Delicate Torture's Blurty
 
 [Most Recent Entries] [Calendar View] [Friends]

Below are 20 journal entries, after skipping by the 20 most recent ones recorded in Delicate Torture's Blurty:

    [ << Previous 20 -- Next 20 >> ]
    Monday, June 13th, 2005
    11:56 am
    ...So we can both be there and we can both share the dark.
    They never really understand. You try to explain it to them and they think they know what it is that you’re saying, but it invariably comes back to the same answer.. why don’t you just snap yourself out of it? Just think about good things? Remember that you can motivate yourself to do anything?

    “I'm not talking about giving up on medication, or anything remotely like that… I'm talking about you deciding what you shall serve… making the decision for your self, not accepting the victim's role of being cornered”
    Not everyone who finds themselves cornered is accepting the victims role. Some people are well and truly cornered. How can someone claim that they are concerned with what is best for you when you tell them that the last time you had this conversation with someone it led to a dangerous and harmful place.. yet they keep pushing?

    “I dreamt that I was falling.”
    “I will catch you.”
    Please catch me, because it’s happening.

    Current Mood: crushed
    Current Music: Missy Higgins - Nightminds
    Sunday, June 5th, 2005
    8:07 pm
    ...That's what it is now.
    I was given a rather unique opportunity to serve someone tonight. I was asked to speak to a submissive that they know about service. It was an interesting conversation. I talked about the concept of waiting on someone’s pleasure, of the importance of being self aware especially when in comes to being wilful, and of humility and right-mindedness. I hope that she understood what I was trying to say. But more than that, I hope that my talking to her has helped him. I hope that his burden is lightened by it and that it leads to his being honoured.

    I think that it is an amazing thing to be able to know in yourself that nothing other than your Master's will is important. The ability to not only serve through action, but to be right-minded. To be totally content to wait upon his pleasure.

    I've been thinking about humility as well, and working through what it is in real terms. I think that the idea of a submissive being worthless.. of making no claims on herself or her own time is vital. And it is through this knowledge that she is worthless, that she is nothing.. that she becomes precious to him. Not because she deserves it or has earnt it, but because he wishes to hold her precious. It is simply his choosing to find pleasure in her that gives her the worth that she has. In the same way that money is just paper and ink until we subscribe a worth to it, a submissive is worthless until she is found precious by her Master choosing to take pleasure in her. And in that she achieves the reason for her existence.. she is of service to him.. because he has chosen for it to be like this, not because she has done anything.

    I have no precious time at all to spend,
    Nor services to do, till you require.

    Current Mood: grateful
    Current Music: Mark Knopfler - What It Is
    Tuesday, May 10th, 2005
    9:16 am
    ...And you bleed just to know you're alive.
    The Special Two
    (Missy Higgins)

    I've hardly been outside my room in days…
    ’cause I don’t feel that I deserve the sunshine’s rays.
    The darkness helped until the whiskey wore away,
    and it was then I realized the conscience never fades.
    When you’re young you have this image of your life:
    that you’ll be scrupulous and one day even make a wife.
    And you make boundaries you’d never dream to cross,
    and if you happen to, you’ll wake completely lost.

    But I will fight for you,
    be sure that I will fight until we’re the special two
    once again.

    And we will only need each other,
    we’ll bleed together,
    our hands will not be taught to hold another’s,
    ’cause we’re the special two.

    And we could only see each other,
    we’ll breathe together,
    these arms will not be taught to need another,
    ’cause we’re the special two.

    I remember someone old once said to me:
    “the lies will lock you up with truth the only key.”
    But I was comfortable and warm inside my shell,
    and couldn’t see this place could soon become my hell.
    So is it better to tell and hurt or lie to save their face?!
    Well I guess the answer is don’t do it in the first place.
    I know I’m not deserving of your trust from you right now,
    ah but if by chance, you change your mind you know I will not let you down
    ’cause we were the special two,
    and will be again.

    And we will only need each other,
    we’ll breathe together,
    our hands will not be taught to hold another’s,
    ’cause we’re the special two.

