Free Republic

Mr Bajapi having his ear hair measured Photo: NIKLAS HALLE'N/BARCROFT MEDIA Officially recognised by Guinness in 2003 as having the longest ear hair in the world, Mr Baijpai has grown his hair from five inches (13.2cm) to their current length. Considered by Mr Baijpai, 58, to be symbol of luck and prosperity, his ear-hair has been growing since he was 18 and more importantly has never been cut. Maintained by a specially prepared blend of herbal shampoo, Mr Baijpai has so far resisted the pleas of his long suffering wife to cut it off. "She has always been asking...

TORONTO - Barack Obama appears to come by his nickname honestly. Despite stepping into the U.S. presidency at perhaps the most difficult juncture in decades, No Drama Obama seems as unruffled - and as youthful - now as he did nearly two years ago when he announced he was seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Except, that is, for the small matter of his hair. Since last summer, Obama's once jet-black hair has gone grey at a startling clip.

<p>CHICAGO -- An attorney for Gov. Rod Blagojevich has asked the Illinois House committee considering whether to impeach the governor to subpoena more than a dozen witnesses, including President-elect Barack Obama's incoming chief of staff and a senior adviser.</p> <p>State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie said Thursday that the House committee received a letter from Blagojevich attorney Ed Genson asking it to subpoena Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett and more than a dozen others, including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.</p>

It's not easy being a preteen "wolf boy" - but scientists at Columbia University are confident they've finally found the silver bullet that can cure one. Pruthviraj Patil, 11, suffers from a rare genetic disorder known as hypertrichosis - or "werewolf syndrome" - which causes a thick coat of hair to grow over every inch of his body except his palms and feet. (edit)When he was born in a village near Mumbai, his mother was told she had given birth to a god, but in school, there have been more bullies than believers. Christiano and her colleagues at Columbia...

MIAMI – Asha Mandela has hair that could rival Rapunzel's. The South Florida woman who started growing her hair 20 years ago now has locks longer than she is tall. Mandela has submitted her hair, which measure 8-feet, 9-inches long, to the Guinness Book of World Records for the Longest Dreadlocks, the first entry in a new category.

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August. According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74. The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September. The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August. The...

Hot off the press, from yours truly, Charles Henrickson, the wag tailoring the doggerel. Click the music link and sing along! AYERSTune: "Hair" (Don't ask this guy) When I knew Ayers or why I'm beggin' noon and (nighty, night, night): Keep Ayers out of sight! I met him long ago But don't ask me why ('Cause he don't know) It's not for lack of years Sharin' our careers (Dreamin') Was I in bed with Ayers Bill "Radical" Ayers Burnin', hatin' Bombin' his own nation Get me out of where (Ayers) Served as my old mentor (Ayers) Near Barry Obama...

(DOVER, DEL.) - Joe Biden loves a crowd of Democrats as much as a crowd of Democrats loves him, and he had no trouble flexing his wit and his political weight tonight in Delaware. Biden had a suggestion for his fellow Democrats when they watch the final debate between Barack Obama and John McCain – kill the volume. “For this debate, for part of this next debate, do what I did for part of the last two debates. Literally, turn the sound off. I’m not being…I’m not joking now. Literally, turn the sound off. And just watch. Watch the body...

Crazy funky chignons, reminiscent of Elvis Presley’s hair-do popped up at the Emporio Armani, Roberto Cavalli, Sinha Stanic and Sportmax Fall/Winter ’09 fashion shows. Take our poll and tell us, are they hot or not?

I have a large bald area in the crown (top/back) with more hair in the front, but still thinning with a high hairline. I am concerned that a hair transplant in my case will show significant improvements in the front but I’ll still have a large bald spot on top/back. Here’s an example of my concern about hair transplantation - Sen. Joe Biden. He looks like he’s had a hair transplant (if you compare now to old photos) and looks pretty good in front. But when his head is tipped forward, the top and back are quite sparse compared to...

