It’s time again for the news, but before I start I just want to wish a happy thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians.  This week’s news is back to the normal size thanks mostly to the many links that were sent my way.  As always, if you come across a story you think should be included, just send me the link in an e-mail.

To get things started is a pretty significant story out of Delaware County, PA.  Within the next 2 week, if a law is passed, it will become illegal for anyone other than a doctor to perform anything they consider an extreme modification.  This includes everything ranging from scarification and branding to full penectomies.  It also includes all types of suspension, which will force any suspension teams in Delaware County to stop completely, move out of state, or break the law.

Delaware County residents planning to have extreme body modification — including tongue-splitting, castration or penectomy — done at a lo cal tattoo parlor had better have it done in the next two weeks.  The Delaware County commissioners on Monday approved the first reading of a new, tougher tattoo and body piercing ordinance that included procedures that local health officials maintain are more suited for a medical office than a tattoo parlor.  A final vote on the ordinance — proposed by the county health department — could come as early as the commissioners’ Oct. 17 meeting.

Noting that the county’s 1998 tattoo and body piercing ordinance was one of the first in the state, heath department administrator Joshua Williams said the revised ordinance adds “prohibited” acts that are actually surgical and medical procedures.  They include branding and skin peeling as well as other forms of scarification, tongue splitting, suspension piercing — in which a person is suspended by hooks — and nullification, which includes the voluntary removal of body parts. “Most commonly, this means castration (and sometimes penectomy) amputation of fingers or toes or, in extreme cases, removal of full limbs,” according to the ordinance.  “It’s trending farther from tattoo and heading to medical procedures,” Williams told the commissioners.

County Attorney Jack Quirk questioned how often nullification, for example, was requested. Health department inspector Christiana Mann replied that the actions covered in the ordinance are offered and “happening” in Delaware County.The commissioners approved the first reading of the ordinance.Sean Gillespie, manager of Dragon Slayer Tattoo and Body Modification, said extreme body modification sometimes happens but is not a big part of his shop’s business.  “As far as the ordinance that’s in effect right now, we like it and don’t have a problem with it,” Gillespie said.

At Collins Classic Ink, Miniear said he had “heard through the grapevine” that the county was considering a new ordinance.  “I’ve been practicing scarification for five years,” he said. “It’s not a high market. I don’t understand why it’s become a problem.”  Miniear said he has done suspension piercing performances in the past. “It’s more of a spiritual thing for me and a lot of people I know,” he said. “It’s not just a shock value thing.”

So Delaware ModBlog readers, let those around you know that this is being considered by the county.  In order for this to be stopped the state needs to be aware of how this will negatively impact the Delaware modified and suspension communities.

More news to come including a celebrity story that had me laughing so hard I had to break my own rule about posting celebrity crap.

Before we get to the celebrity news I just mentioned, there’s a lot of real news to cover first.

This week brings us yet another member of the “Don’t commit a crime if you have a distinctive facial tattoo” club.  This past week, convicted sex offender Michael Campbell was picked up for violating his parole by getting within 500 feet of a public swimming pool.  The reason he got caught?  He’s pretty easy to spot in a crowd.

Greene County, Missouri, deputies arrested a very unusual looking suspect over the weekend.  They arrested Michael Campbell, 36, a Colorado native and convicted sex offender. Deputies say he was busted for coming within 500 feet of a playground or public pool. Campbell was booked into the county lockup Sunday and later released.

Campbell’s face and neck are completely covered in tattoos. The art includes tattoos of Frankenstein, a spider and a bow tie. Previous mugshots from 2003 show only a couple of tattoos on his face.

Of course just because someone has facial tattoos it doesn’t make them a bad person.  But to this day people are discriminated against.  Even in New Zealand, where having a Ta Moko is part of the cultural history of the country, people still get discriminated against.  Just last week a bar in Christchurch asked a man to leave because of his facial tattoos.

On Saturday, Tunahau Kohu went to the Inwoods Rd bar with his partner.

He said he was approached by a staff member as he sat down to watch Australia play Russia in a Rugby World Cup match at 3.30pm and told to leave because the business did not allow people with facial and neck tattoos in the bar.  Ta moko is a traditional Maori tattoo – a visual language that connects the wearers to their whakapapa (genealogy).

Kohu said he had bought a drink and played the gaming machines before the game.  ”They said it is their policy that they don’t allow people with facial tattoos. I tried to explain that my moko isn’t a facial tattoo. Every line and circle has a meaning to it,” he said.  ”They said if I didn’t leave they would ring the police. They weren’t interested in my explanation of what it meant.”

Claims of racial discrimination were soon posted on the bar’s Facebook page.  Forsdick told The Press the after the bar’s recent refurbishment, he and owner Louis Vieceli had tightened the dress code, meaning nobody with facial or neck tattoos would be allowed in the premises. “Two or three people with facial tattoos were also asked to leave” the premises on Saturday, he said.  ”This is not a racial issue.  This is about making our premises and our environment be one that is welcoming for all clientele.”  Forsdick said the incident prompted some regular customers to leave, and Kohu did not explain the significance of his moko.  Had Kohu made that clear ”we would have taken that into consideration”, Forsdick said.

This afternoon, before watching media, Forsdick shook Kohu’s hand and said he was welcome back though the bar’s policy on tattoos remained.

However, Kohu later said that despite accepting the apology, “I don’t think he deserved my handshake”.  “I wish I didn’t give it now.” NZ Hospitality Association chief executive Bruce Robertson said bars were entitled to eject “anyone they wish” as long as their decision was not based on ethnicity, gender or disability. This would breach the Human Rights Act.  Asked if mokos should be treated in the same way as other facial tattoos, Robertson said it depended on the moko.  “It depends on the nature of the moko, its authenticity and whether there were other issues involved.” He added he did not know enough about this incident to comment specifically.  The Human Rights Commission confirmed it had received a complaint about the incident.

I’m sorry, I’m not from New Zealand but even I know that a Moko isn’t just a random facial tattoo.  Unless there’s some element I’m missing out I would assume that most New Zealanders would know that.

Moving on, the Android app marketplace came under fire earlier this week for selling an app entitled “Is my son gay?“  The app asked a series of 20 questions, one of which was “Does he piercings in his tongue, nose or ears?”.  Because you know, if you have piercings, that must mean you’re gay.  After a number of complaints were made, the app was removed from the store.

When it comes to sports there isn’t normally a lot of body modification related stories, well this week 2 different articles focused on athletes that are visibly modified, and both were very positive.  In the first article pitcher Ryan Roberts from the Arizona Diamondbacks was interviewed by Yahoo Sports.

Ryan Roberts of the Arizona Diamondbacks said he appreciates when people ask him about his many, many tattoos. The subject never gets boring to him — which is fortunate, because he is covered from neck to toe in ink, his nickname is “Tatman” and he fields lots of questions about all of it.

“I can’t say they shouldn’t [ask],” Roberts told Big League Stew. “When I first started getting tattoos, I never expected to get a lot. Over the course of my life, everything started happening for a reason. If people want to know why, I’ll definitely explain the reasons behind them. If someone’s interested, I’m honored to tell them.”

Roberts, who turned 31 in September, said he gets tattoos in order to show what inspires him: his Christian religion, as it relates to family and his other life experiences, including baseball. The first tats others probably notice are the Japanese characters for “family” on the left side of his neck. And there’s a whole lot more where that came from.

If you check out some of the other photos in the article one of them looks like he may have a scarification piece on his ribs, although it could just be white ink.

The second story is from ESPN and features roller derby star Suzy Hotrod.  She was one of a number of athletes chosen for 2011′s “Bodies We Want” feature.  Tara e-mailed me the link to this story and had this to say:

ESPN’s “Bodies We Want” issue came out today. The idea behind the gallery is to showcase the human athletic form, not nakedness, but the two seem to come hand in hand. In the middle of the gallery there’s a photo of Roller Derby’s own Suzy Hotrod – full colour, with ink.  Being a derby player myself, I wanted to share the story – but I also think it’s amazing that with 20ish naked people in a row, she was the only one with immediately visible modifications.

Unfortunately ESPN uses flash so in order to see the photos and read what they had to write you’ll have to head on over to the site.Alright, it’s time to bring back (hopefully just for this week) the celebrity round-up.  My apologies in advance, but this was too funny not to share.

Pop star Ke$ha has apologized to rocker pal Andrew W.K. after her attempt to tattoo him resulted in an infection.

The rocker recently invited Ke$ha to try out her skin art skills on him, but he was left requiring medical attention when the ink effort turned bad.  He told Spinner.com, “It got infected. It’s an unfortunate aftermath and my body ended up rejecting the ink and I had to go to the doctor. But it actually left a nice scar which was, in fact, cooler than the tattoo that’s in the exact shape of the tattoo.”

Now Ke$ha has offered up an apology of sorts on Twitter.com – although she insists it wasn’t her fault.  Addressing the tattoo mishap in a tweet on Wednesday, she writes, “Not my fault. His safety pin. His pen. But at least it looks cool. Party.

So you see, it wasn’t her fault he got an infection from her because she used his pen and safety pin when she tattooed him.  To be fair, it was his fault he asked a pop singer with an unpronounceable name to jab him with a pin when they were both drunk after a show.

