TPE, started by two brothers who were exiled from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, takes place in the non-magic kingdom of "The Creek," the FLDS community on the Utah-Arizona border. One of the brothers, Richard Holm, has said the tours will be "respectful" and will answer FAQs like "Why the prairie dresses and long braids? No makeup? More than one wife?" As the literature states, "A passenger bus seating 29 people will ferry tourists into Arizona, where guides will discuss the origins of fundamentalist Mormonism and will give travellers the opportunity to take in the town's famous sites, and even includes a picnic." The FLDS, according to UPI, is predictably not into being made into attractions - these are folks who prefer to preserve their isolation under normal circumstances, after all, particularly after their head, Warren Jeffs, was charged with about a thousand counts of child-marrying. Said one community leader, "They want to come into the community like it's a spectacle, when for us, it's like the circus is coming to town. We hope people have more of a life than to be suckered into that sort of scam."

One blogger describes former members' leading the tour as "like a former Nazi concentration camp's warden leading a tour in Auschwitz." Which I think is totally unfair: has he not heard of "the lost boys" phenomenon? After all, the tour's founder, Richard Holm, whom Warren Jeffs kicked out, has been a prominent critic of the FLDS since long before it captured the popular imagination. And on the one hand, it's a brilliant idea. Why not take advantage of overweening public interest and morbid curiosity, prompted by lurid news reports of child brides, tell-alls like Carolyn Jessup's Escape or dramatizations like Big Love or the new film version of Jessup's memoir, in which she'll be played by a pompadoured Katherine Heigl? And for those expelled from the community (Holm's two wives and children were "reassigned" to new men; Holm is now anti-polygamy) this is the ultimate revenge. What could be more painful than to expose the secrets of a community that prizes secrecy? To encourgae contact with a world that prefers to stay isolated? And in the process make money - which, if you believe Jessup's memoir, is made hard for anyone who's not in a position of power?

But, at the end of the day, why would we be there? Why do we even know about it? Because of child abuse and sexual abuse charges. Because of crimes against women, children and young men. And there's no getting away from that. And if we're going to condemn human zoos in the rest of the world, how can we encourage something so dehumanizing here? At the end of the the subject is unwilling - therefore, by definition, it's exploitative. Now, you can argue that this is another matter to the Amish, who've done nothing more than tried to live their lives and have to deal with throngs of apple butter-scarfing tourists in bonnets. In the current FLDS, if we're to believe the accounts of Jessup and others, situations like those in Texas, or involving Jeffsm aren't uncommon, but standard - with children being taken to wife against their will and young men literally thrown out on their own for the sin of being under 30, and community-centric law enforcement who are a part of the problem.

But the fact remains: what would we gain by exploiting people further? Yes, knowledge is important. Making things public is crucial. But disseminating half-information in a sense trivializes the real legal issues and serves to dehumanize its victims. Never mind the fact that those who aren't doing anything illegal, and merely pursuing a fundamentalist doctrine, shouldn't be held up as curiosities merely for doing so. In a sense, I don't think the fact that someone has proposed this business is inherently bad: it means people are aware of the FLDS, which means, hopefully, that actual agencies and the government are more aware of potential issues - and that those who wish to leave the life are given options and sanctuary. But at the same time, this shouldn't be reduced to either a harmless tourist attraction or a chamber of horrors: it's people, living their lives. If you want to see it, watch Escape. Chances are you'll see a lot more, anyway - I'm guessing these tour buses won't catch a lot of the lurid polygamist action Big Love fans might be hoping for, at most maybe a woman with a braid getting into a minivan. And frankly, these guys would probably be happier not dwelling in the past. If they want to help the community, there are organizations for Lost Boys and escapees. And given their entrepreneurial spirit, well, there are a lot of opportunities out there. It's a big world - and about one thing that FLDS guy is right; we should have better things to do.

