my opinion

And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.

And all things shall be in commotion; and surely men's hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people. (D&C 88:91)

As I watch telecast after telecast of the coverage of this past week's devastation, I am being told what I see is worse than a war zone, worse than the Tsunami, worse than the Twin Towers. All this is being blamed on "Katrina" and her coup de main , when in reality perhaps the chaos and real damage is a little more home grown.

Children being raped and then shot and left to die and rot in front of their parents. Elderly neglected. Abuse by hoodlums. The near dead being taken to the morgue so that they can die, without aide and alone, but with some form of dignity is hard to wrap my thoughts around. The dead being left to decay in the buildings, streets and waters so that the living can be attended to with basic human necessities. The survivors living in human waste, dying literally of thirst.

I see elderly men openly crying because they left their own families to try and help others and now cannot find anyone they even know. Babies under blankets lay dead in the street. Bloated bodies buoying in the water, marking the flood level with their death, float by the homes they dearly loved.

Mass confusion from those who should (did?) have plans in place, left standing wondering what to do, and where to go, and how to start resolving this overwhelming situation. I hear the accusations and see the fingers pointing to ill prepared officials. I hear the remarks of hurting people who feel they were led to slaughter because they were the poor or "non white". I see folks trying to help only to get verbal abuse for not doing enough or being less than adequate. City leaders and protectors who saw too much and whose hearts failed them to the point of suicide make me cold inside.

I hear their stories. The good people, who through inability or pride (does it really matter now?) stayed and were hoping to ride through this storm and trusted in their neighbors. I am sure they understood the danger and some even knew they would never go home; however none went into shelter knowing they would live through such "friendly fire" terrorism that was inflicted upon them via the gangs who were confined with them. Thousands of people, even military in helicopters, controlled by less than a hundred teenage/early twenties young "men" who joined together in their quest for evil and delayed help when it did arrive. Gangs who turned on their own people shooting and looting and fighting to take over the city which gave them birth so that they could prosper in rage and iniquity. Callus minions who have succumbed to the most base of behaviors.

It makes me look back a year when Thor and I were guests of this city. We stayed in the Hyatt Regency that is literally linked to the Super Dome. During our stay we took a drive to see the city. We took our New Orleans Tourist Guide book as a resource of where to go and what to see. We were curious about the cemeteries and thought we'd go for a look. According to the Guide book published and distributed by the city, warnings were given to avoid going into certain cemeteries -even during the daylight hours- because they were frequented by persons who were known to beat, rob, and "worse" anyone who they came upon. Cemeteries are a high risk tourist stop and they recommended tourists and others stay away from Cemeteries #_, #_, and #_ without secure escorts or with a small controlled group and professional and certified guide. 2 of these cemeteries were located quite near the Super Dome.

Thor and I thought that perhaps driving by them would be o.k. as we wouldn't be going inside and would not be in harm's way inside a moving vehicle outside the gates, in the street. Not so. As we drove down a particular street (not at the cemetery yet) at 10:30 a.m. we were immediately greeted by young men with bats and other rods who began to gather in from of our car in an intimidating manner. By the time we reached the center of the block 10-15 men had already begun to block the street ahead of us, the street behind us already being blocked . Thor mentioned that we would not be going anywhere further but directly out of this area and began to drive quite fast as we almost hit the men as they refused to move out of the street, some actually banging the rear of the car as we past. It was meant to scare us and it did.

These are the neighborhoods from which many refused to evacuate before the storm and are refusing still. These are the neighborhoods from which we are hearing the stories of gang rapes and child abuse as the norm prior to the storm. (such as in M*'s comment #15, "Barbarians" post) These are the neighborhoods that have subjected themselves to years of dependence upon social aid and lack of education and self-reliance. The same neighborhoods where police and fire refuse to go after the sun sets because of the violence and lack of respect for the law. These are the people who choose violence as a way of life and lawlessness as a creed. These few are controlling the many. Drugs, alcohol, lasciviousness, lewd acts, and lack of respect for anything or anyone rule these few people. They have no faith, no God, no higher power or authority to answer to.

These people's hearts have waxed cold and dark and seem fixed upon the ill things in this world. They thrive on the confusion and fear. They are like roaches that come out in the dark to feed upon the scum and scatter in the Light. These are they, "who did infest the land; for so strong were their holds and their secret places that the people could not over power them; therefore they did commit many murders, and did so much slaughter among the people." (3 Nephi 1:27) "Imagining up some vain thing in their hearts, that it was wrought by men and by the power of the devil, to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people; and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insosmuch as he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the Doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing." (3 Nephi 2:2)

I am not saying "prophecy has been fulfilled", or that "the end is near!"; however, the Book of Mormon has shown us the cycles and we are in the midst of them. Again today, I hear that snipers are shooting at those who would take people to safety. This has nothing to do with race or economic favoritism. These "people" are lost of any human Spirit and they have nothing but evil running through them.

The media is focusing on the problems and calling the blame Katrina or political neglect. The good people of New Orleans (and elsewhere) have been relocated. Yes some of them complained about their situations and were less than thankful. However, they are using verbal weapons to vent their frustrations. I am more concerned about those who still refuse to leave, to allow volunteers to clean up their homes and rebuild their city, and who continue to try and kill anyone who comes to close.

Surely we are headed towards that day when men's hearts will fail them; and if we are not more Spiritually prepared we will fail as well.