Well that’s it for this week’s news.  I am going to leave you with a couple of things to enjoy over the weekend.  First is a photo gallery from this year’s vegetarian festival in Phuket, Thailand.

And finally here is the first in a series of three videos by Dabe Alan and Tony Touch.  The videos are all stop motion of the sleeve that Tony is tattooing on Dabe.  Watch the related videos for the other parts.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Today’s news post will probably be the shortest one I’ve ever written.  This week has been completely dead for modification related news stories.  It’s so short it’ll all be on the front page with no click through, which I don’t think has ever happened.

Parents often threaten children contemplating tattoos with the adage “It’ll ruin your life“.  Well to one Florida teen, it really did ruin someone’s life… her father’s.

Although Floridian father Michael Turner has decorated his body with several tattoos, he didn’t want his daughter to get any body art of her own. Tattoos are played out, and also nerdy. Apparently his daughter did not care, however, and convinced her brother to drive her to the tattoo parlor. Felony charges resulted!

Not for the disobedient kids, but for Father Turner—who allegedly got in his car and twice tried to run over his son, 17-year-old Jourdyn Turner: once by accelerating forward, and once by putting the car in reverse. When that didn’t produce the desired result (injury? death?), Turner pulled a crowbar out of the trunk and reportedly tried to attack Jourdyn with it. Turner’s wife/the kids’ mother witnessed the melee and separated her loved ones before law enforcement officers arrived. Turner was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and now faces a future of prison and more (prison) tattoos.

In Arizona another man joined the “Don’t commit a crime if you have a distinctive tattoo club”.

Thanks the suspect’s unique facial tattoos and lengthy criminal record — including a conviction for aggravated assault against a police officer with a deadly weapon — law enforcement officials in the Arizona jurisdiction say they had no trouble recognizing the 31-year-old when he allegedly fled from a Sept. 27 traffic stop in Casa Grande.

“The deputy, just by looking at his face, knew who he was,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Elias Johnson told The Huffington Post. “He’s been in our custody so many times we knew exactly who it was even before we ran his [information through a database].”

BBC News put out an article this week about tattoo regret, and getting temporary tattoos to “test drive” before getting a real one.

And finally the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an interview with Mark Perrott regarding his photography exhibition, “Tattoo Witness”.

The photographs are so beautiful, the sitters so intensely present, that a visitor’s first response is to lock eyes with the individual staring out. While each sports a tattooed body, that fact is surprisingly secondary to the overall persona, which wears the markings as easily as another subject may wear pearls or a fedora.

Capturing that holistic quality is characteristic of a master portraitist, and it animates “Tattoo Witness — Photographs by Mark Perrott,” an exhibition at Westmoreland Museum of American Art that comprises 25 large prints selected from thousands of photographs taken by the noted Pittsburgh photographer between 1979 and 2004. Another 50 are projected in an adjacent gallery.

And that’s it for this week.  As always, if you find a story you think should be included in the weekly news post, just send me an e-mail.

Alright ModBlog readers, the weekend is almost here and I’m almost done work for the day.  Before I head out the door there is still this week’s news to cover.  Before we get to that, I just wanted to remind you that if you stumble across any news stories that you think should be included in the news of the week, just send me an e-mail.

Now then, lets get things started with a pretty incredible story from the UK.

Doctors have treated a young boy with a large birthmark on his face… by implanting horns in his forehead. George Ashman, 5, was born with a bright red blemish on his forehead and his mother Karen, 33, feared he would endure a lifetime of bullying. So when he was four he underwent a surgical procedure to stretch the ‘normal’ skin on his forehead so the birthmark could be removed and covered with the new unblemished tissue.

Doctors inserted two tissue expanders under the skin, which gradually inflated so they looked like two perfect devil’s horns. After four months the implants were removed and the blemish was cut out, allowing the new skin to be stitched together – leaving just a small Harry Potter-style scar on George’s forehead.

During the four months he had the horns, George was subjected to cruel taunts from passers-by. Karen – who is separated from George’s father Lee, a printer, said: ‘School kids hanging around on street corners were laughing and pointing. ‘Once, a teenage lad came right up to us to have a good look. He uttered a cry of disgust. ‘I was tearful and emotional. I had no problem loving my son but others’ reactions were hard to deal with. I felt like everyone was against us.’ George went under the knife in April this year to remove the birthmark and have his ‘new’ skin stretched across in its place. He has only a small scar where the blemish used to be and has now started school with his friends.

Karen said: ‘What I’m most proud of is that through all this I’ve seen strength in George that I never had as a child. He’s different, but he’s himself – and he has never let it hold him back. ‘My little devil’s got guts – and with or without his birthmark and his horns I’ll always love him to bits for that.’

Even with his head being kid sized, those are probably some of the largest forehead implants I’ve seen.  And to think they got that big after only 4 months.

More news to come including a treatment for amputees, and a new type of prosthetic limb.

While this only falls loosely into the body modification category, it’s still pretty interesting.  Basically doctors have performed a rare surgery that replaced an amputated thumb with a toe.

In the days immediately following the accident, Ramey didn’t care that his thumb was missing; he was alive. But as time passed, he thought about an option UAB Surgeon James Long, M.D., had mentioned in the hospital — he could get a new thumb by transplanting one of his toes.  “Before this happened, if someone had told me, ‘If you ever lose your thumb, we can use one of your toes to replace it,’ I probably would have said I’d never have that surgery,” Ramey says. “Most people don’t want a toe on their hand. After it happens, though, everything changes.”  After several consultations with Long and much deliberation, Ramey decided to have the rare surgery. Long, associate professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery, transplanted the second toe from Ramey’s right foot into the thumb position on his left hand in a 13-hour surgery Aug. 24 — two years and nine days after Ramey had lain in the wreckage of his Subaru Baja.

Long says UAB is one of the few hospitals in the country — and the only one in Alabama — to perform toe-to-thumb transplants. Ramey is the second UAB patient to have the surgery in the past two years.  The majority of publicized toe-to-thumb transplants around the country involve the surgeon relocating the big toe to the hand. But the new thumb isn’t proportioned like a regular thumb, and the lack of a big toe can affect balance significantly, Long says.  Though aesthetics play a role in the transplant decision, Long prefers that not be the primary reason for surgery.  “I always emphasize to patients that function comes before appearance,” Long says. “However, when it’s feasible for us to achieve both goals, we always aim for that.”  For Ramey — a young man with an active lifestyle — removing his big toe was not an option. He favored the transplant only if it could be done using his second toe.  “Cary’s goal was to return to the things he was doing before he got hurt,” Long says. “He never would have been able to do them if his big toe had been used to replace his thumb.”  “I was thinking more about functionality than what it would look like,” Ramey says.

Like I said, it doesn’t fall into any of the traditional body modification categories, but it was something that he chose to have done.  He could have lived his entire life missing his thumb, but instead opted for an elective surgery that modified both his hand and foot.

While on the subject of amputations, a prosthetic company has introduced a new line of prosthetics which can be customized to every little detail, including freckles, hairs, and tattoos.

A prosthetic technology company has unveiled an ultra-realistic range of limbs with features such as freckles, hairs and even tattoos. Scottish company Touch Bionics have been hand-crafting upper limb prostheses for years but have recently introduced a new photographic system that is designed to make passive prostheses look as real as possible.

The products, which come in parts of fingers, whole fingers, hands or arms, are known as passive prostheses – although light joints can be built in so they can be manually bent into different shapes. Made from high definition silicone, they are part of the ‘Living Skin’ range and are designed with the help of a patent-pending imaging system called ‘Living Image’.

If a patient needs a single prosthetic such as a hand or finger, experts use the system to scan the skin tone, features and shape of their remaining limb. The system, which simulates natural light for the best colour match, sends the resulting image via the internet to the production facility in Scotland. The resulting prosthetic is hand-painted to exactly match skin tone and appearance.

Next up we have Montreal native Pat Vaillancourt who is in the process of getting 25,000 internet URLs tattooed on his body.

Yep, so Pat Vaillancourt has 10,012 URL’s tattooed on his back. His goal is to get to 25,000. Each URL must be unique and he is allowed to ink more than one URL into his skin during the same sitting, according to Record Setter (although could you imagine going back to a tattoo parlor 10,012 times for, like, ten minutes?) (sounds like a very special episode of L.A. Ink).

The Montreal-based body art fiend is raising money to help repair the destruction in Haiti by donating half the proceeds from sponsored URL placement to relief efforts, which is awesome.

You know, it’s a great idea, and the money is going to a good cause, but when I look at the photo all I can picture is the text blurring into big square blotches over time.

Today’s final story isn’t really news.  It’s an article examining body modification, gender, and self-empowerment.  It touches on a lot of things I’ve brought up in the past, like how the media portrays modified people, and the bias it places on modified women in general.

Recently I stumbled across this interview with Jacqui Moore, a rather well-known and visible member of the body modification community for her extensive black and grey full body suit. Bearing the rather exploitative tagline (which states “A respectable mother celebrated her divorce by asking her new boyfriend to cover her entire body – with a single TATTOO”), which makes her sound not only impulsive but pathological, what does this case reveal about contemporary body modification practices? What is the relationship between gender, patriarchy, and body modification? And what are the costs of using indigenous iconography and rituals in one’s body modification practices?

If you have time over the weekend, give it a read.