'Polygamist Colony' Is Focus Of New Tour [UPI]

Scarier than "Ghost Town Tours"- "The Polygamy Experience". [Adventures -WA]
FLDS Exile To Offer Tour Of Polygamist Communities [SL Tribune]

From Polygamist Royalty To FLDS Lost Boy [NPR]
Ousted FLDS Dads Stuck With Aching Stigma [ReligionNews]

• Lindsay Lohan had a "meltdown" in a club in London, which involved saying:

"I feel so, like, caged. Totally caged." Then Lindsay tried to curl up in a ball on the floor. According to this report. [Mirror]

• Brad and Angie to wed??? Apparently someone sent Angelina Jolie all the press clippings about her "relationship problems," so she has decided that she and Brad should get married and put an end to the stories. A rumor about a Brangelina wedding circulates pretty much once a year, so perhaps we were overdue. [Mirror]
• BREAKING: Mariah Carey has been "stuffing her face" while making her album. "She has put on about 15 pounds, but she loves the curves," says a "source." [Page Six]
• Uh-oh: Pete Doherty was arrested in Switzerland after being found "slumped" in the bathroom of a British Airways flight with a needle. [Sunday Mail]
• The Slumdog kids danced to the movie's hit song, "Jai Ho," in a Hong Kong shopping mall on Saturday to raise money for charity. According to this report, "They sang off-key but drew an enthusiastic response." [Hindustan Times]
• Heidi and Spencer were "tortured" on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, by being held in a dark room with only water, rice and beans. Heidi was rushed to the hospital with what was diagnosed as a gastric ulcer; she has been released. If all of this is part of the Speidi attention machine, it's certainly impressive. [TMZ]
• Spencer claims he was locked up for 3 days with no food or water; producers say it was 8-10 hours max, with food and water. [TMZ]
• This report says Heidi and Spencer were in the Lost Chamber for 14 hours. [MSNBC Scoop]
• The production company behind I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here says that "All allegations of the celebrities being deprived of food and water are completely untrue." [Perez]
• Susan Boyle has signed with Ossie Kilkenny, the manager who made u2 millions. [Mirror]
• Chelsy Davy "can't wait" to see Prince Harry at a party this week. or something, This picture, in which Prince Harry's hand seems to be about to grab Prince Harry's crotch, is distracting. [Daily Mail]
• Even though Christina Ricci has called off her engagement, she and her ex-fiancé, Owen Benjamin, went to the movies Saturday night. [TMZ]
• It's hard to even understand how this is a news item, but here it is: Dancing With The Stars' Cheryl Burke has dropped some "excess" pounds and is "enjoying her new figure." [UPI]
• Brooke Shields and the National Enquirer have reached a settlement over the May incident in which two reporters checked Brooke's mom out of a nursing home to get a story. Also: The mag has agreed to make a generous donation to further research on dementia. [UPI]
• Kirsten Dunst: Returning to the Spider-Man franchise for flick number four. Will there be a Spidey wedding? [E!]
• Will Alec Baldwin, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick and Tommy Mottola all move into the same gorgeous NYC building? [NY Times]
• Cameron Diaz says her costars on My Sister's Keeper helped her deal with the sudden death of her father: "I was really, really fortunate to have these people to come back to." [People]
• The family of David Carradine is asking the FBI to investigate the actor's death. [Us Magazine, People]
• Want details from David Carradine's death? Click away. [TMZ]
• Kate Hudson's mom, Goldie Hawn, is allegedly worried about Kate dating Alex Rodriguez. A source says: "Kate's had a string of boyfriends since her divorce from Chris Robinson and it's always the same pattern – she falls hard and fast, then gets bored or has her heart broken. Goldie hates the idea of seeing Kate getting hurt again." [Daily Mail]
• Katie "Jordan" Price is "drinking heavily, taking sleeping pills and barely eating" since splitting with husband Peter Andre. [Telegraph]
• This report shows Katie "Jordan" Price very calmly shopping with her kids. [Daily Mail]
• Baby-wipes enthusiast Terrence Howard stopped six lanes of traffic in Beverly Hills to save the life of a baby bird. [Page Six]
• Another day, another Kylie Minogue wedding rumor. This time, her man gave her a rose, so, clearly they are getting hitched. [Daily Mail]
• Will Michael Jackson try and turn his London mansion into the new Neverland? [The Sun]
• Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, who were husband and wife in Brokeback Mountain, may reunite in a flick called Love and Other Drugs, an adaptation of Jamie Reidy's nonfiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman. [The Hollywood Reporter]
• What, what? A film adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love? With Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem? Oookay. [Variety]
