Working on postparade cleanups in warm weather, I quickly learned that it was useless to ask lingering bystanders to move back a little from the barricades.

WSJ: Life Among the 'Garbage Faeries' : Inside the Sanitation Department

The move effectively made links to FileSonic-hosted files useless and precipitated a sharp drop in the number of people using the site.

BBC: FileSonic cyberlocker offline after piracy complaints

But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast called the IAEA vote "a theatrical move aimed at pressuring Iran" that would be "useless", state news agency Irna reported.

BBC: Iran rebuked over nuclear 'cover-up' by UN watchdog

At the time, the United States prevented a move in the UN to impose economic sanctions against Iraq, saying that the sanctions would be useless or counterproductive.

NPR: U.S. Links to Saddam During Iran-Iraq War