Newsletter Leaf Journal CCVIII 〜 Share at Thanksgiving dinner
Because I do not have much to report from The New Leaf Journal this week, our pre-Thanksgiving 2024 newsletter is full of links to our older Thanksgiving articles to go with 21 links from around the web and other news and notes.
Welcome to the 208th edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal. The newsletter comes to you as always from the Filco Majestitouch V3 keyboard of the editor and administrator of The New Leaf Journal and The Emu Café Social, Nicholas A. Ferrell.
We return from a one-week hiatus. I did not publish a newsletter last week because I had not published any new articles. In truth, I could have foregone this week as well since the only article I published was our October Month-In-Review. I have been a bit busy the last two weeks so I have not published my in-progress articles. (I will try to publish a few specific projects before the end of November.) But I decided to publish a newsletter this week for two reasons. Firstly, it would be a pain to have to list most-read articles for three weeks instead of two. Secondly, Thanksgiving is going up on Thursday and I thought that presents a good opportunity to share some older articles to hold everyone over until I publish new ones.
Thankful leaf Journal
I have published numerous Thanksgiving articles over the years. But before we look at those, I invite you to read my history of New York's Evacuation Day, a lesser-known and distinctly American holiday that falls close to Thanksgiving (and, every now and then, on Thanksgiving). I also published a companion piece on a 1783 Evacuation Day song.
Thanksgiving has a long history in the United States. Back in 2020, I wrote about George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation. The most famous Thanksgiving Proclamation belongs to Abraham Lincoln, who is credited with establishing Thanksgiving as a standard part of the holiday calendar. I have not covered Lincoln's yet -- but I did in 2022 write about Calvin Coolidge's 1923 Thanksgiving Proclamation, which unexpectedly includes some Japanese history notes. I also wrote an article about the time Calvin Coolidge spared a raccoon that was sent to him to be part of the White House's Thanksgiving dinner menu, and he instead turned her (Rebecca) into a pet.
There are Thanksgiving celebrations outside the United States. In 2022, I wrote about the history of Thanksgiving Proclamations in the Philippines, which began when the Philippines was an American territory and ended in somewhat peculiar fashion during the reign of Ferdinand Marcos (the first President Marcos, not the current President Marcos). Last year, I wrote about Thanksgiving in Grenada, which is deeply tied to the United States but distinct from the American Thanksgiving.
If you are looking for Thanksgiving cooking advice, I recommend you do not look at my article about a "coffee fruit punch" recipe from a 1921 Thanksgiving cookbook (if you do read about the coffee fruit punch, I recommend cleansing your palate with my piece on Mary Mapes Dodge's "Pumpkin Pie" poem). Speaking of Thanksgiving food and drink not fit for the table, I wrote articles about a fallen inflatable Thanksgiving turkey and a standing inflatable turkey.
I do not closely follow the Thanksgiving Day Parade. However, last year I called upon our fictional dialogue duo, Justin and Justina, to share their thoughts on the Parade. Somehow, the dialogue turned into a discourse on Ronald McDonald.
Leaves from around the web
Because I left you with nothing to read other than a recap article and links from our archive, the least I can do is share 21 links from around the web.
Thanksgiving articles
For Decades, Southern States Considered Thanksgiving an Act of Northern Aggression
Ariel Knoebel for Atlas Obscura. November 22, 2018.
Withholding judgment on whether the 2024 edition will be the holiday of northern aggression until I read the parade reports.
For Years, Republican and Democratic States Held Separate Thanksgivings
Anne Ewbank for Atlas Obscura. November 22, 2017.
Among the other problems with Franklin Roosevelt's idea, may I submit that moving the date of Thanksgiving of all holidays after consulting with retailers is not entirely on brand for the holiday?
Why One Australian Island Celebrates Thanksgiving
Anne Ewbank for Atlas Obscura. November 21, 2024.
America was involved. You're welcome, Norfolk Island.
Why America's Thanksgiving Turkey Is So Boring
Natasha Frost for Atlas Obscura. November 22, 2017.
To be fair, the correct answer is probably because people can't cook.
When Cow Tongue Was an Essential Thanksgiving Ingredient
Leigh Chavez-Bush for Atlas Obscura. November 27, 2018.
I'm thankful for was.
Why America Stopped Winning Wars
Dan Zamansky for Tablet. November 8, 2024.
Way to overlook our crushing victory in Operation Urgent Fury.
Answering the headline with a question
Is Ukraine becoming a kleptocracy?
Mark Hollingsworth for UnHerd. November 15, 2024.
Is the sky becoming blue?
Russian court reportedly fines Google 2 undecillion roubles for blocking 17 state TV channels — equates to $20.5 decillion USD, Russian media report
Mark Tyson for Tom's Hardware. October 29, 2024.
How much is this per TV channel?
Remember When A Sega Genesis Got Fused With A Digital Camera? Yep, We'd Forgotten About It, Too
Damien McFerran for Time Extension. November 4, 2024.
Can I not remember something I was never aware of in the first place?
Buying Pokémon, Being Sold by Pokémon
After Almost 30 Years, Japan Finally Has A New Best-Selling Pokémon Game
Jim Norman for Nintendo Life. November 19, 2024.
