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Newsletter Leaf Journal 206 includes links to the three newest New Leaf Journal leaves, 21 links from around the web (with a distinct late Halloween and election flavor) and news and notes about what you can look forward to as we move into November.
Welcome to the 206th 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 its short-form writing sister-site, The Emu Café Social, Nicholas A. Ferrell. We once again did not have an especially busy week in terms of new article word count, but I still have new posts to share along with our usual assortment of links from around the web and other news and notes.
Leaves from the week that was
I published three new New Leaf Journal articles since mailing Newsletter 205.
Two of the three new articles were Halloween decoration photo posts. On the 27th I wrote about an inflatable cat with bat wings (or bat-cat) seen in Cobble Hill. On Halloween itself, I documented four inflatable Halloween decorations seen in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens. I still have one more (now late) Halloween decoration photo post left to publish (that will likely go up this upcoming week).
I have reviewed horror/Halloween-themed visual novels every year except for 2023. I had already reviewed the 45-60 second Ghost a couple of weeks ago. But that hardly counts for fulfilling my 2024 obligations. On October 30, I reviewed the more substantive Crystal the Witch. This novel takes place on Halloween eve (hence the date of publication) and is a lighthearted comedy centered on witchcraft and online miscommunication.
Over on The Emu Café Social, I wrote about my busted desktop computer case fan and switching launchers on my GrapheneOS-powered Google Pixel 6a.
Leaves from around the web
Let's check in on what's happening around the world wide web.
The third day of Halloween
The Spookiest Day of the Year Saved Its Biggest Scare for the Chocolate Biz
Sean Craig for The Daily Upside. October 30, 2024.
Good news for chocolate after I shared some bad news in last week's around the web.
Happy Halloween 2024 From Around the Anime World, Part III - Interest - Anime News Network
Ken Iikura-Gross for Anime News Network. October 31, 2024.
Heartened to see Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night here... not because it is a good show (it is not), but because I used it in my Halloween-in-Japan article.
Is a scaredy-cat scary?
Grammarphobia. October 28, 2024.
We established in a poem post that it should be "fraidie-cat"
Time to vote
The last in-person vote in the U.S. will be cast in the tundra of Alaska's Aleutian Islands
Mark Thiessen for AP (via The Washington Times). October 19, 2024.
I hope it will be cast in a ballot box on the tundra.
Hartford Election Cake
Anne Ewbank for Atlas Obscura. November 17, 2017.
Includes a link to a recipe for a 70 pound cake for your election party.
The Obscure Presidential Cocktail That Made You Pick Sides
Rachel Lane for Atlas Obscura. February 25, 2024.
The purpose of the cocktail was for people to indicate whether they were supporting Roosevelt or Taft. But there was no way to indicate "we're splitting the vote, leading to the inevitable election of Thomas Woodrow Wilson"
Colorado put voting system passwords on secretary of state's website, insists election is secure
Jesse Bedayn for the Associated Press (via The Washington Times). October 29, 2024.
The people who leaked the password ask Colorado voters to trust them on best security practices.
Foreigner accidentally allowed to vote in Japanese election, ballot will remain valid
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. October 27, 2024.
Who among us?
One standard is no standard, double standards are more standard
International Criminal Court reports Mongolia to its oversight body for failing to arrest Putin
Associated Press (via The Washington Times). October 24, 2024.
But if Mongolia, a landlocked country with about 12 people completely surrounded by Russia and China arrested Vladimir Putin, how would the UN Secretary General have been able to hang out with Putin right around when the always-reputable ICC brought this very important case?
The Curious Case of Ariane Tabatabai
Jay Solomon for Free Press. October 27, 2024.
One would think that having effectively worked for the Iranian government beginning in 2014 would preclude someone from taking a high ranking post in the U.S. Defense Department in 2023.
Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh rally to demand protection from attacks
Julhas Alam for the Associated Press (via The Washington Times). November 1, 2024.
"Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel peace laureate named to lead an interim government after Hasina’s downfall, says those figures have been exaggerated." (He knows he will get away with it.)
Well aren't you something?
Argentina’s Milei fires foreign minister after vote to lift embargo against Cuba
Reuters (via CNN). October 30, 2024.
