Showing their insides.

I have no tattoos. Several smoky-drinkers do, some with particularly artistic ones, but I've never come across any image or text I wanted to have permanently etched into me so I remain unillustrated. So far.

This guy, however, has taken it to a whole new level. I'd never do it, but I still think it's brilliant. What an idea! What fantastic eccentricity! He makes money with his illustrated skin too, it's not like he's costing anyone anything and as far as I know, not even the Dreadful Arnott has managed to devise passive ink. Yet.

Okay, it might not seem such a great idea when he's older. When I was a wage slave, one of the retired guys I had worked with previously (and still do) would come in once a year with a form. Apparently, to keep his pension going, he had to provide evidence once a year that he was still alive. Just phoning up and saying 'Yes, I'm still alive' wasn't enough. An existing employee had to sign to prove it. If he was tattoed like that, it might not be such an easy decision. 'I'm alive'. 'Are you sure?'.

That, however, is his problem. I have no doubt he has considered it since his friends and family (and, judging by the article, the tattoo artist who did the work) have almost certainly pointed this out. Perhaps he won't be so happy with it when he's 60 but in the meantime, I want that guy on a book cover. He is perfect for this zombie tale.

It's one of those stories the denormalised read and think 'Whoa. Neat.' then move on with their lives. Normal people, as defined by the modern world, have a different view and express it in the comments.

VERY SAD - to abuse the gift of a healthy beautiful body like this; it is mental illness not cool at all and people justify it and say he makes a lot of money and he looks 'cool' what planet are you on? You are all mad if you think this is beautiful or life enhancing. It is depressing - laura, oxford, 10/3/2011 20:17

Being different is a mental illness. I have no doubt that Laura supports diversity while disparaging anyone who tries to express it. Really, it's time the meaning and the motivation behind 'doublethink' were explained to the monosyllabic masses. Reach around the backs of their heads and pull out that little plastic tag. The one that lets their brain's battery make contact. It's long past time they started using it.

Tattoos are just plain ugly and are generaly a way for drab people with little future to make a statement - that statement being 'I'm not drab really', but it doesn't work. They just look desperate as they waddle around displaying their tats. Then they go back to their semi or council flat and have their fish finger and chips dinner with their mum thinking. . . I'm so unique, "pass us the HP wudya chuck". of course one in a million carry them off well, becks, jolie etc.... just don't flatter yourself folks 99.9% just look cheap, tacky and tastless. - jane, herts, 10/3/2011 15:30

Tattoos are cool if celebs have them, but for the proles they are just tacky. I picture Jane deep in the pages of 'Hello', perhaps wearing a coat made of dead rodents while her silicon valley is topped with a string of oyster shit. Maybe that's just how she imagines herself, but we must be deferential because she is better than us. She is so in touch with the world that she thinks people put HP sauce on fish and chips. Has she no breeding, no culture? It's ketchup with fish and chips, you mannerless clod. HP sauce is for bacon butties and fried egg sandwiches. Honestly, these people just have no idea of proper etiquette at all. One day she will be invited to a smoky-drinky and she will be such an embarrasment. HP sauce on fish and chips? We just won't know where to look.

I would guess he is never going to be a company rep, member of parliament, school teacher, doctor, factory supervisor or waiter then....Tatoos are a disgusting mutilation & I would never employ someone who had visible tatoos or peircings for any job....ever! This sort of mutilation is just a disgusting abuse of your body.... - Dave B (Brit ex-pat), Uxbridge, Canada, 10/3/2011 13:55

Wow, and we smokers thought we had it bad. At least those who object to the smell of tobacco have a case, in that there is a physical effect coming their way that they don't like (or was, before they banned us from real life). Dave B will shun you for what you look like even though it has no effect at all on your ability to do the job, and cannot affect anyone else no matter how you skew the science.

As for Zombie Boy becoming an MP, I would definitely vote for him. MP? Make him PM. We could do with someone capable of making a decision and sticking to it.

Freak, freek, freeeek !!! - Steve , Hampshire, 10/3/2011 8:15 How dare you Steve. - Claire, London, 10/3/2011 10:42................................................................................................................................... Claire (and everyone else who red arrowed), How dare I what ? Would you consider covering yourself in hideous tattoos to make yourself look like a rotting corpse, NORMAL ????? - Steve , Hampshire, 10/3/2011 12:29

Normal? No. Different, eccentric, entertaining, yes. But then I'm not normal either. Neither are the rest of the denormalised. We like different. Different is good. In fact, we are the very embodiment of the diversity that is called wonderful, but stamped on when it tries to raise its head. Oh and Steve? I red-arrowed you. Why does it matter to you? Are you so shallow that acceptance by Daily Mail readers actually impinges on your life?

Why did I red-arrow you? Because it amused me to do so. Yes, you mean that little to me and your ego will explode if you read this. That will amuse me even more. Arrogant? If you want to believe that, do so. These newspaper stories are entertainment, nothing more. The comments are a game, not reality. They affect nothing at all. Yes, I am just playing around but that's all any other commenter does. The only difference between us is that I know it's just a game. I know it will have no effect. The only reason to comment and rate is for fun, there is nothing more to it.

There is, naturally, the 'for the cheeeldren' approach:

I wonder how you'd feel if your little girl was to suddenly come upon him on a bus or in the street? He'd scare the living daylights out of a child. When he gets fat and old he is going to look even more horrendous as tattoo's shift on wrinkly skin and fat.Think of him at 50? a joke.Unemployable.Let's hope they've come up with a good painless way of removing tattoos by then. - johnny, lancs uk, 10/3/2011 11:01

Suddenly come upon him on a bus? If I was in Jarvis mode I'd be saying 'Ooooh God. That would be terrible'. But seriously. How do you 'suddenly come upon' someone on a bus? Is he hiding under the seat? Clinging to the roof? I ride the buses and believe me, a guy with a tattooed face is the least of my concerns.

