Newsletter Leaf Journal CCXXXV 〜 I drafted early, mailed late
I prepared Newsletter Leaf Journal 235 in the afternoon. I mailed it in the evening. Did that have an effect on my around the web selection? Perhaps.
Welcome to the 235th 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, editor, and writer of both publications, Nicholas A. Ferrell. Unlike last week, we have a new article. Unfortunately, we only have one new article, but that is something. Below, I share our new post, links from around the web, and other news and notes.
New leaves from the week was
I said in the introduction that I only published one new New Leaf Journal leaf last week. But if we count the syndicated version of Newsletter 234, I published two. However, I will venture that many people reading this newsletter read the Buttondown version of Newsletter 234, so counting my re-publication of it as a new New Leaf Journal leaf would be a bit cheap.
My one unambiguously new leaf is Domain-Specific Google News RSS Feeds. I explain in this article how to use Google News to generate RSS (or ATOM) feeds for sites which do not offer them or are otherwise inaccessible to your feed reader. I discuss some tips and tricks for refining domain-specific Google News feeds and non-Google alternatives that can be used to similar effect. As always, you can read my Introduction to RSS and Other Feed Formats if you are unfamiliar with feeds and feed readers. Feel free to add the feed of this newsletter and The New Leaf Journal feeds once you are set up.
Leaves from around the web
Because I only published one genuinely new article last week, I will post 24 links from around the web instead of the usual 21 (we should return to 21 links next week).
Birdie, Eagle, Albatross
Why Gulls Are Great Parents,in Six Paintings
All About Birds (artwork by Lauren Richelieu). June 19, 2025.
They are so great we had to turn to art.
Harpy Eagle
American Bird Conservatory.
"The Harpy Eagle is the largest, most powerful raptor in the Americas, bigger even than the Golden Eagle."
World’s oldest-known wild bird lays an egg in Hawaii at age 74
Natalie O'Neill for the New York Post. December 6, 2024.
She also described this feeling that someone is watching her as an albatross. (I'm sorry.)
I drafted this newsletter in the morning and decided I needed to use these links before it was too late. But then I mailed the newsletter late and most of the notes became too late (save for the first which was intentionally late). Too late to change so let's just go with it. Pretend I sent it in the afternoon of June 21.
Iran says U.S. must leave Middle East if nuclear negotiations fail
Mike Glenn for The Washington Times. June 11, 2025.
This was published on June 11, 2025. I don't know what happened after that.
What Exactly Was Iran Thinking—Or Not?
Victor Davis Hanson for American Greatness. June 16, 2025.
Things make sense When you consider that many of the people thinking (or not) were also thinking (or not) during the Iran-Iraq War from 1980-1988.
Can Israel End Iran's Nuclear Program?
Armin Rosen for Tablet Magazine. June 17, 2025.
This one seemed a little bit newsletter time sensitive.
Things to do when you're trying to stay incognito in the United States
Knife-wielding man chases U.S. attorney in downtown Albany
Brendam J. Lyons, H. Rose Schneider, and Mike Goodwin for the Times Union. June 18, 2025.
If you illegally reentered the United States after having previously been deported, you want to keep a low profile by doing things like trying to stab the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York.
55 Illegal Aliens Busted in ICE Raid on Alabama Cockfight
Randy Clark for Breitbart. June 19, 2025.
One way to stay under the radar when you're present in the United States illegally is to gather with people similarly situated to enjoy wholesome, family-friendly entertainment.
Change the location in the first link and call this duo "cause and effect"
Bees in the big city: Park Slope residents install rooftop hive with 12,000 honey bees
Gabriele Holtermann for Brooklyn Paper. April 15, 2025.
Make sure to read to the green honey incident.
Why are there bee swarms buzzing through NYC — and what to do if you see one
Nicole Rosenthal for the New York Post. June 19, 2025.
I haven't seen one but I would recommend beeing calm.
NBA Finals Adjacent
Discarded clothes from UK brands dumped in protected Ghana wetlands
Lucy Jordan and Mike Anane for The Guardian. June 18, 2025.
It'll be worse when unneeded Oklahoma City Thunder or Indiana Pacers championship jerseys end up there too. (If you get the joke you get the joke.)
LA Dodgers owner buys the Lakers for record $10 billion
Molly Liebergall for Morning Brew. June 20, 2025.
NBA team prices keep skyrocketing but the 24 highest-rated games occurred in 1998 and earlier and the highest rated game was in 1998 (I watched that game live by the way). You'd think something has to give eventually.
That's a pickle
Pro pickleball, which is ‘open for business,’ hopes to meet brands on the court
Alyssa Meyers for Marketing Brew. April 16, 2025.
