Do Women Talk More Than Men?
The Skinny is Joel Roberts' take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.
There's a common belief that women talk more than men – or at least it's a common belief among men. But is it true?
Not according to a new study cited on USA Today's front page that shows men and women utter nearly the same number of words a day.
The study, published in Science magazine, tracked almost 4000 college students in the U.S. and Mexico and found that both sexes say about 16,000 words a day.
USA Today says the finding "may seem surprising in a culture in which women are often stereotyped as talkative and men as uncommunicative."
Grim News From Afghanistan
The Los Angeles Times reports Friday that a "grim milestone" has been reached in the war in Afghanistan.
According to "several independent tallies," more Afghan civilians were killed by U.S. and NATO troops in the first half of this year than by Taliban insurgents.
By late June, the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said 314 civilians had been killed by Western-led forces and 279 people killed by the Taliban and other militants.
The Times says the increase in deaths at the hands of Western forces "has been driven by Taliban tactics" – like using civilians as human shields – "as well as by actions of the American military and its allies." The paper also notes that it's sometimes hard to tell whether the dead are combatants or noncombatants.
And U.S. and NATO military leaders say there's a clear moral distinction between accidental casualties caused by Western forces and deliberate killings of civilians by militants.
Still, the death toll has caused "widespread disillusionment among the Afghan people, eroding support for the government of President Hamid Karzai and exacerbating political rifts among NATO allies about the nature and goals of the mission in Afghanistan."
Global Warming Concert Gets Cold Shoulder
Is the world ready for yet another giant, star-studded international concert for a cause? Maybe not.
The Los Angeles Times says Saturday's Live Earth, a seven-continent extravaganza meant to raise awareness about global warming, "isn't generating quite as much heat as hoped."
That's despite a lineup that includes pop titans like Madonna, the Police, Justin Timberlake, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Kanye West, who will perform at eight venues around the world, including East Rutherford, N.J.; London; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Sydney. There's even a team of scientists who will perform music at a base camp in Antarctica.
Promoters of Live Earth, who include former Vice President Al Gore, have made the audacious prediction that as many as 2 billion people – nearly a third of the world's population – will attend the concerts or listen via TV, radio or the Internet. But on the eve of the event, the Times says, "many people have heard little or nothing about the show."
Live Earth faces the challenge of distinguishing itself from a parade of benefit concerts in recent years that includes Sept. 11 memorials, benefits for victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Southeast Asian tsunami, and the concert just last weekend in London commemorating the life of Princess Diana.
Roger Daltrey of the Who, who is not participating in Live Earth, said last month: "The last thing the planet needs is a rock concert."
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