this might be a virtual impossibility, but I understand completely about conglomerating issues. I tried to do a few searches and came up with a dozen or so off-topic issues that simply had the word in the thread listed on like the fifteenth page.
This might clutter things up even more, but what about a sub-menu within the 7135 menu categorized into the aforementioned individual categories? I would definitely have to agree with nomad, that " '...stickfying' every popular thread... changes the nature of the discussion..."

Nathan