Matthew Burkholder

Sometimes when I consider the world that I was born into, I come to the conclusion that the riches of a Western life are actually a deep cavern of poverty of heart. For starters, when I try to remind myself that I live like a sultan compared to the majority of the world, my mind begins to create all sorts of excuses. "But I only have basic cable. I hardly get to go out for nice dinners. I don't own an iPhone. My car is only a two door, and man, it's hard putting a child in the back seat of one of those things..." It's incredible really, that I, as one of the worlds richest persons, can even turn the fact that I have entertainment at will, food in my fridge, an insane amount of communication at my finger tips, a car, and a family that is safe, into a complaint. I just don't always get it. The fact that I have clean running water from my tap should make me realize just how lucky I am. I mean, the water in my toilet is cleaner than the water that some peo...

Lately I have been putting off blogging. Mainly due to the fact that my household has been invaded by a winter tradition known as influenza. There are two things that I like to do when I am sick, play World of Warcraft, and sleep - unfortunately, since being a father and working a 6 day a week job makes the latter limited, I have been filling my time battling the Hour of Twilight. (OK, the nerdiness ends here.) However, there has been another reason I haven't been blogging. I've tried several times, but each time I end up sounding like a big jerk for what I want to say. I've now decided that I don't care if I sound like a big jerk, because I need to get this out there.... If you have been following Canadian politics lately, you have no doubt been following the stories regarding an Orwellian change to the legal system  and an interference in Canadian democracy. Well, here goes... Are you ready for it? I told you so. It might actually surprise you that I cons...

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...