National Geographic article & photos

[WolverineDG]

on the FLDS. Most are pictures from Arizona & Utah, but there are some from the Ranch.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/02/polygamists/sinclair-photography

Nice photos & the article is well-researched (ie, they did their own investigation instead of relying on the State & other haters to tell them what to write).

dg

[sonias]

1. Nice dg

The one picture of Hildale, Utah is gorgeous. I think it's the last one in the sideshow. Beautiful mountains in the backdrop.

The raid made for gripping television, but it soon became clear that the phone calls were a hoax. And although authorities had evidently anticipated a violent confrontation like the 1993 shoot-out at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco—SWAT teams were brought in, along with an armored personnel carrier—the arsenal at the YFZ Ranch consisted of only 33 legal firearms. A Texas appeals court later found that authorities had not met the burden of proof for the removal of the more than 400 children, and most were returned to their families within two months.

From what I have learned since the raid, I agree with you that the article is a good balance. They give you the history, the controversy as well as statements from the women family members.

I think Ophra also had a good segment on FLDS too. It wouldn't be my cup of tea, but they are not being held against their will. This is the life they chose and they are happy.

The whole point is Texas agencies did wrong by these families in stripping away their children - without cause.

Sonia

[WolverineDG]

2. It's not my cup of tea either, but

I will say this. The Ranch is a very quiet, peaceful place. They turned land that was valued at next to nothing into productive farm & ranch land (so when you hear reports of neighbors complaining that the FLDS are ruining the neighborhood, it's because they've driven the land values, and consequently tax rates, UP). It still stuns me that CPS took the kids from those well-built, clean homes, yet completely ignored the kids living in close-to-squalor trailer house you pass along the county road to get to it.

dg