• "In a PawNation poll, 70 percent of animal lovers voted Jennifer Aniston as the celeb they would trust to pet sit their furry friend." Mickey Rourke came in second. [E!]
• Patrick Dempsey has a dream, and it involves having a nice bus so he can bring his kids racing with him. [People]
• Composer Benny Andersson of ABBA has contributed one million kronor ($128,000) to the Swedish feminist initiative. [Independent Political Report]
• "She divides her time between California and Colorado, and in both places she lives 'off the grid,' with her own sources of water and power. Her homes are powered by solar panels, her toilets are compost, her cars run on leftover grease from fast-food restaurants […] She wears recycled necklaces made of boiled-down shotgun casings. She has more than 20 animals - horses, alpacas, chickens, dogs, cows - all of which are rescues…" — from a profile on Daryl Hannah. [Guardian]
• In this interview with Harry Shearer, he talks being part of Spinal Tap and The Simpsons. [LA Times]
• James Caan and Scott Caan play father and son in a new film called Mercy. [LA Times]
• Check out a portrait of Sandra Bernhard by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders (and some information about the relationship between the photographer and the comedian) here. [HuffPo]
• Ooky, spooky, kooky: Bebe Neuwirth is working on a play based on The Addams Family. Snap, snap. [Gatecrasher]
• "There is nothing more humiliating for a stutterer than to have their word or sentence finished for them. I didn't have names for these fears." — from "How I Found My Voice," an essay by Carly Simon. [The Daily Beast]
• Evan Dando of the Lemonheads is suing General Motors, saying the company copied one of his songs for an ad. Dude, have you heard? They don't have any money! You're suing the bankrupt. [AP]
• Jon Voight is suing investors who sued him. [TMZ]
• The woman who inspired the Beatles song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" is seriously ill. [Newser]
• Blind item! "Which once prominent magazine writer/TV interviewer now appears in elegant homes wearing men's clothes and a fedora? Sighed one jaded observer, 'These days, becoming a lesbian is a career move.'" [Page Six]
• Blind item! "Which sexy leading man, known for his wandering eye, recently hooked up with a pouty songstress? The raven-haired rocker is a big change from his usual choice of supermodels." [Page Six]
• Blind item! "Which actor is on hiatus due to a drug relapse? He claimed he needed time off because of the heartbreak of his public split, but he's actually headed to rehab." [Page Six]
• Blind item! "Which heartthrob actor nearly cried bloody murder when he couldn't get into a private lounge?" [Gatecrasher]
• "I don't know him. I've never really seen him in interviews either. [But] yeah, he's cute. I'm a huge fan of the Twilight series." — Kelly Clarkson hearts Robert Pattinson! And she wrote a song, "Empty As I Am," inspired by the characters, which might make it on to the New Moon soundtrack. [Mirror]
• "I have people coming up to me all the time on the street and saying, 'My daughter's gay; thank you for this.' People send me e-mails like, 'My mother was going to take away my cellphone (and this and that) because I told her I was gay. She saw the movie and now she says she loves me.' It's a very powerful response. I get a lot of questions from people saying, when is it going to go to Ireland, to India…That gives me hope, that it's such a powerful story, being the truth, that it will transcend these other cultures and get Mary's message across." — Sigourney Weaver, on playing Mary Griffith, who attempted to save her gay son's soul by religious means before his suicide. [LA Times]
• "It's a mix of curiosity, fascination, respect and bewilderment. Twitter freaks me out. You have followers? It feels so obsessive and proprietary. It has great applications, and it's effective, I get it. But 'I did something, I did something else, I'm at it again.' Why? I'm still getting over YouTube, people. These breakthroughs are coming at such velocity that before you get your sea legs, there's another wave hitting you." — Mos Def. [USA Today]
• "I think she's much more raw in the third season. You see everything that's happening to her, so you see her more open and vulnerable, though she's being deceptive. You see her really desperate, which is a different side to her. I've been playing the character for so long now it comes naturally. [That allows me] to be more confident, take more risks, go bigger. In my film work, I'm scared to go too big — it's projected on the big screen and what not — but on Big Love, I feel I have a lot more freedom." — Chloe Sevigny on playing Nicolette "Nicki" Grant. [LA Times]
