Friday's Most Active Threads

The leading thread in number of replies yesterday was in the "Political Discussion" forum. However, the thread, titled, "Bullet strikes family home of N.C. congressional candidate" was only seventh in number of views, suggesting that the interest in this thread was fairly narrow and likely consisting of only a few hardcore posters. The thread is about the discovery that a home owned by the parents of a Republican candidate for Congress was hit by a gunshot in mid-October. The candidate's Democratic opponent had been running an ad showing the Republican's own home which is located outside the Congressional district. Even though the house that was hit by a bullet was not the house shown in the ad, the Democrat decided to withdraw the commercial. It is not known who fired the shot or whether it was accidental or on purpose. I haven't read this entire thread but it appears the replies are being driven by Republican attempts to compare this incident to the recent home invasion and beating of Paul Pelosi and Democratic efforts to disabuse them of that comparison. Nobody can perform a hissy fit quite like a DCUM Republican who have repeatedly shown themselves to be the hissy fit champions of the world. So if you happen to be a connoisseur of hissy fits, this thread is likely for you.

Yesterday's leader in number of views and third in number of replies was a thread titled, "Neighbor Listed Home- Asked Me to Sod Yard" and posted in the "Real Estate" forum. Drama between neighbors is a fairly popular topic in our forums and I suspect the the high number of views can be attributed to users with their own neighbor problems vicariously enjoying the company of others with similar misery. The original poster's neighbors are selling their home and asked the original poster to sod her yard because it is filled with clover. The original poster's reaction is to seek advice on a passive aggressive response such as placing a fake deer or gnome in her yard. Replies appear to be a mixed bag with most agreeing that the neighbor is being unreasonable though a few thinking it would be okay if the neighbor paid for it. Some posters criticize the original poster for not being neighborly and asking for help about how to be an obnoxious neighbor. Several posters argue that clover is good for the environment and much better than lawns that are heavily watered and fertilized. There is also a debate about whether helping the neighbor obtain the highest selling price possible would increase the value of the original poster's own home. In general, this is a low-energy neighbor dispute and I've seen much better. But, I guess the neighbor drama addicts have to take what they can get.

Second in number of replies and fourth in number of views yesterday was a thread in the "Metropolitan DC Local Politics" forum titled, "Who else voted against weed legalization for rec use in MD?" Unbeknownst to me until I saw this thread, Tuesday's voting in Maryland will include a referendum on legalizing the use of recreational marijuana. With possession already legal in Virginia and decriminalized in DC, it makes sense for Maryland to join the club. However, this thread shows considerable opposition to the proposal. Judging by both this thread and the many others that have come before on similar topics, marijuana proponents would do themselves a huge favor if they emphasized edibles or invented an oderless version of weed because it appears the smell is the biggest driver of opposition. Opponents of legalization also cite impaired driving as an important factor. I haven't read all nine pages of this thread, but from what I've seen it repeats many of the standard arguments on both sides of the issue. Reading this thread you would assume that the referendum is doomed. But, I suspect it will pass overwhelmingly based on examples elsewhere. So, now would be a good time to invest in nose plugs and air filters for distribution in Maryland.

The final thread I'll look at today was titled, "Only child versus having more than one" and posted in the "General Parenting Discussion" forum. The thread was forth in number of replies and eight in number of views. This is a familiar topic to readers who have been around any length of time. While I haven't read every post, from what I did read it appears the thread has stayed on-topic and respectful. There are arguments for additional children and explanations of why sticking with one is also a valid choice. Many posters relate their own experiences. The standard argument against a single child is that the child will likely be spoiled and not well socialized. Many posters strongly dispute this and call it a "myth". While most of the debate on this topic tends to focus on siblings or the lack thereof in childhood, many posts in this thread stress the importance of brothers or sisters later in life. Like a lot of parenting choices, there is not one correct answer for everyone. Regardless of which choice you make — with this and many other topics — there will be days that you are convinced you made the wrong one and days that confirm your choice as correct.