4. Additional Comment Area for Sunday's Shows!!

Wow! Keep the comments flowing!  

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2. Comment area for Sister Wives Tell All

Kody and the Wives speak to NBC News' Natalie Morales about polygamy, life in Las Vegas, and their new book detailing life in the Brown family before the cameras started rolling. In addition, Natalie also sits down with five of the Brown's oldest kids.
Seriously? Does this guy looks like he "tells all" - has he ever answered a REAL question? 

If you could ask them a serious question and they HAD to answer honestly, what would you ask? 

** Don't forget you may post on the first episode of tonight's show below on "Leaving The Nest" a couple of posts down to keep conversations flowing well!

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KODY BROWN on TWITTER: If you don’t like what they say, BLOCK em!

Let’s take a look at Kody’s recent tweets.  Solomon is trying to talk at 5 weeks? The kids a genius!  I wonder if Kody only sees him about once every 4 days like poor Truly. Hmmmm…

That makes my blood boil that Kody and Meri were at the concert instead of a Logan’s championship! I guess date night was too important. There’s the sad thing about this “polygamy” jive. They want you to believe that they are this all for one family, yet, why aren’t ALL of them there? Or at least the Moms that could go? So many parents can’t afford to go to all the school functions, and this one can’t because of a date?  I am glad I am that part of America where the whole dang family drags out for every game. We all love it, too.  Kody, that just makes me sad for you. It’s the kids’ senior year! They call them “moms” so why weren’t all the other “moms” watching Logan? In our area, even aunts, uncles, cousins, friends come to hang out at kids’ games and talk. They make such a BIG DEAL about family, I am not seeing the support, Take a kid out of his school his JUNIOR year, and 1 parent out of 5 go? I CALL BULLCRAP!~ (and I am slapping my leg and tearing up) I would feel much different if I heard all the others went.WOW, GREAT Concert for such FINITE resources. Let’s see, in less than a year, how many concerts, trips, eating out, etc have we been to now? 

Here's a view of the last tweet when a fan responded, before she got deleted:

And the last tweet. Mixing business with your Doc, Kody? 

A fan of Kody’s read this and got concerned for HIM.  Let’s call this fan “BETSY”. BETSY decided to “tweet” him back, sincerely asking him a question about the Ethics. BETSY asked him if it was unethical for a chiropractor to enter a professional relationship with a current patient.  And, you know what KODY did? He DELETED her post and BLOCKED HER. No answer, no private message. BAM! 

It hurt BETSY’S feelings, because she was actually trying to help Kody Brown. BETSY was actually questioning Dr. Wright's ethics, not KODY'S. It hurt her feelings and somewhat shocked her. The lady was trying to help! She wondered if she had done something wrong. She wasn't used to adults behaving in such a manner.

Sadly, it didn’t shock us. First of all, let’s face it. KODY is only interested in those who love and worship him, he just saw someone questioning ethics and RAN! Too bad he didn’t see she wasn’t questioning his. 

I wasn’t sure what to make of it, so I passed her email on to a physician friend of mine.  She said that A Physician DOES NOT enter into a business relationship with a patient; however, she wasn’t sure of a Chiropractor’s standard’s were.  COMMON sense tells you that an ethical health provider of any kind would not enter into a business venture with a patient, but, as my friend says, it’s a “gray” area.  So here KODY has, by flying off the handle, hurt the feelings of a woman who was looking out for him! Go figure. 

KODY’S behavior is so predictable. If he doesn't like what someone has to say he bans them. He only wants to hear happy news. And if he doesn't know how to CONTROL it, he gets rid of it (so long, youtube...for now). Frankly KODY wouldn't know ethics if it bit him on his polygamous ass! And he calls himself a businessman…….bwahahahahaha!!!  KODY should not have mentioned the business meeting. But that's KODY. It's like he believes EVERYONE loves him and what he does. But he can't handle the truth many people DO NOT love him. Now, he's opened up this Dr. Wright to people questioning the Dr's judgment and ethics for being in business with an idiot.  If I were Dr. Wright, I’d choose my business partners more carefully. Let's hope the good "Dr" says thanks but no thanks (yeah right) to a business venture.

In other words, KODY… read carefully before you fly off and hurt a FAN’S feelings. Be rational. Its actions just like this that makes bad business. Just sayin. Oh, and don’t bite the hand that feeds ya…. Viewers, fans, are those hands!

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Federal judge to hear argument in challenge of Utah bigamy law

In this publicity file image provided by TLC, Kody Brown, center, poses with his wives, from left, Robyn, Christine, Meri and Janelle in a promotional photo for the reality series, "Sister Wives." The polygamous family made famous on the TLC show is asking a U.S. judge not to block their challenge of Utah's bigamy law. Kody Brown and wives Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn filed a lawsuit in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court in July 2011. The stars say the law is unconstitutional because it prohibits them from living together and criminalizes their private sexual relationships. (AP Photo/TLC, George Lange, File)


