Word: meaninglessness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...catch. In New York City, for example, police make arrests in only 2% to 3% of all reported cases. The vandal's deeds, as British Sociologist Stanley Cohen of England's University of Durham has observed, are commonly described as wanton, pointless, aimless, senseless, meaningless or mindless. Cohen is one of several social scientists who think that none of these objectives really apply...
...interview with former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky [June 6], he criticized Amnesty International for lacking "moral clarity" and not differentiating between human-rights abuses committed by dictatorial "fear societies" and those carried out by democratic "free societies." Sharansky implied that the latter are more tolerable, but the distinction is meaningless to the victims. When asked about Israel's abuses of Palestinians' human rights, Sharansky accused Amnesty International of ignoring violations by terrorist organizations. Well, two wrongs don't make a right. Raymond Totah Fallbrook, California...
Gravity, however, would still remain the odd force out. No experimental evidence has emerged to confirm the existence of its transmitting agent, the graviton. And though this hypothetical particle has been accommodated mathematically in unified theories, such models have been fatally flawed by anomalies that leave the theories meaningless. The crux of the problem: the electroweak and strong forces are quantum forces, whereas gravity is still defined only as a consequence of the curvature of space and time and thus cannot yet be explained in terms of quantum physics...
...insurance commissioners to block arbitrary policy cancellations and gargantuan premium increases. The Florida department of insurance has written a proposed bill that would require insurers to disclose what discounts and surcharges they apply to premium rates. Without that information, says Insurance Commissioner Bill Gunter, "the rate itself is meaningless." He adds, "We think insurers need someone to look over their shoulder and keep them honest...
...experts doubt that the contras can achieve all that they and their Administration sponsors want, there is a growing temptation to give them nothing, not even the relatively piddling $100 million that President Reagan is asking for, or to give them so little, so late, that it would be meaningless. On the eve of the President's speech appealing for the contra cause, which was scheduled for last Sunday night, a majority of the House, faced with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down choice, was leaning toward a cutoff of all U.S. aid to the contras and a pious...