CT Scan Reveals Mummy Inside Chinese Buddha Statue

By JARED T. MILLER via GOOD MORNING AMERICA

The Buddhist tradition is full of visual representations and sculptures of the religion's titular deity. But a statue hundreds of years old, recently analyzed in Europe, is a rarity: A full mummy of a meditating monk resides inside of it.

Researchers at Norway's Meander Medical Center found the preserved body of a Buddhist master who likely died around the year 1100, believed to be named Liuquan, in a statue that had been exhibited last year at the Drents Museum in Netherlands.

Scientists had known the statue contained a mummy, but even so, the CT scans of the statue reveal unprecedented information about an extreme form of meditation.

Its display at the Drents Museum marked the first time the statue had been outside of China,reported Discover Magazine, and following the close of the exhibit the statue was taken to the Meander Medical Center in Amersfoort, Netherlands for CT scans.

The practice might sound like a grim effort to take one's life, but that wasn't its intent: Self-mummification was only for the most devoted of religious monks, and the practice was seen as a path to enlightenment or an advanced spiritual state.

The imaging confirmed the existence of Liquan's mummy. The monk, believed to be a member of the Chinese Meditation School, had practiced self-mummification, considered by certain Buddhists to be the highest form of religious enlightenment. 

The process involved first a rigorous, year-long diet of water nuts, berries and other similar foods, abstaining completely from grains and more substantial food, reports c|net. Afterward, the monk would be sealed inside the statue, fed a tea made from a toxic lacquer tree, given a tube used for food and air, and a bell to indicate that the monk was still alive. 

When the bell stopped ringing, the monk would be sealed in a tomb for three more years, and when reopened, a deceased monk found intact would be said to have reached true enlightenment; those who decomposed would have been considered to fall short of their goal, though their attempts were still honored. Some successful "living Buddhas" would have shrines built in their honor, according to a study of the practice by iO9.

This particular monk's organs have been removed and replaced with scrolls of paper inscribed with ancient Chinese characters; the Drents Museum considers it an example of self-mummification, and more research is needed into the existence of the scrolls and their meaning.

The statue will be on display at the Hungarian Natural History Museum until May 2015.

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BOOM! Chuck Norris Announces Plan for Every State in America to STOP BARACK OBAMA

We all know that action-hero legend Chuck Norris is a proud supporter of the 2nd Amendment… Even though he’s perfectly willing to stop criminals and terrorists with his bare hands!

But now, Chuck Norris’ target is President Barack Obama and the out-of-control spending in Washington, D.C. He is a principled, constitutional conservative who is calling on states to take an unprecedented move.

Norris wants the states to call an Article V constitutional convention to pass a balanced budget amendment and take power away from our Spender-in-Chief:

But alas, there’s finally hope on the horizon to control the federal fiscal insanity by the states’ initiative to force a balanced budget amendment via an Article V constitutional convention.

A constitutional balanced budget amendment, or BBA, is not a new idea, and neither is the states’ push for such legislation. The first BBA was proposed in Congress more than 75 years ago, and the first resolution calling for an Article V convention in state legislatures was proposed more than 50 years ago.

However, what could be new to many Americans is just how close its enactment is to becoming reality. Unknown to many, 25 states have already called for the convention to add the BBA, and only nine more states (34 in total, or two-thirds) are required to force the convention.

True, some states have refrained from joining the national BBA movement. For example, just last week, Montana legislators defeated a resolution by 77-23 that would have made their state the 26th calling for a BBA convention. However, opponents’ rationale is often faulty and fear-based.

via WND

Chuck notes this is the only way America can fully embrace Jeffersonian principles of constitutionally constrained, limited government. He opined, “Without intervention, Washington will spiral our economy to its point of no return. All other solutions for economic federal restraint or solvency have proven fruitless, despite the best of intentions of some.”

The time for a balanced budget amendment is now. Government is not run by angels, and it’s clear now that a president can act in a tyrannical way.

Do you support Chuck Norris’ proposal? Please leave us a comment and tell us what you think.

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Alaska Becomes 3rd State With Legal Marijuana

 

Smoking, growing and possessing marijuana becomes legal in America's wildest state Tuesday, thanks to a voter initiative aimed at clearing away 40 years of conflicting laws and court rulings.

Making Alaska the third state to legalize recreational marijuana was the goal of a coalition including libertarians, rugged individualists and small-government Republicans who prize the privacy rights enshrined in the state's constitution.

But when they voted 53-47 percent last November to legalize marijuana use by adults in private places, they left many of the details to lawmakers and regulators to sort out.

Meanwhile, Alaska Native leaders worry that legalization will bring new temptations to communities already confronting high rates of drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and suicide.

