Tattooing “666″ on a Baby

An incredibly disturbing video — probably the most offensive tattoo video to date — is currently doing the viral rounds. In it, the tattoo artist (whose face we never see), tattoos what appears to be a small “666″ on a toddler that screams in pain and terror while he’s doing it. A woman that I assume is the mother is holding the child down the whole time. Since there is parental consent in the process, it is 100% legal. Arguably this isn’t any worse than the doctors that have have cut off the ends of millions if not billions of baby boys’ penises to satisfy their parents religious or cultural leanings, and of course there are indigenous cultures (many of them idolized by the “modern primitive” movement) all around the world that do a wide variety of heavy mods on babies and children… But wow… I don’t think I could bring myself to be involved in something like this, either as the artist or the parent. But I wonder — how many of you who are willing to denounce this video are also willing to denounce the tribal cultures who do similar things in much larger quantities and to a more horrific extent, or even denounce circumcision which is still commonplace in America (although not many other Western nations at this point as the cruelty and needlessness is recognized)?

YouTube pulled the video — click here to download our backup or play it here:

baby666

Update: If I had to guess [edit #2: this is now confirmed, and if you listen in the video you can hear them say that the child is now “blessed by Jesus”], I would say these people are followers of Jose Luis de Jesus of Growing in Grace. Followers of this fringe religion often get 666 tattooed one them as a part of their faith. The question is, do you believe in freedom of religion? Where is that line drawn for you? This group even has billboards around Toronto where I live — this isn’t just some isolated event. Below are some other similar tattoos done by their followers:

666tat-1t 666tat-2t

Update #2: Trying to find examples of tattooed children in Western culture, I was hoping to dig up an old story in BME’s old newspaper archive of historical mod stories because I remembered one about a father taking his identical twin sons to a tattoo artist in order to get a beauty mark tattooed on one of them as a way of telling them apart more easily. Anyway, I couldn’t find the actual article I was searching for, but I did find another from the October 19, 1899 Twin City News which mentions how an increasing number of parents are tattooing their children with a hidden ID mark (I believe this was in the midst of abduction paranoia).

Also, I mentioned above that the parents were “100%” legally in the right (although not ethically in my opinion), but I should point out that there have been cases — for example, this North Carolina mother arrested after allowing her 11-year-old to get a tattoo of a small heart on her shoulder — that suggest the opposite. However, courts in America are very unlikely to call the actions of an established religion “child abuse”, so don’t expect to see Jews being jailed over circumcision any time soon.

Back to school!

Well modified parents, it’s about that time of year when you can finally celebrate.  In a few short weeks, the youngsters will be heading back to school, letting you call in sick to work and enjoy a silent few hours at home before the bell rings.

But before the quiet can settle in, there still is the matter of the dreaded back to school shopping.  Things have changed over the years when it comes to shopping for the little (and not-so little) ones.  Many moons ago, parents would help the kids pick up supplies; pens, notebooks, backpacks, etc., and probably pick up a new outfit or two for the first day of school.  Nowadays, things are a little different.

In a recent American Express survey, notebooks and clothes are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fall spending.

schoolbus

Clothing, shoes and school supplies were the top three categories, making the shopping lists of more than 80 percent of consumers. Other popular categories include books (43 percent), sports equipment (24 percent) and healthcare (23 percent).

But parents also had some more discretionary purchases in mind, with nearly half saying they planned to spend on cosmetic services for their kids. Of that group, respondents were divided among manicures and pedicures (24 percent), teeth whitening (18 percent), spa services (12 percent), waxing (11 percent) and tattoos (9 percent).

Yep, you read that right.  9 percent of the people polled in the survey had planned in their budget a new tattoo for their offspring.  I know that for years now body modifications have been becoming more and more acceptable in mainstream society, and you can call me old fashioned, but I think I would probably not give my kids money for a tattoo if the only justification was that it was to show off for the new school year.

So ModBlog reader, what are your thoughts?  Would you get your children a new mod for the first day of school, or would you rather spend the money on something banal, like spa services and teeth whitening?  Actually come to think of it, I’d probably be a little creeped out if my kids asked me for money to get waxed before hopping on the bus.

Wolfie’s Just Fine


I apologize in advance for posting such graphic and disturbing content this early in the morning, but this is an issue — a threat — that, if allowed to continue unabated, could have consequences most dire. (Remember that time the dolphins grew thumbs and then used them to plant poisonous snakes in bunches of delicious bananas, all over the world, just because they could, just to screw with us? It’ll be like that, yet somehow worse.) Untold thousands of miniature humans like the one pictured above are literally appearing every day, latching onto defenseless adults for sustenance and warmth and resources and such. What’s their agenda? Why won’t they speak? And why do these adults play along so willingly — is it a spell, or simply blackmail? I feel I’ve said too much as it is.

… Or it could be that this baby is twigboy‘s son, and that, in his words:

This was the first day my son Scott figured out he could grab onto my ear and use it as a handle. Now he just grabs my ear and falls backwards — seems he knows that as long as he holds on, he won’t fall.

I’ll admit, that is slightly cuter than the demon-baby apocalypse scenario.

See more in Ear Stretching (past 1/2″) (Ear Piercing)

Monday Morning Pick-Me-Up


Think you know where this one’s going? Yeah, you’re probably right.

I’m not sure what the best part of the second photo is: The big guy lifting 80 lbs. with his ears, or the little guy seeming completely unfazed by the situation. “What? I’m hanging from some ears. Happens all the time. Beats riding a bike, am I right? Hey, you got an XBox over there?”

… and scene.

See more in Other Ritual Fun (Ritual)

Cry Baby

I vaguely remember crying this much when I first had my ears pierced, I’ve toughened up a bit in the ten years since then though.

Humour aside if it were my kid (or if I were the piercer for that matter) I really would have to search myself very hard for any reason why it would be necessary or fair to pierce someone so young, someone that still isn’t able to control bodily functions most adults take for granted, let alone decide if it’s what they want. It certainly can’t be so they’re popular at nursery school, or because “all the other babies are doing it”.

Granted the physical trauma is minimal but I just don’t believe a baby belongs in a piercing environment, at all..

No offence to the mother (I’m assuming she’s the mother) in the photo but seeing my child in obvious distress, whether it be through physical pain, emotional stress or otherwise, would definitely lead me to reassess any decision that caused that distress, for a decade or so anyway.

I’m sure posting this will restart the “should kids be pierced” debate, so click the previous links then come back here if you feel like taking part or shouting at each other. Just don’t take the last two seriously..

Can you tell what it is yet?

Ever since I was little I joked about getting my birthmarks numbered–that I was one big connect-the-dots tattoo that made a “me”.

This tattoo is part of “The Stalking and Murdering of a Childhood Giraffe Project” (full explanation of the art project is HERE.) It’s an extremely visible invisible tattoo and Dave C. Wallin (Tattoo Culture, Williamsburg, NY – more) did an AMAZING job considering how small the numbers had to be. Pretty sure I’m not the first person in the universe to come up with this idea (ROO: Nope, you may have been the first though!), but I’ve yet to see another connect-the-dots tattoo.

The design was based on a really geometric giraffe drawing I once saw (if anyone can find the name of the original artist I would be super appreciative!), but I modified it to have spots and be even more box-like. I love this tattoo so much.. which makes it hard to walk down the street without staring at my own calf.

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If you’re wondering what the scrapes on her leg are from, she fell off a step tool and caught it on a printing press on the way down. Bless.

DivX download link for BME members: Extreme2 or Full members

Photos by dollomite and many thanks to Brandon for the red-hot tip!