I mostly lurk, but everytime I try to read a thread the wretched popups keep blocking the text.

I can't set my popup blocker any higher or it interferes with other sites which use popups to manage them.

If there is some other way to shut them off, please advise.

You need to set up your Profile the way you want.
At the top of the page click on "User CP", then click on "Edit Profile", scroll down and check "Disable" for IntelliTXT Ads and "Show Sidebar".

Done.

Thanks!