Free Republic

Even the sight of someone being needled with a normal tattoo is enough to make your eyes water, then it might be best to look away now. For body-art enthusiasts have developed a new technique that gives a whole new meaning to beauty being in the eye of the beholder. What is thought to be the first ever "eyeball tattoo" has been inflicted on a man in Toronto - good news, perhaps, for anyone who ever dreamed of having blue eyes. The tattooer injected ink into the eyeball of volunteer Pauly Unstoppable using a needle, until his eye was completely...

It's an undercover movement — literally: Tattoos have become a fad among many young Iranian women who proudly display them in private but must keep them under wraps from authorities. "This is the tattoo generation," said Milad, a 24-year-old artist who does body art as a sideline in his Tehran studio. He gave only his first name, fearing police might crack down. "It's the new sign of being hip." It's a select, largely female clientele, mostly teens and 20-somethings in Tehran's most affluent and style-savvy districts. But these have been the birthplaces for nearly every limit-testing trend since the strict...

Rebecca Holdcroft likes to "express" herself through body art. However, she felt she was being discriminated against at work and contacted the BBC News website to express her point of view. Even though she does not deal with the public face-to-face, her latest employers told her she must wear a cardigan to conceal her tattoos. And in the hot weather, this can get unbearable, she says. Rebecca Holdcroft "It's not the first job where this has happened," says the 25-year-old temp, who had her first tattoo - Japanese blossom and ribbons on her back - at the age of 21....

When the Founding Fathers took the initiative to permanently inscribe our natural rights on paper, one can imagine it being done so with a quill pen. The first copies enshrined our liberties in the Constitution as the Bill of Rights to include the freedom of religion, freedom of the press and the right to keep and bear arms and were printed with a manual printing press. This freedom of speech includes our right to express ourselves with every available medium. At no point have we considered that the freedom of speech is limited to expressing oneself with hand presses and...

Denmark Newspaper Announces New Comic Strip: Derflügen Jihad Satire by Writer33 Copenhagen…..—Under a firestorm of controversy, the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, plans to step on the neck of Islamic fascists, and draw a new battle line by announcing their new comic strip. The new strip—which is to debut April 1, 2006—is titled, Derflügen Jihad. The trouble all began with the publishing of cartoons, satirizing the Prophet Mohammad. This evoked wrath from radical Islamic clerics, bursts of rage in protests, as thousands gathered to do what they do best: burn things. In this religion of peace, clerics placed a bounty on...

Home : News : News : Editorial Editorial Second Thoughts - 11-30-05 By: William W. Lawrence 11/29/2005 Email to a friend    Voice your opinion    Printer-friendly Inky Regular readers of this column are almost certainly familiar with our Ink, who was The Press mascot until she died and went to Rainbow Bridge earlier this month. Inky Dog was a well-mannered pooch who never over-ate and who always conducted herself as a lady. She behaved as if she were the queen. That's the way she was treated. Those of you who have gone through the ordeal of losing a beloved pet will understand the gloom that...

Ink, our press mascot, died while being petted and comforted by her master early Friday morning.Many of our friends on the Free Republic knew all about Ink and when she became ill, they comforted us with prayers and good wishes. Following is a short essay sent by Freeper Dolly Cali.* * *Off The Internet: Rainbow Bridge Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run...

10/11/2005Second Thoughts 10-12-05 By: William W. Lawrence Regular readers of this column may be familiar with Ink, our Press mascot, who was found nearly dead in a duffel bag in the King of Prussia Mall parking lot some seven years ago.A little girl, walking through the area around Easter of 1998, kicked the bag and heard a soft bark. Upon opening it, she found an abandoned litter of puppies. Only two were still alive. One of them wound up in my unenthusiastic hand. It was nearly covered with mange and its eyes were filmed over. She was smaller than a...

A Georgia woman has sued Hewlett-Packard, claiming the ink cartridges for their printers are secretly programmed to expire on a certain date, in some cases rendering them useless before they're even installed in a printer. The suit, filed in Santa Clara Superior Court in Northern California last Thursday, seeks to represent anyone in the United States who purchased an HP inkjet printer since February 2001. HP, which recently endured the high-profile ouster of former CEO Carly Fiorina, is the world's No. 1 computer printer maker. An HP spokesman said the company does not comment on pending litigation. HP ink cartridges...

"IT struck me recently that buying printers is a lot like buying hamsters. Both are so cute when you get them, not to mention cheap, and the whole family oohs and aahs about the fun times that lie ahead. Only later, when it is time to clean the cage - or in the case of the printers, to change the ink - do you realize what a hellish choice you have made. Consider last Sunday night, for example. At 10 p.m., my daughter dropped a bombshell: a high school science report had to be printed. Although the problem at first...

Appeals Court Declines Rehearing in Toner Cartridge Lawsuit The Associated Press Published: Feb 21, 2005 LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider its ruling that allowed a North Carolina company to make and sell computer chips that enable recycled toner cartridges to work in Lexmark International printers. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati allows Static Control Components of Sanford, N.C., to keep competing for the remanufactured cartridge business. Lexington-based Lexmark filed suit in 2002 accusing Static Control of violating copyright law along with the Digital...

The BBC was quick to put a negative spin on Afghanistan’s first democratic election ever, held on Saturday. The Beeb’s website headlined, “Afghan vote ends in controversy.” The story pointed out a possible election boycott by opposition candidates due to “voting irregularities.” By Sunday, the BBC was already backpedaling, announcing, “Afghan vote boycott 'crumbling'” and “Observers approve Afghan election.” Today, the Washington Post announced, “Afghan Election Concerns Subside: Several Candidates Back Off Assertions Of Voter Fraud.” The so-called “controversy” dealt with indelible ink that election workers were applying to voters’ thumbs after they cast their ballots. Some voters were able...

The monthlong bill-signing period is upon us, and the question for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger remains: How much and from whom will he accept campaign cash while considering hundreds of bills left on his desk by the Legislature? Spokesman Rob Stutzman said the governor will not accept money into his re-election pot (which has a $21,200-per-donor limit) during September. Political adviser Marty Wilson said the governor will accept checks in unlimited amounts in his ballot measure committees, which will fuel his involvement in Nov. 2 election matters. Indeed, Univision Chairman Jerry Perenchio dropped a quarter-million-dollar check into Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Team...

A New Use for Old Printers: Treating Burn Victims Researchers in the US are using old inkjet printers to produce sheets of human skin to be used on burn victims. They think that this 'skin-printing' method will minimize rejections by patients and reduce post-operative complications. In this article, the Wall Street Journal (paid registration needed) writes that while the technology is still in its early stages, it could be used clinically within two years. This could be a life-saving technology for the 20% of burn patients who have the most extensive burns. Considering that each year, some 45,000 people...

Inevitably, consumers griped about the high cost of replacement cartridges from Lexmark and other printer firms. And the used cartridges were perfectly good, except for needing a refill. So an industry was born - companies that collected the old cartridges, refilled them, and resold them for much less than the printer companies.