That’s it for this week’s news.  Have a great weekend everyone.

It’s time again for the weekly news round up.  This week we’re going to get started with a story that a lot of people sent in.  Before I get into it I want to remind people that the person involved in the story is friends with many ModBlog readers and as it stands is currently being charged with a crime, he has not been convicted.  The reason I bring this up is because of the nature of the reporting surrounding this story.  As some of you know by now, Caius has been charged with homicide and is currently awaiting a trial.  He is best known for his large array of heavy facial modifications, and as such the media is latching on to this.  What shouldn’t come as a surprise is how the media is handling the story.  Reactions have been mixed.  Agencies like ABC news touch briefly on his modifications (while using his photo to garner attention), while other outlets like The Sun are completely ignoring facts and just making assumptions based on photos.  Here’s what ABC News had to say:

A ranking Hells Angels member in western Massachusetts and two acquaintances charged in a triple murder killed one of the victims to prevent him from testifying in a kidnapping and assault trial and killed the other two men to eliminate witnesses, according to a police report released Monday.  The probable cause report by Massachusetts State Police describes how Adam Lee Hall, 34, the reputed sergeant at arms of the Berkshire County chapter of the Hells Angels, allegedly was involved in a dispute over an automobile part in 2009 that escalated into a series of criminal acts that ended with the killings of the three men. Their bodies were found buried in an undisclosed location in the county Saturday.  Hall and his two associates, David Chalue, 44, and Caius Veiovis, 31, entered not guilty pleas to murder, kidnapping and other charges and were ordered held without bail during their arraignments in District Court in Pittsfield on Monday. They’re set to return to court Oct. 12.

Witnesses told state police that before the three victims went missing, Hall was talking about how Glasser had to “disappear” before the trial, and that after the abductions Hall said something about “when the three men were taken,” the report says.  State police also said witnesses saw a man fitting Hall’s description tossing shoes, clothing and other items off a bridge in nearby Lenox just minutes after authorities entered Glasser’s apartment looking for the missing men. One of those witnesses later identified Hall from a photo array, police said.  Police also said tests on the inside of Veiovis’ vehicle came up positive for the presence of blood, although whose blood isn’t clear.

Lawyers for Chalue and Veiovis, who is also known as Roy Gutfinski, declined to comment on the allegations.  Many questions remain unanswered. District Attorney David Capeless declined to say where exactly the bodies were found, how the three men died and how Hall, Chalue and Veiovis knew each other. Authorities have said they don’t believe Chalue and Veiovis were members of the Hells Angels.

So as you can see, with the exception of the photo, Caius is only mentioned as being arrested based off evidence found in his car, and that he isn’t a member of the Hells Angels.  Now, we flip over to another “news” agency, The Sun,  and see what they had to say about the story.  Keep in mind they only information both news agencies have is based off the arrest record and mug shots.

With a sinister ’666′ emblazoned across his forehead and horn implants sticking out of his head, this murder suspect poses for one of the most frightening mugshots ever.  Caius Veiovis’ chilling face also includes spiked nose piercings and angry tattoos across his body.  The heavily-pierced Satanist changed his name from Roy Gutfinski to Caius Veiovis with Veiovis a god of the underworld and Caius a character in the Twilight saga.

Yep, he’s a twilight vampire.  There are other stories floating about claiming that he’s actually a member of the Hell’s Angels, as well as several other outlandish claims, and yet in all of those stories he’s being judged not based on any evidence, but simply because he has modified himself to appear the way he wants to.  It seems that for every step forward towards acceptance we take, someone is there to push us back.  Think back to a few months ago when Lady Gaga debuted a music video featuring Zombie Boy and dancers with fake facial implants.  Nobody had a problem with that, and she was applauded by the media for tackling issues of acceptance.  Fast forward to today when someone who looks different than others has already been found guilty by the media simply for looking different.

Thankfully this isn’t the only story this week, so I won’t dwell on it any further.  Keep on reading to check out the rest of the news, including a fantastic interview with Ottawa artist Glen Paradis.

While parts of the world are demonizing them, other parts are celebrating modifications.  The Ripley’s Believe It or Not wax museum has invited Maria Jose Cristerna, Mexico’s “Vampire Woman” to be their newest wax figure.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! took body casts of Maria Jose Cristerna, known as the Mexican Vampire Woman, on Friday. Cisterna has titanium implants that serve as horns. She also has fangs, piercings and tattoos. She said she made the transformation after a period of domestic violence. Ripley’s will create a wax figure of Cisterna.

While I wasn’t able to link photos, the article above has an interview with Maria where she talks about what modifications she has, what she plans on getting, and the meanings behind it all.

Tattoo artists in Phoenix, AZ are upset over a proposed new tax that is being billed as a “Sin Tax” which specifically targets tattoo studios and strip clubs.

The Phoenix Food Tax left a bad taste in many people’s mouths. It generated $28-million extra for the city, but the added tax was unwelcome with people struggling to stay afloat in the down economy.  That tax runs out in 2015, and leaders are already looking at other options. One of them could include a so-called “sin tax.”  Right now it’s just an idea being looked into by the Phoenix City Council. The idea is to raise extra revenue for the city if the food tax expires by taxing things like strip clubs and tattoo parlors.  As you can imagine, tattoo artists in Phoenix are hoping this sin tax doesn’t go through.

At 27 Tattoo Studio in downtown Phoenix, tattoo artist Mark Mayhem has built up a loyal clientele.  He worries what would happen at tattoo parlors around the city if the so-called “sin tax” is passed.  “As to be expected from an artist, I really feel like it’s going to hurt some of our business,” he says.  Mayhem says the idea of taxing something like a tattoo is going too far, and that it shouldn’t be lumped together with strip clubs and other vices that could be taxed.  “I’m an artist. That would be like taxing painters or authors. But, I hope it doesn’t go through.”

I’m kind of curious as to how a tax on strip clubs will work.  Does it apply to lap dances only or will giving a tip require the dancer to stop and calculate the tax added to it?

Today’s final story is one that’s a lot more positive than the one we started with today.  Glen Paradis, an Ottawa tattoo artist, recently did an interview with The Ottawa Citizen.  There was no sensationalism, no hype, just a great interview with one of the country’s finest artists.

These are three things that many people look for in a tattoo: good, fast and cheap. Glen Paradis says he can deliver any two, but at the exclusion of the third. You want good and fast? It won’t be cheap. You want fast and cheap? It won’t be any good. And if you want, say, a tattoo of a huge spider on your face, he suggests you go elsewhere.

The 41-year-old tattoo artist has spent the last decade at New Moon Tattoo — he’s currently at their Orléans location — where he’s become so good that clients can expect to wait up to seven months for him to stick needles loaded with indelible ink into their skin. He compares the loyalty of his customers to that of car owners who return repeatedly to a good auto mechanic.

For the first while he only tattooed grapefruits, practising drawing straight lines, circles, corners, squares and maple leafs on the soft, round fruit, learning to complete designs with just one or two passes of the needle thus keeping any possible damage to the skin to a minimum.  From there it was a matter of finding a friend who would let him try his first tattoo on skin. “My buddy Andre let me do three Chinese characters on him. I was a nervous wreck.”  For the next couple of months, Paradis tattooed nothing larger than a toonie, working on getting good before trying anything large. “If you jump into something too big, you make mistakes.”

And while doing a complete and original body tattoo — he’s done several full backs, legs and sleeves, but no full bodies — is near the top of his bucket list, he says he’s equally happy doing the profession’s bread-and-butter designs: the hearts, wings, Celtic crosses, roses, stars and tribal motifs.  “There’s nothing I hate doing. You want something that’s been done a million times before? I’m going to do it in a million-and-one different ways. You want a rose? Let’s make it fantastic. You want a ladybug? Let’s make it look real.  “I just love tattooing. I get to do this every day. I draw every day. I see fantastic people from all over the place and I get to come to work dressed like an 18-year-old kid, listen to music and have a blast.

“I’m going to do this until I die.”

So that’s it for this week’s news.  As always, if you find an article that you think should be included.  Just send me an e-mail.

Other than that, have a great weekend everyone!

Thanks to the holiday it’s been a short week here on ModBlog, a trend which is continuing into today’s news.  Before we begin I just want to thank all those who have been sending in news links.  The old submit link isn’t working right now, but e-mailing me directly does.  So if you find a story you think should be included in next week’s news post, just send me an e-mail.

Today’s first story was sent in by IAM:AmberLilith and comes to us from Norfolk in the UK.

An 81-year-old woman from Norfolk has had “Do Not Resuscitate” tattooed across her chest in case she falls ill and attempts are made to revive her.  Joy Tomkins had the message tattooed, along with “P.T.O.” and an arrow on her back, earlier this year.  The former magazine company secretary said she could not bear to “make beds and wash-up for another 20 years”.  Despite having a living will for about 30 years, she said the tattoo meant there was be “no excuse” for error. “The tattoo is immediate… no excuse for not knowing what I thought,” she said.