"When they start depending on smoking marijuana, I don't know how far they'd go to get the funds they need to support it, to support themselves," said Edward Nick, council member in Manokotak, a remote village of 400 that is predominantly Yup'ik Eskimo.

Both alcohol and drug use are prohibited in Nick's village 350 miles southwest of Anchorage, even inside the privacy of villagers' homes.

But Nick fears that the initiative, in combination with a 1975 state Supreme Court decision that legalized marijuana use inside homes — could open doors to drug abuse.

Initiative backers promised Native leaders that communities could still have local control under certain conditions. Alaska law gives every community the option to regulate alcohol locally. From northern Barrow to Klawock, 1,291 miles away in southeast Alaska, 108 communities impose local limits on alcohol, and 33 of them ban it altogether.

But the initiative did not provide clear opt-out language for tribal councils and other smaller communities, forcing each one to figure out how to proceed Tuesday.

November's initiative also bans smoking in public, but didn't define what that means, and lawmakers left the question to the alcohol regulatory board, which planned to meet early Tuesday to discuss an emergency response.

In Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, officials tried and failed in December to ban a new commercial marijuana industry. But Police Chief Mark Mew said his officers will be strictly enforcing the public smoking ban. He even warned people against smoking on their porches if they live next to a park.

Other officials are still discussing a proposed cultivation ban for the wild Kenai Peninsula. But far to the north, in North Pole, smoking outdoors on private property will be OK as long as it doesn't create a nuisance, officials there said.

While the 1975 court decision protected personal marijuana possession and a 1998 initiative legalized medicinal marijuana, state lawmakers twice criminalized any possession over the years, creating an odd legal limbo.

As of Tuesday, adult Alaskans can not only keep and use pot, they can transport, grow it and give it away. A second phase, creating a regulated and taxed marijuana market, won't start until 2016 at the earliest.

And while possession is no longer a crime under state law, enjoying pot in public can bring a $100 fine.

That's fine with Dean Smith, a pot-smoker in Juneau who has friends in jail for marijuana offenses. "It's going to stop a lot of people getting arrested for nonviolent crimes," he said.

The initiative's backers warned pot enthusiasts to keep their cool.

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Watch Christina Aguilera musically impersonate Cher, Britney Spears, more on Tonight Show

 

If Christina Aguilera ever grows tired of performing her own songs, she may have a new musical market to conquer—impressive covers of her pop music rivals.

Aguilera appeared on The Tonight Show to bust out a few of her best musical impressions alongside Fallon. The two covered such classics as the Golden Girls theme song, “Grand Old Flag,” and everyone’s favorite “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” (Maybe it helps to be in the public domain when it comes to being featured on The Tonight Show.)

Fallon pulled out some of his staples like David Bowie, while Aguilera pulled off a rendition of the Folgers Coffee commercial jingle that Cher may want to consider including in her concerts.

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Did 1,000 Muslims REALLY Form a ‘Ring of Peace’ Around Norwegian Synagogue?

 

It was one of those stories the media wanted to believe so badly. It was a story we all, in the face of rising Antisemitism, largely due to Europe’s growing Arab population, wanted to believe. News outlets from around the world breathlessly reported on the 1,000 people joined hand in hand around a Norway synagogue chanting “No to anti-Semitism, no to Islamophobia.” A post describing the evening’s events from the Muslim Public Affairs Council had more than 11,000 shares on Facebook.

What actually, happened, is far less heartwarming. Two stories have emerged about those who joined hand in hand and stole the world’s attention, and hearts. The Israeli paper Haaretz exposes the checkered past of one of the event’s organizers,

The organizers, many of them Muslims, had planned the initiative with the endorsement of the Jewish community to protest the slaying on Feb. 15 by an Islamist of a Jewish volunteer guard at the main synagogue of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ervin Kohn, head of the Jewish community of Oslo, told JTA he thought the initiative was “extremely positive” and said it could change the dynamics of minority relations in Scandinavia.

 

But some members of his community said the event was tainted because of anti-Semitic statements that one of its eight organizers made in 2008, and because he said this week that he dislikes people who support Israel.

Ali Chishti confirmed on Saturday in an interview with Verdens Gang, a highbrow Norwegian newspaper, that he delivered on March 22, 2008, in Oslo a speech on the alleged involvement of Jews in planning the 9/11 Twin Towers bombings in New York. The speech’s title was: ”Therefore I Hate Jews and Gays,” the paper reported, though Chishti said he was not the one who came up with the title.

“There were several thousand Jews away from work in the World Trade Center, and why there were more Jews in Mumbai when Pakistani terrorists attacked than usual?” he said then, repeating the conspiracy theory that Jews knew in advance of the attack that killed thousands. “Jews are a small group, but everyone knows that they have a lot of power,” he said.

