Johnson v. M\u27intosh: Christianity, genocide, and the dispossession of indigenous peoples

Using hermeneutical methodology, this paper examines some of the legal fictions that form the foundation of Federal Indian Law. The text of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1823 Johnson v. M’Intosh opinion is evaluated through the lens of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to determine the extent to which the Supreme Court incorporated genocidal principles into United States common law. The genealogy of M’Intosh is examined to identify influences that are not fully apparent on the face of the case. International jurisprudential interpretations of the legal definition of genocide are summarized and used as a basis for constructing an analytical framework. The framework is then applied to the reasoning in the M’Intosh case to evaluate the extent to which principles of Christian Discovery shaped the M’Intosh Court’s reasoning and, by extension, are the basis of dispossessing Native peoples of their lands, autonomy, and lives

SlDA y condón: la verdad

El surgimiento del SIDA como la pandemia del sigloXX ha puesto sobre el tapete público discusiones que se habían mantenido en el terreno de los científicos y de los eclesiásticos. Hoy, saber que todos somos víctimas potenciales de un virus directamente asociado con el comportamiento sexual, hace que materias antes tan abstrusas como el comportamiento del látex y tan íntimas como las preferencias sexuales, se discutan en la televisión, las páginas de los diarios y los púlpitos

Elementos de análisis para el manejo de las amenazas del cambio climático en la agricultura colombiana

El presente artículo está encaminado a presentar de manera didáctica, los elementos básicos para el mejor entendimiento del tema del cambio climático y de sus interacciones con la agricultura. Así mismo, está enfocado a presentar, a partir de las recomendaciones realizadas por entidades de reconocida autoridad en la materia, diversos tipos de medidas de mitigación y adaptación que se deberían considerar en el sector agropecuario nacional en los próximos año

Trend analysis to determine hazards related to climate change in the andean agricultural areas of cundinamarca and boyacá

Recognizing the threat from climate change that is facing and will face agro ecosystems is the first step in determining adaptation to climate change. One way is through Global Climate Models (GCMs), but their spatial resolution is not best suited for making decisions locally, further reducing scale, seen as a way to resolve the resolution problem, has not yielded the expected results. This study puts forth an exercise in which we study the climatic time series of precipitation and temperature to determine if there are effects of climate change on one of the most important national agricultural areas, using the Mann-Kendall analysis to determine the existence of statistically significant trends, i.e. signs of change in the variables analyzed. It was found that the variable that presents the most significant trends is the average maximum temperature, while precipitation and average minimum temperature do not

Phylogenetic history demonstrates two different lineages of dengue type 1 virus in Colombia

Background: Dengue Fever is one of the most important viral re-emergent diseases affecting about 50 million people around the world especially in tropical and sub-tropical countries. In Colombia, the virus was first detected in the earliest 70′s when the disease became a major public health concern. Since then, all four serotypes of the virus have been reported. Although most of the huge outbreaks reported in this country have involved dengue virus serotype 1 (DENV-1), there are not studies about its origin, genetic diversity and distribution. Results: We used 224 bp corresponding to the carboxyl terminus of envelope (E) gene from 74 Colombian isolates in order to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships and to estimate time divergences. Analyzed DENV-1 Colombian isolates belonged to the formerly defined genotype V. Only one virus isolate was clasified in the genotype I, likely representing a sole introduction that did not spread. The oldest strains were closely related to those detected for the first time in America in 1977 from the Caribbean and were detected for two years until their disappearance about six years later. Around 1987, a split up generated 2 lineages that have been evolving separately, although not major aminoacid changes in the analyzed region were found. Conclusion: DENV-1 has been circulating since 1978 in Colombia. Yet, the phylogenetic relationships between strains isolated along the covered period of time suggests that viral strains detected in some years, although belonging to the same genotype V, have different recent origins corresponding to multiple re-introduction events of viral strains that were circulating in neighbor countries. Viral strains used in the present study did not form a monophyletic group, which is evidence of a polyphyletic origin. We report the rapid spread patterns and high evolution rate of the different DENV-1 lineages

Phylogenetic reconstruction of dengue virus type 2 in Colombia

Background: Dengue fever is perhaps the most important viral re-emergent disease especially in tropical and subtropical countries, affecting about 50 million people around the world yearly. In Colombia, dengue virus was first detected in 1971 and still remains as a major public health issue. Although four viral serotypes have been recurrently identified, dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2) has been involved in the most important outbreaks during the last 20 years, including 2010 when the fatality rate highly increased. As there are no major studies reviewing virus origin and genotype distribution in this country, the present study attempts to reconstruct the phylogenetic history of DENV-2 using a sequence analysis from a 224 bp PCR-amplified product corresponding to the carboxyl terminus of the envelope (E) gene from 48 Colombian isolates. Results: As expected, the oldest isolates belonged to the American genotype (subtype V), but the strains collected since 1990 represent the American/Asian genotype (subtype IIIb) as previously reported in different American countries. Interestingly, the introduction of this genotype coincides with the first report of dengue hemorrhagic fever in Colombia at the end of 1989 and the increase of cases during the next years. Conclusion: After replacement of the American genotype, several lineages of American/Asian subtype have rapidly spread all over the country evolving in new clades. Nevertheless, the direct association of these new variants in the raise of lethality rate observed during the last outbreak has to be demonstrated