The widow said that at the age of 81 she did not have the “stamina” to enjoy all of her hobbies any more, such as playing the piano and gardening.  “I’ve had 80 good, interesting years of marriage and children and grandchildren and plenty of friends,” she said.  “I’m quite happy if I wake up in the morning, but if I don’t I’m just as happy.”  Her two children, who between them have six grandchildren, are aware of their mother’s views, but Mrs Tomkins said, “they won’t argue with me”.  Dr Anna Smajdor, a lecturer in medical ethics at the University of East Anglia’s Medical School, said she could see that Mrs Tomkins wanted to send a “very clear message” and “cover all bases” with her tattoo.

Even though she’s talking about her eventual death, it’s wonderful to hear her story about all the joy she’s found in life.  So hopefully it’ll still be a few more years before she’ll need that tattoo, but it’s good to know that no matter what, she’s going out on her terms.

There are a few more stories to come, so keep on reading.

Down in Brisbane, Australia a man finally got around to proposing to his girlfriend, without saying a word.

Glen Robinson never uttered the words “Will you marry me?”  He had the proposal tattooed on his wrists instead.  “I really wanted to do something different, or something special,” he said.

Fortunately, Glen and his girlfriend Michelle Bate, both 34, had already agreed to marry and had chosen an engagement ring.  Glen, who works for a transport company, had gone so far as to suggest the Albany Creek couple make their engagement official, without a formal proposal.  “I could tell Michelle, straight away, wasn’t too happy about that,” he said.

That evening, with the new tattoo still raw, Glen bent on one knee in the couple’s living room with a ring in his open palms.

“Michelle wasn’t feeling well that night … she was lying on the couch,” he said.  “I came home and sat down beside her on the knee and said, ‘Hopefully, this will make you feel better’.”  Michelle said, “Are you going to ask me something?”  Glen tactfully replied, “Surely you can read.”

Michelle said ‘yes’.  “I said, ‘Yes! But I don’t know what I think about that [tattoo]‘.”

I wonder where he’s going to get “I do” tattooed?

Without much of a segue, here’s an article about tattoo remorse.  I swear, this has nothing to do with the previous story.

Most fads are relatively harmless, inexpensive, and, by their very nature, short-lived. Tattoos, however, have become remarkably trendy at the same time they’re as long-lasting as purchases get. If and when you have that sweet $80 tattoo you got on a whim in college removed because it now looks silly, the procedure will wind up being far more painful (“like getting burnt with hot baking grease”) and way more expensive ($3,600!) than when you got tattooed in the first place.

The Boston Globe recently profiled a few of the many tattooed Americans who regret their decisions to go under the needle and now just wish their skin was ink-free. According to a 2008 poll, 16% of the inked suffer from “tattoo remorse,” and the number of people electing to have tattoos removed—like the number of people choosing to get tattoos, by no coincidence—has been on the rise in recent years. In 2009, there were 61,535 surgical procedures performed to remove tattoos.  That doesn’t necessarily mean 61,535 tattoos were actually removed that year. In some cases, it takes 15 or more sessions to remove a single tattoo. Each of these sessions can be an ordeal.

Of all the tattoos that can be later regretted, perhaps none is worse than the name of one’s ex.

In today’s last tattoo-related story, the New York Islanders made history last week by becoming the first major sports team to endorse a tattoo studio.

The New York Islanders have just become the first professional sports team to have an official tattoo parlor. The once storied franchise dominated the NHL in the early 1980s, winning four consecutive Stanley Cups, but it’s been all downhill ever since. The team hasn’t won a playoff round in nearly twenty years, and the city just turned down its request for tax dollars to fund a new stadium. Nassau Coliseum is widely considered the worst arena currently home to a major sports team, but on the bright side, at least now fans will be able to get tributes to Mike Bossy during intermissions.

On ten home dates next season, Tattoo Lou’s will set up a booth offering artwork and body piercings, as well as jewelry and other collectibles. Both the team and the business itself are citing the partnership as a historic boon for the ink industry.

It’s a good thing NHL teams never move cities.  Isn’t that right Quebec City?

Moving on to Fayette County in Georgia, several high school students have been charged after an incident where a 13 year old was forced to have her navel pierced.

Apparently, seventeen year old Christian Tucker, who is a student at Fayette County High School in Fayetteville, has been doing body piercing on other students during breaks at school.

A thirteen year old female student (name withheld) was game for having her naval pierced; but then changed her mind. With the assistance of two other students (who were holding her down), Tucker then proceeded with the piercing.   Tucker was arrested on the scene; and the two other students were charged later.

Tucker is being charged with battery, disruption of public school, and piercing the body of a person under the age of 18.  The school’s administrator responded when notified; and saw the attack first hand.

Detective Mike Whitlow was the reporting officer.  It was later discovered that the 13 year old had witnessed the piercing of another student (who was 18) earlier in the day in the school’s bathroom; and apparently had changed her mind.  It is not known at this time if Tucker charged students for piercings.

Here’s a tip to budding piercers, if you have to get 2 people to hold down a client who doesn’t even want the piercing, it’s best to just put the needle down and walk away.

Well, that’s it for this week’s news.  I’m going to leave you with a video that was sent to me by quite a few people.  It’s Marilyn Manson’s newest music video and features the gorgeous Miss Crash suspending.  I believe Mosh is also featured in it.  Click here to check it out (embedding was disabled).

Have a great weekend everyone.

It’s time again for another news round-up, and I wanted to start off by thanking everyone who sent in news stories this week.  My usual searches didn’t yield too many results, but thanks to you guys, there are some great stories this week.  Remember, you can always send me a link through e-mail or by clicking this link.

Today’s first story is one of tragedy and perseverance.  Lilly Manning is a young woman who spent most of her childhood in a living hell.  She spent years being brutally abused by her foster parents, all while child protective services did nothing to help.  Today Lilly is thankfully out of that environment, and is coming forward to talk about what happened, and what she’s doing now to help her move forward.  Just a heads up, the photos in the galleries include a lot of scars from cuts, which may be triggering to some people.

Lilly Manning was 15 when she escaped from a cramped closet in south Sacramento, after being stabbed and beaten and shoved into the darkness.  This time, she said, she knew she would have to save herself.

Four different agencies visited the family at least 11 times on reports of suspected abuse or neglect in a five-year period but did not move to protect her or her siblings, according to confidential records obtained by The Bee.  “They came, they looked, they left,” said Lilly, now 19, reflecting on the parade of visitors from law enforcement, Child Protective Services and the schools, some of whom she had secretly called.  “We just gave up.”

Today, Lilly Manning lives with more than 100 scars etching her 5-foot-3 body, physical reminders of the hammer attacks, beatings, burns and strikes to the head with a 2-by-4 and a padlock swinging from a cord.  By the time Lilly escaped from the 20-by-26-inch closet in October 2007, her body was so ravaged by torture and abuse that a seasoned sheriff’s detective described it with a single word:  “Horror.”

Clues to that horror, and how they were missed by authorities, are sprinkled throughout the files of multiple agencies interacting with the troubled family.

The records reveal:

• Sacramento County CPS fielded seven emergency referrals regarding the family between 2002 and 2006. The agency determined all the allegations to be “unfounded” or “inconclusive” – until Lilly’s escape, when doctors detailed the head-to-toe physical scars and injuries.

• A Sacramento police officer observed scars on Lilly as far back as 2003, when she was 11, but CPS did not follow up on the officer’s referral. The county Sheriff’s Department responded to two 911 calls alleging abuse but – met with denials and discrepancies – closed the cases.

• A teacher at Hiram Johnson High School, noting scratches on Lilly’s face and arms, referred her to the school nurse in November 2006. The nurse and another school worker scheduled a home visit and were told by Manning-Horvath that her daughter, then 14, was scratched by the dog. Describing the home as “immaculate,” the school’s visitors did not file a formal report.

• A CPS worker didn’t believe the allegation of a “locked closet” because all the home’s closets had sliding double doors except one, which had no lock. Detectives would later find that Lilly’s dungeon was secured with a pole under the doorknob or a brace across the door.

The one agency that responded effectively to the distress signals was Diogenes Youth Services, a 24-hour crisis center for homeless and runaway teens. After Lilly’s escape on Oct. 31, 2007, she said, she hid in a backyard shed but called CPS from a nearby pay phone five days later.

Lilly said a CPS worker told her “there’s nothing we can do” and gave her the Diogenes number. A volunteer at Diogenes picked her up near Fruitridge Road and Stockton Boulevard and took the girl to a safe house.

The secrets came tumbling out.  “We did exactly what we were supposed to do, which pleased me to the highest,” said Diogenes executive director Mike Martin.  “We’ve handled a lot of difficult situations, but by far, this girl was in the worst shape we’ve ever seen.”  Authorities swept in, and the rest of the children were taken into protective custody in the early morning hours of Nov. 6, 2007.  The children would never go home again.

Lilly is leaving Sacramento this week to move to New York state to live with her 22-year-old sister, Natasha, who is in the Army. She plans to help care for Natasha’s 2-year-old daughter, and possibly enroll in online classes.  She said she still wants an explanation for how she came to get her 100 scars.  Last week, as a parting gift to herself, Lilly had a Sacramento tattoo shop finish the poem “Invictus” on her back.

Prosecutor Ho had framed the poem by William Ernest Henley and had given it to Lilly. It begins:

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

There’s a lot more to the story, but the key thing is that Lilly is free from her adoptive parents who are now in prison.

There are a couple more stories up ahead, so keep on reading to see the rest.

