Word: useless
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...Last week, all of a sudden, they announced Mr. Redford wouldn't be coming," Dean of Freshman Elizabeth Studley Nathans said yesterday. "Now we have 150 press guides sitting on my shelf. They're very glossy, very fancy and now very useless...
...textbook case of Darwin's theory in action (anti-evolutionists, take note). In its simplest form, the theory states that new traits will spontaneously appear in individual members of a given species -- in modern terms, mutations will arise in the organisms' genetic material. Usually the traits will be either useless or debilitating, but once in a while they'll confer a survival advantage, allowing the individual to live longer and bear more offspring. Over time, the new survival trait -- camouflage stripes on a zebra, antibiotic resistance in a bacterium -- will become more and more common in the population until...
Human behavior just makes the situation worse. Patients frequently stop taking antibiotics when their symptoms go away but before an infection is entirely cleared up. That suppresses susceptible microbes but allows partially resistant ones to flourish. People with viral infections sometimes demand antibiotics, even though the drugs are useless against viruses. This, too, weeds out whatever susceptible bacteria are lurking in their bodies and promotes the growth of their hardier brethren. In many countries, antibiotics are available over the counter, which lets patients diagnose and dose themselves, often inappropriately. And high-tech farmers have learned that mixing low doses...
...these things would be useless if the film did not contain performances to match. Campion's direction is perhaps her greatest achievement in "The Piano." A nearly unrecognizable Holly Hunter is simply amazing as Ada. Despite the fact that she does not utter a word during the movie, Hunter manages to provide a full-bodied portrait of Ada, so that the audience knows what she is thinking and feeling without her having to articulate it. Ada marks Hunter's best work on screen thus far. Keeping up with Hunter is Anna Paquin as Ada's daughter Flora. Paquin brings...
...only hinder the storytelling instead of enhancing it. Angel sneakily walks on and off the screen, but the revelation of who he is does not justify these constant interruptions. Furthermore, and most importantly, what he says does not embellish, inform or further the progress of the story. He is useless...