A brilliant take on a highly visible sign of fallen times from Theodore Dalrymple and Taki’s Mag, perhaps the highest brow on the internet:

Ariana Grande, of whom I had not heard until Salman Abedi killed 22 people at her “concert” in Manchester, has had herself tattooed with a picture of a bee, a symbol of Manchester’s industrious industrial past, as a “permanent tribute” to the city. Apparently, the other performers in her vulgar act have done likewise. Could courage, compassion, sympathy, self-sacrifice, indeed virtue itself, go further?

This could be the start of something big: a movement called Tattoos Against Terrorism, or TAT for short. If anything could convince the Islamic suicide bombers of the superiority of the Western way of life, with its fundamental freedoms, surely this could. Alternatively, it will terrify them into giving up.

Nothing says “I’m unique” like a big old tattoo – or seven. And nothing says “decline of civilization” like half the population sporting all that uniqueness – each the same as all the rest. “Decline of Civilization” might make a great tattoo! Consult Reality Winner (Real Name?) on this point:

“Cupping,” Molock, and a side of crabgrass??? Twitter.

Yes, I’m sure your tattoos (plural aren’t they) are very unique. Special. They mean something. Just like Ariana Grande’s new bumblebee tat. Everyone associates bees with tempered diversity in Manchester, UK after all…

Some very few are actually interesting – on men. Mostly soldiers, sailors, and bikers. I’ve never seen a woman I thought benefited by copious ink. And it’s usually copious these days. If one is good, twelve are Grande. More ink than the Sunday funnies.

Lady tats aren’t just for the bad girls anymore. Look to the melodious examples of Ariana “I hope my fans f*cking die!” Grande and Reality “Who’d she meet with in Belize??) Winner. I know a grandmother sporting some shade of gaudy illustration on her ankle. All very special. Unique. Each and every decorated “lady” at the beach or the gym or the supermarket as different and special as the next dozen.

The good news is several. First, the trend must be getting overdone. A return to modest sense surely has to be in order. Second, time permitting, a fortune could be made in the tattoo removal business. Third, time expiring (20 years, maybe), the markers may serve as just that, post-collapse; a way to … differentiate.

Or it could be time once again to ramp it down a notch. Might I suggest nose bones and lip plates. How about tree swinging and poo flinging? Blue faces for the cave set?

I’d like to congratulate Ma belle Française on keeping it clean, original, and classically feminine. La tableau est l’art.

Curmudgeonly Bonus: Vox Day’s continued exposition of the bleak batty Boomer banality. “Lifestyle” is the Boomer’s tacky tattoo.

Happy Monday morning, all!