In England a trend is being noticed by National Health Services.  Doctors are now referring patients to plastic surgeons for what they’re calling “Designer Vaginas“.  The surgeons are upset because not only do they not want to perform the operations, but also a large number of the patients are under 18, some as young as 11.

GPs should not refer women who are well but worried for female genital cosmetic surgery on the NHS, say experts.  Specialists at a Central London teaching hospital say they received 30 such referrals, mainly from family doctors, over the past three years.  This included eight schoolgirls – one as young as 11 – the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology reports.  Experts say doctors need clear guidance on how best to care for women who mistakenly believe they need surgery.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons says medics need to determine whether a problem exists or whether an alternative solution may be preferable, but offers no advice on how to judge the problem, say the researchers from University College London’s Women’s Health Institute.

They say it may be simpler to ban the procedure in the NHS altogether, leaving it to private practices. Some Primary Care Trusts do this.  And private provider Bupa says the procedure is purely cosmetic and does not offer financial cover for the procedure.  The NHS has no such restriction.

Dr Sarah Creighton and colleagues believe the future demand for so-called “designer vagina” operations or labial reductions is potentially infinite and is driven by society’s wider and growing desire for cosmetic surgery in general and changing expectations about what is a desirable appearance for women.  “It’s shocking, particularly because we are seeing girls who are really young. They are asking for surgery that is irreversible and we do not know what the long-term risks of the procedure might be.”  She said latest figures for England show about 2,000 of the procedures are paid for by the NHS each year.  “That’s probably just the tip of the iceberg. It’s a massive boom industry in the private sector.”  For the study, they reviewed all 33 women referred to their clinic between 2007 and 2010 with requests for a labial reduction.

Upon examination, all of the women were deemed to have “normal” genitalia by the doctors. But three were offered surgery to address “a significant asymmetry”. The remaining 30 were refused any procedure.  All of the women were offered the options of sessions with a clinical psychologist to explore issues leading to their request for surgery.  Twelve of the women said they would be seeking a second opinion and would consider going private to get the surgery if they still could not get it on the NHS.

What you have to remember is that the NHS is the government run healthcare in the UK.  People can opt for additional private medical insurance on top of what they normally get.  I can see the reasoning behind the NHS not paying for cosmetic surgery, but to think that these women have some psychological issue because they wish to modify their bodies is a little extreme.  We’ve seen in North America what can happen to procedures that plastic surgeons refuse to do.  Modification artists will step up, placing themselves in a dangerous position, which could possibly lead to criminal charges against them.  It’s interesting to note that there’s no mention of male circumcision in the article.  Does NHS cover that?  It’s a procedure that’s strictly cosmetic, yet for some reason it isn’t frowned upon like labia reduction surgery is.

Over in Indonesia an airline is coming under fire for their hiring practices when it comes to flight attendants.

Applicants for cabin crew for Garuda Indonesia charged that they were asked to strip to their underwear and a male Indonesian doctor touched part of their breasts for implants. The airline’s office in Seoul said it is company policy for cabin crew to have no tattoos and breast implants.

Garuda spokesperson Pudjobroto denied local media reports that applicants stripped naked and their breasts were fondled. He said breast implants are health risks during a sharp drop of air pressure and the physical examination adhered to international standard and practice in the airline industry.

However, the Seoul-based Sexual Violence Relief Center called the practice unnecessary and intrusive.  A spokesman for South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air said the airline does not conduct such physical exams and called the Jakarta-based airline’s tests “bizarre.”  The breast implant check, according to the spokesman, suggests that passengers with breast implant should not fly either.

Finally, with the earthquake that rocked Virginia and the eastern seaboard this week a number of people got to experience the ground shaking for the first time.  One NYC resident went so far as to get a tattoo to commemorate it.

Customers of a Brooklyn tattoo shop are signing up to have “Survived the Quake” inked on their skin – even though the design was offered as a joke.  Getting the black logo will hurt more than Tuesday’s tremor, which did little more in New York than rattle some nerves.  In fact, tattoo shop owner Joe Khay was mocking all the amped-up angst about the quake when he made the design.  “My whole shop was swaying back and forth,” said Khay, who owns Citizen Ink Studios in Sheepshead Bay. “We thought we were hung over or something.

Jonathan Berg, 21, had it inscribed on his waist.  “It was just that people were freaking out,” said Berg, a Brenman’s Prime Meat Market employee who was sitting at home watching the YES Network when New York swayed.  “It was just a minor thing, and people were making it into a serious subject. I thought that was pretty hilarious,” said the Gerritsen Beach man, who has 14 other tattoos.  “I told my wife I’m going to get it, and she called me crazy,” Berg said.

I wonder if he’s going to get an Irene tattoo after this weekend.

All joking aside, all of us here at BME are watching the news closely, and we hope that everyone in the path of this hurricane is safe and secure and gets through it without a scratch.  There are a lot of BME folk in NYC, so if you can get online after the storm, just check in and let someone know you’re alright.

That’s it for this week’s news.  Again, stay safe this weekend, and we’ll see you back here Monday.

This week’s news post is going to be a short one.  It seems that there wasn’t a lot going on around the world this week, at least in terms of body modification.  That said, there are still a couple of stories for your reading enjoyment.

First up this week is Q&A with the author of Breastfeeding In Combat Boots, Robyn Roche-Paul.  This particular interview is target to women with nipple piercings who are worried about breastfeeding when they have children.

So if a woman wants a nipple piercing, should she worry that eventually she’ll want to breastfeed, and this’ll screw things up?

Robyn Roche-Paull: No. Chances are, she’ll be fine. Repeated piercings sometimes create scar tissue that can block milk ducts, but in general, a clean piercing by a reputable, professional piercer shouldn’t cause issues. Anecdotally, I have found that breastfeeding is not affected by established nipple piercings. However, some moms do find that they leak, copiously, due to the extra holes in the nipples … and some babies can find the extra flow difficult to manage. But nothing that isn’t manageable by breast pads and some positioning changes.

Will a nursing mother have to take the piercing out when she breastfeeds?

I would recommend that, yes. A baby could choke on a piece of jewelry if it comes apart. It can also cause mouth sores in the baby and harbor bacteria. The mom can take it out for each feeding, or just take it out for the duration of her breastfeeding. She can also use flexible Teflon jewelry while she’s breastfeeding.

The interview goes on to talk about when it’s a good time to get pierced if you’re planning a family.

There’s a few more stories to come, so just click the read more button to see the rest.

Next up, we head over to New Jersey where a group of students have come up with a way to use tattoos as a means of creating permanent empathy.

If typical internship activities include filing and making coffee, Stephanie Krivitzky’s 10 weeks with the BBH Barn were anything but orthodox.  The 22-year-old native of Montclair, N.J., dreamed up The Social Tattoo Project with fellow interns Jenn Huang and Haywood Watkins III. The three were tasked with a very brief mission: “Change perception famously.”

“We wanted to focus on changing perception, because we figured if we had a good idea we’d become famous anyway,” Krivitzky told The Huffington Post. They decided to focus on apathy and the expiration of empathy. Noticing that issues that remained pressing, such as the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Haiti, were no longer a part of the American consciousness, they set about finding a way to create a sense of permanent concern. The first five topics they chose to center on were the aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake, the Japan earthquake and tsunami, the Norway bombings, human trafficking and poverty.

Once the topics were chosen, the group sought out volunteers who would agree to get a tattoo that they had never seen. The tattoos would serve as a permanent mark of empathy for the victims of the five crises.

The Social Tattoo Project has inked five people, the themes of which were selected via voting on Twitter when followers would use hashtags to vote for a subject and the most popular subject would be the focus of the next tattoo. These tattoos cost them the entirety of their $1,000 budget from BBH. Sacred Tattoo in New York City provided the group with a 50 percent discount, which Krivitzky said saved the project.

I guess if they did this to become famous, it sort of worked.  I can’t fault them for trying to remind people that just because the media decided a story wasn’t worth following any more, it doesn’t make the people affected by it go away.

Scientists in The Netherlands have developed a synthetic skin combining human cells and spider silk.  This new type of skin is the first generation of what they hope will become bulletproof human skin that can be grafted onto soldiers.

A Dutch team created a piece of “bulletproof” skin from special, U.S.-made spider silk and human skin cells and found that it indeed can repel bullets — as long as they’re not traveling too fast.  The bulletproof skin showed its superiority over normal human skin by stopping a bullet fired at a reduced speed. But it fell short of surviving a shot at normal speed from a .22 caliber rifle, the benchmark for protection for a Type 1 bulletproof vest.

The special brand of spider silk came from genetically modified goats and worms at Utah State University in Logan. U.S. researchers have spent years harvesting the spider silk protein from the goat milk to try to make new types of super-strong fibers.  Essaidi combined the spider silk with human skin cells from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands.  Such skin is still a long way from adding practical protection to humans, but it gives a glimpse of what future soldiers or would-be superheroes might expect.

You know, as cool as this is, they could have saved a lot of time just by getting bitten by a radioactive spider.

Finally, if you’ve got 15 grand laying around, you can get yourself a pair of contact lenses encrusted with diamonds.

