Congo vs. Congo for a Red Dot on ClustrMaps

When I'm feeling particularly narcissistic and want to celebrate the great michaelhoman, I like to click on ClustrMaps to see the global distribution of readers of my blog. Turns out I've never been that popular in Africa. I don't understand why, maybe Africans don't share my interest in biblical studies and rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina. Anyway, this post is meant to change that.

My goal is to get red dots on two countries: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as The Republic of Congo.

Here's hoping the following sentence gets googled by someone in The Democratic Republic of Congo:

President Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga, suffering from le mal Zairois, blamed the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo on the bonobo chimpanzees who live near the Congo River, I mean the Zaire River, no wait the Congo River, oh hell I can't keep track of what's going on in the DRC formerly known as Zaire, formerly known as Congo Free State, formerly Belgian Congo, formerly Congo-Leopoldville, formerly The Congo.

And this one I'm sure will be attract googlers from The Republic of Congo:

A Pygmy and a Bantu walk into a bar in Brazzaville. The bartender asks, "You two vote for Denis Sassou Nguesso?" The Bantu replied, "Aller au diable!" Then he killed the Pygmy and ate him for the magical powers.

The first country to show up on ClustrMaps wins a dinner for two with none other than michaelhoman, formerly known as Michael Homan, formerly Abu, formerly Mike, formerly Chopper, formerly The Chopper, oh hell I can't keep up with that either. I will soon be the most popular New Orleans blog in sub-Saharan Africa.

Later: It's now March 3rd, and while I have no doubt that many lucky citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo and its neighbors from the Republic of Congo have been reading this, they don't show up on ClustrMaps because the damn thing hasn't been updated since February 15th for my blog. Come on ClustrMaps! We need to know!

1% National Incarceration Rate

Back in 2005 my friend Bart lamented that the U.S. was approaching a day when 1% of our population was in jail. Well, sadly that day is today, or sort of, if you count only adults. Today I read that 1 out of every 99.1 American adults is incarcerated, and for African Americans the statistic is one out of every 15. Moreover, I live in Louisiana, the place with the highest incarceration rate in the world, a rate 62% above the national average. We seem to favor bombing countries over diplomacy, and locking people up instead of investing in education and rehab.

Unnatural Disasters and Supreme Courts: Throw Xavier a Bone

Water damaged every building on Xavier's Campus in August of 2005 after the levees broke

My employer, Xavier University of Louisiana, last week learned that the U.S. Supreme Court would not hear its appeal. Earlier a federal appeals court ruled that Xavier and other institutions and homeowners could not sue their insurance companies for repairs if the insurance policies excluded flood coverage. Xavier and others argued that since the flooding of its campus was caused by human error and not a natural disaster, that the "all risk" insurance policy ought to kick in and cover damages. A federal judge in Louisiana agreed with Xavier in 2006, but it was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Since the Supreme Court opted to not way in, the decision against Xavier seemed like a done deal. But not so fast...

Today two cases are being argued before the State Supreme Court. These are the first Katrina and Rita related cases to be brought to the LA Supreme Court, and whatever decision is reached in these cases, the federal courts will have to follow these rulings. The first case is the one that effects Xavier. New Orleans resident, and amazingly enough a Holocaust survivor, Joseph Sher sued Lafayette Insurance Co., arguing that his homeowner's policy should have covered the water damage because the failure of the levees was the result of human error and not a natural disaster. Sher won in lower courts and in this case Lafayette Insurance is arguing to have the ruling overturned. The other case involves a couple named Landry who claim that the "valued policy" law means that insurance companies need to pay the full value of the policy if their property is destroyed by a combination of forces, some of which were covered like wind, and some of which were not, like storm surge.

Of course the insurance industry is claiming the apocalypse will come immediately if either Sher or Landry succeeds. They argue that the insurance industry will pull out of the region. But screw them. They already are out of the region. I can only get homeowner's and flood insurance through Citizens, the state insurer of last resort. Nobody else will write me a policy for many years I imagine, and the rates are through the roof. We need to start demanding that companies who want to write auto policies in the state need to also offer homeowner's. I was happy to see that our Insurance lobbyist, I mean Insurance Chief Donelon finally fined Allstate $250,000 the maximum allowed in our insurance friendly state.

A Good Day to Be Born

When I woke up this morning I learned that my friends B and Xy are at the hospital for the birth of their daughter. I don't know the details though. B's phone is broken and his website is down.

Update: her name is Persephone and Maitri has a picture.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skulls

He looks old, and the plot looks crappy, but you know where I'll be May 22nd.

We Don't Live in a Democracy

On February 9th Louisiana held it's party primary elections. Mike Huckabee narrowly defeated John McCain. However, at least 43 of our 47 GOP national convention delegates from Louisiana will be casting their votes with McCain. Similarly, there's talk about how these primary votes on the Democratic side won't matter either, and it will come down to "Super" delegates like Jason Rae. Rock on America!

I Still Miss My Father

My father William Homan passed away a year ago today. I sure do miss him, and I think about him several times a day. People have told me that this will pass in time. But for now he's often on my mind.

There is so much I wish I could tell him. He was very worried about me and my family after Katrina, and I know that our not being treated fairly by our insurance company troubled him greatly. I wish I could let him know that we are fine now, and that at last our house is being rebuilt. It will be such a great house when it will be done, and we hope to move back into it sometime this summer. I wish he could see the construction process. He was always a person who liked to build things. I know that he would also be very proud of his grandkids Gilgamesh and Kalypso. If my dad were still around we would also talk about the farm in Cedar Rapids that belonged to my Grandfather, than my father, and now to me and my siblings. We would also discuss Nebraska football, and after last year's abysmal season, I guess it's a blessing that he didn't have to live through that. Next year has to be better though, and I'm sure sad I can't share that with my father.

Steel Beams

Our house is now rigidly supported by three sections of steel beams welded together and fastened to the foundation. Thus the likelihood of our house racking again is virtually nil. We have a new roof and the next step is to finish the framing and then put in the windows and doors. Our contractor thought we'd be ready for drywall in a month and a half. Hard to imagine, but we're flying and can't wait to get back in our house.

Cousin Joe

My cousin Joe Homan, his wife Jackie, and their son Daniel just left for a cruise. They drove here from Waverly Nebraska, and spent the night last night. We went out to eat for po boys at the Parkway Bakery. I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with Joe when I was growing up. It was nice to reminisce with him. We talked a lot about my dad and Joe's dad, who was my dad's younger brother. Our bird pooped on Joe's jeans though. In any case, bon voyage Joe, Jackie, and Daniel.

To Therese: A Valentine's Day Post

I married Therese Marie Fitzpatrick back on June 1, 1991. That's her cleaning out my ears with her tongue just after the ceremony. That was 6,102 days ago, and even if I subtract the time I spend looking for my shoes that she hid under the bed, replacing batteries when she doesn't turn off the car lights, and being subjected to noise pollution when she simultaneously vacuums the tile and talks loudly to her mom on the phone, that still leaves approximately 2,800 days of marital bliss. Love you darling, even if you're still as squirrelly as ever.