Newsletter Leaf Journal CCV 〜 Boo Leaf Journal
I only have one new New Leaf Journal article to share in our pre-Halloween 2024 newsletter, but you will find links to posts from our sister site, 22 links from around the web, a collection of seasonal links from our archives, and other news and notes.
Welcome to the 205th edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal. This newsletter comes to you as always from the administrator and editor of The New Leaf Journal and The Emu Café Social, Nicholas A. Ferrell. I only published one new New Leaf Journal article -- I did something to my wrist on Tuesday and I had some non-New Leaf Journal typing to take care of. But while I do not have much to share in terms of new articles, I do have a full newsletter with news, notes, and links from around the web.
Boo-Letter Name Credit
I named this newsletter the "Boo Leaf Journal" because I responded to a similar pun posted by the official Buttondown account on X and Buttondown responded with the Boo Leaf Journal idea. As you will see in the "Leaves from around the web" section, I have a soft spot for terrible puns, so I knew then and there what this issue of the newsletter would be called.
Leaves from the week that was
I published just one NLJ article since mailing Newsletter Leaf Journal 204.
While writing a couple of U.S. presidential election research articles over the summer, I made a note to myself that Al Gore, who narrowly lost the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush, remains the youngest presidential election runner-up on the eve of the 2024 presidential election, despite there having been five runners-up since. I looked into whether Mr. Gore holds the record for longest tenure as the presidential runner-up with the latest birth date. Presidential Election Runners Up With Most Recent DOB.
While things were slow at The New Leaf Journal, I published five shorter posts on The Emu Café Social. I covered the story of capybaras at a water park in Japan eating a Jack-o'-lantern in 2020. I wrote a short piece on Girls Band Cry, a spring 2024 anime, being picked up by Crunchyroll -- which doubles as an article preview. In response to an external query, I wrote about why I recommend the PocketBook line of ereaders (provided you have a DRM-free book collection). Finally, I wrote about a funny line I overheard on the street, my new faster home internet, and international texting with a Tello phone plan.
Leaves from around the web
I did not give you too much to read this week, so I suppose that I need to step up with 22 (one more than usual!) good links from around the web.
Halloween (and related holidays) from around the world
Shibuya Burger King releases tongue-in-cheek poster to announce it will be closed on Halloween
Oona McGee for SoraNews24. October 25, 2024.
This would have definitely made my recent Halloween-in-Japan article but for the fact the story came too late to be included.
Halloween Is Spooky. But So Are These Eight Other Celebrations Around the World
Matt Ralphs for Smithsonian Magazine. October 10, 2024.
Now that you have learned about Halloween in Japan, you can learn about Japan's Setsubun and other spooky holidays from around the world.
More candy companies are investing in non-chocolate options
Matty Merritt for Morning Brew. October 18, 2024.
I saw some of the non-chocolate Kit Kats in the wild.
It's almost Halloween. That means it's time for a bat beauty contest
Claire Rush for the Associated Press (via The Washington Times). October 26, 2024.
Consider this your bonus article. I read it right before my final newsletter edits. I am glad the bats get their own contest here instead of having to raid the avian category.
Checking in on the world's favorite Democratic People's Republic
How Powerful Is North Korea’s Military? (Archived)
Choe Sang-Hun for The New York Times. October 24, 2024.
I'm confident that, when push comes to shove, North Korea isn't banking solely (or even primarily) on its conventional military forces to guarantee the security of the regime.
Surgery Reveals North Korean Defector Is Riddled With Parasitic Worms - The New York Times (Archived)
Choe Sang-Hun for The New York Times. November 17, 2017.
Case-in-point.
Reminding me of things I saw in Brooklyn
Tesla Cybertruck pushes past Ford Mach-E to become third best-selling EV in America
Sean O'Kane for TechCrunch. October 23, 2024.
I saw one of these trucks parked in Brooklyn a couple of months ago. To me they look like a car in a mid-90s 3D game before they were able to smooth out the polygons.