• "When I was a child my parents threatened to send me to a convent. I've often wondered how that would have worked out. I'd have made a terrible nun. I'm a good Catholic girl in the way that Madonna is. In the sense that I'm not that good at all. If the church is having a hard time recruiting nuns, I'd make an ideal poster girl. 'Become a nun or else end up like her!'" — Heather Graham. [Daily Mail]
• "I am who I am-a regular guy with a great job. How I'm analyzed belongs to someone else. In a few minutes, I've got a kid's game to go to, and then I'm taking our daughter to auditions. Today, that's my job." — Denzel Washington. [Reader's Digest]
• "The problem with Harry Potter is that there is so little controversy. It would be so great for the press if one of them would go off the rails and end up in rehab, but they are, actually, just really sweet guys." — Jason Isaacs, who plays Lucius Malfoy. [Telegraph]
• "The moment that changed me for ever ... was becoming a vegetarian aged 17; my whole life changed. I spent a lot of time hanging out in the woods near my house and felt a connection to the birds and trees." — Chrissie Hynde. [Independent]
• "I really wish I could play, but I don't at all." — Princess Beatrice, on polo. [Telegraph]
• "I never said (I wasn't returning). I just said that I'm not sure. It's called, um, 'negotiating.'" — Paula Abdul on whether she'll return to American Idol. [UPI]
• "When people talk about reincarnation, I always feel that if there is such a thing, this is definitely my first time, because I'm always amazed. I'm both amazed at how horrifically we can treat each other and all other living things, and also amazed at the wonder and the beauty. I'm like: 'Oh my God, look at that bird!' or 'Look at that flower!' literally every single day. I can't get over how people are putting so much energy and so many resources into going to Mars when everything we could ever dream of is on this planet, if we just take care of it. What do they have on Mars? They don't even have oxygen up there!" — Daryl Hannah. [Guardian]
• "I can never get close. My No. 1 job is always, always, always stand-up. It has to be a no-holds-barred attitude. Let me give you an example. I met Drew Barrymore a couple times. I went to a party at her house. And she said, 'You know, you should come to one of my small dinner parties, we hate the same people.' But if I'm sitting next to Courtney Love and she falls over, I can't not put it in the act. I'm responsible to my audience the way most people feel responsible to their Lord Jesus." — Kathy Griffin. [LA Times]
• "I learned that when you yell, nobody hears you. The best communicators have to live and present themselves in a peaceful manner. And that's going to be a lifelong quest of mine. I don't have a temper. I've never broken everything. I've never thrown a thing. But I have passion. If I feel passionate, you're going to know." — Rosie O'Donnell. [CBS News]
• "It depends where you are in the world. It's not brilliant here in Britain compared to, for example, Scandinavia – maternity leave and everything is different and they're much more clued in to what parents and children need. We still have quite a lot of Victorian principles hanging on, you can see it and feel it." — Emma Thompson, on Britain not being helpful to working mothers. [Daily Express]
• "I'm taking a year off. That's my birthday present to myself. I'm not going to act, write or anything like that. I'll be a mum, teach drama at my daughter's school, I'll cook meals and have fun, go out with my friends, I'll go to movies and not think about working. I'll see what bubbles up after that." — Emma Thompson. [Mirror]
• "I was insane to go on the Spice tour three months after having [my son]Beau. I wouldn't put myself through it again. At the time I was very self conscious about it all. It was awful. I remember being on stage and going numb and thinking everyone was looking at my body and that it wasn't perfect and I was next to the other girls […] Can you believe [Mel B] does 600 [sit ups a day]? That's nuts. Twenty sit ups and I'm done." — Emma Bunton, aka Baby Spice. [Mirror]
• "I'm convinced he plays for the other team. I even had my gay friends assess the situation" — Bethenny Frankel, joking about her boyfriend, Jason Hoppy. [Page Six]
• "I think what Drew and I found was a connection very similar to the connection between the characters. We adored each other; we played off each other. I can't imagine doing it with anybody else. It's two parts of a whole, really." — Jessica Lange, on Grey Gardens. [LA Times]
• "I'm an awkward kid from Long Island who had a dream about going to New York and becoming an actress. That's who I still am in my core… I fell into this phenomenon. Huge. Huge. This doesn't happen to most people. I'm lucky in that the way I look has never gotten me anything." — Edie Falco. [UPI]
• "I haven't done any exercise since October. I haven't done a thing. So who knows how I'm holding it together." — Kate Winslet. [Daily Mail]