SALT LAKE CITY - A polygamous family made famous on a reality television show is asking a Utah federal judge not to block their challenge of the state's bigamy law.
Kody Brown and wives Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn filed a lawsuit in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court in July. Oral arguments in the case are set for Friday before U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups.
The stars of the TLC show "Sister Wives" said the law is unconstitutional because it prohibits them from living together and criminalizes their private sexual relationships.
Under Utah law, people are guilty of bigamy if they have multiple marriage licenses, or if they cohabitate with another consenting adult in a marriage-like relationship.
Formerly of Lehi, the Browns and their 17 children moved to Nevada in January after police launched a bigamy investigation. The Browns practice as part of their religious beliefs.
Oral arguments in the case are set for Friday in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court.
It's not clear when Waddoups will rule.
State prosecutors contend the Browns — who haven't been charged — aren't facing any real harm because the state has rarely prosecuted individuals for bigamy without also prosecuting for other crimes, such as underage marriages, sexual abuse or welfare fraud.
"They have not been warned that if they do not cease to engage in their polygamous relationships that legal actions will be taken against them," Assistant Utah Attorney General Jerrold S. Jensen has said in court papers asking the judge to dismiss the case.
"And — what is probably the tipping point — there have been no arrests or prosecutions for the mere practice of polygamy in Utah in over 50 years."
A check of state court records by The Associated Press found at least two cases, however.
Bob Foster had three wives when he was arrested and charged with bigamy in 1974. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to six months in Jail. He was released after 21 days and ordered to serve five years of probation. A judge also said Foster was not allowed to live with his families. Foster died from cancer in 2008. He was still married to all three women.
Mark Easterday was arrested and charged with bigamy in 1999. Authorities were alerted to Easterday's multiple marriage by his first wife as part of a custody battle during their divorce. He ultimately pleaded no contest to adultery because the divorce was finalized before the bigamy case went to trial. Easterday was sentenced to probation.
Easterday, who left Utah and is currently married to two women, told The Associated Press he believes the Browns are right to fear a bigamy prosecution.
"I know from experience that they do prosecute," Easterday said. I think they should change the law over the entire country. Why it is that in some places a woman and a woman can be married, but a man can't have another wife?"
Polygamy in Utah and across much of the Intermountain West is a legacy of 19th century Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormons abandoned the practice of plural marriage in the 1890s as a condition of Utah's statehood. The church now excommunicates members found engaging in polygamy.
An estimated 38,000 self-described Mormon fundamentalists continue the practice, believing it brings exaltation in heaven. Most keep their way of life a secret. In most cases, polygamous men are legally married to their first wives and marry subsequent brides only religious ceremonies.

(Source:  http://www.brandonsun.com/entertainment/breaking-news/federal-judge-to-hear-argument-in-challenge-of-utah-bigamy-law-135734138.html?thx=y)

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Rockin Robyn!!

Rockin' Robyn

(Oh yeah!  You knew it was comin')

Twitter Twitter Tweet  Tweetly Tweet
Twitter Twitter Tweet  Tweetly Tweet

She's eating bon bons all day long
Flapping her gums and singing this song.
All the sister wives on their very own streets
Can't stand to read her Twitter tweet tweets.

Rockin' Robin Twitter tweet tweet.
Rockin' Robin Twitter tweetly tweet.
Go Rockin' Robin 'cause Kody's comin' over tonight.

All the bonus children, even Meri,
Every single member of the Brown family
The newborn baby Solomon
Must crowd around to see.
(He IS newly born, you see).

Rockin' Robin Twitter tweet tweet.
Rockin' Robin Twitter tweetly tweet.
Go Rockin' Robin 'cause you're really gonna "rock" tonight.

She's passive aggressive and very sly.
If you don't like her, she'll start to cry.
She's manipulating Meri - good at it too.
Watch your back or she'll come for you.

Rockin' Robin Twitter tweet tweet.
Rockin' Robin Twitter tweetly tweet.
Go Rockin' Robin 'cause Kody's comin' over tonight.

Written By: TERRASOLA!

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"78 LB. TURKEY.... BWAHAHAHAH

The True Meaning of the Season: Holiday Movies We’d Actually Watch

By Neil Genzlinger

 

David W. Dunlap/The New York TimesEven Santa might roll his eyes at this weekend’s holiday-themed TV.

Another weekend, another batch of Christmas-themed movies, new or rebroadcast. On the Hallmark Channel, you can see fare like “All I Want for Christmas” and “Annie Claus Is Coming to Town.” On Lifetime, there’s “A Nanny for Christmas” and “Holiday in Your Heart,” among others. You know the ingredients: a single parent, a plucky child or two, a hardship of some kind, a serendipitous meeting that leads to love.
Yet with all this, you may find there are still some stories that have not appeared on anyone’s schedule. Here are five Christmas movies I’d like to see. Feel free to add your own:

A Tantrum for the Holidays A well-known TV star on an airplane flight forces the pilot to abort his takeoff and prompts a nationwide military alert because he won’t stop playing games on his cellphone. While cooling off in the airport’s Naughty Room, he meets a pretty single mother whose bright but emotionally fragile son can’t get past Level 49 of Angry Birds. While awaiting arraignment, they learn that the true meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with whether you have upgraded to the iPhone 4S. Alec Baldwin stars in this heartwarming holiday tale, filmed entirely at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Naked Came the Santa A talentless, troubled starlet uses the time between prison sentences to pose naked for a has-been girlie magazine. While doing the shoot, she meets a down-on-his-luck photographer’s assistant, a single dad who just a few months earlier was riding high as the showrunner for a TV series based on the magazine but was demoted when it proved to be the most embarrassing offering of the fall season. While waiting for someone to leak the nudie snaps to the tabloids, they realize that the true meaning of Christmas has little to do with getting your picture taken while wearing nothing but an elf’s hat. Lindsay Lohan stars in this inspiring story of degradation and wasted opportunities.

