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Posted
on 31-Aug-01 08:53 AM
Hopes for the peaceful settlement of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal have increased after the first formal talks between the government and the rebels.
There has been no substantive outcome, but the talks are the beginning of the negotiating process.
The first face-to-face meeting between the two sides has helped reduce mutual distrust and increase crucial confidence.
The outcome of Thursday's four-hour long meeting at the luxury resort, Godavari, on the outskirts of the capital, Kathmandu, has been welcomed by violence-weary Nepalis.
Committed to talks
Having witnessed the death of nearly 1,800 people in less than six years of the bloody Maoist rebellion, the generally peaceful Nepalis had been longing for peace.
Nearly 1,800 people have died in less than six years
What until recently was considered elusive now looks achievable following the first formal peace talks.
The most significant factor about the talks was the public commitment of the government and the rebels to peace.
The two sides vowed to resolve all problems and differences peacefully.
In keeping with this commitment, they have agreed to continue talking - with the next round scheduled in two weeks.
This has increased hopes that the truce, which came into force last month, will become permanent. Not surprisingly, the mood is upbeat.
Differences
The outcome of the first formal talks have been widely hailed as a vital breakthrough, though fundamental differences still divide the government and the rebels.
The government is determined to defend the constitutional monarchy and multi party parliamentary democracy, which the rebels want to replace with a communist republic.
But the two sides can ill afford to let these differences get the better of the peace moves, in the wake of the continuing pressure at home and abroad for a negotiated solution.
It is likely that despite their public rhetoric the rebels will eventually settle for much less than what they have been fighting for - a republican regime.
The government is also likely to be flexible enough to agree to drastic changes in the present constitution to accommodate most of the rebels' demands.
The journey ahead looks exciting after the first formal peace talks in six years, but the road to peace will certainly not be without hurdles.
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Posted
on 31-Aug-01 09:01 AM
One of the world's largest internet providers, AOL, has been accused of allowing hate speech to go unsanctioned in chat rooms for Muslims.
The lawsuit says that AOL did not sufficiently monitor and edit out harassing incidents, some of which lasted a few minutes while others lasted hours.
AOL denies the charge, saying the lawsuit is "totally without merit".
The lawsuit only names one plaintiff in the case, Saad Noah of Illinois. He says that he repeatedly asked AOL to clean up the Koran and Beliefs: Islam chat rooms, but was ignored.
Muslim members for years have been concerned about anti-Muslim harassment, but the harassers keep coming back
Lawyer Kamran Memon
Case documents show 20 pages of offensive comments posted in the chat rooms in 1998 and 1999.
Mr Noah cancelled his AOL membership in July 2000.
"Muslim members for years have been concerned about anti-Muslim harassment, but the harassers keep coming back" said Mr Noah's lawyer Kamran Memon.
"In light of the growing significance of the internet, a public chat room should fall within this category as a place of entertainment and therefore should be free of harassment," he said.
The lawyers are seeking unspecified monetary damages and are pressing to have the lawsuit given class-action status.
A class-action lawsuit is one in which one or more parties file a complaint on behalf of themselves and all other people who have comparable claims.
The lawyers also want an injunction requiring AOL to enforce its rules that prevent members from sending messages that offend community standards.
'Zero tolerance'
We have zero tolerance for hate speech on the service
AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein
AOL insists it applies the same rules prohibiting members from using offensive language to all chat rooms.
"We have zero tolerance for hate speech on the service," said AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein.
AOL has more than 14,000 chat rooms dedicated to the specific interests of its members.
The service does not have active monitors. Instead AOL depends on its members to watch out for incidents.
"When a complaint is brought to our attention, our staff reviews it, and can take action ranging from a reprimand to cancellation of service," said Mr Weinstein.
Courts in the past have ruled that internet providers are not liable for language or conduct across on the service.
In May 2000, the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest tribunal, ruled that the ISP Prodigy was not legally liable for either objectionable e-mail or bulletin board messages.
The court said Prodigy's business was more akin to a telephone company than a publisher.
