absolutely blows my mind...

As I watch the continuing chaos unfold in New Orleans, it becomes more and more unbelievable by the hour how horrific this aftermath of Katrina has become. My sister and her husband were married in New Orleans, she was a graduate of Tulane and the LSU Veterinary school, and his parents and sisters live in New Orleans, or should I say, lived in New Orleans. Fortunately, all of Frank's family were able to get out before Katrina hit, although their original plan to hole up in Jackson, Miss. were a bit optimistic. But there is probably little left for them to come home to when this is all said and done.

A group of local bloggers in New Orleans have been posting first-hand accounts on Metroblogging New Orleans describing conditions and news from the scene.

Also, I'm providing a link to the Humane Society of the United States where money can be donated for the effort to rescue animals and help their owners wherever they have been affected by hurricane Katrina. It's a secure page, but there is also a phone number for those who would rather donate that way.

What I can't wrap my brain around is the idea of American citizens taking up arms, NOT to protect themselves, but to attack other victims or even rescuers. Is this how quickly society breaks down, under pressure? Or are these people already evil to begin with? There's always the chance that being subjected to such a sense of hopelessness could cause normal people to snap, and go off the mental deep end, and once armed they are surely dangerous. But, the level of lawlessness is beyond anything I could have imagined. I would have expected victims to pull together, because if there is to be any hope of them re-building something recognizable as a functioning, civilized city again, that inherent character has to be there to begin with. Could this be an ominous foreboding of bad things to come for our society? Probably there's no way to tell, yet, but it has my nervous eyebrow raised just a bit more than before.