The 78-Pound Turkey A glum polygamist who by unfortunate coincidence is both newly widowed and newly divorced realizes that with all those major life events there is no way he’s going to be able to do his income taxes himself this year. The pretty young accountant he hires to help him was conceived using a sperm donor and has just learned that she has 73 half-brothers and half-sisters. Together they realize they don’t have nearly enough place settings to accommodate the whole family for the holiday dinner, and that the true meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with how many marriage licenses you have. Kody Brown of “Sister Wives” stars in this feel-good story of rampant overpopulation.

The Christmas Candidate A former presidential candidate, who dropped out of the race after the number of women accusing him of improper behavior reached three figures, takes a job as a department-store Santa just to pay the bills. The first elf he makes a pass at, a single mother whose three kids are sitting right there, decides to teach him a whimsical lesson and sends each of the kids up to Santa’s lap to ask for hush money. Together they discover that while no one likes any of the current candidates, everyone would vote for Santa, and he re-enters the race and wins in a landslide. Together they learn that the true meaning of Christmas is basically irrelevant in the down-and-dirty world of politics. The real-life Republican candidates all have cameos in this delightful tale of image manipulation and opportunism.

Holiday Hook Shot A wealthy basketball star whose wife divorced him when she thought the N.B.A. season would be canceled because of a labor dispute lets himself fall out of playing condition by drowning his sorrows in eggnog and Hostess cupcakes. When the strike is settled, the gorgeous personal trainer he hires in a desperate effort to get back in shape convinces him that the best exercise, besides sex, of course, is to use his money to spread Christmas cheer, mostly to car dealers by buying expensive automobiles. Together they learn that whatever the true meaning of Christmas is, gas guzzlers have considerably more leg room than those puny hybrids. The Harlem Globetrotters play the role of the basketball team in this moving story of greed and calorie consumption.
Now, your turn. Can you think of any Holiday Movies starring the Sister Wives?


(Source:  http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/the-true-meaning-of-the-season-holiday-movies-wed-actually-watch/)

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Sister Wives are NOT Witches!

Breaking news ... this just in!

The Sister Wives are ... NOT ... Witches

Recent revelations on Sister Wives have caused many viewers to call certain Sister Wives bad words (no names, but they rhyme with berry and bobbin).

So I decided to do some extensive research at the Frostbite Falls library ... well, OK, it was the 3 Readers’ Digests from 2004 at the local Barbershop that no one had stolen yet  ... on the subject of Wicca to see whether we really could call any of our favorite Sister Wives “witches”. 

I learned that the Wiccan Rede, or code, that many Wiccans follow says “Bide within the Law you must, in perfect Love and perfect Trust.  Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give.”  Well, I guess it’s a big old fail on that one.  We know about the law breaking; it’s the premise of the show.  This season we’ve heard the not-so-loving commentary from Meri towards Janelle and Christine, from Janelle towards Robyn, from Christine towards chondrichthyes plagiostomi (sharks), and from Robyn towards KIDS!!! (passive-aggressively, of course).  As for trust – when I first read the Rede and thought about the SWs, the Pepsi I was drinking shot out my nose (Sorry, Atlanta).  Just read our bankruptcy postings about the fairly taking and fairly giving stuff. 

“Light of eye and soft of touch, speak you little and listen much.”  The Rede-crafters must have had Robyn in mind with the “speak you little” part.  You might want to nominate your favorite stink-eye picture for the light of eye part.

“When you have and hold a need, harken not to others greed.” Admittedly, we don’t know whether the SWs have told Kody that keeping a sports car is knuckleheaded when they haul broods the size of sports teams around in fixer-upper jalopies.  But really ladies!  Don’t let the built in competition keep you from saying what needs to be said.

“With a fool no season spend or be counted as his friend.”  Snicker, snort.  Sorry Kody, but isn’t the SW Blog all about this?

“Merry Meet and Merry Part bright the cheeks and warm the heart.”  This phrase talks about fellowship.  We were told in Season 1 that there was a lot of fellowship among the SWs.  Now, not so much.  I feel a chorus of “liar, liar, pants on fire.” Coming on.  Any one want to join in?

“Be true in love this you must do unless your love be false to you.”  Many posters are pointing out that the SWs are “true” to Kody, but the very nature of polygamy requires him to be untrue to the SWs.  Sorry gals.

“These eight words the Rede fulfill: an it harm none, do what ye will.”  This has been interpreted to mean that Wiccans / witches must think long and hard about the consequences and impacts of their actions BEFORE they act.  What a concept!  Sure wish the SWs actually subscribed to this one because they would cause a lot less mayhem, especially with their kids. 

Since I have decided that the Sister Wives aren’t witches, I guess I’ll just call them b...itches.

N.B.: Yes, I know that not all witches are Wiccans and not all Wiccans call themselves Witches ... but, as Mom always said, close enough for hand grenades.

Written by: Terrasola!

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The Kingston Group - Now this group, you could say, "goes weird"!

