zero_gravitas

If you had a unified scale of 1-100 instead, you would have the granularity to make comparisons between both similar and dissimilar products.

The Health Star Rating system is corrupted and unhelpful.

From https://theconversation.com/parents-find-health-star-ratings-confusing-and-unhelpful-we-need-a-better-food-labelling-system-264881

The Health Star Rating’s own consumer research found 74% of consumers do not understand that the rating cannot be used to compare dissimilar products.

There's no reason it shouldn't be comparable across categories, either. I think originally it was designed so to be, and then the lobbyists got to it. People's intake of each category isn't some fixed ratio, and how are they supposed to get a signal to cut down on one category if they can't compare products across categories?

Even if people are aware that products can only be compared within categories, do we expect everyone to know what those categories are and which one any particular product fits into? The HSR panel doesn't contain any category information!

From https://theconversation.com/australias-food-labelling-system-isnt-working-heres-how-we-can-fix-it-275673

So, is there an alternative?

Yes – warning labels.

Using simple statements or symbols, warning labels are designed to inform consumers if a food product is high in fat, sugar or salt. In future, they may also indicate whether a product is an ultra-processed food.

...

A global study published in late 2025 suggests warning labels are the most effective way to reduce the consumption of ultra-processed foods. This is compared to other ranking-style labelling schemes such as Health Star Ratings.

Seems like a pretty simple and reasonable approach to me. Also, it seems like it can be applied comparably across all categories of packaged food.

I can see people arguing that an incremental scale like the HSR allows for companies to compete on small differences (unlike a simple binary 'high in sugar' warning label) and that little differences would help over time. I'm pretty sceptical of that, though, and I think encouraging people to eat fewer chocolate biscuits is likely more important than slightly reducing the amount of sugar in the biscuits. (If anyone's seen good research on the topic, let me know!)

It's not like the 'warning label' approach stops people from making a comparison on the details anyway. If you see a 'high in sugar' label on something it might prompt you to check the nutrition panel to see just how much sugar is in that biscuit, and its competitors.

Coverage by the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/13/uk-ban-palestine-action-unlawful-high-court-judges-rule

Great move.

Sydney saddles up for the Year of the Horse

AZ locals. Let me know if I need to make any corrections to above.

Good enough that I wouldn't nitpick, except you explicitly asked 😆

The President of Israel was invited to visit Australia. Large protests were announced across the country. The NSW government (the state Sydney is the capital of) passed draconian laws giving police broad powers and also limiting protesters ability to sue for assualt etc in special ‘zones’.

Just to clarify a point...

The new laws were passed for Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (PARD) very shortly after the Bondi massacre, and before the Herzog visit was announced. The laws allow the police commissioner, after a terrorist attack, to declare an area in which an 'authorised protest' can't be held, and they can extend that for up to 90 days. An 'authorised protest' is when the protest organisers submit some paper work, and then protesters are legally protected to march on the road or block footpaths, etc. You can still have a public gathering regardless. The police commissioner made a declaration which covers central Sydney and eastward.

Then, just two days before the rally, Minns declared the Herzog visit a 'major event'. The major event declaration was under pre-existing law, and grants cops power to close roads, search people, limit the number of people and limit police civil liability for their actions within a declared zone. (No doubt they waited until two days before to impede legal challenges, though a challege was heard and rejected.)

So yeah, to be totally (maybe unnecessarily) clear, the order of events is:

1. NSW Government passes new draconian laws for Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (PARD)
2. Police commissioner makes a PARD covering central Sydney
3. Herzog visit announced
4. Large protests announced
5. 'Major event' declared under pre-existing draconian laws, with area covering central Sydney
6. Protest is held in Town Hall Square (Sydney, NSW) and the police get violent

Sorry if you knew all this already and had just simplified for brevity!

Wow, that's nuts! No wonder the cops were acting as if they could get away with anything!

The ABC article might give some clues to what he's on about: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-05/liberal-calls-for-mardi-gras-funding-review-afterparty-cancelled/106309430

One of the motions called for a boycott of organisations materially funding US President Donald Trump in response to the roll-back of transgender rights in the United States.

They have since spearheaded campaigns to ban NSW Police from marching in the parade, pushed to prohibit corporate sponsors and floats, and for Mardi Gras to adopt explicitly political stances regarding trans rights and Palestinian liberation, among others.

