Free Republic

It’s shear madness! Brooklyn’s hipster beard craze has grown so popular that men in New York are rushing to doctors for “facial hair transplants” — surgery that helps make beards look thicker and less patchy, sources said. Stubble-challenged guys are forking over up to $8,500 for the beard-boosting procedure, which has spiked in popularity in recent months, plastic surgeons told The Post. “Brooklyn is probably the nucleus of the trend, it’s the hipster ‘look’ guys want. If you have a spotty beard, and you let it grow out, it looks sloppy, ” said Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, a Midtown-based plastic surgeon....

An epidemic of pogonophobia is upon the land – pogonophobia being the irrational fear of beards. It comes in response to a Pentagon directive that gives some latitude to U.S. troops who wear beards — and turbans, and yarmulkes — for religious reasons. The usual rabble was out in force, complaining that the military is knuckling under to liberal sensibilities: “PC gone mad,” one conservative blogger put it, arguing that the change comes “thanks to Obama’s love of Muslims.” The sentiment was repeated elsewhere. With apologies to Willi Schlamm, sometimes the problem with conservatism is conservatives.

New York (AFP) - Procter & Gamble Friday revealed its latest challenge to earnings glory. This time it's a facial issue. The US consumer giant, fresh off a recent corner office shakeup and already facing a battle for market share in shampoo, said second-quarter earnings were marred by the growing preference of men for moustaches and beards, which hit sales in its "grooming" segment.

Sometimes I stumble upon a story that I can’t pass up. This is one of those times. It would be morally wrong to have a couple of slices of bacon with your eggs but by all means you can not disturb or try to eradicate the blessed lice living in Muslim beards, for they are special lice that were sent forth by Allah. I am not making this up.

Anthony Weiner proposed a threesome with texting pal Traci Nobles and a man, according to a new report. The Queens Democrat made the suggestion in the midst of his texting and tweeting adventures that eventually forced him to resign his congressional seat in June, RadarOnline.com reported today. The revelation came from conversation excerpts that Radar obtained from Nobles' proposal for a tell-all book. After proposing a threesome, Weiner told Nobles, "I'm not really talking about other chicks... How about with another guy?" "It can be hot," Weiner replies. "Hmmmm, haven't done it before," Nobles said.

He takes the wives of men who upset him and cast them out to the chicken coop in the bitterest of winters while ruling his cult with an iron fist. It may sound like something from biblical times, it is accusations which have been made against Amish bishop Sam Mullet, 66, who is said to have been behind the beard cutting gang who are due to go on trial for aggravated burglary and kidnapping. The recent bizarre attacks have thrust this ferociously private community into the spotlight, with horror stories emerging of rape, beatings, brainwashing and kidnapping. A former member...

Guantanamo Detainees Said Plotting Sun Jan 27, 9:08 AM ET By TONY WINTON, Associated Press Writer GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - Military guards at a detention camp at Guantanamo Bay say they have noticed a command structure emerging among the terrorist suspects being held there, camp leaders said Saturday. The leaders seem to surface during prayer sessions. Photos AP Photo Slideshows AP Photo Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Of the evolving leadership structure, Brig. Gen. Mike Lehnert said, "We have indications that many have received training, and that they are observing actions such as security procedures." Lehnert, a ...

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2010 Miller leads in Alaska Joe Miller is favored heading into the final two days of the US Senate campaign in Alaska. 37% of voters say they'll pick him while 30% plan to vote for Scott McAdams and another 30% plan to write in Lisa Murkowski. Miller is winning despite having the worst personal favorability numbers of the three candidates. Only 36% have a positive opinion of him while 59% view him in a negative light. McAdams is by far the most popular with 50% rating him favorably to only 30% with an unfavorable one. Voters aren't...

KOTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Taliban fighters are shaving off their beards and trying to flee from a Pakistani army offensive in their Swat bastion, the military said on Friday, as it relaxed a curfew to allow civilians to get out. The army launched an offensive in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, last week to stop the spread of Taliban influence which had alarmed the United States and other Western allies of nuclear-armed Pakistan. More than 900,000 civilians have fled and the United Nations has warned of a humanitarian tragedy unless Pakistan gets massive assistance. Clashes had erupted in various...

Gov. Bill Richardson unveiled his slightly-more-than-5-o'clock shadow at a news conference in Santa Fe Monday, prompting reporters to ask if the beard was back.

KHAR, Pakistan (AFP) — A Pakistani Taliban leader has warned local tribesmen to grow beards within the next two months in accordance with Islamic teachings or face harsh punishment, residents said Monday. The threat came amid an apparent increase in incidents of militants trying to enforce Islamic Sharia law in Pakistan's tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, where the new government is trying to make peace with hardliners. "Men must grow beards and stop shaving within the next two months," residents quoted senior Taliban commander Maulvi Faqir Mohammad as telling dozens of people at a mosque in Khar, the main town in...

Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Philadelphia police officer Kenneth Wallace, a nine-year veteran of the force, is serving his second month-long suspension for refusing to shave. Wallace, a 31-year-old Muslim, has asked for an arbitration hearing to challenge the department's 1/4-inch limit on the length of beards. Muslim city workers sued Philadelphia, the fifth-largest U.S. city, beginning in February to challenge grooming and dress codes they claim violate their rights to religious expression.... Muslim emergency workers have challenged grooming policies in cities including New York, Washington, D.C., and Detroit, saying the Koran and other religious teachings require the wearing of untrimmed...

In wake of U.S. pullout, clerics impose radical regime Posted: June 4, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com In the wake of the U.S. Marines pullout, the Sunni city of Fallujah has become a Taliban-style theocracy, reports Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence news service. In the city of 300,000, about 30 miles north of Baghdad, al Qaida-inspired clerics are the ruling authorities, backed by the guns of Saddam loyalists who have imposed their own version of Islamic law. The comparison to Afghanistan under the Taliban is not coincidental. Many of the clerics who have taken over Fallujah either studied in...

France Adds Beards to List of Taboo Religious Signs Tue January 20, 2004 05:26 PM ET By Tom Heneghan PARIS (Reuters) - France's plan to bar religious symbols from state schools slid into confusion Tuesday after the education minister said a proposed ban on Muslim veils could also outlaw beards if they were judged to be a sign of faith. Opposition politicians derided the government plan as misguided and some of President Jacques Chirac's conservative allies said they would abstain or vote against the law meant to stem growing Islamist influence among some of France's five million Muslims. In another...

Men 21 and older in Zilwaukee city and township can buy alcohol and tobacco, own a gun, view R-rated movies and vote in local and national elections. But if the Zilwaukee City Council approves a special proclamation Monday, they can't shave the hair on their chinny-chin-chins. In honor of the community's upcoming sesquicentennial -- that's 150 years -- the City Council will vote to require all city and township men older than 21 to grow a beard beginning Tuesday, Jan. 6. The rule would require those opting for the clean-shaven look to pay $10 for a permit. "I don't expect...

Did you go to see the new Harry Potter film over the weekend? You could have been unwittingly supporting beardism, say facial hair campaigners. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets may seem like a spot of harmless family fun, but the film could set back the cause of beard wearers at a vital time of year for the long-suffering hirsute man. The Beard Liberation Front (BLF) objects to the "obviously false" facial hair sported by Robbie Coltrane and the late Richard Harris in the fantasy movie. Such "end of a broom" fakes give beardists ample ammunition to taunt...