Kody Brown is a Fundamentalist Mormon.We here at SWB have delved into learning about the Fundamentalist Mormons. We've looked at the F.L.D.S. - The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; and the A.U.B. - The Apostolic United Brethren; and had a few posts about Blackmore Group and Centennial. This article starts us into the "crazy and sick" world of the Kingston Group. All of these groups believe in the same basic tenets- // Mormon fundamentalism (also called fundamentalist Mormonism) is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administration of Brigham Young, an early president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Mormon fundamentalists seek to uphold tenets and practices no longer held by mainstream Mormons (members of the LDS Church). The principle most often associated with Mormon fundamentalism is plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught by Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. A second and closely associated principle is that of the United Order, a form of egalitarian communalism.(Source: Wikipedia)

 When Incest Becomes a Religious Tenet

Practice sets 1,000-member Kingston clan apart from other Utah polygamous groups

Written by  Greg Burton 

The Salt Lake Tribune, April 25, 1999

On a dilapidated dairy farm at the end of Redwood Road in Woods Cross, the late John Ortell Kingston, would-be Utah dairy king and self-anointed leader of one of the largest polygamous clans in America, fancied himself a geneticist.
In breeding stock, he looked for high milk production. At home, the desired traits were his own. "My father experimented inbreeding with his cattle and then he turned to his children," says Connie Rugg, one of John Ortell's estimated 65 children and one of a handful of Kingston relatives who have fled the clan. Faced with the forced marriage to an uncle, Rugg left the Kingstons.
"All my life, my family told me I had to marry a Kingston," says Rugg. "I could choose, but it had to be a brother, uncle or cousin."
While the clan shares many of the beliefs of other polygamous groups in Utah, incest, for many of the Kingston leaders, is their indelible difference.
Incest draws members inward. Fear of exposure fosters a culture of distrust, some of which is directed at members who work in Kingston-owned businesses, live in Kingston-owned homes and worship in Kingston churches.
Many Kingstons -- even those who share preferred lineage from John Ortell and LaDonna Peterson, the second of his 13 wives -- live in run-down shacks at a coal yard, above warehouses near the dairy farm and in ramshackle apartment buildings and trailers.
If female, they are married off to the few, powerful prominent males: incest is the fate of many teen-age girls. If male, some of these same "worker bees" marry only once.
"My father manipulated and controlled people," Rugg says. "He wanted to control his children and grandchildren through genetics. He believed he had superior bloodlines."
Kingston clan leaders declined requests, including letters by registered mail, to comment on this story.
The church sprang from the ideas of John Ortell Kingston's father and was founded by his brother, Charles Elden Kingston, in 1935. John Ortell Kingston was the first Kingston to experiment with incest, marrying and bearing children with two half-sisters and two nieces, according to numerous ex-members of the clan.
Ex-members' claims of incest are bolstered by court records claiming John Ortell "failed either to support or acknowledge" three children by his niece, (Susan) Mary Gustafson. In an effort to recoup $15,679 in welfare, the Utah Department of Social Services filed an order declaring John Ortell the father of three of Gustafson's children.
John and Charles' brother, Merlin Barnum Kingston, married and had children with four nieces and a half-sister, say ex-members, including one of his own daughters. At least six of Merlin's incestuously conceived children in turn married half-siblings, couplings that subsequently produced children with various deformities, says Rowenna Erickson, an ex-member who left her polygamous husband.
"It makes you sick; it turns your stomach," she says. "And yet nobody wants to do anything about it. Nobody, from the police to [Utah] Gov. [Mike] Leavitt, cares that these children are abused from conception to marriage." Today, six sons and two daughters of John Ortell and LaDonna have married at least 20 half-sisters, nieces and first cousins, giving birth to a family tree that twists and tangles, and, at times, withers with children born of genetic deficiencies.
A seventh son, Hyrum Dalton Kingston, is a polygamist but has not married incestuously, according to ex-members.
Although it is a felony under Utah law for close relatives to have sex, only one Kingston -- John and LaDonna's fifth son, David Ortell -- has been criminally charged with incest.
Last year, a 16-year-old daughter of John Daniel Kingston was forced to marry her uncle, David Ortell Kingston, criminal charges allege. In a secret church ceremony conducted on the 15th day of the month, the girl became her uncle's 15th wife. He later gave the girl a ring with 15 diamonds, she testified.
He sent her to live in a coal yard with other polygamous wives and their many children in South Salt Lake, visiting her rarely and usually only to have sex, she testified.
In May, the girl said she was belt-whipped by her father inside a Kingston-owned barn in Box Elder County for fleeing the marriage, and was abandoned in the home of another of John Daniel's wives. The girl's father and mother, Susan Nelson (one of John Daniel's many wives) are half-sister and brother. They purportedly have 10 children, the girl told police.
Her subsequent recounting of the ordeal is the centerpiece of a pending trial on sex abuse and incest against her uncle, David. Her father pleaded no contest April 21 to third-degree felony child abuse and faces zero to five years in prison at his June sentencing.
Salt Lake County prosecutors' initial charge of incest against David Ortell Kingston was kindled by the victim's story of manipulation and molestation.
The clan's other numerous incestuous couplings among consenting adults, though, present a troubling scenario for law enforcement: these are crimes of a sexual nature committed in private in a closed society.
Farm Roots of Incest: Marriages in the Kingston clan must be sanctioned by Paul Kingston, current head of the church, although ex-members say Paul's brothers, Daniel, David and Jesse, exert influence over who marries whom.
The same right of marriage approval was wielded by John Ortell Kingston, who began the incestuous lineage. While building his polygamous empire, John Ortell raised pigeons and Holsteins, prized black-and-white milk cows.
"I know people who bought livestock from them because they had quality animals," says a federal investigator. "Usually the women did the milking. When an inspector would show up they'd disappear and pretty soon two men would show up."
Today, the Kingston dairy is a shamble of littered fields, slouching homes and a gray-brown barn where a few cows still roam.
It was here, on the flat hay fields that stretch from the edge of Woods Cross to the crusty shores of the Great Salt Lake, that John Ortell Kingston studied the genetics of in-line breeding. "It would have been unusual if he wasn't using artificial insemination in his herd, and by virtue of that, was probably using semen from some bulls that had been inbred," says Dennis Green, a professor of beef cattle genetics at Colorado State University.
"My guess is this man had used some of these inbreeding practices in his herd so he was probably in the camp that believed superior genetics could be propagated in a particular line," Green says. "The downside is that if you don't start with good genetics, and if there is baggage in the genes of the individual, inbreeding will uncover that baggage. When you pair up those undesirable genes, something strange will pop out."
Among the polygamous Kingstons, a number of children have been born with birth defects, among them one born with two vaginas and two uteruses but no vaginal or bowel opening. Outwardly, she appeared to have no sex organs. The girl, born to John Ortell and Isabell Johnson, was not the product of an incestuous marriage. Family members attribute the defects to the advanced ages of the mother and father -- he was 64, she was 45.
"My mother should not have produced another baby," says Rugg, also Isabell and John Ortell's daughter and the baby's full sister. "Her body tried to miscarry many, many times."
The baby, delivered at Johnson's home in 1983, was taken to Primary Children's Medical Center. Blood tests showed the infant and 25 other children from numerous women were fathered by the same man, leading to one of the largest welfare fraud-settlements in Utah history.
John Ortell Kingston paid the $200,000 settlement, but denied paternity. The settlement was reached after prosecutors obtained a judge's order to sample John Ortell's DNA to compare with the 26 children's.
