You seem to forget that the pledges of ALL countries kept increasing as the casualty mounts and damage assessments arose. It originally started out at <20,000 dead. As far as the Florida debacle being "selfish" in the eyes of the rest of the world, I've never read something more laughable. I can't believe what you are saying about the United States, discrediting it as a nation that has an image of self service only? I guess the countless resources, both in coin and blood, to the rest of the world over the course of 100 years was nothing at all. Remember that conflict, what was it... WWII? Yeah, what a load of bull that was. France and Britain had Germany right where they wanted them. Let's not forget that right after THAT war, the US turned right around and saved the saved the former enemy city of Berlin from famine and starvation via the Russian siege, when nobody else gave a damn. If it wern't for US intervention, Europe could of very well been speaking German, and shortly thereafter, Russian. Now with Germany on a leash (the countless US bases in Germany weren't there soley for the Russians) and the U.S.S.R. gone, everyone else gets up off of their asses and starts fingerpointing and namecalling? All of this in the midst of millions, if not billions in accumulated donations, and all sorts of other expenditures. And people still call the United States a selfish country? Hell, I figured the past would clearly show otherwise. The world has gotten to the point where everyone feels someone else owes them something. Europe started this first and now the U.S. is starting to following suit. The real truth is they aren't entitled to anything, no one is. I think $350 million is quite an impressive figure, in the advent of a heavily taxed populace with an unpopular and expensive war to pay for, along with an economy that is just starting to come out of the s after a national disaster in which we recieved no help from any other nation. Nevermind, I guess you were actually correct. We are pretty damn selfish.

Maybe the US should become trully selfess and end all foriegn aid to the world.Then we could see how the EU and allothers would colapse.

I sometimes wish we could Irish. Unfortunately to do so would sentence millions in poverty stricken countries to death. While the rest of the world has no problem with that, as Americans we will continue to try to do everything we can even when faced with blabbering idiots telling us how an 8 trillion dollar debt isnt enough and that we should accumulate more to give away.