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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.

Gunman's Contradictions Confound Police By ASHLEY M. HEHER and CARYN ROUSSEAU – DEKALB, Ill. (AP) — Steven Kazmierczak had the look of a boyish graduate student — except for the disturbing tattoos that covered his arms. Professors and students knew him as a bright, helpful scholar, but his past included a stint in a mental health center. Many saw him as happy and stable, but he had developed a recent interest in guns and was involved in a troubled — possibly abusive — on-again, off-again relationship. What people initially told police about the Northern Illinois University shooter didn't add up,...

he FBI is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people's physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists. But it's an issue that raises major privacy concerns -- what one civil liberties expert says should concern all Americans. The bureau is expected to announce in coming days the awarding of a $1 billion, 10-year contract to help create the database that will compile an array of biometric information -- from palm prints to eye scans. Kimberly Del Greco, the FBI's Biometric Services section chief, said adding to the database...

It's against the law for landlords to discriminate based on the color of a person's skin. But can they reject you because of what's on your skin? Some San Antonio apartment complexes are refusing to rent to people with tattoos and body piercings. News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooter Jaie Avila investigates the case of one couple who says that policy is unfair.Gilbert Carrillo thinks tattoos are an artform. He's been to tattoo conventions and one of his tattoos was featured in a magazine. "Ever since I was 18, to now, 25, bit by bit, covering up here, covering up there."...

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - Paul's conversion to Christianity is recorded in the New Testament Book of Acts. Steve Mason is chronicling his conversion on his arms. The 25-year-old Fredericksburg resident grew up in a Christian household. But his faith didn't go very deep, he said. He spent his teen years partying, earning the nickname Dog. Mason celebrated the name by tattooing a snarling dog face on his right forearm when he was 15. At 19, Mason turned his life over to Christ. He took on a new lifestyle. And he wanted to show the transformation. On his left arm, he got...

I took my future stepdaughter to her high school orientation a few weeks back. When we got to our designated area and as we were waiting in line I noticed that the student volunteer who was handing out our group's schedules had her ass hanging out of her pants, clearly displaying her lower back tattoo. In any other situation I'd be thinking something else, but in this particular one I was none too keen on having my future kid see this. Once all the schedules were passed out the student got up to talk to the group, and as it...