Now 16, Rugg's sister was married to and subsequently left one of her half-brother's sons.
Another of Rugg's full sisters, Andrea Johnson, died in 1992 of complications of pre-eclampsia, a condition of pregnancy that was not treated until after the young girl, swollen with toxic fluid, was rushed to the emergency unit at University Hospital. The baby survived, but has cerebral palsy.
On Johnson's death certificate, attending physician James B. Burns wrote 15-year-old Andrea must have exhibited signs of hypertension "at least two weeks" before her death.
Rugg says the group feared taking Andrea to the hospital because members did not want to explain the child's troubling paternity.
Andrea's son, now 7, lives with his father, Jason Kingston -- Andrea's half-brother -- and Rosalind, his niece.
Genetics of Incest: Pre-eclampsia is a condition that can be traced genetically from one generation to the next and is prevalent among some Kingstons, Rugg says.
Several Kingston offspring of incestuous couplings also have been born without fingernails, a disease that could be linked to a number of genetically caused abnormalities, although an exact diagnosis is impossible without closer study of medical records. Since most Kingston children are born in homes under the scrutiny of trusted and secretive family midwives or clan leaders, documentation of medical abnormalities is rare, but not unprecedented.
In 1996, the now 31-year-old Kingston mother of two slow-growing children sought explanations at Primary Children's Medical Center. Initially, she tried to conceal her marital relationship.
"I didn't dare talk about it," she says. Eventually, she admitted she had married her half-brother and given birth to three children.
Two years later, a pair of geneticists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., flew to Utah where they hoped to stage a seminar for Kingston family members about the dangers of incest and birth defects, and, presumably, gain permission to study the clan.
Two minor members of the clan attended the NIH seminar, conducted in a Woods Cross hotel room -- not far from the Kingston dairy. Disappointed more family members did not attend, the scientists left.
"I tried to get people to come, but nobody would listen," says the mother, who left the group and her marriage after her sons were diagnosed with dwarfism. She says her parents, Merlin Barnum Kingston (John Ortell's brother) and Joyce Fransden, were uncle and niece. And her ex-husband's parents, Merlin and Carolyn Kingston, were uncle and niece.
"I knew I would have to marry my [half-] brother ever since I was 12," says the woman. The couple had lived together since the age of 7, when the mother of the woman's half-brother died.
The rate at which Kingstons marry each other is "frightening," she says. "It's a bomb that's going to explode."
Her half-brother is still married to another half-sister (whose parents also were half-sister and brother) and are still members of the Kingston's order.
Other possible genetic traits include: microcephaly, a malformation of the skull in which the infant has a small head (ex-members say two children with microcephaly have died and eight others are institutionalized); blindness; spina bifida; Down syndrome; kidney disease and abnormal leg and arm joints.
While none of these can positively be linked to incest without DNA testing, geneticists say most of the conditions are exacerbated by incest.
Some genes linked to conditions like microcephaly and dwarfism are "autosomal recessive," and are found among the 22-linked pairs of chromosomes that do not include the X and Y sex chromosomes, says Lynn Jorde of the University of Utah's Eccles Human Genetics Institute, a leading genetics research center.
"You don't want to jump to the conclusion and say all of these are the result of inbreeding," he says. "But just on general principles, the offspring of uncle-niece, or half-siblings have an elevated level of genetic disease. There is no doubt about that at all. So when you see all of these diseases occurring in the children, it's possible some are the result of inbreeding."
Of all the arguments against incest, says Jorde, the likelihood that genetic abnormalities will be passed to succeeding generations is the most persuasive. "We do know there are biological hazards. A fourth to half of father-daughter and brother-sister offspring have mental or physical deficiencies. It gets pretty bleak when it gets that close."
Global Incest: Worldwide, mating among first cousins is somewhat common and sometimes encouraged. First-cousin mating doubles the chances that genetic abnormalities will be passed along. Roughly 3 to 4 percent of children from couples who aren't relatives are born with genetic defects. The rate of genetic birth defects for first cousins is 6 to 8 percent.
Stillbirths and infant deaths also are much more likely when blood relatives mate. A Norwegian study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health found the risk of stillbirths and infant deaths was at least 70 percent greater when parents were first cousins rather than unrelated.
Yet in many countries, the study noted, more than one-fourth of parents are related by blood. Those countries include Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait.
Including Utah, 37 states outlaw first-cousin marriage. The 1996 Utah Legislature approved first-cousin marriages, only after age 65, or age 55 if the couple cannot conceive children.
It is possible that positive genetic traits could be passed along through human inbreeding. That apparently was John Ortell Kingston's intent, although most studies of first-cousin mating show their offspring test lower on IQ exams, Jorde says.
There is too little empirical data of uncle-niece, half-brother/half-sister mating to draw firm conclusions about the IQ, survival rates, birth defects or longevity of their offspring, he says.
"So often when you have an uncle-niece, or half-brother-sister, you have a situation where abuse is going on," Jorde says. "And when you talk about the public interest, you have to consider who pays for the consequences. If these couples are . . . mating in a way that increases genetic diseases, that the public ends up supporting, it becomes a matter of public interest."
The Kingstons are among a small number of family groups in the world who marry closer than first cousins on a regular basis.
"Incest as a policy or routine practice is rare," says Melvin Williams, a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan and a leading expert in the study of kinship systems.
Many cultures, he says, marry outside the family in order to attract the wealth of a neighboring family or to promote alliances among warring factions.
While not discounting the prevalence of genetic anomalies, Williams says modern society's aversion to incest is, to a large extent, arbitrary and prudish. A brother's aversion to courting his sister has more to do with romance than social stigma.
"It's hard to fantasize about someone if you grew up watching them go to the bathroom," Williams says. "Living with them makes them unattractive as living partners. Humans also have decided not to [commit incest] in order to distinguish themselves from other animals. Humans put a grave prohibition on incest." Social ostracism, he adds, is not necessarily a good thing.
Of the Kingstons, Williams says: "There is not much you can do about them. The notoriety will just make them zoo specimens. People are always trying to find people who are inferior and brand them as such."
Still, if children are caught up in an abusive or incestuous situation, Williams would encourage policing. "Children should not be victims of such programs."
A Secretive Refrain: On Bountiful's bench, in a wooded and fenced complex that overlooks the Great Salt Lake, Mary Gustafson, John Ortell's niece and third wife, lives with some of her children, one who is legally blind, and grandchildren.
One recent morning she defended her complicity in arranging her daughters' marriages to their half-brothers, sons of John Ortell and LaDonna.
"Those boys are the most moral, upstanding and wonderful people I know," she said, clutching a grandchild to her thin hip. "Most of what you print is lies, lies, lies."
From the porch of Gustafson's home, there is a view of fields where cattle and ponies graze, and the remnants of the Kingston dairy.
John Ortell, who died in 1987, never met the grandchild Gustafson was holding. Or two more that scampered around her feet as she talked, pleasantly but guardedly, about the Kingston clan.
When asked, a little boy and girl at the home acknowledged who their mother is.
Then, as generations of polygamous Kingston children have been taught, they demurred to questions about their father. Naming a father could expose the truth, unveil secrets of paternity and subject the clan to further scrutiny from those who don't approve of incest.
"We don't have a dad," the little boy said. Then he scooted away, smiling, aboard a plastic toy car, his feet smacking the sidewalk.

