http://tech.msn.com/news/articlecnet.aspx?cp-documentid=11018138&GT1=40000

Nepal declares girl new living goddess
3-year-old will be worshipped as incarnation of the Hindu deity Taleju

KATMANDU, Nepal – Hindu and Buddhist priests chanted sacred hymns and cascaded flowers and grains of rice over a 3-year-old girl who was appointed a living goddess in Nepal on Tuesday.

Wrapped in red silk and adorned with red flowers in her hair, Matani Shakya received approval from the priests and President Ram Baran Yadav in a centuries-old tradition with deep ties to Nepal’s monarchy, which was abolished in May.

The new “kumari” or living goddess, was carried from her parents’ home to an ancient palatial temple in the heart of the Nepali capital, Katmandu, where she will live until she reaches puberty and loses her divine status.

She will be worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists as an incarnation of the powerful Hindu deity Taleju.

A panel of judges conducted a series of ancient ceremonies to select the goddess from several 2- to 4-year-old girls who are all members of the impoverished Shakya goldsmith caste.

The judges read the candidates’ horoscopes and check each one for physical imperfections. The living goddess must have perfect hair, eyes, teeth and skin with no scars, and should not be afraid of the dark.

As a final test, the living goddess must spend a night alone in a room among the heads of ritually slaughtered goats and buffaloes without showing fear.

Father is sad, proud
Having passed all the tests, the child will stay in almost complete isolation at the temple, and will be allowed to return to her family only at the onset of menstruation when a new goddess will be named to replace her.

“I feel a bit sad, but since my child has become a living goddess I feel proud,” said her father Pratap Man Shakya.

During her time as a goddess, she will always wear red, pin up her hair in topknots, and have a “third eye” painted on her forehead.

Devotees touch the girls’ feet with their foreheads, the highest sign of respect among Hindus in Nepal. During religious festivals the goddesses are wheeled around on a chariot pulled by devotees.

Critics say the tradition violates both international and Nepalese laws on child rights. The girls often struggle to readjust to normal lives after they return home.

Nepalese folklore holds that men who marry a former kumari will die young, and so many girls remain unmarried and face a life of hardship.

Murray Open To Ghostbusters 3
Somewhere, Ray Parker Jr. is smiling.

Bill Murray told reporters that he’s open to reprising his Ghostbusters role of Dr. Peter Venkman in a proposed third movie.

“The third one could happen,” Murray said in a news conference in New York on Oct. 3.

Murray–who voiced Venkman in the upcoming Ghostbusters: The Video Game–added that he’s aware that Columbia Pictures just last month tapped Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (NBC’s The Office) to write a second sequel.

“There’s two fellows from The Office that are writing a script, but I’ve yet to see it,” Murray said while promoting his upcoming family fantasy movie, City of Ember. “And I’m more involved with, you know, trying to get the dessert we ordered at lunch than I am with the new Ghostbusters sequel. But it’s possible. It’s a great idea that they hired these two guys to do it, because I think it’ll be a … it could be a fresh look at it. And it could be funny.”

The original Ghostbusters was released in 1984 and is widely considered a comedy classic. The first sequel, Ghostbusters II, opened in 1989 and wasn’t nearly as successful financially or critically. Murray recalled his disappointment with Ghostbusters II.

“We did a sequel, and it was sort of rather unsatisfying for me, because the first one to me was the goods,” Murray said. “It was the real thing. And the sequel, you know, was … it was a few years later. There was an idea pitched. And it was like, well, they got us all together in a room. We just laughed for a couple of hours. And then they said, ‘What if we did another one? Here’s an idea.’”

Murray added, “So they had this idea, but it didn’t turn out to be the idea when I arrived on the set. They’d written a whole different movie than the one [initially discussed]. And the special-effects guys got it and got their hands on it. And it was just not the same movie. There were a few great scenes in it, but it wasn’t the same movie. So there’s never been an interest in a third Ghostbusters because the second one was kind of disappointing … for me, anyway.”

Check out the E-Cards. They’re hilarious!

http://disbeliefnet.com/

However, I still believe a movie would be possible if done correctly. I could totally see Arnold in a Peter Keys like role, running an elite group that track and eliminate predators.

However…