All is not well, but Patio11 is writing a contrarian article -- an article that goes against conventional wisdom.
I am at loss to explain this in a way that does not sound callous. Just be assured that these things are perceived in a cyclic manner by the public. Right now, and for the next few months, the MSM and the mob has decided that it is time to panic, rant and rave.
That's fine. It's a terrible disaster, and our minds are ill-suited to deal with anything of this scale. My heart goes out to the Japanese and I'll do anything I can do to help. At the same time, however, it's not a very productive attitude to sit around moaning and talking about how terrible things are. Everybody doesn't have to follow the mob and feel exactly the "right" way that you or I think that they should. Conforming to some black-and-white, over-the-top view of the world is an indulgence that we can have because we are so far away. The Japanese have work to do, and that involves taking an honest look around and reminding themselves that there is a huge amount of stuff that is not broken.
I enjoy contrarian articles - both writing them and reading them -- because it reminds me how easy it is to cut corners and go from "horrible disaster" to "all is lost!" Crowds always overreact, and the media tries their damnedest to make money off of this phenomenon. Quite frankly it's digusting. I don't know what's worse, watching this disaster slowly unfold or watching the news outlets "break" news every few minutes and do their best to rehash old stories with a sense of forboding and panic. blech.
So until you live 300 miles from a disaster like that, you might want to cut Patio11 a bit of slack. Hell, even if you live in the middle of it, you might want to cut him some slack, because getting along with each other is the right thing to do. Let people deal with things in the way that they are best suited. A little more understanding and a little less attitude.