National Grid says it pays ‘more than its fair share’ for Gowanus Canal Superfund cleanup in federal suit
Kirstyn Brendlen for Brooklyn Paper. October 17, 2024.
I saw geese swimming in the Canal on Tuesday. That either means cleanup is going well or the geese will grow toes.
A little bit fishy
What happens if you feed pufferfish poison to pufferfish? Japanese scientists trying to find out
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. October 26, 2024.
This is not something I ever asked because I don't eat raw fish.
A Massive, Mysterious 'Ghost' Fish, Feared Extinct for Nearly 20 Years, Has Been Rediscovered in Cambodia
Margherita Bassi for Smithsonian Magazine. October 24, 2024.
It certainly doesn't look appetizing so maybe it has a chance.
Goldfish crackers renamed Chilean Sea Bass to briefly appeal to adults
Brad Matthews for The Washington Times. October 23, 2024.
Koi would have made more sense.
Delight in These 15 Photos That Capture the Exotic Undersea Lives of Jellyfish
Tracy Scott Forson and Donny Bajohr for Smithsonian Magazine. September 27, 2024.
Will do.
Elevating higher education
Kansas Prof Removed after Viral Video of Classroom Remarks
Keith E. Whittington for The Volokh Conspiracy. October 11, 2024.
Say what one will but I doubt the next University of Kansas gym teacher will be so multi-dimensional.
Student leaders at CUNY grad school pass anti-Israel resolution that bans spending on products like Sabra hummus, Starbucks
Carl Campanile for the New York Post. October 25, 2024.
I don't think I made a mistake in ending my CUNY career with my Brooklyn College undergraduate philosophy (HONORS track) degree.
Immigration policy
Meloni’s migration strategy is working – and the rest of Europe is watching
Nicholas Farrell for The Spectator. October 19, 2024.
I am only sharing this because the author almost stole my name. With that being said, it is an interesting article.
Migrant who ganged up on NYPD cops in Times Square nabbed by ICE after slap-on-the wrist jail sentence
Joe Marino, Jennie Taer, and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon for the New York Post. October 17, 2024.
I can't decide whether the real lead is that New York City has systems in place to protect foreign national gangsters who beat cops or that the Federal government let said gangsters into the country in the first place. Speaking of which...
DHS approved Tren de Aragua gang members as refugees
Stephen Dinan for The Washington Times. October 23, 2024.
Somewhere, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro laughs.
Responding to headlines with questions
Study Suggests Weight-Loss Drugs Like Ozempic May Help Alcoholism, Opioid Addiction
Sean Craig for The Daily Upside. November 17, 2024.
Am I the only one who notices that there is a new article about the magical powers of Ozempic every five minutes?
Google Shopping is getting a ‘for you’ feed of products
Emma Roth for The Verge. October 15, 2024.
Is Google trying to get broken up?
Lukashenko says North Korean troops fighting for Putin would be ‘escalation’ of Ukraine war
Giselle Ruhyyih Ewing. October 24, 2024.
Has anyone figured out why Lukashenko enjoys sitting down for long-form interviews with BBC?
I'm sorry. I'll let myself out
Albania's former president Meta is arrested for alleged money laundering, his party says
Associated Press (via The Washington Times). October 21, 2024.
Former Presidents Alphabet, X, Tok, and Pinter are still free.
Goats for Guns: Russia Sends Hundreds of Goats to North Korea Amid Strengthening Bilateral Relations
EU Today. August 15, 2024.
I present to you the GOAT headline.
The Old Leaf Journal
I have dropped The Old Leaf Journal section of our newsletter in recent issues in lieu of using Around the Web to share my links in my commentary. But The Old Leaf Journal was always in reserve -- waiting for special occasions. This week is such an occasion.
