If you are chubby, Chinese, tattooed, pierced and in college, the People’s Liberation Army wants you. While the U.S. Marine Corps has tightened appearance standards in recent years — banning certain types of tattoos and cracking down on those who don’t make weight — the Chinese government is easing standards in hopes of drawing younger, better educated, urban youth. The Chinese military has lifted a ban on face and neck tattoos which have grown popular among fashionable youth, but they must be less than two centimeters across. Recruits can now also have ear piercings if holes are not obvious. And…
Browsing: tattoos
MARJAH, Afghanistan – When I came to Afghanistan, I expected to find many strange and unusual sights. A gunnery sergeant with a tattoo of Sarah Palin on his buttocks wasn’t one of them. So it is, however. Within minutes of meeting Marines who patrol this former Taliban stronghold from the Yellow Schoolhouse, a rundown former Afghan school here, I was asked my opinion about Palin, a hero to many politically conservative Americans. Before I had a chance to answer, however, I was introduced to fun-loving Gunnery Sgt. Benjamin Lepping’s left butt cheek. Sure enough, there’s a realistic caricature of Palin…