Creator Dr. Chandrashekhar Chawan told Today he got the idea for diamond contact lenses after his wife had the precious stones implanted in her teeth. His new La Ser eye jewelry line features contacts with 18 diamonds adorning a yellow or white gold ring around the lenses. He uses Boston Scleral lenses, which are typically used to treat eye illnesses, to prevent the lenses from touching the cornea. Only 3,996 sets will be made, and Chawan hopes to sell them outside of India. Experts, however, are skeptical about their safety.

Sal Riggio, a licensed optician at Manhattan Grand Optical in New York City had never heard of the diamond contacts until we brought them to his attention, but he dismissed them when he learned they were not FDA approved. “I don’t know if they’re comfortable and I don’t know if they’re healthy,” Riggio told us. “When they’re FDA approved and distributed in this country then we’ll learn about them, but it sounds ridiculous and unreasonable to me. Do I see a purpose? No, but today’s generation under 30, they do a lot of crazy things to their bodies. Tattoos, piercings—they probably would try it.” He laughed when we told him about the $15,000 price tag. “You’re going to have to call someone in Beverly Hills, because I don’t know anyone here willing to pay that. You won’t ever see them in my store.”

Today reached out to Dr. Rajesh Khanna, a cornea and refractive surgeon, who also had major misgivings about the glittery contacts, especially using the Boston Scleral lenses on patients who don’t need to wear them. “It’s a cumbersome, bulky lens, which has to be filled with saline solution and then inserted in the eye,” he told them. “The risk-benefit ratio is vastly different than for a person with healthy eyesight.”

Sure this may not be a permanent modification, but spending that kind of money to change the appearance of your eyes, is definitely a commitment, especially with the risks present.

Well, that’s it for this week.  I told you it was going to be a short news post.  If you’ve got a story you think should be included in next week’s news post, send me an e-mail or simply click this link.

Have a great weekend everyone, and I’ll see you back here Monday.

It’s time again for the weekly newsfeed roundup, and this week is a pretty good one.  We’ve got stories on medical advancements, religion and tattoos, and how one state is bringing members of the APP on board to help draft up piercing regulations.

To start off today, researchers have created a “tattoo-like” electronic film that can be used to monitor a person’s vital signs.

In a paper published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, researchers explain that they embedded electronic sensors in a film thinner than the diameter of a human hair – and then placed it on a polyester backing like that used for kids’ temporary tattoos. The result? A sensor flexible that is enough to bend with human skin.

Instead of using an adhesive, the bandage-like device relies on a weak force called the van der Waals force, which causes molecules and surfaces to stick together without interfering with motion. Sound familiar? This is the force that allows geckos to climb smooth vertical surfaces. In tests, the device remained in place for up to 24 hours. Although normal shedding of skin cells would eventually cause the monitors to come off, Rogers said he thought they could remain in place as long as two weeks.

In addition to monitoring heart rate and temperature, the device could monitor brain waves, aid muscle movement, sense the larynx for speech, emit heat to help heal wounds and perhaps even be made touch sensitive and placed on artificial limbs, Rogers said. He declined to state how soon the electronic skin would be ready for market or what it would cost.

The device could help fill the need for equipment that has more reliable monitoring – and is more convenient and less stressful for patients, said Zhenqiang Ma, a University of Wisconsin engineering professor who was not part of the research team. The device can simply be stuck on or peeled off like an adhesive bandage, he said.

There’s a lot more news to come so grab a drink, put your feet up, and keep on reading.

I’ve posted a couple of amputation related stories in the past week or so, with a lot of discussion going on behind the motivations for self amputation.  However, this story isn’t about those who choose amputation, but about someone who didn’t have the choice, and is doing something for all amputees.

Hugh Herr’s legs were amputated below his knees in 1982 after a climbing accident. From his knees down to the floor, he’s completely artificial.  “I’m titanium, carbon, silicon, a bunch of nuts and bolts,” he tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. “My limbs that I wear have 12 computers, five sensors and muscle-like actuator systems that able me to move throughout my day.”  But Herr doesn’t just wear artificial legs. He designs them, too. As the director of the Biomechatronics Group at the MIT Media Lab, Herr and his team are responsible for creating prosthetic devices that feel and act like biological limbs.

“My biological body will degrade in time due to normal, age-related degeneration. But the artificial part of my body improves in time because I can upgrade. … So I predict that when I’m 80 years old, I’ll be able to walk with less energy than is required of a person who has biological legs, I’ll be more stable, and I’ll probably be able to run faster. … The artificial part of my body is, in some sense, immortal.”

“We want the bionic limb to have a humanlike shape but we don’t want the bionic leg to look human. We want it to look like a beautiful machine, to express machine beauty as opposed to human beauty — and the reason is, we want the user to pull a black sock over their bionic limb and have their limb appear to be fully biological and then the very next evening, go to a fancy party where they pull that sock off and they expose the fact that part of their body is bionic.”

It’s an interesting read about someone who has embraced his amputation, and sees his artificial limbs as an extension of his body.  By modifying his limbs, he sees it as modifying himself, as these limbs are now part of who he is.

This next story is one that is still years from becoming a reality, but it is one step closer to developing artificial organs that can be implanted into a person.

Researchers have created an artificial lung that uses air as a ventilating gas instead of pure oxygen – as is the case with current man-made lungs, which require heavy tanks of oxygen that limit their portability. The prototype device was built following the natural lung’s design and tiny dimensions and the researchers say it has reached efficiencies akin to the genuine organ. With a volume roughly the same as a human lung, the device could be implanted into a person and even be driven by the heart.

The artificial lung is filled with breathable silicone rubber versions of the blood vessels that branch down to a diameter less than one-fourth of human hair. It was created by first building a mould with miniature features and then layering on a liquid silicone rubber that solidified into artificial capillaries and alveoli. They air and blood channels were then separated with a gas diffusion membrane.

Potkay says the device is a major step towards an easily portable and implantable artificial lung and the team envisions patients using the technology while allowing their own diseased lungs to heal, or implanting one while awaiting a lung transplant.

Science.  It works, bitches.

In other news, the CDC is investigating a rare bacterium that has been linked to tattoos from a studio in Washington.

In the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal published by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), it has been reported that rare and difficult-to-treat bacterial infection even in healthy individuals can be linked to tattoos. The conclusion was based on researchers findings which identified skin infections caused by Mycobacterium haemophilum in two healthy adults who were tattooed at the same parlor.

Mycobacterium haemophilum belongs to the same family of bacteria which causes tuberculosis and leprosy, is unresponsive to treatment with antimicrobial drugs and usually affects adults with impaired immunity. The infection produces subcutaneous nodules, papules, pustules commonly painless at first but eventually progressing into deep ulcers that are potentially very painful.

Since no deviations from Washington State safety and sanitation standards were recognized at the tattoo parlor, water used in a rinse solution applied during and after tattooing and to dilute ink for shading is suspected to be the source of the bacteria.

The industry standards do not specifically require tattoo artists to use steam-distilled or sterile water when rinsing needles or diluting ink, and tap water is often used in the parlors. With water being a suspected reservoir for the bacterium Mycobacterium haemophilum, the CDC has advised against using tap water for tattoo procedures, although infections attributable to water appear very rare.

That’s some pretty scary stuff, and hopefully it prompts more artists to consider using some form of sterile water for rinsing.  Of course, this is VERY RARE, and isolated to one studio, so it could just be an overreaction on the part of the CDC.

Speaking of communicable diseases, a studio in Coleman, AB has been closed due to Alberta Heath Services discovering that piercings were taking place without proper sterilization techniques.  This closure applies to the Victor Proctor piercing operation that was running independently out of Tommy Gun Tattoo Shop.  Anyone who has had piercings done at this location is urged to get blood work done immediately.

While on the subject of transmittable diseases, CNN has done an interview with an HIV positive man, discussing what the biohazard symbol means to him.

Howard might not have come across as such a calm person in late 2005, when he found out he was HIV-positive. After his diagnosis, he felt “dirty” in his own skin, and feared infecting others if he so much as cut his hand. Getting the wrist tattoos helped him in his journey toward self-acceptance.  “It’s a branding of who I am, and it’s a branding of being comfortable with that, being comfortable with who I am,” said Howard, 37, who lives in Portland, Oregon.

Howard is one of many people living with HIV who have chosen to get tattoos to represent living with the disease. They say these tattoos help start conversations, reduce stigma and serve as reminders of how living with HIV has changed their lives.

The origins of HIV-related tattoos are murky, but the biohazard symbol is recognized in connection with HIV among many gay men, said David Dempsey, clinical director at the Alexian Brothers Bonaventure House in Chicago and The Harbor in Waukegan, Illinois, both transitional living facilities for HIV-positive individuals recovering from alcohol and substance dependence.  “It’s to let other men know that they’re HIV-positive so that they don’t have to come out and say it,” he said. In situations of anonymous sex, it can signal status to potential partners and, in that sense, may help with prevention, because unprotected sex with an HIV-infected individual can spread the disease, he said.  For those with HIV, seeing someone else with a biohazard symbol is a sign this is another person living with the disease who might provide support, Conley said, like a “secret identification code.”

It goes on to delve into the history behind the biohazard symbol, as well as how it has come to help many HIV positive people cope with the stigma of having the disease.

Speaking of stigmas, one particular stigma has followed people with tattoos for centuries.  According to some religions, getting tattooed goes against their teachings and can even go so far as to prevent them from having a funeral service in accordance with their faith.  This can pose a problem for young people who wish to honor their faith with a tattoo, as doing so could put them in a position later in life that they may not wish to be in.

