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Ianna is the Sumerian name for Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, sexual love, and ... erm, war. Some of us may feel these three to be intricately intertwined; others of us - well, we'll just leave it at that!

Ishtar had mixed reviews, even in her own time; she was said to be fickle, capricious, and even, sometimes, cruel. In one story, the goddess descends to the Underworld, where she demands that the gatekeeper open the doors:

If thou openest not the gate to let me enter,
I will break the door, I will wrench the lock,
I will smash the door-posts, I will force the doors.
I will bring up the dead to eat the living.
And the dead will outnumber the living.

Take a lesson from that, ladies: assertiveness pays off!

[For more, see the Article source] 

Nestling in the foothills of the Alps in northern Italy, 30 miles from the ancient city of Turin, lies the valley of Valchiusella. Peppered with medieval villages, the hillside scenery is certainly picturesque.

But it is deep underground, buried into the ancient rock, that the region's greatest wonders are concealed. 

Here, 100ft down and hidden from public view, lies an astonishing secret - one that has drawn comparisons with the fabled city of Atlantis and has been dubbed 'the Eighth Wonder of the World' by the Italian government.

For weaving their way underneath the hillside are nine ornate temples, on five levels, whose scale and opulence take the breath away.

Constructed like a three-dimensional book, narrating the history of humanity, they are linked by hundreds of metres of richly decorated tunnels and occupy almost 300,000 cubic feet - Big Ben is 15,000 cubic feet.

As the importance of recycling becomes more apparent, questions about it linger. Is it worth the effort? How does it work? Is recycling waste just going into a landfill in China? Here are some answers  read more »

by Catherine Holahan

On the online auction giant's new MicroPlace site, investors can lend as little as $50 to would-be small business owners around the globe.

Tracey Pettengill Turner doesn't want to give handouts to poor people. But she does want to make investments in them. So on Oct. 24, Turner is launching MicroPlace.com, a Web site that lets small investors provide low-interest "micro" loans, of $50 or more, to would-be small business owners. Her hope is to create sustainable economic growth in the world's most impoverished communities-and do her part to expand the reach of the microfinance industry to more than 1 billion people worldwide, from about 100 million people currently.  read more »

A Joint Effort of the Discordian Society

Post Office Liberation Front

THIS IS A CHAIN LETTER.

WITHIN THE NEXT FIFTY-FIVE DAYS YOU WILL RECEIVE THIRTY-ELEVEN HUNDRED POUNDS OF CHAINS!
In the meantime - plant your seeds.

If a lot of people who receive this letter plant a few seeds and a lot of people receive this letter, then a lot of seeds will get planted. Plant your seeds.  read more »

Latest hardiness zones, based on most current temperature data available, suggest up-to-date choices for best trees to plant

Nebraska City, Neb. – Much of the United States has been warmer in recent years, and that affects which trees are right for planting.

Based on the latest comprehensive weather station data, The National Arbor Day Foundation has just released a new 2006 arborday.org Hardiness Zone Map which separates the country into ten different temperature zones to help people select the right trees to plant where they live.  read more »

The National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society Pilots New Fundraising Opportunities in Virtual World

In a move symbolic of the National MS Society's goal to achieve a world free of multiple sclerosis (MS), the organization's Southern California Chapter is expanding on the success of its signature annual fundraising events to create the first-ever MS Fly, taking participants through an engaging scavenger hunt in Second Life.

Produced by The Illusion Factory and Bullpen Advertising, the captivating and interactive MS Fly will take place June 10th through the 17th. With the support of Scion and MovieTickets.com, the National MS Society is calling on participants worldwide to enter the Second Life world, adorn a MS cape, and join the movement to help achieve a world free of MS. Registration is open until close of event on June 17th at www.themsfly.org. Proceeds for this pilot event will benefit the Society's Southern California Chapter.  read more »

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - When Oscar the Cat visits residents of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, the staff jumps into action -- Oscar can sense within hours when someone is about to die.

In his two years living in Steere's end-stage dementia unit, Oscar has been at the bedside of more than 25 residents shortly before they died, according to Dr. David Dosa of Brown University in Providence.

He wrote about Oscar in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"It's not that the cat is consistently there first," Dr. Joan Teno, a professor of community health at Brown University, who sees patients in the unit. "But the cat always does manage to make an appearance, and it always seems to be in the last two hours."  read more »

Lem opened her eyes. It felt odd to see that smart fragile and young body to which she was attached by tinny bit cords. She went around light, thoughtful for the new world unfolding ahead. Felt great to live in a free of garbage world. She laughed at herself for such an ordinary thought – no cleaning, no cooking, no eating - none of those earthly tasks that had always stolen her from herself. “Is that a cat you are holding?” A white little cat attached to her right hand had been making her feel less forsaken. Wisely, she did not pay attention to the appearance of that soul talking to her. Little it can say about the one behind the pixels. More than anything, it was time for learning. To move arms and legs, to change clothes, to design a nose, to change colors, clothes and body parts. Steph and Lem had nothing but words bridging an ocean between them.  read more »

Nature 448:136, 2007
July 12, 2007

Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
by Mark Lynas
Fourth Estate: 2007. 384 pp. £12.99  read more »

A new scientific study concludes that changes in the Sun's output cannot be causing modern-day climate change. It shows that for the last 20 years, the Sun's output has declined, yet temperatures on Earth have risen. It also shows that modern temperatures are not determined by the Sun's effect on cosmic rays, as has been claimed.

US scientists believe they may have found a way to stop the growing problem of bacteria becoming resistant to current drug treatments.

They have found drugs called bisphosphonates block an enzyme used by bacteria to swap genes, and acquire or spread resistance to antibiotic drugs.They also showed that interfering with the enzyme could destroy drug resistant bacteria cultured in the lab. The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Lead researcher Professor Matt Redinbo, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said: "Our discoveries may lead to the ability to selectively kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria in patients, and to halt the spread of resistance in clinical settings."  read more »

We all are not perfect. We are just authentic, we are just humans. The paradise, the universe, the earth is not based on perfection. The complete purity doesn´t exist, it will never exist. Nothing is 100% something and 0% its opposite. Let´s face it: nobody is 100% light and 0% shadow, nobody is 0% light and 100% shadow. Everything is based on small unbalances that we try to fix along our journey. Although our current way of life is based on full accomplishment of results, on complete and eternal possession of things (and, for some, even possession of people), on expectation of ideal behaviours, etc. That is just a bunch of lies. When we reach one result, one new unbalance appears. When we die, all possessions are lost (most possessions are lost much earlier). We never find someone who always behaves as we expect. Does it mean that we are not in our paradise?  read more »

While in Australia for the International Agrichar Initiative conference in April, I got a chance to visit Djanbung Gardens, a farm and learning center founded by permaculture expert Robyn Francis in the alternative community of Nimbin, New South Wales. After a wonderful hour touring the garden with students from Canada, South Africa and France, I sat down with Robyn for a chat about permaculture and the future of Australia's and the world's agricultural systems.

KW: Robyn, please tell me - what got you interested in permaculture?  read more »

By Roel Landingin in Manila

Published: July 2 2007 16:33 | Last updated: July 2 2007 16:33