And as for 'think of him at 50', OI! I am 50. I am neither fat nor saggy and I have no wrinkles at all, despite the promises of the fag packets and I wonder who I can sue for failing to produce the aged skin as advertised? Oh, and impotence. I was led to believe by ASH that I would have been totally floppy by now, or at least dead. Someone must pay for my apparent vitality, which is not what I was promised at all. I'm supposed to be disabled and on benefits by now. I feel so violated... hey, wait, there's money in that.

But my favourite, the absolute epitomy of the drone mind, must be this one.

I think its very disturbing and I think its disgusting how someone could have done this to his body. I think there should be a law where at least the face cannot be touched by ink. Horror movies are to blame for alot of the sick happenings in the world today aswell. - Lauren G, Wales , 10/3/2011 17:59

I don't like it so there must be a law to stop anyone else doing it. What more can be said?

Lauren G, I think ASH are looking for new drones, and if they are full you could try the Shenkerites.

They all like idiots, you see. Well, no, I don't suppose you do.

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U.K., other countries showing the courage to get policy right!

Here in the U.S., we have a problem: A lack of courage in Washington. Specifically, the courage among policymakers to make the difficult decisions — and take the difficult actions — to deal with our financial problems.

For one thing, our politicians are preaching budget restraint, but pursuing the greatest budget-busting tactics of all time. The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform’s report, released December 1, 2010, has been all but forgotten.

President Obama’s budget, released just over 10 weeks later, proves it. It projects a massive $1.65 trillion deficit for fiscal 2011 … and more than $7.2 trillion in additional deficits in the decade thereafter!

On Capitol Hill this week, Bernanke didn’t rule out expanding the so-called quantitative easing program.

For another thing, our central bankers say their mission is to fight inflation. But they’re pooh-poohing surging prices, refusing to slow down the printing press, and pegging interest rates near zero percent. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made it crystal clear in Congressional testimony this week that he has no plans to change tacks.

As a result, our currency is tumbling against virtually every form of money on the planet — especially gold, which set a nominal new record of $1,437 an ounce this week. Meanwhile, other agricultural and energy commodities are going ballistic!

But there are many countries that appear to be taking a different approach. And there’s one nation in particular whose fiscal and monetary policies appear to be taking a turn for the better. That country?

The U.K.!

U.K. Trying to Right the Ship, Deal
with Financial Threats Head On

Like the U.S., the U.K. has spent several years overpromising, over borrowing, and overspending. That has left the U.K. with a debt load equal to roughly 61 percent of GDP — the highest since 1970. Its budget deficit surged to 11.4 percent of GDP in 2010, one of the worst among developed economies.

But unlike the U.S., fiscal and monetary policymakers are taking steps to right the ship. It’s a titanic battle between reckless, Keynesian policy in the U.S. and painful, but necessary, austerity in the U.K. And I believe it’s one the U.K. will win.

Will it be easy? Not at all. Prime Minister David Cameron is jacking up taxes and slashing spending in several arenas …

* In national defense, Britain is cutting its 37-billion-pound ($60 billion) annual military budget by 7.5 percent. The country plans to scrap or sell its 70-strong fleet of Harrier jets and mothball its flagship Ark Royal carrier.

* In public services, Cameron is proposing that volunteers or charities take over the operation of many schools and hospitals to reduce government costs.

* In retail, the country’s Value Added Tax just rose to 20 percent from 17.5 percent. And in education, the cost of attending university will double at many schools in 2012. Some students will pay three times the tuition they had to pay in 2011.

“The duty of this government is to deal with the economic mess that’s been left. We have got to deal with that deficit, we have got to make these cuts, we have got to put up these taxes.” — British PM David Cameron

Over on the monetary policy side of the ledger, the hawks are starting to spread their wings as I alluded to recently. We now have three Bank of England policymakers explicitly voting for interest rate hikes, much more dissent than we have here in the U.S.

I’m not going to suggest these moves are without consequences. Short-term growth is suffering, with British GDP slipping by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter. But I believe the short-term pain will be offset by long-term economic gains.

The Lesson:
Invest in Disciplined Countries,
and Avoid the Rest!

You can already see the process starting, with money flowing away from the U.S. and toward the U.K. in the currency markets. The Dollar Index is at multi-month lows and threatening to break down from a three-year uptrend, while the pound is just shy of a 14-month high.

This underscores the message I’ve been preaching for some time: You want to invest in the countries with disciplined, prudent fiscal and monetary policies … and avoid the rest.

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Some countries that make the cut, in my book, include the U.K., Brazil, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Canada.

You can invest in their short-term government debt securities … companies based in those countries with U.S.-listed shares … or ETFs that offer you diversified national exposure. Think the iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund (EWC) or CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust (FXF) here.

Until next time,

Mike

P.S. You don’t have to watch helplessly as Washington avoids doing what’s needed to dig the U.S. out of the mess we’re in. Click here to learn how my Safe Money Report can help you profit from countries that have the courage to take a prudent fiscal and monetary policy stance.

Mike Larson graduated from Boston University with a B.S. degree in Journalism and a B.A. degree in English in 1998, and went to work for Bankrate.com. There, he learned the mortgage and interest rates markets inside and out. Mike then joined Weiss Research in 2001. He is the editor of Safe Money, Interest Rates Profits and LEAPS Options Alert. He is often quoted by the New York Sun, Washington Post, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post and Sun-Sentinel, and he has appeared on CNN, Bloomberg Television and CNBC.

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