I'm concerned that Game Freak's take-away will be that glitches and technical SNAFUs sell.
Your Pokémon Go data is being used to train AI
Matty Merritt for Morning Brew. November 22, 2024.
It may be too late for the Belarusian military, but it's not too late for you.
Birds in danger
Yaks, bears and cockatoos are among the animals Russia is sending to North Korean zoo
Associated Press (via The Washington Times). November 20, 2024.
First goats (see the previous Newsletter 205 around the web). Now this.
Birds are dying by smashing into NYC skyscrapers in record numbers — here’s potentially why
Katherine Donlevy for New York Post. November 13, 2024.
The songbird sorrow continues.
Nesting issues
Children’s slippers stolen in night at Japanese preschool, police identify weasel who did it
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. November 17, 2024.
Only a weasel would do something so underhanded.
The clever ways that brood parasites trick other birds
Sofia Quagila for Knowable Magazine. October 2, 2024.
Starting with an advantage when bird parents do not question why their baby bird is twice their own size.
Building stuff in Brooklyn
Former St. Francis campus to be converted to residential housing
The Real Deal. October 28, 2024.
About time something happened since I wrote about this not once but twice in 2023.
Affordable Housing Lottery Opens in Gowanus With Units From $848
Anna Bradley-Smith for Brownstoner. November 21, 2024.
If you have kids while living on the Gowanus, your kids will have six toes or six fingers. That, my fair reader, is priceless.
News From Central Asia
War for citizenship: Why Uzbeks fight for Russia
Dmitri Belyayev for Mediazona Central Asia (via Eurasianet). November 14, 2024.
Probably for the friends they make along the way.
Countering a "Great Jihad" in Central Asia
Bruce Pannier for Foreign Policy Research Institute. November 19, 2024.
A very interesting and well-sourced article on counter-terrorism and its occasional excesses in five of the six former Soviet -stans.
Uzbekistan trying to carve out more opportunities for labor migrants in European Union
Eurasianet. October 15, 2024.
Afghans denied asylum in the European Union would (or will?) have an interesting go of things in Uzbekistan.
Last-Minute Thanksgiving Dinner Idea
Japanese arcades now have crane games where you can win sweet potatoes then roast them in-store
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. October 21, 2024.
Sure, why not?
Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week(s)
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. Because there was no newsletter last week, we have two weeks to cover: Newsletter Weeks 46 (Nov 9-15) and 47 (Nov 16-22). Below, you will find the most-visited articles of Newsletter Weeks 46 and 47, starting with 47, with 2024- and historic (going back to 2021) ranking information for each ranked article.
Newsletter Week 47 (Nov 16-22)
(1) An In-Depth Look at Norton Safe Search
N.A. Ferrell. October 18, 2024.
29 appearances and 11 top placements in 2024; 41 and 16 overall.
(2) Fixing Refresh Rate Issue on 4K TV Monitor
N.A. Ferrell. July 26, 2024.
First appearance.
(3) Examining Whether Defense Wins NBA Championships
N.A. Ferrell. July 9, 2024.
2 appearances.
(4) A Sign of Affection - Anime Review
N.A. Ferrell. March 28, 2024.
7 appearances.
(5) Planning and Angel Next Door Season 2
N.A. Ferrell. November 5, 2023.
26 appearances and 11 top placements in 2024 and overall.
Newsletter Week 46 (Nov 9-15)
(1) An In-Depth Look at Norton Safe Search (See above)
(2) Broken Optical Audio Cable Door "Fix"
N.A. Ferrell. September 16, 2023.
11 appearances in 2024 and overall.
(3) Installing Ubuntu Touch on a Google Nexus 7 (2013)
N.A. Ferrell. July 5, 2021.
20 appearances and 2 top placements in 2024; 97 and 4 overall.
(4) Examining Whether Defense Wins NBA Championships (See above)
(5) Installing LineageOS on a 2013 Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi)
N.A. Ferrell. July 28, 2021.
13 appearances in 2024; 14 appearances overall.
Analysis
My Norton Safe Search survey continues to dominate the rankings for reasons unknown to me, extending its streak atop the weekly ranking to five weeks. It swept through the weekly ranking in November 2023, so November seems to be a good month for Norton (again, for reasons unknown to me). Newsletter Weeks 46 and 47 brought two new articles into the ranking fold. My July survey examining whether NBA champions are typically stronger on offense or defense made its first two appearances in the ranking in weeks 46 and 47, coming off a solid 12th place finish in the overall visitor ranking for October. Newsletter week 47 saw my July article on figuring out how to properly configure my TV as a 4K monitor make its ranking debut -- which was not an expected development. The TV article just missed the Week 46 ranking before finishing runner-up in Week 47.
Taking Leaf
The hour grows late, so I will wrap this newsletter up. I will try to publish a few articles this coming week so I have some new material to write about in next week's newsletter. In the meantime, I wish all of our readers a happy New York Evacuation Day on Monday the 25th (reminder that you can learn about it here) and Thanksgiving on the 28th.
Until the last day of November,
Cura ut valeas -- Nicholas A. Ferrell.