But this huge thread hijack was cool while it lasted. :)

I have been lurking, on and off, so do not know if this has been brought up here yet:
Found this in this weeks copy of The Week (www.theweekdaily.com)
Slavery is not yet a relic of the past
E. Benjamin SkinnerLos Angeles Times
"Most people assume slavery was vanquished after the American Civil War, or after most countries outlawed it in the 19th century. “In fact,” said E. Benjamin Skinner, “there are more slaves today than at any point in history.” While an exact count is impossible, the U.N. says that 12 million to 27 million people today are forced under threat of violence to work for subsistence pay—at best. Even in the U.S., the government estimates that at least 50,000 people toil “in hidden bondage.” They include people such as Simone Celestine, a teenage Haitian refugee who was held in Miami as a domestic for six years, during which time she was beaten, rented to other households, and not allowed to attend school. In recent years, much of the effort to stamp out slavery has focused on the illegal sex trade. The reality is that more than 90 percent of modern-day slaves are not used for sex but rather as “low-value industrial tools” or indentured domestics. If we’re going to successfully fight the scourge of slavery, we need to start by being clear about what it is."

don't ask...I just work here.....even I said....WTF?

I'm guessing the "For the win" is a "got the last word" kind of thing.

And one more, what's "ITA"?

I assumed it meant 'In Total Agreement'


dont quote me on that tho...

I totally agree.

Like, totally.

Ah, bitchin'. Got it. Thanks again.

Took all of two seconds to locate these sites:
Internet short-hand:
http://www.netlingo.com/emailsh.cfm
http://davecompton.com/Listservers/Shorthand.htm#Top
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/.../emoticon.html
http://pixel.cs.vt.edu/edu/fis/class...ternetese.html
http://netforbeginners.about.com/cs/...viations_2.htm
http://netforbeginners.about.com/cs/...icons101_2.htm

Since I missed this thread til now, I just wanted to pop in and say that Paul, a Roman citizen, was not a Jew, nor did he convert to Judaism before converting to Christianity. It was in fact Paul who argued against requiring Christians to also be Jewish.

That's just the post that popped up first on my screen.

Also, Jon needs to lay off the search engine.

you are referring to Paul (who was orginally Saul) on the road to Damascus (wasn't it?) Paul...correct?

Sometimes it means "this post sums it up/answers the question perfectly."

Yep, that guy. Someone mentioned how diverse Rome was (true) and tolerant (ehhhh not the worst, not the best) and used Paul as an example of a citizen and a Jew (which he wasn't). Not that he lost his citizenship post-conversion to Christianity, that's why he was beheaded outside Rome and Peter was cruicified (upside-down in fact). Cruicificition was restricted to non-citizens.

Drolefile I think you really need to brush up on your Christian history then if you don't think that Paul (Saul) wasn't Jewish since he identified himself as a Pharisee and was an ardent prosecutor of the early Christians because of their "heresy" from Judaism.

This is a social issues/religion/race/economics/brains random thread.

I like that and it is long overdue. We have enough random threads where we don't have to use our brains. Plus, I'm tired of accidentally typing random brainy thoughts in those random threads.

Drive by thinking...


who would have thought....