As bitchy and scheming as Nicki can be in her suburban life with Bill, Barb, and Margie, it's hard not to sympathize with her character when thinking about her in the context of the compound, brainwashing, Joy Book, and forced, underage marriage.

FLDS women are raised to be mothers and wives and nothing more. They are often denied any education beyond eighth grade, robbed of choices regarding their own lives, and conditioned to think that men should do all the thinking for them.

Seeing her daughter — whom she was forced to abandon in order to get away from her ex-husband — have an active interest in things that girls on the compound aren't supposed to (desire to go to school, playing in the dirt, etc.), Nicki knew Cara Lynn was destined for a life that lacked personal fulfillment.

Some of Cara Lynn's behavior, at first glance, seemed a bit "off," like when she spoke with enthusiasm about killing and dissecting a frog and lying to her stepmother in order to get more dessert. But Nicki recognized those actions as survival techniques in an environment in which girls' best interests are not looked out for, and ambitions are squashed. It makes Nicki's own deviant behavior suddenly make so much more sense.

Before I get started, I'd just like to say that I personally believe that all organized religions are weird, including the one I was raised in, which told me that I had to eat a piece of someone's body and drink his blood once a week, and fess up to all the bad things I'd done and thought to a man hidden in a little cubby hole. Rituals always appear odd to those who haven't grown up with them.

But that's also because rituals are often odd, especially when they're shrouded in secrecy. So when we got to see the Freemason-esque LDS Endowment ceremony, the secret handshakes, the costumes, the props, and the Celestial room, it was a bit jarring. Perhaps it's because Mormonism is a fairly young religion founded by pioneers — who, in fact, were Freemasons at one point — this makes their practices seem bizarre to outsiders. And that's may be why Mormons guard them so carefully.

Church members aren't even supposed to discuss the ordinances of the Endowment outside of the temple, and until as recently as 1990, part of the ceremony included a "blood oath," in which members promised that they understood that they'd be disemboweled or have their throats slashed if they revealed any of the secrets of the ceremony. That's why some LDS members are upset with the Big Love episode, and why Barb's mother was so reticent to "monkey around" with Mormon procedure by allowing her polygamous daughter to access the temple through her recommendation.

The LDS takes the Endowment very seriously because it reveals to members key words and tokens they need to pass by angels guarding the way to heaven. Barb was facing a disciplinary hearing and excommunication for being involved in plural marriage. Excommunication to Mormons means much more than being banned from the church on earth. It means they're banned from entering the Celestial Kingdom after death, and cast into the "outer darkness" for all eternity. Fearing this, Barb had to beg her mother and sister to give her a temple recommend in order to receive her Endowment, as an of-chance way to gain entrance into heaven.

In the end, Barb was excommunicated from the LDS because of her plural marriage, but more importantly, because of her knowledge of the LDS's purchase of an official letter that stated that the church never intended to outlaw polygamy, and the LDS's intention of hiding the letter from the public. This storyline makes the church look incredibly corrupt; I wonder if they're as pissed off about that as they are about the depiction of the Endowment ceremony.

During her hearing, the church officials asked her if she was wearing her "temple garments," which are special underwear to be worn under the clothes.

According to Wikipedia, FLDS members wear something similar under their clothes, but a little more modest and more like the original garments that the founding members of the church wore. These garments, among other things, make me wonder if FLDS members aren't as different from some mainstream Mormons as LDS members would have us believe. They just fly their freak flags more publicly.

• A picture of Zach Braff smoking weed has surfaced. He's the next Michael Phelps! (Except for like, all the medals.) [Perez Hilton]

