Leafy intro

Welcome to the 269th edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal ("NLJ") and its short-form writing sister publication, The Emu Café Social ("ECS"). This newsletter comes to you as always from the administrator, editor, and writer of both publications, Nicholas A. Ferrell.

Leaves from the week that was

I only managed to publish two New Leaf Journal articles since mailing Newsletter 268. In my defense, I learned on Sunday that I had been given the wrong deadline for a work assignment, which threw off some of my article-publishing plans. Even more in my defense, my two articles were substantive.

NBA fans may enjoy *Dave Cowens’ 1995 NBA Comeback That Wasn’t*. Dave Cowens was one of the top NBA players of the 1970s when he starred on the Boston Celtics. He won the 1972-73 NBA MVP award and helped lead the Celtics to championships in 1973-74 and 1975-76. He retired young at age 32 in 1979-80 due to injuries. Mr. Cowens made a one-season comeback in 1982-83 before retiring again due to injuries. While reading about his 82-83 comeback, I learned that Mr. Cowens floated another return to the NBA in 1995 when he was a 46-year old assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. That led to my investigation. My investigation led to an article.

I only published one visual novel review in 2025 (sad!). But with Shiroi Printer -- Visual Novel Review*, I have published two reviews in 2026. Shiroi Printer is a free Japanese visual novel in the horror genre with an "official" English translation. It takes about 10 minutes to read. One point that makes this review "unique" is that Shiroi Printer* is free to play in your web browser, so consider this your chance to try a visual novel that I am reviewing if you have not previously done so with any of my reviews.

I started a new project on ECS called Pook-Emu Bee. This is a sort of daily links series where I publish a post with 5-7 links and my commentary (similar in style to the next section of this newsletter). One motivation: It is a good way to keep my newsletter backlog under control. You can enjoy my ECS daily links for February 24, 25, 26, and 27.

Aside from sharing links on ECS, I published a few more substantive posts. I wrote about Tuta Calendar Thunderbird Integration before noting an Early Flaw With Tuta Calendar-Thunderbird Integration when I actually tried it. In What is the YandoriRSSBot?, I got to the bottom of a new bot I noticed in my server logs. After publishing my Dave Cowens research article, I gave myself a pat on the back for Incredible Article Variety on NLJ. I shared a "Year of the Linux Desktop" story in From Thunar to PCManFM.

In Remembering to Post to Pixelfed, I wrote about being inspired by the recent success of my 2021 article about my Pixelfed ATOM feed. That led me to publish new photos to my Pixelfed account (see my 2025 Pixelfed review). I shared my Winter King photo and my 2024 photo of a bowl of cherries, both of which featured in recent NLJ articles (links to those articles in the Pixelfed posts).

Leaves from around the web

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the release of Pokémon Red and Green (the original games) in Japan. I had plans to publish a NLJ article on the 27th, but I had to settle for sharing some links in my ECS Pook-Emu Bee instead. But rest assured that Pokémon will be well-represented in this week's collection of 21 links from around the web.

(I drafted this email shortly before the commencement of Operation Epic Fury (or Roaring Lion in Israel), so I provide bonus links to The War Zone's coverage of the campaign.)

Pokémon Journeys

A Trip To Machida, The Real-Life 'Pallet Town' That Inspired Pokémon
Tokyo Game Life for Nintendo Life. October 19, 2024.

More importantly, this article inspired my inaugural Things I Learned in 2025 post.

Chansey Pokémon Park in Japan helps a region heal from disaster
Oona McGee for SoraNews24. September 6, 2025.

Who knew Chansey was so popular?

Too much excitement in Mexico

Traumatized tourists land in LA after fleeing deadly Mexican cartel wars: ‘A vision I will never forget’
Ariel Zilber and Ross O'Keefe for the New York Post. February 24, 2026.

If you're going to vacation in Mexico you have to price in the possibility.

El Mencho’s Hideout Previously Identified by U.S. Treasury Department
Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby for Breitbart. February 24, 2026.

"The issue that El Mencho felt safe enough to continue using those cabins, even though they had been previously identified by U.S. authorities, raises serious concerns about how safe the cartel figure felt operating in Mexico."

1,000 Tourists Got Stuck in Guadalajara Zoo During Mexico Cartel Terror Spree
Christian K. Caruzo for Breitbart. February 24, 2026.

It sounds like the Zoo and the local authorities made the right calls under pressure and did well to keep everyone safe and comfortable -- so hat tip of the week to them.

A Sunday of chaos and quiet
Joel Chrono. February 26, 2026.

A short anecdotal blog post covering everything from a first-hand account of Mexico last weekend to preventing your church from inadvertently using AI images.

But New York City was also exciting!

Wild video shows rare ‘thundersnow’ lightning strike World Trade Center
Patrick Reilly for the New York Post. February 23, 2026.

I was up late so I saw two lighting flashes from my window during the storm and heard thunder. Alas, I did not have a view of the World Trade Center.

Using stats to predict NBA outcomes

Which NBA Statistical Categories Mean the Most?
Bob Bellotti. February 20, 2026.

If you enjoy my surface-level NBA stats surveys, you'll appreciate this much more sophisticated one from the esteemed Bob Bellotti. I never thought about the significance of looking at net rating on the road specifically.

Phil Jackson’s 40-20 rule: These 3 NBA teams meet a key indicator for championship success
Scott Phillips for The Athletic. February 26, 2026.

The rule probably errs on the arbitrary side but it has worked well so who am I to doubt it?

Pokémon in the olden days

Interview with Cerulean Town
Johto Times. September 18, 2025.

