Published Letters in "Tribune" and
"New Internationalist"
Talking Gonads (June 2010)
'The Fall of King Tuna' (NI 431) by Sarah Holden and Greg McNevin touches on the fact that many fish species are in danger from over-exploitation.
But there is an easy way of preventing these extinctions. An international law should be passed which ensures that the gonads of all fish caught are liquidised: the fish are usually gutted anyway so this would not be a great hardship of the fishers. Once liquidized, artificial fertilization takes place, and after 24 hours the fertilized fish eggs can be released into the sea. It does not matter where the eggs are put back because the fry of each species find their way back to the environment they originally come from. In this way, the sea can be repopulated, and fishing can even become sustainable.
Andrew Kadir-Buxton Hatfield, England
'New Internationalist' June 2010
Sleep and Sanity (March 2010)
Joanna Cheek in her article 'Standing up to Big Pharma' (View from Vancouver, NI 4128) does not mention the evidence from professionals investigating sleep, who say that the mental illnesses that she tries to treat are actually symptoms of poor and little sleep. Studies have shown that people get better faster when not treated by the psychiatric profession, so we in the developed world are worse off than in the Third World. We need to be standing up against the psychiatrists who are the pushers, as well as Big Pharma who are the suppliers.
In New Scientist No2696 Emma Young investigates the idea that insanity could be caused by poor sleep patterns rather than insanity causing poor sleep patterns. Adults with depression, for instance, are five times as likely as the average person to have difficulty breathing when asleep, while between a quarter and a half of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suffer from sleep complaints. The evidence for poor sleep being the cause of mental illness goes back a long way. In 1987 Patricia Chang and colleagues at John Hopkins University in Baltimore reported a study of 1,053 male medical students who were studied for 34 years after graduation. Those that reported suffering from insomnia were twice as likely to develop depression as these with no trouble sleeping. Likewise, there are four categories of severity of sleep apnoea, and Paul Peppard and his team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that each increase in a person's category doubled their chances of getting depression.
Andrew Kadir-Buxton
Hatfield, England
'New Internationalist' March 2010
Plan The Future (September 2009)
The Arctic (NI 424) is proof that we need more than the empty words of politicians setting targets for CO2 reduction sometime in the future without saying how these will be achieved. All countries need to adopt a near-zero CO2 plan now. Former British Prime Minster Tony Blair has boasted that he read many such plans, but in 10 years he adopted none. We need more from our politicians than this if we are to keep temperature rise below 2 degrees C. This will take central planning: the market is not adequate to the job.
Andrew Kadir-Buxton Hatfield, England
'New Internationalist' September 2009
Modest Proposal August 2008
NI 412 suggests that there is a narrow window of opportunity for multilateral disarmament. I maintain that it is up to us to build more windows of opportunity for disarmament.
We must first ensure that all politicians have the right mind set. The Democratic Party in the USA gives personality tests to those aspiring to lead, to ensure that they are up to the job.
Next, we must ensure that our politicians keep on track by monitoring their wealth in order to minimise corruption, making sure that their only income is from their job as a politician.
We must then break the strong bonds between politicians and the arms industry. We do this by ending the ability of the arms industry and armed forces to lobby politicians.
At the same time we prevent politicians from profiting from war. They must not be allowed to have stocks and shares in the arms industry or be arms dealers.
Once we have achieved this plan we will find that fewer wars break out and there is more disarmament, as more is done by politicians to prevent wars from occurring.
Andrew Paul Kadir-Buxton
Hatfield, England
New Internationalist Letter August 2008
Double Standards (December 2007)
Before the Iraq war I wrote to Tony Blair to mention the dangers of DU weapons, in the hope that DU would not be used (Depleted Uranium, NI406). When it emerged that British forces had used them, I talked to him about it. Tony Blair informed me that the 'experts' he had talked to had told him that DU was safe.
I know of soldier, a driver in Iraq, who informed me that the vehicles have Geiger counters on board and that whenever they go into a 'hot' area they drive as fast as possible. He blew up one car engine driving too fast in a radioactive fall-out zone.
It would thus appear that the military are giving one piece3 of advice to an elected p9litician and quite another to the troops on the ground. I am sure that when the truth comes out in a hundred years when official secrets are revealed, we will find that this was another war which the arms trade helped start. The only way of preventing arms manufacturers from influencing politicians both officially and unofficially, and to prevent politicians having stocks and shares in the armis industry so that there are no vested interests.
Andy Kadir-Buxton Hatfield, England
'New Internationalist' December 2007
Electoral Tool (July 2007)
I read with interest '40 years is enough' (Special feature NI 400).
Israeli politician Shimon Peres said recently that a Middle East settlement may not be a political one. I disagree. The worst excesses of Israel since its inception have been due to proportional representation, allowing small religious zealot political parties to dictate policy in return for power. This has led to polarization of ideas in the Middle East.
In order to secure peace in the Middle East we must have a first-past-the-post system in Israel. Anti-Arab policies will then be moderated, and thus settlements can be negotiated more willingly as all groups concerned are pulled away from extremism and toward the centre ground. A small change in the constitution of Israel will make all the difference to the quality of life in the Middle East.
Andrew Kadir-Buxton Hatfield, England
'New Internationalist' Letter July 2007
Adverts Appearing in 'The Tribune' Newspaper UK
27 September 1991
Andrew Buxton says be prepared for Devolution and PR by campaigning for a Labour Party in every city, town and village.
3 September 1999
Red Rose Andy says: "Nationalized industries should be paying a dividend to their share owners, the voters. This would be a vote winner for the Labour Party, redistribute wealth, increase the level of voting, decrease workforce anomie and therefore increase productivity; thus boosting the popularity for them."
17 September 1999
Red Rose Andy says: "The Poll Tax was defeated by Working Class protest. VAT is a form of Poll Tax, everyone pays the same rate.
In its place should be a progressive form of income tax, based on Opinion Polls fo Income Tax payers across Europe. Europe must lay Poll Taxes to rest. 'Labour Listens.'"
24 September 1999
'Red Rose Andy Buxton says:
"The Mass Party Campaign would like to see the Labour Party ensure a Labour Party Branch in every City, Town and Village in Scotland and Wales firstly.
This would both maximise the Labour Vote under Proportional Representation and build a genuine Mass Party. Amend Clause IX (2) (a) now!"