• Speaking of Michael Phelps, Kelloggs has dumped 2 tons of cereal with boxes featuring Phelps at the San Francisco Food Bank. [Perez Hilton]
• There's reportedly friction between Rihanna's people and Chris Brown's people. Chris's handlers are desperate to put out a picture of the two together, while Rihanna's posse is outraged at Chris and say a picture of the two together will hurt her career. [TMZ]
• The father of Chris Brown's manager, Tina Davis, says the speculation that his daughter is having a romantic relationship with Chris and texted him on the night of the attack is nothing but "old rumors." Davis was first accused of hooking up with Chris in 2005, when he was 16, but they have always denied it. [Yahoo]
• Rihanna partied at a club last night with friends for a belated 21st birthday celebration. Chris was not in attendance. [E!]
• Sort of good news: Chris Brown has withdrawn himself from consideration for a Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Award. [Yahoo]
• There were only four donations made to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's charity last year. One from Angie, one from Brad, on from an Ocean's Eleven producer, and curiously, one from E!. It's unclear what favor the network was looking for, as it certainly didn't inspire Angie and Brad to chat with Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet. [Fox News]
• John Mayer has approached jeweller Lorraine Schwartz to create a diamond engagement ring for Jennifer Aniston. Apparently that gold toe ring he got her didn't cut it. [The Mirror]
• Ivanka Trump thinks it's funny that people keep comparing her to Paris Hilton. She says: "It's no more obvious a comparison than between myself and George Bush. Paris is fine - she is what she is - but her lifestyle wouldn't appeal to me." [The Daily Expres]
• Though DJ AM's rep denies it, there's a rumor that he was booked on the Continental flight that crashed in Buffalo last month but didn't board the plane. If he did, that would mean he survived a second fatal plane crash. [TMZ]
• In this video, Peaches Geldof recounts a sweet story about the time Michael Jackson sat her on his knee and stroked her when she was a child. [The Sun]
• When asked how it felt to be returning to the red carpet after a hiatus, Julia Roberts said, "Just terrifying, awful. It's scary out there – but it's nice ... I've put on three different outfits to come here tonight, three!" [People]
• David Boreanaz and his wife are expecting their second child. They have a 6-year-old son. [People]
• Some very creepy human being took a hidden video of Vanessa Hudgens during a workout class at her gym. [Perez Hilton]
• The Parents Television Council has filed complaint about Family Guy. They're objecting to parts of last week's episode that "bestiality, orgies and babies eating sperm." The PTC didn't complain that Peter was involved in a gay 11 way orgy, so at least they're not homophobic! [NY Magazine]
• Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones had lunch with former Defense Secretary Bill Cohen and his wife Janet in Washington, D.C. today. [Politico]
• LeAnn Rimes is also in D.C. talking to members of Congress about her battle with psoriasis. [Politico]
• Anne Heche gave birth to her first child with boyfriend/co-star James Tupper this weekend. They've named the boy Atlas. [Us]
• There are new pictures of Patrick Swayze on the cover of The National Enquirer and he doesn't look very good. [The L.A. Times]
• Gisele Bundchen says she's looking forward to having a big family but for now she's enjoying her 18-month-old stepson John Edward Moynahan. "It's amazing that I have the opportunity to hang out with my stepson all the time," says Gisele. "He is so kind. He loves blueberries, and every now and then my dog, Vida, tries to get some food from him. He is so nice that he will give her the blueberries first. He is so cute and has such a sweet demeanor." [People]
• Katie Holmes' bob haircut is no more. She she showed up at the Japanese premiere of Valkyrie with extensions. [E!]
• Ashton Kutcher has posted more profound thoughts on Twitter. He writes: "can we just get clear, calling some one 'gay' or 'fag' is as derogatory as calling someone a 'nigger'. U look like an idiot when you do it." But have the people of Twitter had it with Kutcher? One of his followers responded, "what are you a fucking philosopher…learn how to punch and learn how to stop being so gay kelso." [Jossip]
• Michael Jackson has added 20 more dates to his London concert series. [E!]
• James Gandolfini's doctor says his vocal cords need a rest so the Wednesday matinee performance of his Broadway play God of Carnage was cancelled. [AP]
• HBO has apologized to the Mormon church because an upcoming episode of Big Love shows the religion's secretive endowment ceremony. But, HBO isn't pulling the episode. [AP]
• For some reason Hugh Hefner was the one who called ex-girlfriend Holly Madison and told her she was being offered a spot on Dancing With the Stars. Former co-girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson says, ""I think people get on her and think she doesn't know how to dance - but hip-hop dances she needs to work on, but ballroom dancing she's great at, she has great feet." [People]