Basically no. The vast majority are fixed rate for only the first 1 to 5 years.

More info here: https://lendingloop.com.au/what-is-the-longest-fixed-rate-mortgage-in-australia-and-how-can-it-benefit-you

In these cases the data wasn't for sale, it was publicly accessible.

One bonus thing; Do you have a list of international entities? Most of the ones you gave me are in Australia. I think it’s more effective if my money doesn’t stay in Australia to help. Otherwise part of it goes to help, and part to kill more.

That's a tricky one. If your goal is to avoid money going into the economies of the enabler countries - mainly rich/developed countries - a lot of international aid groups are based in those countries.

There's international organisations that have country-based branches, though, so an option you might be happy with is donating to, say, the Brazilian branch of Médecins Sans Frontières, or of the Red Cross/Red Crescent. Even then, some of the money might flow back to supporting the head office in the US/Europe, I'm not sure. There's probably organisations entirely based outside enabler countries, I just don't know about them.

As you say, though, we need political change in the enabler countries, and that requires spending money in those countries to do lobbying and public education.

One thing I should probably have mentioned in my previous comment is the BDS movement. Boycotting is a direct way that public opinion can be converted into material effects. There's the priority targeted boycotts (https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott), but if you want to, you can also get extremely granular and use barcode-scanning apps in your grocery shopping (https://bdsmovement.net/BDS-Has-Partnered-With-Boycat-App).

Who should I donate to? I sent you a private message ages ago about that.

Sorry! Either I totally missed that, or wanted to have a think about it and forgot to get back to you, like I almost did with this one, haha

Political/Protest/Advocacy

If you're looking for where to donate to help create political change, APAN is the peak body for Palestine advocacy in Australia. They do direct lobbying of politicians, media, advertising campaigns, free poster designs, etc. You can make a one-off donation, or set up a monthly donation (or become a paying member): https://apan.org.au/

Unfortunately, donations to APAN are not tax deductible. It'd be nice if they were, because then a) you can afford to donate more because you'll get some back on your tax return, and b) you can take some satisfaction in reducing the amount of tax you pay that our government uses to buy things from weapons manufacturers. Unfortunately, I think most groups that come under political lobbying and advocacy - at least for Palestine solely - aren't going to be 'Deductible Gift Recipients' (DGRs).

Palestine Justice Movement Sydney is another political group (but also not a DGR): https://palestinejusticemovement.org.au/

Free Palestine Printing give out free signs at protests, and they accept donations, so that's a way you can help contribute to the protests even if you can't get to them yourself. Again, they're not a DGR, but they're "100% volunteer-run and entirely not-for-profit": https://freepalestineprinting.com/

There's obviously a bunch of local protest groups, you may find some that accept donations. Again, though, they won't be DGRs (many won't have any kind of formal structure at all).

The Australian Centre for International Justice has done a lot of good work on Palestine-related issues (most recently demanding an investigation of Herzog), but they work on human rights generally. Because of their wider scope, they are an endorsed DGR: https://acij.org.au/

Direct Aid

There's a whole lot of groups providing direct assistance to Palestinians. While we need to address the root causes of the problem through political change, I can also understand a lot of people prefer to focus on direct help to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian people right now. Most of these groups are endorsed DGRs.

Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association (PANZMA) provides medical aid, including medical missions, to Gaza: https://panzma.org/

Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) also provides medical aid to Palestine, with a focus on children: https://www.pcrf.net/australia

Olive Kids provides support to programs for children in Palestine: https://olivekids.org.au/

Union Aid Abroad (APHEDA) has a specific fund for their work in Gaza: https://palestinian-people-emergency-appeal.raiselysite.com/

Palestine Australia Relief and Action (PARA) helps Palestinians get to Australia and get settled in: https://para.org.au/

I don’t want to do activism anymore. I did a lot before and that just affected me.

That's fair enough, I get that it can be exhausting. Being around like-minded people does help me feel a bit more sane, though, when so many people are indifferent, or outright hostile, about the issue.

I’m old enough to know that nothing will ever change, it never did. Things just change hands some times.

We can't win unless we fight, and sometimes it's going to take a long time. I think there has been so much progress in public perception of Israel, though, in Australia and worldwide.

This stuff frustrates me a lot.

You and me both!