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Posted
on 31-Aug-01 09:10 AM
The Sex Sense
Study: Men and Women Send Subconscious Odor Signals
By Amy Malick
Aug. 29 — While it is well documented that females and males of many species can communicate through chemical signals called pheromones, there has remained some question as to whether humans can communicate this way as well.
Using brain imaging, Swedish researchers have found new evidence that men and women can in fact send and receive subconscious odor signals. And, that men and women, it seems, respond to the smells differently.
Pheromones are airborne chemical messengers released from the body (through, for example, sweat and urine) that have a physical or emotional effect on another member of the same species.
Most animals smell or "sense" pheromones through a specialized half-moon shaped structure located inside the nose called the vomeronasal organ. Pheromone signals picked up by the organ are then relayed through nerves to an area of the brain called the hypothalamus, which is well known for its ability to alter emotions, hormones, reproduction and sexual behavior.
Ordinary, non-pheromone smells such as the scents of food or flowers are recognized by a different part of the nose called the olfactory epithelium.
Evidence of Human Pheromones
The strongest evidence for pheromone signaling between humans had been revealed by Dr. Martha McKlintock, who discovered in 1998 that the menstrual cycles of women living together tend to synchronize because of the chemical messages released in their sweat.
The latest study, which appears in this week's issue of the journal Neuron, used PET (positron emission tomography) scanning techniques to analyze the brains of 24 men and women while they smelled chemicals almost identical to the naturally produced sex hormones estrogen and testosterone.
Dr. David Berliner, an expert in the field of chemical signaling and CEO of Pherin Pharmaceuticals, which produces synthetic pheromones, says: "These findings corroborate that human pheromones do exist, and that women can communicate chemically with men and vice versa. This is a very important finding because it shows specific areas of the brain that are activated by these chemicals."
The scientists, led by Dr. Ivanka Savic of the Karolinska Institute, found that the hormone-like smells "turn on" the brain's hypothalamus, which is normally not activated by regular odors.
They also found the brains of men and women respond very differently to the hormones.
Women's hypothalami are activated when they smell the chemical similar to testosterone but not to the estrogen-like substance, whereas men's hypothalami have the opposite response: They are turned on only by the estrogen-like chemical and not the testosterone-like one. There is also sexual disparity between the specific sub-regions of hypothalamus that are activated.
In other words, the way we chemically perceive the opposite sex is very different than the way we perceive members of the same sex. Researchers believe this could explain why some of our behaviors are gender-specific.
Can Pheromones Make Us More Sexually Attractive?
If these pheromones turn on areas of the brain that control mood, hormones and sexual behavior, one might then ask: "Can these chemicals make us more attractive?"
The answer is: Maybe. Researchers at the University of Chicago and University of Utah have found that the same sex hormone-like chemicals used in the Swedish study can in fact have a pheromone effect by producing changes in mood, heart rate, breathing, and body temperature. However, there is currently no indication these chemicals can actually increase sexual arousal or attraction.
Many perfume companies have tried to capitalize on the potential sex-specific effects of these chemicals by adding them to their fragrances. But most of these companies add hormones from animals such as pigs and deer, so they probably don't work. Pheromones are generally species-specific, so a perfume enhanced with pig pheromones is really only useful for other pigs.
The promotions of one company that adds human hormones to its fragrances claim the additives will "put you and your partner at ease, boost your confidence, and contribute to a feeling of well being." The general idea is that pheromone perfume can replace our naturally produced pheromones that have been washed off through bathing and hidden by layers of clothing.
If these claims are true, pheromones may make us more attractive to potential mates by bringing out our best qualities and allowing us to appear more self-assured and relaxed. That "feeling of well being" may also make us a lot more pleasant to be around.
Pheromones as Therapeutics
The ability of these sex hormone-like chemicals to activate areas of the brain that control hormones indicates they may have more broad-ranging therapeutic value as well.
For example, Pherin Pharmaceuticals is currently developing numerous synthetic pheromones that it hopes will be effective in decreasing symptoms of anxiety disorders, premenstrual syndrome in women, and prostate enlargement in men.
Berliner has personally tested many of these compounds. "I love it!" he enthuses. "And it takes only seconds to work. It is very hard to explain with words, but it makes you feel relaxed. All of a sudden your internal life changes for the better, although the outside world has not changed at all."
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