Why?

As the country watches Fargo-Moorhead get mercilessly stomped by Mother Nature, the question arises, Why would we put up with this crap?

The NY Times provides a couple of good explainer pieces on the geology and politics of flood control and forecasting.

Permanent Flood Solutions Just Out of Reach for Fargo

A River Prone to Flooding, and Misunderstanding

And then there's this.

All Eyes on N.D.

Every morning, top of the news, there's North Dakota.

NPR: Kent Conrad tries to maintain his budget hawk cred and remain Obama's buddy. It's a lot of money, $3.6 trillion.

Then there are more immediate concerns.

Saberi Update

Journalist and Fargo native Roxana Saberi's imprisonment in Iran drags on. NPR broadcast an interview with her father, Reza, and Byron Dorgan, who's working for her release. The Washington Times has also editorialized about Saberi and its treatment of journalists and bloggers.

More complete coverage of Saberi's ordeal can be found at the Free Roxana Saberi web site.

Jubilation: Fleeting

NDSU loses in the first round to Kansas. Some related articles:

NY Times: Bison Shrink Distance Between Fargo and the Big Time
Slate.com: Odious things about this year's NCAA tournament
ESPN: What's not to love about Bison?

N.D.'s Got Jobs

The North Dakota economic miracle claims another victim. Sykes Enterprises will close a Minot call center because it can't find enough applicants for its positions, according to an AFP article.

For the record, call center jobs are usually pretty crappy.

March Madness

Holy crap! The Bison are seeded for March Madness. Having spent a total of around 30 minutes over the course of my life paying attention to NCAA basketball, does this mean I now have to start caring?

Roxana Saberi

Journalist, Fargo native and former Miss North Dakota Roxana Saberi remains in custody in Iran on unspecified charges (though possibly for buying wine), despite calls for her release by Hillary Clinton and journalism groups.

You can read more about Saberi at the Committee to Protect Journalists' web site.