Thursday, May 17, 2012
Apparently there is an "evil" clown that is hired to scare a child in the days leading up to his or her birthday. What?
A couple weeks ago, our Parents Talk discussion was on creepy kids toys. Many agreed that a clown, anything having to do with a clown or anything resembling a clown was straight up creepy. Well, an actor in the Swiss city of Lucerne has set himself up as the "evil" birthday clown. According to the Huffington Post and the Austrian Times, for a fee, parents can hire this psychotic clown—played by actor Dominic Deville—to leave menacing, booby-trapped letters for their children. He will also tease through text messages and phone calls. Deville warns the children they are being watched and that they will soon be the victim of an attack. At the end of the terror-filled week, the birthday boy or girl catches a cake in the face. According to the …
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Don't forget about Mom this year! Find the perfect gift for your mother without leaving Burnsville and settle the argument, once and for all: You're Mom's favorite.
Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook |Get our newsletter | Write for Local Voices Mother's Day is this Sunday, and it's likely you haven't planned a luxurious and perfect day of bliss for your mommy dearest quite yet. No worries! Burnsville Patch has you covered. There are plenty of great locations close by to get a great gift for your mom, without breaking the bank. For the Sentimental Mom If your mom counted the days until that Lifetouch school photo came home in your backpack, a portrait from Jan Kentala Photography or The Imagery Photography Studio is the perfect gift. Portraits of grandkids are also an ideal present for the grandma in your life. If you're short on time or if you don't want to ruin the surprise by letting her …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Moms, here's your chance to think big.
The gifts range from breakfast in bed to nothing—with flowers, manicures and greeting cards in between. Moms, perhaps your families have been thinking about your big day for the past month or maybe Sunday will be the first they hear of it. Regardless of your family's style of celebration, Sunday is Mother's Day. And with more than $16.3 billion expected to be spent on the day this year, it is a highly consumer-driven holiday as well. Now's your chance to tell us what you really want. Would you like a clean house? Expensive jewelry? Maybe the day away from all of them? Or maybe, you'd like to buck the tradition and have a donation made in your name, from an organization like World Vision. For $75, your kids could buy a goat for a familiy in…
Thursday, May 3, 2012
The death of a friend's son has me asking what I can do for suicide awareness and prevention.
The son of one of my friends killed himself last week. My friend found him. When I heard that on Monday, I had a rush of emotions: disbelief, despair and anger. Five days earlier, I read a story about a woman whose son, Dustin, committed suicide in fall 2011. The story was by Mike Schoemer, St. Michael Patch local editor. At the time I read the St. Michael story, I felt a tremendous amount of empathy for Dustin's mother, Gretchen Harrington. But it wasn't until I heard about the death of my friend's son that I felt some of the anguish of a suicide survivor. I cried for my friend, who came home from work to find her son dead. I wanted to hug her and sob with her for as long as she needed me; long-distance prayers and Facebook posts seem so …
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Senator Al Franken: The duty to protect women and children from the physical and economic hardships of chronic abuse should transcend partisan politics.
- OPINION
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Saturday, April 28
When my wife Franni and I decided that I should run for the Senate, we were greatly influenced by the example set by Sen. Paul Wellstone and his wife Sheila. The Wellstones’ example serves as a constant reminder of what public service is all about—it’s about helping others; it’s about giving a voice to those who otherwise might go unheard; it’s about making the law more just and more fair, especially for those who need its protections the most. Franni and I have a personal responsibility to carry on the Wellstones’ legacy. We all do. And I think that Paul and Sheila would be proud that the Senate reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act. Paul and Sheila were extraordinary people. When Paul was elected to the Senate in 1990, Sheila didn’…
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Is there a toy you avoid buying because it’s too creepy or scary?
I swear it was possessed. Furby. That furry little menace always sat idly and quiet on my daughter’s shelf when she was younger. However, the minute I walked into her room or even just walked by, Furby would start talking and doing his creepy thing. It wouldn’t have been a toy I would have ever brought into our home willingly – just the gremlin-like look of it was disturbing enough. It was one of those gifts from a relative that you try to tolerate – for a while. Eventually Furby happened to find its way into the bottom of the box of toys during a move. To this day, I’m still fairly certain I removed Furby’s batteries before it went into the box. The minute we loaded the boxes in the van, we could still hear Furby trying to interact with …
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Letter writer says the ALEC is quietly driving legislation to subjugate us and our government to the capitalists, and local legislators are complicit.
- OPINION
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Tuesday, April 24
To the editor: Subduing the general population presents tremendous profit potential. That’s why the secretive American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) was organized. The ALEC is quietly driving legislation to subjugate us and our government to the capitalists. ALEC designed the overall plan, has a staff writing model legislation and has puppet lawmakers implementing laws. To achieve full domination, evade taxes and maximize profits. Twenty-six major corporations such as General Electric, Boeing, Verizon, and Mattel paid no taxes for the last four years, despite billions in profits. ALEC ensures tax cuts and subsidies to big oil and pushes the XL Keystone pipeline so the capitalists can make money exporting jet fuel and diesel while …
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Do 'temps' get more than an inkling of what it's like for real single parents?
Can parents in a two-parent family ever know what life is like for a single parent? When your partner in child-rearing isn't available to help out—whether for a day, a week, a month, or even an afternoon—does that offer a glimpse into single parents' struggles? At any given moment during those times when a spouse or partner is temporarily out of the picture, the challenges may be similar to what real single parent might face: A real single parent could probably come up with a better list, but those are the kinds of things that came to my mind—such as it is. My spouse is traveling a lot for work this month, and the things falling through the cracks are getting bigger by the day, as are the cracks. Actually, I've always thought it would …
Monday, April 16, 2012
Friday, Second District Congressman John Kline took the Obama administration to task, saying that the completion of the Keystone XL pipeline would create jobs and cut gas prices. Not so fast, say some surprising critics.
U.S. Rep. John Kline, the Second District Congressman from Minnesota, ripped the Obama administration’s handling of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline in a campaign email on Friday. The statement foreshadows a renewed battle over attempts to clear the way for construction to begin on the estimated $7 billion mega-project when the House reconvenes next week. President Obama has previously said he would delay a decision on support for that portion of the project from Alberta to Nebraska until 2013 in order to complete a comprehensive environmental analysis. He has since approved construction of the southern portion of the pipeline to run from Oklahoma to Texas. Opponents of the project say the Keystone XL pipeline is an environmental …
Friday, April 13, 2012
The Twittersphere says it is Kiss Day. Whatever. We're going to go with it: Here are a few fascinating factoids about the art of canoodling.
Nothing says love like a great kiss. In honor of National Kiss Day we have rounded up a few salient pieces of trivia about the kiss for our Burnsville readers. “(Some anthropologists) trace it to things such as an evolution from suckling on the breast to mothers passing regurgitated food into a baby's mouth, which doesn't sound very appetizing, but if you think back then, there weren't food processors, and there wasn't Gerber, so they had to make do,” she said. “There’s another theory that says cavemen literally went around smelling and tasting the saliva of a young cavewoman to see if she was healthy and thereby able to be a good partner to procreate...But some anthropologists also argue that it was learned because there were cultures in …
Michael Rose
9:01 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
This does seem a bit cruel and unusual. However, I might be inclined to hire someone to mess with my 18+ child (I don't have one...this is hypothetical). That actually could be kind of funny..."Punking" your college freshman son/daughter could be cool. For instance, maybe you could hire an impostor dorm roommate, who would be the biggest jerk of all time. Then, a few days in, you could reveal the… more ›