    And we could only see each other,
    we’ll bleed together,
    these arms will not be taught to need another’s,
    when we’re the special two.

    I step outside my mind’s eye's for a minute.
    And I look over me like a doctor looking for disease,
    or something that could ease the pain.
    But nothing cures the hurt you, you bring on by yourself,
    just remembering, just remembering how we were…

    When we would only need each other,
    we’d breathe together,
    these hands will not be taught to hold another’s,
    we were the special two.

    And we could only see each other,
    we’d bleed together,
    these arms will not be taught to need another’s,
    ’cause we’re the special two.

    Current Mood: tired
    Current Music: The Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
    Tuesday, April 19th, 2005
    6:00 pm
    ...a thief, a whore and a liar.
    I can feel the stillness spreading. Feel myself folding in and shutting down.

    The worse part of it is that I like it. It is comfort.

    Current Mood: calm
    Current Music: Evanescence - Farther Away
    Monday, April 11th, 2005
    2:25 pm
    ...And I have served faithfully.
    I've not posted here for a while because a lot has happened. One of my patients died, and I didn't find her. Her daughter found her in the morning.. I feel really bad about it and wish that there was some way that I could suffer for it.

    I have been ill. And I am not getting better. Psych and Gyn things and the pain is wearing me down in bad bad ways.

    The most confusing of everything, though... there was a Moment with someone. I was not expecting it at all, and it really threw me. I tried talking about it with him after, but I think that there was awkwardness. I think that he feels that he slipped up and shouldn't have. I want so so so much for him to know that I have and always will want to serve him however he chooses. Even if it means not being his.

    But.. if only..


    "...and i have only just met
    an old old friend
    we've been walking around holding hands
    i hope some day he can bend
    as far as it takes to understand
    and risk breaking open again..."

    Current Mood: exhausted
    Current Music: Ani Difranco - Served Faithfully
    Wednesday, March 30th, 2005
    9:33 am
    ...I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.
    HASH(0x84e9030)
    Your Hidden Power Is Wind


    You have a twisted soul. You change your
    directions and mind easily. Your beauty is you
    over powering feature. But many enemies are
    surprised by your beauty and your great power
    to control wind

    Gem Stone: Amethyst, Eye
    Color:    Grey Blue,Hair Color:Grey that
    goes to your shoulder blades

    Quote:And if the cloud bursts, thunder
    in your ear
    You shout and no one seems to hear.
    And if the band you're in starts playing different
    tunes
    I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.


    What Is Your True Hidden Power? .::Beautiful Anime Pics::.
    brought to you by Quizilla

    Does this mean my farts have special powers?

    Current Mood: awake
    Current Music: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
    Wednesday, March 16th, 2005
    12:41 pm
    ...And when they're out for blood I always give.
    It takes a team to choose the most dignified death
    (www.smh.com.au - March 16, 2005)

    Neither doctors nor patients should make end-of-life decisions on their own, writes Merrilyn Walton.

    A doctor rang me to talk about her patient, a frail, elderly, but alert man, struggling to breathe. She performed an urgent tracheotomy. He had recently finished radiation therapy for throat cancer. In the next few days the doctor will have to decide whether to insert a feeding tube and perform other life-saving procedures.

    Without treatment he will die. Palliative care can make him comfortable and allow him a dignified death. With treatment he may gain some time but his quality of life will be awful; cluttered by feeding and breathing tubes, his dignity lost.

    The treatment costs are also high; expensive drugs and treatments will be required until his death. What is the patient to do? What will his family want? What is the doctor to do?

    This is a situation for which the new NSW Health Guidelines for end-of-life care and decision-making were designed. The glue that binds the document together is the concept of the multidisciplinary health-care team. But health care is not routinely delivered by such teams. The concept is more a theoretical ideal than reality.