I never heard of Cerulean Town (an old web and now-defunct Pokémon site) but good interview and great site name/aesthetic.

Interview with Jon Davies (SovanJedi)
Johto Times. October 9, 2025.

The old-school pixel art ties into what I wrote about incomplete information about new Pokémon in the west leading to strange Pokémon rumors in the west (apparently as true of the UK as the USA).

Interview with Gail Tilden
Johto Times. December 18, 2025.

Intro: "Gail Tilden worked at Nintendo between 1983–2007 in several brand and marketing positions. She was the editor-in-chief of Nintendo Power Magazine, helped to bring the Nintendo Entertainment System to market in the United States, and she was fundamental to the launch of the Pokémon brand outside of Asia."

New records

Trump shatters Clinton's 26-year-old record for longest State of the Union address
Emma Colton and Amanda Macias for Fox News. February 24, 2026.

More than Clintonian but not yet Mirziyoyevian (until 2027, at least).

This Nearly 50-Foot-Long Sock Monkey Sculpture Is the Largest on Earth, Guinness World Records Confirms
Christian Thorsberg for Smithsonian Magazine. February 25, 2026.

I don't know what to say.

The wholesome fun that is the Pokémon Trading Card Game

Pokémon TCG Pocket issues warning against real money trades and data tampering
Verity Townsend for Automation West. January 28, 2025.

It was more wholesome back in the day when Frank could stuff Jimmy into a locker and take his Pokémon cards and his Lunchables.

Pokémon cards are finally becoming accessible to kids again as Japan’s speculative bubble collapses
Amber V for Automation West. February 27, 2026.

"Curiously, Pokémon cards seem to have been replaced by stickers when it comes to scalping, particularly '3D' Bonbon Drop stickers." (I don't know what a Bonbon Drop sticker is but if you're an adult scalping stickers, you should probably reassess your life.)

They just don't make 'em like they used to

Grandson of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Inventor Accuses Hershey of 'Replacing' Ingredients that Built Consumers' Trust
Sean Moran for Breitbart. February 19, 2026.

They still taste good to me but who am I to challenge the Reese's expertise of Mr. Reese?

Jay Leno turns heads driving 119-year-old steam car through Los Angeles
Ariel Zilber for the New York Post. February 19, 2026.

They just don't make cars these days like they used to.

Checking in on Maryland

Judge Orders Condo Residents Evicted As Squalid Homeless Encampment Wreaks Havoc
Aaron Sibarium for The Washington Free Beacon. February 5, 2026.

The government's colluding with the homeless activists and lobbyists, crack dealers, and crack addicts to evict law-abiding residents from 100 units is an admittedly creative form of eminent domain.

How Private Charity Is Enabling a Homeless Encampment and Hurting Law-Abiding Citizens
Aaron Sibarium for The Washington Free Beacon. February 27, 2026.

A common misconception about the homeless advocates is that their goal is to reduce homelessness.

Ultra conclusion

Pokémon’s Ultra Beasts were based on past Pokémon designs rejected by Game Freak art director Ken Sugimori, artist reveals. That’s why they look so creepy
Dorde P for Automation West. February 4, 2026.

Victor used one of the ultra beasts against me in our Independence Day-themed Pokémon battles of July 2021.

Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week

I use a privacy-friendly and entirely local tool called Koko Analytics (see my 2025 article) to track page visits. 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 our most-visited articles for the week of February 21-27 with notes on their cumulative ranking statistics going back to 2021.

1. Catching 151 Pokémon in Google Search
   N.A. Ferrell. April 17, 2025.
   This Year: 9 appearances and 7 top placements.
   Cumulative: 36 appearances and 28 top placements.

2. Adding noai.duckduckgo.com as Custom Search Engine
   N.A. Ferrell. January 21, 2026.
   6 appearances and 2 top placements.

3. The Pokémon Special Split in Generation 2
   N.A. Ferrell. January 18, 2022.
   This Year: 5 appearances.
   Cumulative: 68 appearances and 4 top placements.

4. Dragonair Safari in Pokémon Yellow
   N.A. Ferrell. October 5, 2023.
   This Year: 6 appearances.
   Cumulative: 25 appearances.

5. Amazon “Cargo Bikes” in Brooklyn
   N.A. Ferrell. April 9, 2025.
   This Year: 6 appearances.
   Cumulative: 41 appearances and 8 top placements.

Analysis

We had a "chalk" top five this week: The five articles in the ranking have the five most weekly-ranking appearances in 2026 thus far and are also the five most-visited articles of the year.

Catching 151 Pokémon in Google Search and Adding noai.duckduckgo.com as Custom Search Engine took the top two spots for the sixth week in a row, with the former regaining the top ranking with its best week of 2026 thus far and second-best week yet over all (its best came in early September 2025). However, it oddly posted its worst two days of 2026 on Thursday and Friday, so we will see if that is a sign that it is (at least temporarily) falling back to the pack (Update: Our early Saturday stats suggest that it has not in fact fallen back to the pack). Follow Pixelfed Users’ ATOM Feeds, which I published on January 18, 2021, came one visit shy of making its second-ever weekly ranking appearance and first in more than five years, but it has performed well enough in February that it may yet crash the ranking.

Taking leaf

I see bright Sun coming through my window. For that reason, I plan to go outside to enjoy said bright Sun. That requires me to wrap this email up.

Thank you as always for reading The Newsletter Leaf Journal. If you enjoyed this issue and 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.

Until March comes in like a [roaring] lion,
Cura ut valeas -- Nicholas A. Ferrell.