• Young women who have undergone breast reductive surgery may have been screened for cancer without their consent, according to a recent report. • Doctors hope that a new type of screening for ovarian cancer will help decrease the number of cancer-related deaths among women. • Ugh: the Caylee Anthony "tribute" dolls are back. • Mormons are up in arms about an upcoming episode of HBO show Big Love that plans to depict a sacred Mormon temple. The church has not called for a boycott, believing (rightly so) that it would only give Big Love free publicity. • According to a new study, the high incidence of child marriage in India could lead to "poor fertility outcomes" among women. • Click here to watch a video of a turtle humping a shoe. • A preacher in rural Alabama is under fire for his "sexy sermons". The sex-positive sermons received negative attention after the church sponsored billboards that read "Great sex: God's way." • A baby boy born in Russia has just undergone surgery to correct his birth defect: he was born with two penises. • A Maryland woman was seriously injured (and probably embarrassed) from an incident involving a sex toy attached to a power saw. • Fertility patients are pleased with Obama's decision to lift the ban on stem cell research, since their donated embryos can now be put to good use. However, Scientists have some doubts. • New research from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia indicates that many doctors don't really understand the emergency contraception pill, and because of this, they don't often suggest it. • Studies performed on rats have found that children whose mothers drink alcoholic beverages while pregnant may find the taste more palatable than those born to teetotalers. • And for those of us who may be predisposed to loving the booze, there is a new website that can help monitor alcohol consumption. • More Filipinos are beginning to question the Catholic Church's teachings on birth control. "The influence of the Catholic Church has steadily weakened, just like in other countries," says Congressman Edcel Lagman. • According to a poll from 2007, 54% of Icelanders don't deny the existence of elves, and many believe that elves could be to blame for building disasters. • While women in Saudi Arabia are restricted from many activities, horse riding is not among them. • Protesters of the Miss University London pageant chained themselves to the entrance with bike locks and set off stink bombs. • The Scottish Prison Inspector has announced that many female inmates are living in "dismal and damaging conditions. • A new study shows that women expect men to do "masculine" chores, like taking out the garbage and mowing the lawn. • Film company Target Entertainment has bought the rights to a feature-length documentary titled "Monster: The Josef Fritzl Story." • Katie Couric has received a Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence for her coverage of the 2008 campaign. • A 17-year-old gunman dressed in military gear entered a high school in Germany and murdered fifteen of his classmates. Out of the fifteen, fourteen were female. • Firefighters in the UK have gotten multiple calls about this dwarf pony's stumpy legs. • Last night Congress passed a bill that will help provide cheap birth control for college women. • And if you don't like hormones, a new, cheaper, female condom has been approved for sale in the U.S. • A total of 43 people in norther Nicaragua have fallen ill with "crazy sickness." • Female Guardian writer tries boxing, realizes it's an intense workout. • Men are shelling out big bucks for hair plugs to combat society's prejudice against the bald. • Salt may be addictive, says a new study on the evolutionary reasons for human's taste for salt. • 

We knew that the minute that Bill took his fourth wife Anna, that things just wouldn't work out. (Because they'd definitely have to change the intro to the show.) As each one of Bill's wives bonded with Anna, jealousy over which woman was better friends with her began to set in, and elementary-school-type antics began to emerge. In this clip above, Nicki uses classic "mean girl" mind games to get Margie on her side.

"Joy Books," as they're called, have been mentioned a lot in news stories regarding Warren Jeffs. They list the names of girls who are eligible for marriage, most of whom are underage (usually around 14 years old). The "Joy Books" have been talked about by members of the church who have fled their respective compounds, but the assumption was that the books merely listed the names of the girls who were to be married off without warning or consent. In the books on Big Love, we see pictures of young girls' faces, feet, hands, backs of heads, and backs of knees, as though they are slaves or cattle. In this clip, Nicki looks through some of the books, which she'd never seen before, and, after finding her own entry, maybe comes to terms with how gross the practice of shopping out girls is.

It's great that the show is going deeper into Albie's homosexuality, which his own mother — who we learned probably put a hit out on him — says is a choice. Interestingly, whenever any of the polygamists on the show talk about their religion and/or relationships, they refer to them as "destiny," which really illustrates how arbitrary and retarded their beliefs are. Clip above.

