Newsletter Leaf Journal CCXXXIII
The Newsletter Leaf Journal returns from a multi-week hiatus for Newsletter 233. We cover the six newest New Leaf Journal articles, 27 links from around the web, and other news and notes.
Welcome to the 233rd edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal and its short-form writing sister publication, The Emu Café Social. This newsletter comes to you as always from the administrator of both projects, Nicholas A. Ferrell.
The newsletter returns from a two week hiatus. The first week off was planned because I was on vacation Texas from May 21-28. I drafted the newsletter you will find below on May 31. Unfortunately, I became sick that day and ultimately did not get around to mailing the newsletter. I am still not quite 100%, but I am more than good enough to slightly modify my newsletter draft from last week and mail it out as if I just today wrote it from scratch (don't tell anyone).
New leaves from the weeks that were
I published six new New Leaf Journal articles in the three weeks since I mailed Newsletter 232.
Back in March, I happened upon an expensive (in my opinion, at least) "self-cleaning" litterbox left out for the taking in Brooklyn. The former owner of the litterbox taped a note to it which was functionally a negative review. You will find the note and my own thoughts on the litterbox website in Sharing Handwritten Review of Els Pet "Spaceship".
One day after publishing a third-party review, I returned to first-party reviews in Reviewing ANeko Reborn For Android, which is essential reading for anyone who has an Android or Android-derived device and believes that said device needs a virtual cat on the screen.
In The Bad Joke of NYC Ranked Choice Voting, I analyze a mailer I received from NYC Votes about ranked choice voting through the lens of sound joke-analysis principles.
My last two posts of the two weeks cover my stroll around Houston Hobby Airport on May 21, 2025. In Learning About William P. Hobby at Houston Hobby Airport, I documented a small exhibit in the terminal about the airport's namesake. In Failing to Try Airport Illy Coffee Vending Machine, I wrote about being intrigued by the Illy machines at Houston Hobby and Denver International Airport but ultimately not trying one due to various circumstances.
Finally, I wrote a short post explaining why there has been a distinct lack of posting at The New Leaf Journal.
Leaves from around the web
Let's check in on what's happening around the world wide web...
(You get 27 links instead of 21 because I need to cut into the backlog I have from only mailing two newsletters in five weeks.)
Memorial Day
‘Greater Love Hath No Man’: The Four Chaplains and the True Meaning of Memorial Day
Charlton Allen for American Thinker. May 26, 2025.
"Yet amid the carnage, survivors recalled a calm center: the chaplains, moving deck to deck, offering prayers, guiding men to safety, handing out life jackets. When the supply ran out, they gave away their own ... The last sight of the ship was unforgettable: the four chaplains, arms linked in prayer, standing together on the tilting deck as the Dorchester slipped beneath the waves."
Historic 'Freedom Flyover' at Florida airshow includes nearly every Air Force fighter and bomber jet
David Propper for the New York Post. May 25, 2025.
I was unable to report on this New York City flyover because I was in Texas at the time. However, you can read my May 5, 2020 report on a different New York City flyover.
Drugs, Google, Drugs, and Bears
Patients navigate an ‘absolutely insane’ maze to afford weight-loss drugs
Daniel Gilbert for The Washington Post (via MSN). May 25, 2025.
There are many questionable things about this report but let's start and finish with "obesity medicine doctor."
Google claims users find ads in AI search 'helpful'
Mayank Parmar for Bleeping Computer. May 26, 2025.
Google is providing the ads for free out of the goodness of its heart.
Should Everyone Be Taking Ozempic? Doctors Say More People Could Benefit.
Peter Loftus for The Wall Street Journal (via MSN). May 26, 2025.
Doctors are saying this for free out of the goodness of their hearts.
Black bear climbs into attic of Kentucky home, falls through ceiling onto stove
Brad Matthews for The Washington Times. May 27, 2025.
Some doctors say this too could have been fixed with Ozempic.
Banning stuff that isn't TikTok (which should be banned)
Uncensored AI models pose an urgent risk to global security
Tom Saxton for The Strategist. May 28, 2025.
