I won't be locking this thread. Aside from the company policy to not lock threads except in extreme cases, I personally think this is a good thread. There is a problem and not talking about it won't make it go away. And even if discussion does nothing itself, it might bear fruit in the future helping people decide their actions.
That being said, a little more empathy and fewer insulting replies from some quadrants would be nice. Try to keep in mind that some people are living in the midst of this and are probably pretty upset and frightened right now. Regardless of the fact that Heffernan is a huge troll and didn't even bother to research what he posted, just threw up the first link he found on the subject (and it wasn't even an informative one), let's try to make this a current events discussion, not a troll fest. :/