Unfortunately for the people in the Midwest who have been terrorized by the worst floods in 15 years, natural disasters don’t really play well on the national news when there’s an election going on. Still, most people know that things are pretty bad along that stretch of the Mississippi River. Some photographic evidence, courtesy of the Washington Post, below.

• Celebrity Circus? Just as ridiculous as we thought it would be. [NB]

• John McCain is sorry about what’s happening to flood victims in the Midwest, but Barack Obama’s actually doing something to help. [TS]

• Ashanti’s performance at last night’s NBA game: yea or nay? [TGJ]

• Kanye West’s fans are fickle, but only if you make them wait for two hours. Oh well, he’ll always have Selita Ebanks. [Bossip]

• No, Death Row artists are not the only rappers to come out of the West Coast. [SB]

ALL HELL IS BREAKING LOOSE IN ASIA The aftermath of a cyclone that killed a reported 100,000 people is still rocking the people of Myanmar, and last night a 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit central China today. Officials say 8,533 have been pronounced dead in Sichuan Province, and another 10,000 are wounded. [CNN]

IN MYANMAR… Cyclone survivors don’t have sufficient fuel to burn corpses, which litter fields and ditches. An estimated 100,000 people are dead. The military junta has been painfully slow in granting visas to relief workers and giving clearance for planes carrying much-needed supplies to land. ” The U.S. has also been pushing for access, pledging $3.25 million and offering to send U.S. Navy ships to the region to help relief efforts. The U.S. military had already flown six helicopters on to a Thai airbase, as Washington awaits permission to go into the south Asian country, two senior military officials told CNN’s Barbara Starr.”

LAURA BUSH CRITICIZES HER HUSBAND FOR THE WAY HE HANDLED HURRICANE KATRINA MYANMAR GENERALS FOR THE WAY THEY HANDLED THE DEADLY CYCLONE “Making an unusual foray into foreign policy, Mrs. Bush, an outspoken critic of Myanmar’s generals, also accused the junta of failing to warn its citizens in time about the approaching cyclone that has been blamed for at least 10,000 deaths.”

TWISTER This has been overshadowed by the big political news of the day, but tornados ripped through Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky last night, killing 45.

The twisters, which also slammed Mississippi, were part of a line of storms that raged across the nation’s midsection at the end of the Super Tuesday primaries in several states. As the extent of the damage quickly became clear, candidates including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee paused in their victory speeches to remember the victims.

In a jab aimed at President Bush, Barack Obama said he hoped the federal government will provide the victims with prompt assistance. We’ll see about that. [MSNBC]