From an historic perspective, the prohibition against tattooing and, by extension, branding and scarification, was intended to prevent ancient Israelites from following the religious practices of non-Jews in general, and Baal worshipers specifically. In biblical times the Tribe lived in close proximity to non-Jews who practiced ceremonial tattooing to honor their gods and their dead, a form of idol worship and something which absolutely must be forbidden for Jews as a way of insuring a strong, enduring, Jewish identity.

While it is true that tattoos have been considered completely forbidden, regardless of intent, for nearly 1,000 years, there were at least 2,000 years of Jewish life and culture that did not completely ban tattoos, as well as a fairly significant period of time between the two opposing viewpoints where the meaning and effect of Leviticus 19:28 was rigorously debated, an argument that continues to this day. It has even been suggested by a number of archaeologists that ancient Jews practiced tattooing themselves, within a Jewish framework and completely free of the taint of idolatry.

In our zealous eagerness to prohibit all tattoos, an attempt to insure the greatest level piety and conformation with the laws of the Torah, we may have lost sight of our original mitzvah, to simply not tattoo as idol worship in order to foster a strong, lasting Jewish identity. In the process of increasing our piety and stretching the possible meanings of the mitzvah, we may have prevented others from expressing their Jewish identities in a way that was acceptable for the majority of Jewish history, tattooing.

In today’s final story, piercers in Oregon have been asked to volunteer to be a part of the states new Board of Body Art Practitioners.

Jon Guac burned a design into his skin with a candle and fork to prove a point during a dinner debate about whether branding was an art form. As a teenager, he carved “Iron Maiden” into his arm “for experimentation.”  Stories like his, along with graphic photos of extreme body modifications, encouraged the 2011 Oregon Legislature to establish a new Board of Body Art Practitioners. But body piercers worry that Internet photos of untrained hacks slicing bloody skin with scalpels will distract the board from writing rules for what they say is a bigger problem: licenses for common piercings like ears and belly buttons. The board will oversee a hodge-podge of ‘body arts,’ from tattoos and ear piercings to laser hair removal and designs burned into the skin. The governor’s office is looking for seven members: two body piercers, two tattooists, one electrologist, one health care provider and one member of the general public.

Some legislators endorse the creation of specialty licenses for some body arts that verge on being a medical procedure and require advanced knowledge of anatomy. Others think high-risk procedures simply should be banned.   “If you regulate, that implies you will have clinical training,” Sen. Frank Morse, R-Albany, said in a hearing. “Where are you going to find clinical training to put double rings in the glans on a penis?”   Piercers say it’s a waste of resources to regulate the things that most frightened the Legislature. Very few people are interested in extreme body modifications and even fewer offer those services, often traveling the country to find enough clients. Regulations or bans would not slow the practices, just move them farther underground, they argue.

Most piercers want to focus energy on reforms for the more commonplace piercing industry. They suggest changes to improve customer safety, thin the crowd of under-qualified competitors and level the economic playing field for jewelry made from better materials.   Nearly 500 people are licensed body piercers in the state, a 30 percent increase from 2008. No specialized training is required to receive an Oregon piercing license. A person just has to be 18 years old with a high school diploma or equivalent and submit proof of training on blood born pathogens.

Blake Perlingieri, owner of Nomad Precision Body Adornment and Tribal Museum, thinks it’s about time Oregon caught up on body piercing regulation.   Perlingieri began his apprenticeship at the opening of the world’s second piercing studio in 1988, co-founded the Association of Professional Piercers in 1994 and helped petition the California Legislature for sanitation standards that have been adopted widely in the U.S.  As the piercing world ballooned from a pocket of urban subcultures into mainstream popularity, training didn’t keep up. Piercers of all experience levels opened shops to meet the growing demand, sharing their often-limited experience with new staff and endangering their customers with poor work more likely to become infected.   Perlingieri petitioned the Oregon Legislature in the 1990s to adopt training standards similar to a cosmetology license. He proposed issuing temporary licenses to apprentices until they have done thousands of piercings.

That’s it for this week’s news.  Have a fun and safe weekend and I’ll see you back here Monday.

Remember if you ever come across a story you think should be included in the news roundup, simply click here, or send me an e-mail: [email protected]

You know, every time I type in the headline for the news roundup I hear The Daily Show theme in my head.  Last week’s news went MIA when my internet decided to crap out on me for the weekend, however, this week everything is up and running, and there are some pretty interesting stories making the rounds.

First up is an interview with Baltimore‘s very own blue man, Mr. Bluecomma, Jim Hall.

Hall, 67, a recent retiree from Baltimore City’s Planning Department, stands 6-foot-3 and his cut-off jeans and T-shirt reveal shaved-head-to-toe tattooed skin, inked blue and swarming with black swirls and crescents. Hall proudly explains that his tattoo is singular, one big skin-adorning tapestry, much as a Miro extravaganza is one painting with lots of free floating forms. A skin-scape.  He is no less shocking on the streets of Baltimore than what the Romans encountered during their first failed invasion of the British Isles in the 1st century A.D. The Picts merely painted themselves blue for battle. Hall has inked himself blue for life.

Hall has lived in Federal Hill since 1972, but has kept his blue-skinned project a relative secret. In fact, Hall has been something of an urban hermit, avoiding publicity. But now Hall is interested in talking about his transformation into what he describes as “a new human species.” You see, Hall’s metamorphosis from a boxed-in city bureaucrat to a walking spectacle isn’t just skin deep.

What started out as a penis extension turned into three extra testicles, butt implants, chest implants, and more alterations to his penis, including a spike through it fastened by two rings the size of silver dollars. Not only did Hall have to endure the pain and the commitment of sticking with a body-modification plan 35 years in the making, also he estimates he has forked over more than $135,000.  “Most people are born freaks, I turned myself into one,” Hall says, laughing. There’s another catchy saying he repeats innumerable times over the course of several interviews: “I’m glad you have to figure it out and not me.”

It’s a fantastic interview with a heavily modded gentleman who has a great outlook on life, and his personal changes.

More news to come, including yet another salvo fired in the war over Hermosa Beach’s tattoo studios.

We’ll head right into the next story which centers on Hermosa Beach and their continual battle against the town’s tattoo studios.  This started early last year when the town banned any studios from operating.  The studios filed a suit which made it all the way up to the 9th circuit where it was ruled that tattoos and tattoo studios are protected under the first amendment.  Since then, the town has taken steps to marginalize the presence of the studios, while also paying the studio owners the judgement from the lawsuit.  While the town has waved the white flag, some of the citizens are still clinging to hope that if they make enough noise, the studios will go away.  Not likely.

The battle continued this week for Citizens United against Hermosa Beach, who are trying to force the city to create a more restrictive tattoo studio ordinance.  The group brought a lawsuit against the city on April 14, claiming it did not take the proper steps to zone for incoming tattoo shops after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled such businesses are protected under the First Amendment. Citizens United claims the city should have gone through its Planning Commission first, notified all residents near the proposed commercial zones and not adopted the new restrictions so swiftly.

Hany Fangary of Citizens United said the group plans to file the Second Amended Complaint that states the city did not properly publish notifications about public hearings on tattoo zoning and regulations before making them official.  He said the Hermosa Beach City Council “intentionally moved to cut out input from residents” while going through the motions of creating its tattoo ordinances. Fangary said Citizens United would ultimately like Hermosa Beach to keep tattoo shops 100 feet from residences, 200 feet from schools and parks, close by 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. and not offer body piercing. This summer the Planning Commission suggested adding those additional restrictions, but the council denied them.

Mayor Howard Fishman voiced his displeasure for having to fight lawsuits that continually chew up municipal funds.  “They have the right to pursue a legal action,” Fishman said of Citizens United. “However, I dislike lawsuits and spending taxpayer money to defend the city’s interest.”

At what point do you think they’ll finally give up?  The studios are there to stay, and there’s only so much the courts will put up with before they shut down this group.

Another case of NIMBY is happening in LeRoy, NY where a pastor who operates a small church out of his living room was recently permitted to run a tattoo studio out of him home, but is encountering difficulties with having his home recognized as a church.

It’s difficult to overlook Eric Schultz in a small community. He is 7-feet tall, wears a clerical collar and has a tattoo that covers the left half of his face.  Schultz, 40, also known as Father Eric, is founder of the months-old Church of Clarity in the Word of Christ, a small congregation based in his village home, 23 Lincoln Ave, where he also runs a body art parlor, Zoo Tattoo.  Now, Schultz is seeking from the village a special use permit required for running a church in a residential neighborhood, but the request has encountered opposition from neighbors, several of whom spoke out at a public hearing this month.

Schultz and his wife of six months, Jean, 42, established the Christian church, which has about 15 members, in January.  “God said to. God made it very clear to me,” Schultz said.  The church has adopted teachings and theology from Catholicism and other Christian faiths. One of the texts it uses is the Catholic edition of the New American Bible.  “We don’t subscribe to a denomination. That gets into a whole big area of semantics,” Schultz said.