    The difficulty is that our health system is not designed for multidisciplinary teams. Hospitals are now complex organisations, yet the way patients are treated has remained relatively unchanged. They are usually told what is wrong with them, how, where and when they will be treated and sometimes by whom. Patients are not expected to make decisions other than whether they will have the treatment or not. There are exceptions, such as well-functioning intensive care units where experienced and skilled staff involve patients and carers.

    Patients are passive recipients of care. Doctors and nurses do not have the time to sit with patients and carers who are grateful that anyone in hospital has the time to talk to them about their treatment. There is good evidence to show that patients do better when they are included in discussions about their care and treated as part of the team. Intensive care units have experienced and skilled staff used to involving patients and families in discussions, but they are not the norm.

    Health care is like any other complex industry. Each health profession has its rules, culture and autonomy. Breaking down professional fiefdoms is necessary to create a patient-centred system. But most health-care professionals have had little training in multidisciplinary teamwork. Medical education is only now developing interprofessional learning for medical students. Ask any doctor: who is on your team? The most common response will be other doctors, not other health-care professionals.

    I was not surprised when the doctor who rang me said she alone was managing the patient. After extended discussions the patient told the doctor to do whatever his wife wanted. The wife, from a non-English-speaking culture, wanted everything possible done. Perhaps her reluctance to face the consequences of that approach related to her fears of being left alone. Perhaps she did not understand the role of palliative care or that doing everything would leave her husband bedridden in a nursing home, waiting to die.

    Exploring these issues was not possible because she would not visit the hospital. A note by the social worker in the medical record was the only indication that someone else was involved: the beginnings of a team?

    End-of-life decisions are not limited to the frail and elderly. Babies weighing as little as 1500 grams can survive with high-tech neonatal intensive care. Technology can prolong life, but at what cost? Many of these babies have a high risk of mental impairment, cerebral palsy and impairments in lung function, sight and hearing. Parental involvement in discussions about quality of life is crucial.

    The NSW guidelines emphasise how important it is to use the skills of all health professionals. Some have highly technical skills and knowledge; some have information about the patient's values and wishes; others know how the patient is coping day-to-day; all are important.

    Technical skill without the human touch is generally inappropriate, but particularly so in end-of-life care. Good communication and compassion are more likely to trigger consensus between patients, carers and health professionals.

    Fundamental reform in health-service delivery is needed before patients can be treated by multidisciplinary teams who are as loyal to the patient as to their profession, who share common ethics and respect the roles of all members of the team.

    During the phone conversation with the doctor it became obvious that there was a mismatch between what the wife expected and what the doctor thought best. One reason for unrealistic expectations is inadequate information about risks and benefits. Sometimes the information is not presented in ways patients and carers can understand. There are psychological barriers to hearing bad news.

    In busy wards, clinicians familiar with the dying process make decisions quickly. But patients and carers may need more time; death is not their daily companion. While there may be no right way to tell patients and carers about death, there are many wrong ways. Effective communication takes time, skill and patience.

    Merrilyn Walton is associate professor of ethical practice at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney.

    Current Mood: irritated
    Current Music: Ani DiFranco - Pixie
    Friday, March 4th, 2005
    9:00 am
    ...Solitude's my guide.
    I saw J.P. on a Sydney street yesterday.

    It's strange how things haunt.

    "I'm sorry, I just don't find you physically attractive."

    Current Mood: sad
    Current Music: Sarah McLachlan - Possession
    Tuesday, February 15th, 2005
    11:38 pm
    ...My face is just a trace of where I'm coming from.
    Posted to my chatroom staff-group

    I’m often asked what I’m looking for as a submissive. Granted, I think that most who ask me this are wanting me to say ‘a big willy to poke in my bits, Sir’ or something to that effect… but, because I’m who I am I like to piss people off and give them the truthful answer. As a submissive, I am looking for knowledge, self-awareness and self-discipline.

    And it is because I am dedicated to these things that I can’t be involve in this group anymore.

    I believe that the basis of both Dominance and submission is discipline, and that discipline is comprised of four factors. Dedication to truth, the delay of immediate gratification, acceptance of responsibility and maintaining balance and proportion.

