Articles written by Brian Smith

Where Knowledge Rules

What is Helium

About me - Brian Smith

+ more bio information

RSS Feed

Politics, News & Issues > US Elections Archives Mitt Romney: Can a Mormon get elected president of the U.S.?: 2 of 29
If there still exists in this country any sense of the tolerant and democratic spirit, then certainly a mormon coul be elected as the president of the U.S. That being said, I am afraid that a Mormon could not be elected as the president of the United States, and some articles posted under this heading are direct evidence as ... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Gender Issues Examining gay marriage in light of history, politics and civil rights: 5 of 24
We've come to a time and a day where decisions have to be made. In times past, homosexuality was either so non-prevalent, or so well hidden that it could be practically ignored. Today this is not the case. It would be a violation of the inherent rights recognized by most of civilization to deny liberties and rights of homose... More..
Politics, News & Issues > US Elections (Other) Why or why not vote in elections: 10 of 42
Is it worth it to vote? I believe the answer is yes, and for very important reasons. To understand these reasons, let us first consider the arguments against voting: 1. " I am just one person in millions. My vote makes no difference in the outcome." Statistically, I can't argue with that position. What I can say is this: if ... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Social Values & Norms Society has its priorities confused: 26 of 70
Perhaps the phrasing of the question demonstrates that values have been confused. We tend so much today to put the blame for problems on others, on society', without the recognition that each of us are contributors to that society. The only way to answer the question is to assess what the right' values are, the philosophical... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Political Issues Why government and morality should be divorced: 6 of 16
The question seems absurd at its very core. Government divorce morality? Though philosophers have never agreed upon a morality that is 'right', almost all of the progress society makes is a result of adopting some useful form of morality in government. If we disable government from adopting some form of morality, we take fro... More..
Home & Garden > Architecture The principles of anti-seismic building: 2 of 5
The goal of any anti-seismic construction or retrofitting is to prevent a structure from being damaged in the event of a seismic event. What happens in an earthquake is that the moving ground causes shear forces that buckle the supports of a building, causing collapse. It is important to know that no building is earthquake p... More..
Arts & Humanities > Ethics Doing wrong for the right reasons is still wrong: 8 of 16
The answer is simple and irrefutably yes, and the proof is simple: "Doing laundry to get your clothes dirty is still laundry." "Doing jumping jacks to get fat is still doing jumping jacks." Doing 'x' for any reason, regardless of that reason is still doing 'x'. The question that ought to be asked is: "Is commiting an offence... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Political Values Deciding if affirmative action really is fair: 10 of 19
Affirmative action is by nature a form of discrimination, and though it may be effective in equalizing things statistically, it is as unfair as the practices it seeks to correct. There are two ways that it becomes problematic, as I will point out shortly. By definition, an employer, is unfairly discriminatory if he or she hi... More..
Arts & Humanities > 20th & 21st Century US History Judging Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan: 30 of 54
Not only was the United States not justified in their dropping of atomic bombs, they have been working hard on the American people to make them believe that it was a justified attack. The reasons are essentially threefold: First, (and contrary to popular teachings/opinion) the dropping of the bombs did not bring a speedier e... More..
Arts & Humanities > Philosophical Concepts Is the concept of freedom overrated?: 15 of 27
Whether or not freedom is overrated depends primarily on what sort of freedom we are talking about. There are the freedoms that are guaranteed by law and constitution, freedom from oppression, freedom of speech and thought and belief. Certainly in Western society these form a core of our cultural and political belief, and th... More..