation. Mattel is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the bubbly blonde franchise with an update – tattoos for her and her young owners. Of course,...

SACRAMENTO, California - A popular toy for girls is getting another makeover, but not everyone likes the new look. Mattel is releasing a new Barbie covered in tattoos. She's called "Totally Stylin Tattoos Barbie" and will hit shelves ready for spring. She comes with a set of tattoo stickers which can be put anywhere on the doll. Some people say this is not appropriate for young children......

TERRY GARDNER, a legal secretary in California, returned home from work recently to find two police officers waiting. They said her brother had told them he thought she might be having a breakdown because she had shaved her head. Ms. Gardner, 50, said in a telephone interview that she had told the officers that she was fine and had shaved her head for an advertising campaign by Air New Zealand, which had hired her to display a temporary tattoo. She turned around and showed them the message, written in henna on the back of her head: “Need A Change? Head...

That’s what Johnny Depp ended up with in indelible ink after his failed romance with Winona Ryder. I wonder what the Obamidiots are going to do with that pretentious red, white and blue circle after the sheen has worn off that nickel alloy they’re idolizing? 'The crew at Fatty’s Custom Tattooz in Washington, D.C., is gearing up for the new administration with “Obamathon.” Starting Friday and running through Inauguration Day, patrons can get a free Obama ’08 tattoo with the purchase of another tat costing $200 or more. And if a chest piece featuring the First Family isn’t fanatical enough,...

Actually, the idiocy displayed by this commenter over at Concerned Democrats for McCain is almost inspired. I have to admire someone who can shut down her cognitive functioning so completely that she sees nothing wrong with an Obamabot tattooing a number on his forearm to “commemorate” his service to the One. I am not at all astonished that this same supposedly tolerant, open-minded, working-for-justice Lefty is supremely intolerant and dismissive of someone who disagrees with her. While I used to think that only Christians were fair game for intolerance and contempt (while blacks and Muslims especially must not be exposed...

So e-mails a Democrat for McCain, who notes that the Obots recommend memorializing your service to the cause by getting numbers tattooed on your forearm. As our reader puts it:

While it's not a QED situation it's still awfully offensive. What's that saying about unintended consequences?

CORPUS CHRISTI — Tattoos soon will be going undercover at the Corpus Christi Police Department. A new policy effective Nov. 1 will require police department personnel to cover their tattoos while on duty. That includes hand, arm and neck tattoos that are not covered by the department's short-sleeve shirts. "We're working very hard to increase the professionalism of our department through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies," said Police Chief Bryan Smith, who hopes the policy will address potential concerns residents might have with tattoos and excessive piercings. "There are fads in society, and we have to be...

Two Indonesian job seekers have been fooled into having their faces tattooed in order to receive non-existent government jobs.The pair had their faces permanently inked after village chief Sawiyono told them he had received a text message from a government official offering them work as Jakarta intelligence officers. The official, who said it was a job requirement to have their faces tattooed with dragons, was later discovered to be a hoaxer — but not before Nanang, 30, and Bambang, 40, had already undergone the painful and disfiguring procedure. The three men believe the anonymous trickster was a kind of "mystic",...

Two men were arrested on Monday in Kalmar in southern Sweden on suspicions of assault for using a pair of scissors to cut away another man’s tattoos. The incident is alleged to have taken place last weekend and involved two young men who for some reason decided to forcefully remove several tattoos from a third man, reports the Oskarshamns Tidningen The men used the scissors to cut away the tattoos, removing chunks of skin in the process. According to police, several tattoos were taken off completely, while others were partially removed. Police remain uncertain as to the relationship between the...

BOCA RATON — Mo Brenner is taking Jewish pride to a new and controversial level. The 27-year-old Boca Raton tattoo artist boasts a large Star of David on his upper right arm engraved with Abram, his Hebrew name. He'll gladly sketch Hebrew writing and Jewish stars on his clients at Boca Body Art, because what could possibly be a better way to celebrate religion than with a shrine that will last a lifetime? "A tattoo should really mean something to you," Brenner said. "Mine represents my religion and family." With the tattoo phenomenon continuing to explode - 40 percent of...

Perhaps it was because she had always wanted to do it. Or it could have been the fact that her college friends were road tripping from her university in Boston to Rhode Island to have it done. Whatever the reason, Jana Steele says that the flowers she got tattooed on her lower back when she was 18 years old are a lingering reminder of her freshman year. "It was something that I always talked about doing and wanted, but I probably would not have gone through with it without a big group of people," she says. Now a 26-year-old professional...

<p>Tattoos are the emblems of our age. They bristle from the biceps of men in summer shirts, from the lower backs of women as they ascend the stairs, from the shoulders of basketball players as they drive toward the basket and from every inch of certain celebrities. The tattoo is the battle flag of today in its war with tomorrow. It is carried by sure losers.</p>

When you look at someone's tattoo, all you really know about that person is that they have low self esteem and at least enough money to purchase a tattoo. That's pretty much it. Well, we told you to show us what tattoos would look like if they were honest, and you did. If more people got tattoos like these, it'd be quite a time saver.