His fears about AI dangers are not entirely unfounded but his unwillingness to contemplate the dangers of the other side of the coin is adorable.
Brainwashing society into embracing furries. We ask Fuga: Melodies of Steel’s developers about their long history of furry-themed passion projects
Automation West. May 29, 2025.
This is far more concerning than uncensored AI. Ban it yesterday.
Headline question answered by headline
How to climb Mount Fuji
Joseph Petitti. September 18, 2019.
He left out the flight. I am fine with the climb but not the flight.
Summit Showdown on Mount Fuji
Kārlis Ozols for Lanterne Rouge. May 25, 2025.
It would be interesting to see a UCI World Tour race with a summit finish on Mount Fuji.
Free as a bird
Adorable geese get police escort across Holland Tunnel, but drivers are honking mad
Katherine Donlevy for the New York Post. May 6, 2025.
All that honking when the geese were nice enough to work with the officer and compromise on their original plan to go through the Holland Tunnel.
Pigeons get loose inside Delta Air Lines plane from Minnesota to Wisconsin
Brad Matthews for The Washington Times. May 28, 2025.
Victor V. Gurbo would have fixed this.
Hot vacation destinations
Turkmenistan to introduce simplified procedures for obtaining visas
Eurasianet. April 16, 2025.
Don't lie to me. I know you're tempted.
Uzbekistan looks to introduce visa-free travel for American tourists
Alexander Thompson for Eurasianet. May 23, 2025.
Uzbeckonstan.
Afghanistan is a budding vacation destination
Sam Klebanov for Morning Brew. May 30, 2025.
Tell your friends and get the Taliband together.
Losing stuff
F/A-18 Super Hornet Lost Overboard in Red Sea
Mike Schuler for gCaptain. April 28, 2025.
I can relate. This happens to my styluses all the time.
Boxes Full of Nazi Propaganda Discovered in the Basement of Argentina's Supreme Court
Sarah Kuta for Smithsonian Magazine. May 20, 2025.
Easy to lose track of stuff in the basement.
Good service
Thousands of military families use child care app devised by airman
Karen Jowers for Air Force Times. April 21, 2025.
"Kinderspot allows parents to sublet their child care spaces at Air Force child development centers when they’re away for vacation or other reasons, connecting them to other eligible Department of Defense families who need the child care."
Emirates enhances First Class travel experience
Emirates Airlines. May 14, 2025.
I experienced something like this on the flight from Laguardia to Houston Hobby when Southwest handed out graham cracker snacks.
Yakuza troubles
Yakuza member arrested for renting a car once in 2022
Master Blaster for SoraNews24. April 20, 2025.
If he thinks it's bad now, imagine how sad he'll be when they find out about his Kindle book library.
Four yakuza members arrested for having office too close to library
Master Blaster for SoraNews24. May 18, 2025.
I submit for the record that I wrote the "Kindle library" caption for the previous link well before I came across this story about Yakuza being arrested for having an office too close to a brick and mortar library.
Checking in on Germany
Germany aims to have 'strongest' military in Europe
Saim Dusan Inayatullah for DW. May 14, 2025.
This would be historically unprecedented.
More Germans are playing video games than ever before, particularly those aged 60+
Vikki Blake for Games Industry.biz. May 13, 2025.
Anything to keep them out of trouble.
A matter of intelligence
Why Is Most Journalism About IQ So Bad?
Russell T. Warne for Quillette. October 30, 2024.
I prefer to having to work for my good captions.
Russian education system used to generate support among youth for Ukraine war, says U.K. intel
Mike Glenn for The Washington Times. April 24, 2025.
There's low-hanging fruit intelligence. Then there's fruit intelligence that fell off the tree and is sprouting. This is the latter.
Rules for me but not for thee
Nintendo says your Switch 2 isn’t really yours even if you paid for it
Brian Fagioli for beatnews. May 10, 2025.
While I grant Nintendo's piracy concerns, giving itself broad discretion to remotely brick your console is subpar.
Nintendo Switch store overlooks blatant One Piece rip off games, Japanese users ask for stricter screening
Carlos "Zoto" Zotomayor for Automation West. May 27, 2025.