Whoa. My morning news perusal has brought me several stories discussing Obama's hair color, and the very important debate about whether he has a little Revlon secret. New York Magazine posted two images of Obama from Getty; the one on the left is from July 27th, and the one on the right is from yesterday. Their synopsis: "Barack Obama has begun talking about how he's 'going gray' lately, and it's true -- the man's hair is going silver faster than you can say 'Anderson Cooper with a tan.' So fast, in fact, that we have to wonder at the legitimacy...

A small rural school district in Fort Bend County and a determined mother are tangled in a dispute over hair. Michelle Betenbaugh says her 5-year-old son, Adriel Arocha, wears his hair long because of religious beliefs tied to his Native American heritage. But the leaders of the Needville school district have strict rules about long hair on boys and don't see any reason to make an exception in his case. The dispute illustrates a problem American schools have faced for decades: how to balance individual student rights against rules designed to maintain order and discipline in the classroom. The case...

The realization almost always prompts a double take, a moment of inspection, maybe even a debate: Is baby-faced Barack Obama, the symbol of a younger political generation, actually aging in front of us? By his own admission this week, “the gray is coming quick,” so that it now dusts his head like snowflakes. The laugh lines cut a little deeper, and the crow's-feet around his eyes appear slightly more pronounced. The presidency ages presidents, but so, it seems, has the longest campaign in modern history aged a candidate. “By the time I’m sworn in, I will look the part,” Obama...

But hair sample could have been from a wandering mercenary. An early wave of migration into the New World and the Arctic has been identified by sequencing a genome from a frozen hair excavated in Greenland. Archaeological evidence shows that there were two waves of migration to Greenland starting 4,500 years ago, first with the Saqqaq and then the Dorset groups, collectively known as the Paleo-Eskimos. Later, around 1,000 years ago, came the Thule culture which led to the current native population. The relationship between these three groups has been uncertain. Some theories hold that Paleo-Eskimos derived from the populations...

DNA reveals Neanderthal redheadsNeanderthals’ pigmentation possibly as varied as humans’, scientists say By Steve BradtWith Neanderthals’ surviving bones providing few clues, scientists have long sought to flesh out the appearance of this hominid species. Illustration created by Knut Finstermeier, Neanderthal reconstruction by the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museum Mannheim Ancient DNA retrieved from the bones of two Neanderthals suggests that at least some of them had red hair and pale skin, scientists report this week in the journal Science. The international team says that Neanderthals’ pigmentation may even have been as varied as that of modern humans, and that at least 1 percent of...

And The Winners Are....

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan, April 9, 2008 – An Air Force noncommissioned officer who had long hair all of her life decided during her deployment here to let her hair brighten some lives. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jenet Akerson, 451st Expeditionary Communications Flight Network Control Center technician at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, looks at her new hair style March 31, 2008. Akerson donated 13 inches of her hair to “Locks of Love,” a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children with long-term medical hair loss. She is deployed from the 435th Communications Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Photo...

Halle Berry uses hair extensions. So does Angelina Jolie. Much of the hair they end up with comes from women who offer up their locks to Hindu gods in Indian temples. SPIEGEL followed one pilgrim's hair from Bangalore to Munich. It's a Tuesday in January, and Verena Franke is sitting in the Visage Hair salon in Munich's trendy Schwabing neighborhood. She wants longer hair because she is convinced that it's attractive and will make her look more feminine. Beyond that, she hasn't thought much about it. She has worked her way up to this day, saving €1,000 ($680) in tips....

PHILADELPHIA — It might be the strangest way to spend Presidents Day. For the first time, The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia will display a scrapbook that includes the hair from the first 12 U.S. presidents. It will be on view from Saturday to Monday.

About 15 tons of it on a recent day, imported from China, neatly pressed into mats and ready to ship to farmers and nursery growers who swear by the horticultural benefits of Blacker's hairy wares. The mats stored in southern Miami-Dade County are part of a world marketplace for human hair. Uses range from the obvious, such as false eyelashes and wigs, to the more obscure: it's a common raw-material source for l-cysteine, an amino acid frequently used in baked goods such as pizza dough and bagels