While most of the stray dogs that live on the sanctuary avoid the elephants, Tarra and Bella have been friends for years, eating, sleeping, and playing together. But the two proved how close they are recently when Bella suffered a spinal cord injury that left her unable to move her legs or even wag her tail. Tarra spent three weeks standing outside the sanctuary office where the dog lay motionless, until sanctuary co-founder Scott Blais carried the Bella to the balcony to see her friend. The dog's tail started wagging and Blais had the two he visit every day as Bella learned to walk again. Today, Bella has recovered and will even roll on her back to let Tarra pat her belly with her foot. [CBS News]

The Department of Family and Protective Services in Texas reports that 12 girls between the ages 12 to 15 were sexually abused "with the knowledge of their parents" and spiritually "married" to older men within the Mormon breakaway group. Of the girls, 7 of them had one or more children:

The report, an unusual step taken to help satisfy expected questions from the state Legislature when it convenes in January, summarized individual investigations and the history of the case. The findings, though shared with law enforcement, are separate from the ongoing criminal cases.

The individual investigations, which covered 146 families, concluded that 91 families had children who were abused or neglected. Crimmins said that conclusion confirmed what investigators initially suspected — that girls were being forced into underage marriages and other children were exposed to that harm.

The case "is about sexual abuse of girls and children who were taught that underage marriages are a way of life," the agency said in its report. "It is about parents who condoned illegal underage marriages and adults who failed to protect young girls — it has never been about religion."

Authorities say that an additional 262 children were listed as neglected because their parents failed to remove their children from a situation where the child would be exposed to sexual abuse.

Meanwhile, FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said that the the department has made "many allegations that it's never been able to back up" and that the department "needs to learn how to say we're sorry instead of trying to justify their actions."

So far a dozen FLDS men, including the sect's prophet—Warren Jeffs— face charges of sexual abuse and bigamy based on evidence gathered from the ranch. The agency has also identified 124 "perpetrators" who were either parents who arranged illegal child marriages or men who married a young child.

Abuse, Neglect At Polygamist Ranch [MSNBC]

Earlier: Authorities Take 400 More Kids From Polygamist Sect In Texas
Polygamist Sect Raided On Charges Of Abuse Of Girls

Of course, it's easy for me to read into their faces and project my own preconceived notions of the sect onto their unlined brows. Maybe they look weary because they're new moms, or because of the stress of the government raid on their ranch, or perhaps they've been bickering with their six sister-wives about who takes care of the babies. As the woman who wrote the accompanying article to these photographs, Sara Corbett notes, "We may never know much about the individual circumstances of the young women in these pages or, most important, whether the relationships that carried some of them into motherhood were forced upon them. The women Sinclair met offered no information about the nature of their marriages or who the fathers of their children are."

Corbett also touches on the curious irony implicit in the attention paid to the FLDS women. "What’s interesting is that in a case that is, at heart, about doctrinaire male authority, and supposed abuse committed by men, it’s the women of the F.L.D.S. who have largely had to assume a public mantle these past months, making court appearances, trying to defend both their faith and their lifestyle in the face of deep skepticism," Corbett writes.

Though I think there's an easy explanation to why the country's fascination is fixed solely on the FLDS women. There is a simple reason the FLDS men perpetuate a system that rewards them, honors them, imbues them with power. Why the FLDS women continue on is much harder to reconcile with modern societal expectations. In that sense, these photos are Arbusean after all: they make the viewer deeply uncomfortable, and they make us reevaluate our social contexts.

Young Women Of The FLDS [NYT]
Children Of God [NYT]

If you'll recall, Jeffs is already serving a jail sentence for being an accomplice to rape, and since his incarceration in Utah, there have been rumblings of a new prophet being anointed. Merrill Jessop, the former husband of Carolyn Jessop, who wrote the anti-FLDS memoir Escape about her awful experiences as Merrill's umpteenth wife and the tyranny of Jeffs' reign. A change in leadership could definitely be a positive, as Carolyn Jessop wrote in her book that things in the sect were much more reasonable before the power-hungry Jeffs came to lead the FLDS.

Texas Grand Jury Indicts Polygamist Sect Members [AP]
Sect Leader Jeffs Charged With Child Sex Assault [CNN]
A New Prophet for the Polygamists? [Time]

Earlier: Big Love
Please Do Not Cry For Those Poor Polygamist Wives, Fox News