Chishti has since repudiated the previously unreported remarks, but it’s too late to undo the damage they’ve done to his image.

Were there really 1,000 Muslims joined hand in hand? Breitbart reports on the real number, which, according to eyewitnesses, was significantly lower,

According to a local eyewitness, only about 20 or so Muslims formed the “ring of peace” around the Oslo synagogue. In fact, pictures from multiple angles show that there wasn’t enough people to form a ring, so the locals instead formed a horizontal line in front of the synagogue.

A tale of one thousand Muslims joined together in Norway is thus a story about twenty individuals, one of whom used the event as cover for his well-documented Antisemitism. Don’t hold your breath for the media to revise its story, however.

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Tanzania's Top Five Safari Areas

Tanzania has more world class game viewing areas than any other country in Africa. These game viewing areas are divided into three groups - north, south and west. Unless you have a particularly big budget and a lot of time, you will choose one group and then decide which of the areas within that group to include in your itinerary. That said, an increasing number of flight routes mean that linking areas from separate groups is increasingly easy. It's a country I know and love but, if I could only visit five of its nine major game viewing areas again, I would choose the following...

1. Serengeti

 

This famous park was created to protect the world-famous "Great Migration" the annual anti-clockwise pilgrimage of roughly 2,000,000 wildebeest in search of pastures green. The Serengeti is the highlight of Tanzania's Northern Circuit with crossings of the Mara River (July-October) one of the game viewing highlights of Africa. While the migration is undoubtedly the main draw, there are high animal numbers year-round. For those of you wanting the archetypal Serengeti experience of large herds on endless grassy plains try the western tip or the south-easterly quarter. Please follow this link for an interactive map of the movement of the great migration

2. Selous

From Africa's most famous park, we move to the oldest and largest - Selous. This beautiful reserve is a favourite of ours for so many reasons. It is so close to Dar es Salaam that you can be on safari within 90 minutes of landing in Tanzania. The reserve is visited by a relatively small number of tourists in comparison to the Serengeti and as a result prices are kept comparatively low, meaning more luxury for your dollar. The small number of accommodations are all small and intimate - there are no large hotels here - making it perfect for honeymooners and those who value seclusion. Although there are very few rhino and the landscape is unsuitable for cheetah, there are large concentrations of elephant and several packs of the elusive wild dog. The opportunity to try a walking safari, boating safari and spend a night camping makes for a brilliant all-round experience.

3. Mahale

This small park sits on the far western side of the country, bordered by the enormous Lake Tanganyika. There are no roads so visitors have to fly in on twice weekly, expensive flights from Arusha or Ruaha, finishing by boat. The privileged few who do make the long trip are rewarded with a truly special experience. The area is breathtakingly beautiful in its own right but the real attraction is the Chimpanzees. There are 60+ habitualised chimps in the tropical jungle that rises from the lake into the misty mountains, visible year-round. Mahale also contains leopard, hippo, crocodiles, giant squirrels and a vast array of monkeys as well as hidden waterfalls and natural swimming pools. Greystoke Mahale, a six room lodge on a stunning remote beach, is one of the most incredible (and expensive!) properties in Africa, if not the world. Utterly beautiful, peaceful and exciting.

4. Ruaha

A 90 minute flight west of Selous takes you to Ruaha. Despite their relatively close proximity, these are two different ecological areas. While Selous is lush and riverine, Ruaha is dry but no less stunning with some fantastic lodges and brilliant guiding. Animals-wise you can see everything apart from Rhino. While there is no boating, walking has grown into a staple of the park. Night drives are a recent addition and one that we welcome. The small number of lodges means even the best sightings are rarely shared by more than one or two other vehicles. Birds are a speciality in the green season with over 547 record species at last count.

5. Tarangire

The Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti require at least five nights so an additional two for Tarangire often just isn't possible, both in terms of time and cost. It is also the most seasonal park in Tanzania, coming alive during the dry season (June-October) and beset by Tsetse flies for the rest of the year. The real highlight is the annual migration of elephants from the surrounding ecosystem. During August, September and October, Tarangire has the highest density of elephants in Tanzania. The park offers excellent walks and night drives with very few other tourists, especially if you stay in one of the three excellent lodges in the centre of the park. If it's the dry season and you can afford it, Tarangire is a must.

My first rule for visiting any of these areas is: make sure you stay within the park boundaries. My second rule: shy away from obviously luxurious lodges unless you're sure that's what you want. Often the most authentic experience is the best!

For more information please contact the Tanzania Safari Experts - Tanzania Odyssey

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Jordan’s King shows real leadership on ISIS. Why will a Muslim monarch say our enemy is Radical Islam but President Obama won’t? Here’s my interview on Fox News.