His neighbors, however, are adamantly opposed to Schultz conducting services in his house.  “There’s not one in favor. It would not help the community at all,” said Richard Schimley, of 20 Bradnell Ave., a block away from Lincoln.  Schimley, a retired financial adviser, questioned Schultz’s credentials.  “He’s a self-proclaimed priest, minister, pastor or whatever it is,” Schimley said.  He believes one of the reasons Schultz has organized a church is to obtain tax-exempt status for his house. He suggested Schultz conduct his services by renting space in another church in the community.

Schultz said the concerns of his neighbors are based on incorrect assumptions.  “They thought that we were a church that worshipped tattoos,” he said. “There was a lot of opposition to having a church in the house.  “Really, we’re not doing anything.”

The Rev. Schultz emphasized tattooing is his trade but is separate from his church teachings. Body art is not required and the congregation doesn’t judge people about choices they’ve made in the past, he said.  Schultz’s own facial art has no religious significance. He said it’s similar to tattoos the Maori, indigenous natives of New Zealand, put on their faces.  He said he had it done years ago for its “shock value.” Schultz said he was “lost” and exploring various belief systems.  The Bible doesn’t address the issue of tattoos and has less in it about body art than it does about haircuts, Schultz said.

Over in South Korea, tattooing is still fairly taboo.  In fact only doctors are legally permitted to tattoo anyone.  However, with the popularity of tattoos on the rise, a number of artists are coming out of hiding with the hope that attitudes will change.

There are no signs indicating that a three-story building in the fashionable Hongdae area in western Seoul is home to a busy tattoo parlor. After walking up three flights of stairs to Tattoo People, one is greeted only by a large, black door, and, before walking through it, is required to change into slippers and make as little noise as possible as not to disturb the artists who may be inking skin inside.  It’s not illegal to get inked in South Korea, but hundreds of tattoo shops operate underground and outside the purview of the law. Many of them are run by artists who openly advertise their services online and in magazines despite frequent government crackdowns.

In Korea, only licensed doctors can ink skin. Violators can be fined up to 20 million won ($18,939).  This outdated medical law has caused much debate: If skin ink is an art, then how is it possible that only doctors can give tattoos? Many argue that doctors do not have the skill it takes to be tattoo artists.  Historically, criminals were stigmatized with tattoos and cast out from society in Korea. Tattoos have often been associated with criminal behavior as well as membership in the Korean mafia, known as “kkangpae,” or “gangsters.”  Aerok Kim is an influential tattoo promoter and founder of Korea’s most well-known tattoo shop called Tattoo Korea. He has had his parlor raided by police on separate accounts.  “I called my lawyers who came in and asked the officers to leave,” he said.  Most owners are not as lucky. Many tattoo artists cannot afford lawyers and live life on the run, setting up shop in a new location every couple of years to avoid run-ins with authorities.

Last year, the famous Korean singer Park Jae-bum, a former member of boy band 2pm, visited Tattoo Korea to request three tattoos: one behind each ear and one on his chest.   “The next day, we received over 100 phone inquires and a lot of people were requesting the same tattoos,” Kim said.  Tattoos have also been popularized through sports.  Well-known Korean football player Ahn Jung-hwan flashed his tattoo to the world when he revealed it at a soccer match in 2003.  When South Korea hosted the World Cup in 2002, it was evident that a few soccer players were sporting tattoos, helping to make it a more culturally acceptable trend.

To keep up with customer demand, Kim hopes to see changes in the laws restricting who can give tattoos and hopes that necessary changes will be made in order for industry standards to be raised.  “Right now there are no sanitation standards set up in Korea and many unqualified young artists are working without a license because there isn’t any training available,” he said.

Moving on to the UK, police officers in Kent are being ordered to cover up any tattoos they may have.

The Police Federation, which represents officers, objected to the guidance and said tattoos could be an “ice-breaker” between the police and young people.  Assistant Ch Con Allyn Thomas said staff were expected to look professional and smart while on duty.  Kent Police Federation chairman Ian Pointon said the guidance highlighted “a generational gap”.

A statement issued by Kent Police said: “The policy at Kent Police is that some tattoos could potentially offend members of the public or colleagues, or could bring discredit to the police service.  “Staff with tattoos that detract from displaying a professional image may be asked to cover them. A tattoo is deemed to be offensive if it is rude, lewd, crude, discriminatory, violent or intimidating.”  Mr Thomas said: “As has always been the case at Kent Police, there is an expectation that officers and staff maintain a standard of appearance and dress considered professional, smart and approachable, whilst on duty.”  Kent Police guidance on tattoos states: “Tattoos which may be considered to be offensive to any person, and/or are excessive – for example, covering a large area – will remain covered.”

Maybe the next generation of officers will finally be able to work without having to hide who they are.

Just a couple more stories to go, and then it’s off to the weekend.  Philly.com did an interesting piece last week on the artists who donate their time to provide breast cancer survivors a replacement nipple.

Her wholly round 36Cs exposed, Paula Johnson watches Rose Marie Beauchemin mix pigment – first a little brown, then a little pink.  Through the magic of permanent makeup, Beauchemin is about to tattoo nipples on Johnson’s reconstructed breasts.  “It’s all about creating the illusion of protrusion,” Beauchemin said one recent Monday afternoon at her Mount Laurel office as she gradually shaded in Johnson’s areola and nipple area.  After just three sessions, Johnson’s nipples look like the work of Mother Nature rather than Beauchemin’s deft use of an electronic magic marker.  “This was the last step for me,” said Johnson, 55, a trace of relief in her voice. The grandmother from Cherry Hill endured a double mastectomy two years ago after she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Johnson’s mother died from the disease.

After all, Beauchemin points out, it’s the nipple that makes a breast a breast. This is why Beauchemin offers her tattooing services free to breast cancer survivors at her Beau Institute.  “I don’t want women walking around without something that’s so important to them that takes me less than an hour to do,” said Beauchemin, who normally charges $300 to $800 per tattoo for women who have scarring from breast reductions or men who have had fat removed from their breasts. Beauchemin, with perfectly cut black hair and unsmudged eyeliner and lipstick, worked as a makeup artist for most of her career. Then in the early ’90s, a surgeon friend of hers suggested she learn the art of permanent makeup to help him with his trauma practice. He would reconstruct limbs lost in car and lawn-mower accidents, and she would use permanent makeup to cover up the scars.

This next story was sent to me by Jeanne who used “Can you read French?” as the subject line.  While my French has all but left me, I was still able to piece together enough to tell you this next story is pretty cool. About an hour north of Montreal lies the small town of Val Morin, which is home to a world renown Hindu temple and yoga center.  It is at this place in the mountains of Quebec that people gather to celebrate Kavadi every year.  Please excuse the very poor translation of the article, as I used an online translator which doesn’t differentiate between Quebec French and France French.

Smile at the lips, Mr. Tavakumar shows its bloody wounds to the movie camera. On his face, no sign of pain or of sunstroke. One feels it fresh as a rose. It nevertheless has just passed five complete hours suspended in the airs, with hooks in the back.  Mr. Tavakumar was the one of the participants of Kaavadi, the Hindu festival that took place last Sunday to Valley morin. Each year since near of 20 years, the small city of the Laurentides welcomes thousands of Tamouls of origin sri-lankaise, come from as far as Toronto and Ottawa to pay homage to the God Muruga.

In 1962, the guru of the yoga Swami Vishnudevnanda had a heart blow for Valley morin in the Laurentides. Listening only his intuition, it there was founded a yoga center that is again today a high place of the meditation to Canada, indeed to the world. At first years 90, it let a temple construct to the same place, while dedicating it to the Hindu god Muruga. The place became a pilgrimage place for the Tamouls of North America, that there celebrate since the festival Kaavadi. The first years, it was necessary to agree with the resident of Valley morin. But today, the party more better is organized: the SQ checks the crowds and the volunteer ones of the center of yoga clean the town once the past parade. Swami Vishnudevnanda, that devoted a passion to the aviation, deceased in India in 1993, but his airplane is exposed to Valley morin close to the temple Subramanya/Ayyapa.

Again, that’s a horrible translation and I’d be more than willing to change it up if any of our Quebec readers could provide a better translation.

Today’s final story is from Esquire, where a professional Tumblrer (is that even a word?) interviews himself about why tattoos are stylish, and how to dress to impress.  For the record, Rachel sent me this story and we both got a pretty good laugh at it.

It started for me in 1993 or 1994. I was in Miami — and this is a bad, clichéd story: I had a pair of white Dries Van Noten sailor pants. So I thought I had to have a sailor tattoo: a heart with a dagger through it that said MOM on my left bicep.

My mom was not impressed, by the way.

What people say is true: The first one is a gateway drug. It will lead to another: “Oh, shit, I want something else.”

I was 39 when I did, essentially, a three-quarter sleeve on my left arm. It was very late in life, which is good: I can’t think of any decision I made at 19 that I’d be happy with at 39 or even now, at 51.

What will they look like at 80? You can’t think about it. Look, if I’m still standing at 80, that in and of itself will be a miracle. However I look will be just fine.

Yes, there are probably too many tattoos. But there are too many bad haircuts, too many bad shoe choices, too many bad jeans.

Because it’s so permanent, that’s a filter.

That’s so scary to me. You can tell when someone has them removed. It’s like plastic surgery. You’re not fooling anyone.

It goes on, but I could only stomach so much.

That’s it for this week everyone.  Have a great weekend and remember to keep sending in those stories.