News: Vogue pulls teen model pic for being too thin

Vogue Italia pulls online pic of model after it is used on ‘pro-ana’ blogs

The fashion magazine featured a photo spread of 19-year-old model Karlie Kloss only to discover one of the images was being idolised on pro-anorexia blogs as ‘thinspiration’. Pro-ana blogs, as they are known, are a network of websites that push unhealthy body types as an ideal. Critics said the magazine should never have featured the photos in the first place, but praised Vogue for removing them from the online article they accompanied.

Fr. Chris Riley received $50,000 from Australia’s largest poker machine manufacturer

The charity worker who founded Youth off the Streets and who has come out in support of Clubs Australia to oppose poker machine reforms has also received large donations from gaming machine makers. On top of receiving more than $122,000 from clubs (as part of their giving back to the community arrangements) he also received $50,000 from Aristocrat Leisure, Australia’s largest gaming company. Fr Riley had added his support to the Clubs Australia campaign, appearing on a flyer they have been distributing claiming the proposed mandatory pre-commitment technology would not work and that counselling and education was the key. He is also a nominee for Australian of the Year.

Fashion retailer uses fake models (but real heads) to sell clothes

Swedish retailer H&M has defended its practice of using real model heads digitally placed on fake mannequin bodies (of a uniform size and shape) to sell its clothes. The pictures of the models’ bodies are all identical (complete with that familiar mannequin pose) except where a real face has been placed on them to differentiate them. They can be viewed at the H&M website.  An H&M spokesman said: “This is a technique that is not new, it is available within the industry today and we are using it for our Shop Online in combination with real life models pictures and still life pictures. This is not about ideals or to show off a perfect body, we do this to demonstrate an item of clothing. This is done for all clothing, not just for underwear, both male and female clothing.”

American military females denied cover for abortions

The United States Senate has denied a vote on an amendment that would restore health cover for military officers to have abortions relating to rape. American civilians are covered for the same procedure. The Democratic senator said it wasn’t fair that military personnel who were defending the rights of the country were not subject to the same rights as their civilian counterparts. In 2010 there were 3000 sexual assaults reported in the military, 25 per cent of which were rapes. Abortion coverage was banned in 1981 in all cases except when the pregnancy endangered the life of the mother.

Beautiful? That’ll be $7 billion thanks.

Australians are likely to spend $7 billion on beauty products and routines in the 2011/12 financial year, according to analysts at IBISWorld. That’s about $313 per person with the bulk of it going to hair salons. But in 2010-2011, 62,000 Australians underwent surgical cosmetic procedures, while another 68,000 indulged in non-surgical procedures, so it’s not so cut and dry. Women accounted for 92 per cent of the cosmetic surgery procedures. What’s your routine like for the year, expensive?

Japan’s whaling fleet headed for Antarctica using funds from disaster victims

The Japanese Government has confirmed it has funneled funds earmarked for quake and tsunami victims to its whaling fleet in order to beef up security. The Government is spending an extra $29 million (Australian) on security to ensure a ‘safer’ hunt which it says will help coastal towns recover from the devastating tsunami as they rely so heavily on whaling. Last year Japan only caught one fifth of what it planned to catch after environmental group Sea Shepherd dogged their every move in Antarctic waters. The organisation is planning a similar Summer.

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