(Source: http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy25.html, picture: http://steelturman.typepad.com/thesteeldeal/2006/10/freaks.html)

***Thanks to a  commenter who sent this to me!

What are your thoughts?

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BLACK FRIDAY!

I have a feeling many of us are out shopping.... you couldn't catch me in a Black Friday crowd for nuthin'!!LOL
My friends are another story...I know one of them actually "camped out" for the big event!

We say...Have fun our shopoholic sisters.... and hopefully by tomorrow we will running in HIGH SPEED catching up on tweets and for the finale...... LOVE to all our loyal family here!
Discussion area below for Today........ ALL things Sister Wives!
And yes, I know...I liked Silver Man! Lord knows Christine needs a smile.  In fact, when you think about it.... when Christine got happy....Kody called her a shameless flirt!  Well KODY... we are glad Christine is feeling better and shame on you... I believe you are the FLIRT... AND the pig that pokes.....  I can't stand it when someone acts like they are kidding with the words... but really AREN'T!

If I had the companionship of my husband in my bed 90 days a year and somewhere else the rest....I might be a flirt too! Especially if he was out making "physical manifestations of his love for another wife" with Robyn.

I am sorry. I only meant to make a discussion post, not a rant. I guess that too little writing about this show has me......LEAKING!!!! bwahahahahahha
(wink... Cynical) 
See you!

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KODY BROWN

I am calling BS! Last week he was upset TLC put up a "Hair" Clip and his "facebook friends" couldn't TALK about his hair, now he does himself? What a cheeze.

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U.S. could become defendant in ‘Sister Wives’ case

According to the Salt Lake Tribune,The United States government may become a defendant in a reality-show family’s lawsuit challenging Utah’s law banning polygamy. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints renounced polygamy as a condition of statehood, required by the Utah Enabling Act of 1894. With that in mind, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups has asked attorneys for the Brown family, stars of the TLC show “Sister Wives,” and the state of Utah to show why the U.S. should not also be added as a defendant in the case.