I would have thought the professional marketers understood the difference between recreational sport and spectator sport.
Cup Noodles® Launches New Dill Pickle Flavor
Vending Connection. June 13, 2025.
I forgot the lede when I read that there had been a pumpkin spice Cup Noodles flavor. I would have referenced that abomination in my one pumpkin spice article had I known.
Look carefully
Humpback Whales Can't See as Well as Scientists Thought, and It Might Explain Why They Keep Getting Tangled in Fishing Gear
Margherita Bassi for Smithsonian Magazine. May 21, 2025.
The whales were waiting for the so-called scientists to be less myopic.
Tiny lizard thought to be extinct rediscovered after 34 years
Gerald Imray for the Independent. May 15, 2025.
It awkwardly had to pretend to be happy to see you.
There's no such thing as a perfect headline
Watch a Giant Snail Lay an Egg From a Pore in Its Neck in First-Ever Footage Captured in New Zealand
Margherita Bassi for Smithsonian Magazine. May 14, 2025.
I know that the headline is about laying eggs from necks but I was more surprised to learn that "some of the snails ... are between 25 and 35 years old."
Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro Claims He Is a 'Real Jew,' Unlike Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu
Christina K. Caruzo for Breitbart. June 16, 2025.
Sometimes a headline just makes you stop and click.
Heroes
These eager beavers saved the Czech government $1.2 million (archived)
Jason Bittel for National Geographic. February 7, 2025.
Just because the beavers were willing to do it for free does not mean they should not be paid.
Indiana jump-rope champ saves drowning man in freezing lake with double-Dutch rope
Steve Janoski for the New York Post. January 29, 2025.
Show off.
The true newsletter linker connects stories published eight years apart
Abandoned school being used for foreign tourists to experience Japanese high school in Chiba
Master Blaster for SoraNews24. May 23, 2025.
But they told me in anime you get to go on the school roof.
Japanese college students share four ways anime high school is different from real high school
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. April 4, 2017.
They should have lied about the school roof thing.
Unwanted guests
Invasive Crab With Furry, Mitten-Like Claws Detected for the First Time in the Pacific Northwest
Sarah Kuta for Smithsonian Magazine. May 2, 2025.
"[C]ontaining the crabs is no easy feat. Adults can live for about a week in a dry environment or for more than a month in a damp meadow, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. They’re capable of scaling concrete structures that are between 10 and 13 feet tall and are known for being 'one of the best climbers' among crab species, per the federal agency."
Kansas babysitter checking for monsters finds man hiding under bed
The Guardian. March 27, 2025.
Would have probably preferred to find a green and red monster with horns and five eyes (or one of those crabs).
Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week
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. Below, you will find the most-visited articles of 2025 Newsletter Week XXV (June 14-20) along with their 2025 and historic (going back 2021) weekly ranking statistics.
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Victory Chimes Schooner in Brooklyn Bridge Park
Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 5, 2024.
First appearance and top placement. -
My OpenWrt NETGEAR WAX 202 Access Point
Nicholas A. Ferrell. February 26, 2025.
First appearance. -
Misleading ARRIS Modem Login Instructions
Nicholas A. Ferrell. June 12, 2024.
7 appearances and 1 top placement in 2025 and overall. -
Amazon "Cargo Bikes" in Brooklyn
Nicholas A. Ferrell. April 9, 2025. 8 appearances and 3 top placements. -
Examining Whether Defense Wins NBA Championships
Nicholas A. Ferrell. July 9, 2024.
23 appearances and 10 top placements in 2025, 27 and 11 overall.
Analysis
This was the weakest top five of 2025 but the week as a whole was not too far behind our average for the last few months. Spots one and two were occupied by articles making their weekly top-five debuts, although Victory Chimes is currently the 27th most-visited article of 2025. There was a log-jam between positions 3 and 8 and a number of articles could have wound up taking the final three spots in the weekly ranking. This week is notable in that it is the first weekly ranking in which all five positions are taken up by articles published in 2024 and 2025.
News leaf journal
I have a couple of yet-to-be-published article drafts, so things should pick up a bit on NLJ and ECS in the next week. The site went down a couple of times yesterday from what I think were a large number of requests from Mastodon and other ActivityPub-based servers. I made one change on the server site and fixed what may have been an error with our page caching solution, so we will see if that resolves the issues going forward. On the bright side, it seems like we have the random AI bots under control lately.
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.
I hope everyone enjoyed the newsletter and my one new article. I hope to have more articles to share next week. In the interim, I hope everyone in the northern hemisphere enjoys the start of summer (it is a very warm start here in Brooklyn).
Until June 27,
Cura ut valeas.