Hello--I did a blog like this last year, and people liked it so I thought I'd ask fellow posters again at the end of this year.

In 2011 we've lost some familiar posters, and others seem to be back with a new name or three.

Sven joined us, actually using his own name for a change, last spring. And ... he promptly got himself TOSsed off when he came in last place that April election day. (Sven Alstrom, city commission candidate and well known ljworld poster under a dozen or more names.)

Now we're under new management. Knology owns this space. We have lost Jonathan Kealing, and his sidekick Witney. As of now, Alex Parker is in control here (Alexander Haig ref).

Which thread was the funniest?

Which one was your favorite? Your funniest choice might be different from your favorite thread choice. Perhaps a thread moved you to tears or anger?

When you identify threads, please include links to them.

*and for those who have followed my postings for lo these nearly six years, I am soon posting a blog on 'how I spent my summer vacation' or, how I nearly died and some other stuff.' I'm especially looking forward to this 'best of 2011 threads,' because I missed many weeks online this year.

Enjoy ... oops, saying that, according to one very angry poster, means I'm an ITG (internet tough guy), though until she told me, I didn't know what ITG stood for, so I guess I'm thus disqualified from ITGship. lol

Ecological Sanitation (EcoSan) allows peoples who are native/poor to have sanitation without the use of potable water In the next couple of days I will feature a guy who has helped many people by designing and building ecological sanitation. No, I don't agree with some of his ideas. But the EcoSan is pretty cool, it has changed the lives of many people from the poor coastal people of Ecuador to the native peoples of Brazil's western jungle.

EcoSan is intended to answer the question: how do you wash your hands and dispose of human waste when potable water is not available or is just too expensive.

I am posting this "coming attraction" because there may be some in the Lawrence/Haskell/KU community who would find this interesting.

Tune in soon.

2010 was an eventful year for us posters on LJWorld's comment threads and blogs.

What do you remember as the funniest comment or blog of the year? What was the best overall?

---this year included the ejection of one poster at the end of January (He who shall never be named). Remember Macdonalds got double drive through lanes this year! And they're getting another set. Posters on opposite sides of national politics came together on local issues and humor. Sometimes we commenters help the newspaper with it's editing, too.

---And this year we have had Paul Hahn and Chelsea-Dianne join as active bloggers, contributing to our society. DIST has put up insightful provocative blogs. Then, of course there are the "cuzins" who emerge when a story calls for their presence.

---We also gained Whitney Matthews as our Hall Monitor. How often does she regret this job?

---and while some complain about the quality of comments here, complain about the complaining (LOL) etc., one look at other newspaper and news sites' comment spaces shows that we do pretty well here on LJWorld.

---So, what's your funniest or best for 2010?

A member of our online community is marrying a lawyer.

I'm seriously hoping that the lawyers among us can share some wisdom for this soon-to-be-husband.

plus, we just don't see enough lawyer jokes, do we?

I could say please keep your entries brief, but I won't.

From the City of Lawrence:

Contact: Megan Gilliland, communications manager, (785) 832-3406

1) Citys pothole patching total up to 2,368

(Lawrence, Ks.) The City of Lawrence street division continued their assault on potholes this week. Since Monday, Jan. 11, a total of 594 potholes were reported through the citys online and telephone reporting systems. These notifications, and surveys by city crews, have resulted in a total of 2,368 potholes patched throughout the community over a two-week period. 85.5 tons of asphalt has been used to patch potholes throughout the community.

We have had three, four-person crews working each day to fill potholes,said Mark Thiel, assistant director of public works. At times, crews are patching the same potholes each day because of high traffic volumes.

One area that crews are patching on a daily basis is the area near the 2nd and Locust intersection. This area sees high traffic volumes daily and, due to construction, is the only access point into the city from north Lawrence. The roadway in this area is scheduled for maintenance in summer 2010.

From Gnome: 594 potholes reported.
2368 total potholes fixed!

Should we do something special for the 5000th pothole?

More snow is coming this winter. Should that winning pothole get a special decoration? Do the pothole patching crews sign their work?

In this blog, you can name your worst pothole of this season and tell why its the mother of all potholes.

public works reporting on the web is at: www.lawrenceks.org/public_works

Greenies apparently really lie, cheat, steal, lack altruism, according to a well operated study with good experimental design.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5h7Dfq54tFVb0RNXErzMP1FwxlUDA

Probably not much difference between Canadian greenies and American greenies, locally such as Merrill.

"Green shoppers" displayed some serious deficits in ethics across the tsks involved in this University of Toronto study.

and yes, global warming is now totally debunked because of the "hide the decline" e-mails, data showing that warming didn't occur in the past ten years, and the Russian IEA says that its climate data was cherry picked.

But then, these folks will lie cheat and steal, so what will they do next to maintain the myth of global warming?

There's a problem at the North Lawrence detour, but you can't blame this on the officials, the road workers, or the people of North Lawrence.

I was by the detour for a while this afternoon and observed something funny. Drivers are flowing off the bridge onto Elm like water through a Funnel. This part is working swimmingly.

But there's a serious problem causing a lot of backup on that first block of Elm. A few drivers pull up to N. 3rd, and they just sit there! Apparently incapable of applying gas to their motors.

I observed two drivers at different times pull up, and sit for two ... three ... four minutes. In both cases they could have turned left according to the posted detour and continued on N. 3rd. Or, they could have driven east on Elm at that moment.

So, do these drivers have trouble with the concept of a detour? Are they pulling out their pocket dictionaries and looking it up?

Would you introspective types please just help Lawrence and give your car the gas for God's sake!

Are these drivers experiencing some existential crisis as they sit at n. 3rd and Elm? Does the thought of being in a North Lawrence neighborhood require a little mental adaptation? Anybody got any ideas about what's going through their minds at that point in their lives?

/gnome

   Fired for being conservative?

What I'm going to write here is based on sketchy information. My hope is that people with information closer to the situation will post here.

This past school year was the first year of teaching for a Lawrence High School teacher in Social Studies, something like history, American Institutions, Western Civ, etc. He came to Lawrence from Arkansas, after teaching there for more than a dozen years.

He and his supportive students learned that his contract will not be renewed. He will be dropped after one year. There is some indication that possibly he is losing his job because he is conservative, and has been open about it in class.

Students of his attended a School Board meeting in late May; they were expected to visit the board yesterday--monday night.

I first learned of this just this evening. I've not been able to get more information on the situation and I hope others with closer knowledge will add theirs here. According to some of his supportive students, they have talked to LJworld about covering this, without gaining any coverage.
Nobody should be fired for being conservative, nor for being liberal. Teachers certainly do have freedom of speech but must balance that with the need to present accurate and balanced presentations of material in class. No student's grade should depend on repeating the indoctrination of a teacher; rather that student should be encouraged to freely arrive at his or her opinions, and know why.