On November 17, 2023, I published October 25 Thanksgiving in Grenada. The article goes through the history of Grenada's Thanksgiving, which falls on October 25. While it is materially distinguishable from Thanksgiving in the United States, it very much involves the United States -- for the holiday commemorates the 1983 American invasion of Grenada and the subsequent restoration of democracy on the island. In a timely point, I noted that America's invasion of Grenada occurred while workers were sorting through the rubble of Hezbollah's 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut. Those of you who follow current events will note that 2024 has not been a good year for some of the senior participants in the Beirut bombing.
On October 15, 2020, I marked the 20-year anniversary of the release of Pokémon Gold & Silver in Winds of New Beginnings: Pokémon Gold & Silver. I may need to prepare an article to mark the quarter-century anniversary next year.
Halloween is coming on Thursday. I have a growing collection of articles featuring my photographs of Brooklyn Halloween decorations, which you can see in our category archive. If you need some decoration tips, I recommend reading my 2021 article, Halloween Cooking and Decorating Tips From 1913.
I am planning to publish one Halloween-themed visual novel review this upcoming week, but for those of you who want something to play in the meantime, I have a few recommendations from my review archive. Night of the Forget-Me-Nots is a freeware horror visual novel with many endings. While it is by no means a great piece, it is a fun (and free) way to spend an hour or two. Note it may be difficult to run on modern Macs with M2 CPUs. If you are up for spending a little bit of money, Return to Shironagasu Island is a fun, albeit flawed, horror-mystery visual novel. Finally, I reviewed My Black Cat, another freeware visual novel, last December. My Black Cat is in no way a horror game and it is shorter than both Forget-Me-Nots and Shironagasu, but you play as a black cat -- so I think it loosely fits our criteria for someone who wants a more sentimental Halloween game experience.
Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week
I use a privacy-friendly and entirely local tool called Koko Analytics to track page hits. In each issue of the newsletter, I list our five most-visited articles, according to Koko Analytics, for the one-week period beginning with Saturday and ending with Friday. Below, you will find the most-visited articles of 2024 Newsletter Week 43 (October 19 through 26). I will include 2024 and historic (which runs through the first week of 2021) ranking information for each article.
1: An In-Depth Look at Norton Safe Search (N.A. Ferrell. Oct. 18, 2022.)
25 appearances and 7 top placements in 2024; 37 and 12 overall.
2: Planning and Angel Next Door Season 2 (N.A. Ferrell. Nov. 5, 2023.)
23 appearances and 11 top placements in 2024 & overall.
3: Halloween in Japan: Through English Sources (N.A. Ferrell. October 17, 2024.)
First appearance.
4: Broken Optical Audio Cable Door “Fix” (N.A. Ferrell. September 16, 2023.)
8 appearances in 2024 & overall
5: Installing Ubuntu Touch on a Google Nexus 7 (2013) (N.A. Ferrell. July 5, 2021.)
18 appearances and 2 top placement in 2024; 95 and 4 overall.
Our top five featured four usual suspects, with my Norton Safe Search review trading places with my article on having the good foresight to review The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten last year to take its seventh top placement of 2024. The one new addition to the weekly ranking was my article on Halloween in Japan, which became one of the rare articles to appear in the weekly ranking in its first full week online. I have some hopes for it in the long run, but a good number of its views came from a pingback link, so time will tell whether it proves to be popular in its own right.
News leaf journal
It should go without saying that I have little New Leaf Journal news to report, but I will publish a few seasonal articles to bring October to a close -- including a Halloween-themed game review and a few Halloween decoration photo posts. I also have some plans for the start of November. You should expect our usual number of posts for the next couple of weeks.
Taking leaf
Thank you as always for reading and following The Newsletter Leaf Journal. If you enjoyed the newsletter and are not already a regular reader, you can sign up for our once-weekly email, add our newsletter's RSS feed to your favorite feed reader, or check in on our newsletter archive page at your leisure (see all the options).
I hope you enjoy our new articles and I look forward to sharing more posts with you next week.
Until November,
Cura ut valeas -- Nicholas A. Ferrell.