Of course, Nintendo's piracy concerns would carry more weight of it wasn't greenlighting AI-generated copyright infringement slop in its own store.
Most-turned leaves of the newsletter weeks
I use a privacy-friendly and entirely local tool called Koko Analytics (see my 2022 review) 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. We have three weeks to cover in this newsletter since I skipped sending the newsletter last week.
Most-turned leaves of newsletter week 21 (May 17-23)
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Amazon "Cargo Bikes" in Brooklyn
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. April 9, 2025.
Ranking History: 4 appearances and 1 top placement. -
Examining Whether Defense Wins NBA Championships
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. July 9, 2024. Ranking History: 19 appearances and 10 top placements in 2025; 23 appearances and 11 top placements overall. -
Misleading ARRIS Modem Login Instructions
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. June 12, 2024.
Ranking History: 3 appearances in 2025 & overall -
Dragonair Safari in Pokémon Yellow
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. October 5, 2023.
Ranking History: 4 appearances in 2025; 6 appearances overall. -
Height differences in anime romances
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. March 22, 2023.
Ranking History: First appearance of 2025; 16 appearances and 7 top placements overall.
Most-turned leaves of newsletter week 22 (May 24-30)
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Amazon "Cargo Bikes" in Brooklyn
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. April 9, 2025.
Ranking History: 5 appearances and 2 top placement. -
Examining Whether Defense Wins NBA Championships
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. July 9, 2024. Ranking History: 20 appearances and 10 top placements in 2025; 24 appearances and 11 top placements overall. -
Installing Ubuntu Touch on a Google Nexus 7 (2013)
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. July 5, 2021.
Ranking History: 2 appearances in 2025; 99 appearances and 4 top placements overall. -
Misleading ARRIS Modem Login Instructions
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. June 12, 2024.
Ranking History: 4 appearances in 2025 & overall -
A Sign of Affection - Anime Review
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. March 28, 2024.
Ranking History: 2 appearances in 2025; 9 appearances overall.
Most-turned leaves of newsletter week 23 (May 31-June 6)
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Amazon "Cargo Bikes" in Brooklyn
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. April 9, 2025.
Ranking History: 6 appearances and 3 top placement. -
Examining Whether Defense Wins NBA Championships
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. July 9, 2024. Ranking History: 21 appearances and 10 top placements in 2025; 25 appearances and 11 top placements overall. -
Misleading ARRIS Modem Login Instructions
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. June 12, 2024.
Ranking History: 5 appearances in 2025 & overall -
Dragonair Safari in Pokémon Yellow
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. October 5, 2023.
Ranking History: 5 appearances in 2025; 7 appearances overall. -
Kaori After Story - Visual Novel Review
Author/Date: N.A. Ferrell. December 31, 2022.
Ranking History: 10 appearances and 2 top placements in 2025; 11 appearances and 2 top placements overall.
Analysis
Newsletter Weeks 21-23 were eerily similar in terms of visitor numbers overall and in the top five, with my study of Amazon cargo bikes securing back-to-back top placements en route to a top placement in May. In so doing, it became the eighth article to lead a weekly ranking in 2025 and the second to be published in 2025 (the first 2025 top-finish came from Brave Pumpkin in a Hat). My study of whether defense wins NBA championships now has 21 weekly ranking appearances in 23 weeks in 2025, and it hit 20 one week before any other article notched 10. My 2021 article on installing Ubuntu Touch on a Google Nexus 7 (which is no longer supported by Ubuntu Touch, for whatever it is worth) now has 99 weekly ranking appearances. I expect it to make it to 100 at some point in 2025.
Taking leaf
Thank you as always for reading The Newsletter Leaf Journal. If you have not done so already, you can follow this newsletter by signing up for our weekly email, adding our RSS feed to your favorite feed reader, or checking in on our archive page.
While May did not turn out to be our busiest month in terms of new articles, it was a strong month for fans of Brooklyn photo posts and news from Houston Hobby Airport. There will be more posts from those categories in June as well as some longer-form essays (I hope).
Until June 7,
Cura ut valeas -- Nicholas A. Ferrell.