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Our plastic future

"The American Society of Plastic Surgeons met ... in Philadelphia to 'proclaim from the rooftops,' as it were ... the gospel of total self-gratification with zero need for character development. ...

" 'Plastics,' whispered the businessman to Dustin Hoffman in 'The Graduate,' and he was more prescient than he knew. Here is a sure bet for a growth industry, explaining why over half of plastic surgeons now spend over half their time lifting faces and bosoms of the perfectly healthy rather than ministering to the sick. ...

"Today's 'elective' and shameful practices become the civil rights of tomorrow. ... In Canada, where girls can get breast implants without parental consent at 16, the national discussion is presently over whether taxpayers will foot the bill for this augmentation in teenage self-esteem."

-- Andree Seu, writing on "Plastic revolution," in the Oct. 30 issue of World

'Tolerance' in Boston

"Activists are using the legalization of same-sex marriage in [Massachusetts] to force students to listen to graphic glorification of homosexuality, while stifling any and all objections.

"On May 13, Thomas Payzant, superintendent of Boston schools, instructed all staff in a memo that May 17 would be a 'historic moment in our Commonwealth' because 'two persons of the same gender may apply for a marriage license' and as such, he was announcing a 'zero-tolerance policy' toward 'inappropriate or hateful speech' on the subject. ... The penalty would be termination or, in the case of students, expulsion. He cited the 'rule of law, balance of powers, and separation of church and state' as rationale to 'help students understand' how this is a step toward a 'more just society for all of our citizens.'

"And there you have it -- the Boston version of tolerance."

-- Linda Harvey, writing on "Zero tolerance for traditional marriage," Tuesday in WorldNetDaily at www.worldnetdaily.com

War and error

"The truth is that war is nearly always a trial-and-error business in which bad decisions and failure tend to precede good ones -- and victory. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln hired, then cashiered, Generals Scott, McClellan, Burnside, Hooker and Meade before settling on Grant. That took about two years, during which the catastrophes of Bull Run (Union casualties: 2,896), Fredericksburg (13,353) and Chancellorsville (18,400) intervened. How's that for poor presidential personnel choices leading to unnecessary loss of life?

"Or consider the Allied campaign in Europe during World War II. This, too, contained its share of squandered opportunities (the failure to seal the Falaise Gap, through which the bulk of the German Army escaped France in August 1944), fiascoes (Operation Market Garden of 'A Bridge Too Far' fame) and costly diversions (the invasion of Italy). ...

"Americans should be wary of politicians who promise more 'competent' leadership in a war that those same politicians say they'd rather not fight."

-- From "War and 'Competence,'" a Tuesday editorial in the Wall Street Journal