Javier Millei is a true libertarian. Even when he is head of government, he will not allow the government to tell him what to do.
I had brain surgery in January, now I’m running the NYC marathon
Raquel Laneri for the New York Post. November 1, 2024.
That's nothing. I walked 18 miles six months after colon surgery! (Ok fine she wins -- very impressive stuff. I hope she hits her goal and breaks 4 hours.)
Travel by rail
The Private Train Car Edition
Matt Locke for Why is this interesting? October 29, 2024.
I did not know that Amtrak has guidelines for private rail car owners.
Japan to deploy stab-proof umbrellas on trains to combat rising knife crime
William Yang for The Telegraph. October 23, 2024.
A nice brass bird's head handle would allow wielders to seamlessly transition from defense to offense.
Selling out
Should We Get Angry When Artists Sell Out?
Ted Gioia at The Honest Broker. October 21, 2024.
I'm not angry, but I am offended. Could someone at least ask me to sell out?
The Final Flight of the Airline Magazine
Lucy Schiller for Columbia Journalism Review. October 16, 2024.
I'm open to negotiations regarding a paper version of The New Leaf Journal. United Airlines can leave a note in our Guestbook.
The answer is "yes"
Is Maduro Even Trying Anymore?
Joseph Brouchard for RealClear World. October 30, 2024.
He received temporary sanctions relief from the United States under the silly idea that he would ensure a fair election, then proceeded to rig the election and drive the opposition leaders out of the country, and now continues sending the gangsters he isn't friends with to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. In other words: Yes (just not in the sense the article thinks he should be trying).
'Definitely not a bag full of drugs'? Uh, not so, discover Oregon police
Brad Matthews for The Washington Times. October 12, 2024.
I am sure this idea makes perfect sense to someone who is using some of the drugs he is trafficking.
Internet archiving
They Are Scrubbing the Internet Right Now
Jeffrey A. Tcuker and Debbie Lerman for Brownstone Institute. October 30, 2024.
Interesting essay albeit I think Internet Archive's problems stem from ordinary hackers and a bigger issue is that it should not be the be all and end all of archiving.
Using static websites for tiny archives
alexwlchan. October 16, 2024.
Good explanation of a good idea, albeit not the route I would go for my own archiving.
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 44 (October 26 through November 1). 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.
26 appearances and 8 top placements in 2024; 38 and 13 overall.
2: Planning and Angel Next Door Season 2
N.A. Ferrell. Nov. 5, 2023.
24 appearances and 11 top placements in 2024 & overall.
3: Broken Optical Audio Cable Door “Fix”
N.A. Ferrell. September 16, 2023.
8 appearances in 2024 & overall
4: The Pokémon Special Split in Generation 2 - Statistics and Analysis
N.A. Ferrell. January 18, 2022.
9 appearances in 2024; 54 appearances and 4 top placements overall.
5: A Sign of Affection - Anime Review
N.A. Ferrell. March 28, 2024.
5 appearances.
I do not think anyone actually uses Norton Safe Search. I recommended against it in my 2022 review of the Ask.com search front-end. But nevertheless, my Norton review continues to solidify its position as the strongest not-Hacker News-appearing article of 2024, securing both its 8th top weekly placement in 2024 and (narrowly) the top article spot for October. As readers will see when I publish my October review in a few days, the top-three articles of newsletter week 44 perfectly match the top-three articles of October 2024.
News leaf journal
I have some real-life work to do through Tuesday, but I nevertheless have big plans for the start of November. Our first three articles will be my election-related anecdote (specifically a 2005 election-related anecdote) and two other election-themed pieces. My big project of the week will be a review of the spring 2024 anime Girls Band Cry, which I foreshadowed on our sister site. Also on the immediate to-do list is my October 2024 review and one final Halloween photo post that I did not have time to finish putting together before Halloween. Looking a bit further into the future, I will publish a follow-up post on my Japan Halloween history article (covering reports of Halloween in 2024) and my review of the original Dandelion Girl visual novel, which will complement my earlier review of its second version.
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 look forward to (probably) sharing links to some of the new articles I previewed next week.
Until November 9,
Cura ut valeas -- N.A. Ferrell.