The attorneys will present their arguments in a hearing scheduled for Dec. 16.

To read the entire post, please click here.........

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52873532-78/law-utah-defendant-wives.html.csp

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Kody Brown Says 'Courting' Multiple Wives Isn't Easy

KODY BROWN has some wise advice for a friend of his who wants to have his own plural marriage - it isn't easy!

In an exclusive sneak peek of Sister Wives obtained by RadarOnline.com, the dad of the polygamist family talks openly with his friend Andy about marrying a second wife.
"I didn't say it was easy, I think frankly you know better," Kody tells his friend. "Have you ever tried courting a second wife?"


Andy and his wife Nicole used to be neighbors of the Browns in Utah, and said they support a polygamist lifestyle, even though they don't have a second wife yet, but Andy has some rules.  "A 37-year-old man better not be looking at an 18-year-old woman," Andy tells Kody.


Check out Sisters Wives to find out if Kody's advice helps his friends decide if they want to have their own sister wives Sunday on TLC at 9/8c.  In the meantime,  here's another sneak peek of the episode:

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/11/kody-brown-says-courting-multiples-wives-not-easy-video

(Courtesy Radaronline)

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Multi-Level Marketing Plan$ "Sister Wives"

Multi-Level Marketing Plan$

If you follow the Brown family, you have heard a lot about multi-level marketing plans over the last two days.  Do you know what a multi-level marketing plan (MLM) is?  I decided to do some investigative reporting and went to the heart of my hometown financial district (the Frostbite Falls combination Money Mart and Tattoo Parlor) to find out about MLMs.

Multi-level marketing (MLM) is a marketing strategy where the sales force is compensated for the sales they generate AND for the sales of other salespeople that they recruit, creating a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation.  Other terms for multi-level marketing include network marketing, pyramid selling, and referral marketing. 

Usually, the salespeople sell directly to customers through relationship referrals and word-of-mouth marketing.  Some people use “direct selling” as a name for MLM, but it isn’t really because MLM always involves multiple layers of sales people who receive differing levels of compensation and lots of types of direct selling does not involve this.  MLMs are contrasted with a single level marketing network where there is 1 level of salespeople selling directly to the customer.

MLMs have been the subject of criticism and even lawsuits.  The criticism focuses on the similarity of MLMs to illegal pyramid schemes, product price-fixing, high initial start-up costs, emphasis on recruiting new (lower) levels of salespeople over actual product sales, requiring product use by salespeople, exploiting personal relationships to develop sales and recruit new salespeople, overly complex compensation schemes, and cultish motivation techniques.  There are claims that the success rate for breaking even or making money are far worse than with other types of businesses.

Many illegal pyramid schemes try to pass themselves off as legitimate MLMs.  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission says that pyramid schemes are dangerous because plans that pay commissions to recruit new levels of salespeople (or members, distributors, associates, consultants, or whatever they may be called) collapse when no new salespeople can be found.  When such a plan collapses most people end up empty handed – except, perhaps for those at the very top of the pyramid. 

Here are a couple of quick tests to differentiate between a legal MLM and an illegal pyramid scheme.  Check with the experts if you need to know more:

·      Is there more emphasis on recruiting new members than on selling the product or service?  If so it might be a pyramid scheme.

·      Is the plan designed so that more money is made by recruiting new members than by selling the product or service?  If so it might be a pyramid scheme.

We should also remember, however, that many long-standing successful companies such as Avon, Mary Kay, and Tupperware use this sales method.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketin

 WRITTEN BY TERRASOLA

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Kody Brown and Meri Brown **Affidavit 10/18/2011 "Sister Wives Blog"

Here are the highlights of Kody and Meri's statements:

• I was a resident of Lehi, Utah, where I was civilly married to Plaintiff Meri Brown, and spiritually married to Plaintiffs Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, and Robyn Sullivan.

• My family are members of the Apostolic United Brethren Church, a fundamentalist faith and plural marriage is central to our faith.

• In January 2011, I left Utah for fear that Utah law enforcement officials would break up my family and prosecute the adults under the state's criminal bigamy statute for maintaining a plural family. ***Hmmmmmm

• When we considered participation in the Sister Wives program on TLC, I had repeated contacts with state officials. In the course of those meetings I asked the defendants questions to determine if we be would subject to investigation or prosecution if we went public

• On at least three occasions in the year before Sister Wives aired, I spoke with Defendant Shurtleff and his press secretary about our plural family and our desire to go public. I told Defendant Shurtleffthat I was considering going public with the details and realities of our plural family. I asked Defendant Shurtleff if Shurtleff would pursue me criminally if I went public, and Defendant Shurtleff answered that he would not. At this February 2009 meeting, Defendant Shurtleff told me that Utah lacked the resources to prosecute polygamists and that I would not be prosecuted unless I was committing crimes such as marrying child brides, promoting incestuous relationships, or committing welfare or tax fraud.

• However, the day after the first episode aired, Lehi Police Department publicly announced that our family was under investigation under the bigamy statute and were subject to prosecution for our plural family structure.

• What followed were public statements from prosecutors reaffirming that the state viewed my family as felons and that we were committing criminal acts by living as a plural family.