 

(Nashville, Tennessee) — Why is that President Obama absolutely refuses to define our enemy in the Middle East as “Radical Islam,” yet Muslim leaders like Jordan’s King Abdullah II very honestly and publicly state this fight is, in fact, a showdown with violent Muslims and that we must take decisive action to fight these jihadists theologically as well as militarily?

Jordan’s Muslim monarch is showing real leadership in the war on ISIS as I explained on Fox News on Sunday. (Egypt’s President el-Sisi is, too, as I wrote about recently). Unfortunately, President Obama does not appear to be will to seriously consider their approach.

Consider the headlines of just the past few days:

• Obama refuses to acknowledge ‘Muslim terrorists’ at summit (New York Post)
• Why Obama won’t call terror fight a war on radical Islam (CNN)
• Homeland Secretary Johnson suggests term ‘violent extremism’ used at behest of Muslim leaders (Fox News)
• White House Says Shooting at Kosher Market in Paris Was ‘Random’ (ABC News)
• State Department spokeswoman claims jobs are key to defeating ISIS (Washington Examiner)

The President is making a serious mistake. We cannot defeat an enemy we refuse to define.

We should be grateful that King Abdullah II and President el-Sisi are showing bold leadership in the fight against ISIS. They deserve America’s support.

I discussed these issues on Fox with anchor Shannon Bream. Here is the video. Here is the transcript.

Bream: After that brutal killing of the captured Jordanian pilot — carefully scripted, filmed and broadcast to the world — King Abdullah retaliated and called the battle against ISIS the “third world war.” Joel Rosenberg is author of a new book, The Third Target. He says King Abdullah fully understands he that is in a winner-take-all showdown with ISIS. Joel joins us now live. Joel, good to see you today.

Rosenberg: Good to see you, as well. Thank you, Shannon.

Bream: Now, you are very familiar — having lived and worked in that region quite a bit — what do you make of the response we saw from the Jordanians, and where do you think we go from here? Do you think those you live and breathe and work in that region have a different understanding than we do here in the U.S.?

Rosenberg: Well, the contrast between President Obama’s response to Americans being beheaded and King Abdullah’s response is striking. You know, President Obama was with King Abdullah the day the video was released of the Jordanian pilot being burned alive. The King was not on the President’s schedule that day he was in Washington. And the President only added him in because of that murder, and they only spent 20 minutes together. But what did the King do? He went right back. He suited up in fatigues. He started bombing ISIS, and he hanged two ISIS people that had been captured. He understands this is a war. And he understands that he is at the center of it. And it’s interesting that in that 60 Minutes interview you just referenced — when he called it a “third world war” — he said it’s a war “inside Islam.” President Obama is deeply conflicted over whether this is a battle that has anything to do with Islam. But the King — who is a descendant of Muhammad — knows it’s a battle inside Islam, and against Radical Islam.

Bream: I don’t want to get too deep into the theological weeds, but you’ve written a number of books about this. And your book on the so-called “Twelfth Imam” is about these End Times prophecies that certain factions of Islam — not the majority of Muslims out there — but there are certain factions who adhere to a very radical, specific End Times theology, and that ISIS is sort of in the business of, they want to launch an Armageddon-type, end of the world situation. They think it’s what they need in prophecy to bring about their end goals. Do you think that we get that? Do you think that our administration gets that?

Rosenberg: No, and that’s because the President is saying from the top and throughout the administration that this isn’t an Islamic problem. You’re right that the vast majority of Muslims don’t, you know  — this is not them — they’re not cutting off people’s heads and they never will. But the Radicals are being driven by their interpretation of Islam. And it’s important — this is what motivates them. This is why it’s not a jobs issue. It’s not a poverty issue. It’s a Radical Islamic theology issue, and an eschatology issue. They do want to set up a caliphate — an Islamic kingdom — which is really an End Times theology in their view. They believe it will hasten the End of Days. My new novel, The Third Target, is really about ISIS being a threat to Israel, the United States, and Jordan. What’s interesting is that it’s been out five weeks now on the best-seller lists, but it really takes us into this threat that is actually not fiction right now. This is very real.

Bream: Yes. I was one eschatology class away from a theology minor in college, but I find that there’s so much that I’m learning by reading about what these specific factions believe. And for those who want to get some education on this, your books are a great way of doing that — some fiction, some non-fiction — but a great way of getting a better understanding of why some decisions are made, and who the players are and what their interests are in these games that are — not games, I mean the end game of what they hoped to bring about.

Rosenberg: Right, right.

Bream: I would recommend those [books] as a very entertaining but very educational way to get up-to-speed on some of these issues. Joel, always good to see you. Thank you so much. Come back soon.

Rosenberg: Thank you. I appreciate it.

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