Matthew Burkholder

The above picture is a common sight in many vehicles throughout Asia.  I've traveled throughout China, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand and I've seen countless shrines to Buddha, Vishnu, the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ and countless other religious figures in both private AND public transportation.  Some are simple displays like the one above.  Others can be quite elaborate involving multiple statues and offerings including flowers, food, expensive bottles of alcohol, money, pictures of loved ones and images of revered political figures (Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, etc.).  If it was only a matter of seeing such shrines in privately owned cars and vans then I would think nothing of it.  However, the inclusion of such religious displays in public transportation got me thinking of how some would react back home in Canada if they were to step on the city bus and see the fat man, or Stephen Harper smiling at them (Is Harper capable of smiling?). In my humble opinion,...

... has completely changed my life... How do you do it? How do you fall in love with such a wonderful little girl and then be expected to one day let her go off on her own? 

As many of you know, one of my personal heroes is MIT professor Noam Chomsky . What I love about Professor Chomsky, is his devotion to historical clarity, and the way in which he uses that clarity to brilliantly comment on almost any topic. Try going on YouTube and typing "Noam Chomsky on _______" and fill in the blank with almost any topic from pornography , to 9/11 Conspiracy Theories . I have found his political theories extremely revelatory. Of course, like any philosopher, I am not in 100% agreement with him, but I do enjoy the fact that I am intellectually blown away, usually after a mere 10 minute or less YouTube clip. As Western nations seemingly gear up for war with Iran, building straw men  and fabricating fear, people often ignore their history, and look only to the present for the knowledge of their conflict causes and solutions. The United States will continue to try to dominate and impose its will on sovereign countries. I hope that one day this will end...

I have a confession for you, My first musical love was not all the wonderful alternative bands that we all grew up with. It wasn't the Ramones, or MxPx, or all the other punk bands I grew to love. It wasn't The Beatles, or the mighty Led Zeppelin, or Jimi Hendrix's intoxicating guitar playing. The first type of music I remember thinking was the most amazing thing I had ever heard in my life, was straight up, old school Hip Hop. From the first time I snuck into my brothers room and listened to the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill, from the first time I heard Onyx on MTV  I was hooked on Hip Hop. Yeah man, I was a little kid raised in the mean streets of  Boston Ontario , listening to songs that I had no business listening too. Then I moved to the rough woods of Lombardy Ontario, and even when I had  this  view from my backyard I was falling in love with  The Fugees . (I found that picture on google from the road we lived on for a few years... I still miss that h...

There seems to be this rumour going around that I hate you guys. I would like to clear the air, and set the record straight. If I had to be honest, there was a time in my life when an anti-American sentiment ran strong in my veins. And not just the friendly rivalry that comes during an olympic sporting event, but something much more. Sure, some Canadians define themselves in terms that are opposite to your idiosyncrasies, values and ways, and this seems to make us feel better, because it makes us feel different. In turn, we devalue one culture to uplift ourselves. As I grow older, the irony of this form of cultural egotism astonishes me - As Canadians, we have plenty of wonderful attributes which stand alone. Sometimes I think we have a complex, we are like that "cool" kid that likes to put down others to make sure that cool image never gets tainted. Unfortunately, I have the propensity to wage cultural prejudice, and for that I am deeply sorry. In college, a lectur...

If you are from London you no doubt have been following Caterpillars shameless lockout of their employees in one of their Electro-Motive factories. If you haven't, let me give you the low down... "Hi, I'm Mr. Union worker. I've been working hard for Electro-Motive diesel, owned by Caterpillar Inc. We make diesel trains. I've been doing my job for years and years. A lot of my skills, while not trades per se, have been passed down to me from previous employees. You can imagine, that helping in the construction of building complicated diesel trains is a little bit harder than your average factory job. Regardless, I put long hard hours into my work and these trains, which take weeks to complete, and is something I can be proud of. We've worked hard to agree to wages which are fair. Sure there was a recession in 2008, but our company has come through it, the orders are rolling in, and we are working hard!" Now lets look in on a secret executive m...

Jesus loved the poor. You might notice that I talk a lot about Jesus. Depending on who you are, and where you come from, this will either make you disgusted or encouraged. For a lot of you, the name Jesus makes hurt or anger swell up inside of you. You may have come across some people called "Christians" who turned out to be major hypocrites. You may have married one who ended up abusing you. You may only know the name Jesus as something that shapes and manipulates a voting population of the most powerful nation on earth. You might have a snapshot of Jesus. You might unknowingly try to live by his golden rule. You might respect him as one of many spiritual leaders. But let me tell you why Jesus is the most important person in my life, and why I end up talking about him a lot. Jesus loved the poor. And when I mean he loved them, I mean, he singled them out while on this earth, and poured himself into them more than any other group of people on the planet. Some of you m...