• Deputy Utah County Attorney Julia Thomas stated that we were placed under investigation when prosecutors saw promotional trailers for Sister Wives airing on TV. Vince Horiuchi, Going Public 'Was a Risk Worth Taking,' Utah Polygamists Say, Salt Lake City Trib., Sept. 29, 2010.

• Ms. Thomas also stated that we were breaking the law and effectively admitting to criminal acts every night.These statements and the very public investigation have had an immediate, continuing, and negative impact on my family.

• We have had to prepare for the possibility that the adults could be taken from our family - leaving our children without support or parental guidance.

• Efforts of some of the adults to find employment was hampered by our being labeled as felons and guilty of open and admitted criminal acts.

• For example, the day after the investigation was announced, one of my largest sales accounts in my prior employment contacted my office manager in Orem and said "we can't have Kody be associated with us anymore and we need the account reassigned."

• I had developed this account over the course of three years and it was one of the top five accounts that I had maintained as a sales representative working for Young Electric Sign Company. This banking institution was very close to signing a new sale with me.

• I saw other sales drop after the public comments of the prosecutors and the criminal investigation into our plural family.

• The threat of prosecution and public statements had a profound impact on the family's health and lifestyle. The adults lost sleep and Robyn dropped dangerously in weight over the constant threat that our family could be destroyed at any time.

• The coercive effect on the entire family was so pronounced that any appearance of a police cruiser on our street became a matter of alarm - not knowing whether prosecutors had chosen this moment to break up our family and arrest some or all of the adults.

• I intend to continue to practice my religious faith, including polygamy, as does my entire
family.

• We have, however, been curtailed in our speech and associations due to the threat of prosecution and continued public comments from prosecutors.

• We have been unable to fully participate in our religious community due to our separation from Utah and we curtailed some associations and religious activities to try to protect family and friends from similar treatment by state officials.

• Yet even after the move to Nevada, prosecutors have continued to stress that their investigation of our family is ongoing and that they reserved the right to prosecute the family.

• Our continued labeling as presumptive felons has proven a barrier in finding new positions for the adults in Nevada

• No family should have to live under a classification as criminals simply because the majority of citizens object to their private relationships or religious-based practices.

Meri:

• Efforts of some of the adults to find employment was hampered by our being labeled as felons and guilty of open and admitted criminal acts.

• In my case, I was fired due to criminal investigation and being labeled a felon due to our family structure

• I had worked for Youth Care of Utah for 1 year.

• When we decided to participate in the Sister Wives program, I informed my supervisors
and the company management.

• There was no objection to the show and I received positive feedback from my co- workers.

• I was specifically told by my supervisor that everything was fine and that the show and my lifestyle would not be a problem.

• I was put on administrative leave at the beginning of the next regular scheduled day of work after statement from the prosecutor labeling us as criminals. Please double check this. I am not sure if there were prosecutors at that point - just the announcement of the investigation by the Lehi City Police Department.

• In October 3, 2010, I came to work on a Sunday only to find high-ranking management present - something I had never seen.

• I was pulled into an office and told that I would be placed on administrative leave until
corporate management decided how to handle "the situation."

• I was called into the office on Tuesday, October 5., I was told they had to called me in to tell they had decided to terminate my employment. I was not working due to administrative leave.

• I objected because I had been open about my polygamous family structure and the show, but the management made clear that it was not my polygamous family that motivated my termination.

• Rather, the management told me it was the fact that I was under criminal investigation and the statements in the media that the state considered me (and my family) to be committing felonies under state law. Actually they were specifically worried about police showing up to the work place.

• My employer offered me a "severance" pay with the condition that if I accepted it I would never speak of the circumstances regarding my separation.

• I refused to accept the money in exchange for my silence.

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What's in a name.... "Sister Wives" "Kody Brown" "Robyn Brown"

What's in a name....

Well, one little fact is that is why you have all the "sons" at the end of a name.... 

Johnson (John's son), for way back when, there were so few people they didn't need 2 names.  NOW, the surname brown means (Quite Shockingly)

Brown is generally a descriptive surname (nickname) referring to the color of the individual's complexion or color of hair.
What is shocking is  if Kody's family came from a "brown" complexion- that would be a kicker, now wouldn't it? They are all awfully blonde... just sayin...

With a first name, you can kill a kids self esteem for life, or give them a name every class will have 15 of. Or, you can get so unique, in 20 yrs everyone will be looking at you twice. Apple? Really?

So what is the new pitter-patter of little feet going to have to put up with, besides that gaggle of family already set up for him or her, or that pie jaw smiling at you all the time.

 

What ya gonna call that kid?

With the seemingly simpleton crying mom and the self-absorbed egomaniac male donor, this should be pretty simple. Do you think they will surprise us? WE played this once before- but this one sticks, lets see if we have a winner. And yes, you can put down a name if that's what you TRUELY heehee thought of beforehand. Pretty simple, you can add later, more than one, we don't care! Just be HONEST - -and not add a good one you SAW on here.

My Boys name is Kody Winn... or maybe spelled KoDee since I believe her step dad's name is Dee, I haven't decided the girls yet, it hasn't stuck me, but it will be on here before the show Friday. I am mulling. KoDee could be a girl, too, I guess.  Oh! I got another , KOBYN!!! IDK, they may be my girl's names, too. I am playing with Winnie.

Hey, we can make up some really silly ones just for fun.

Seriously, babies are a joy, well, most of them are, and we're just playing, so no one get their diapers in a bunch.

So, NAME THAT BROWN BABY, BOY OR GIRL!!!!  

Isn't this cute?

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