    Dedication to truth.
    I can’t be involved in this group anymore because there is dishonesty here. I think that if the leaders of a community are dishonest and not concerned with integrity that it is only a matter of time until it filters down the ranks to everyone. I value my integrity too highly to put it to that risk.

    Delay of immediate gratification.
    We were all given a vision of a room that we wanted to foster. A room where things would be run with openness and honesty. A room that existed for the good of the collective. And yet, the room that we’ve ended up with is filled with people who are concerned with ‘teaching’ others. Teaching is a good thing… but teaching because you want to be heard and noticed… well, that isn’t teaching. It’s a big ego stroke. If I wanted to hear people intellectually wanking on mic, I would go back to University.

    Acceptance of responsibility.
    I can understand that people (and you know which people I mean) were pissed about Sandra’s post and my response to it. I can understand that you thought that the tone was inappropriate. But, I put it to you that it wasn’t the tone that you were most bothered by. It was the substance of what was said. I put it to you that the thing that pissed you off most of all was that people were calling for someone to be responsible for the mess that was happening, and that was why you attacked the ‘tone’ that was used. Why has no-one addressed the issues that were raised? I am still waiting for the answer to the question asked.. who is responsible? Who is leading?

    I am also responsible. I brought people into this room and promoted it as a place of love and knowledge and because of that I have had my integrity marred. You have turned me into a liar and I have let you.

    Maintaining balance and proportion.
    There are so many issues under this heading. Where is the balance between Dominant and submissive? You are not letting the submissives have a say in the set-up of the process to run the room. Where is the balance between male and female? We are able to do more than take minutes and type letters. We are mature submissives who are able to be involved in the set-up of the room AND keep our minds right. Giving us a say and listening to us is not a challenge to your Dominance, it is an expression of that Dominance. You’ve not created a team of people to run this room, you’ve created an ‘us’ and ‘them.’ We are not your staff.

    Where is the balance between the Officers and the Council? Surely, if as you say the Charter was only a draft and there is no Council, then there are no Officers either. If there is no council, then there is no President and no Advisor. Therefore, there is no leadership. So once again.. who is responsible for this mess?

    Where is the balance between the amount of work and effort that I and others are putting into this group, and the amount that the ‘founders’ of the vision for the room are putting in? You keep saying that we don’t know what is going on ‘behind the scenes’ and that things are getting done.. but one of the things that was raised when we all discussed the DsFF staff group at the first meeting was the importance of using it, so that there was no ‘behind the scenes’ and so we could have integrity in our running of the group and be seen to be transparent and blameless. Honesty is vital, and being SEEN to be honest is also important.

    The Bible says ‘Avoid not evil.’ It means that we are to pay evil so little attention that we don’t even bother stepping around it. We should just keep walking and stay on our path of good and righteousness. I’m not a Christian, but I think that this is spot on the truth. So, this is me avoiding not evil. This is me walking my path and not paying your lies and dishonesty the time that they don’t deserve. This is me stepping down from the group and staying true to my path. This is me maintaining discipline. Being dedicated to the truth, delaying my immediate gratification, accepting responsibility and rediscovering balance and proportion.

    I’m voting myself off the island.

    -K.

    "I took their smiles and I made them mine.
    I sold my soul just to hide the light.
    And now I see what I really am,
    A thief a whore, and a liar."
    --Evanescence

    Current Mood: angry
    Current Music: Ani Difranco - Circle of Light
    Monday, February 14th, 2005
    4:14 am
    ...I would offer you my pulse, and give you my breath.
    I hate that I feel like this again. I’ve been doing so well lately. I’ve been really careful about my emotions and trying not to dwell on things. I’ve been meditating and trying to find my centre and it’s been a long while since I’ve wanted to do anything bad because I know how much it hurts someone else.

    I hate that something this stupid and small could tempt me into not being focused on what he wants, but on thinking about what a release it would be to do something. I hate that my mind is that fickle and that my will is that weak.

    I hate that someone has shaken my focus so much. I don’t really care what he thinks of me, but it all makes me hate myself for being so weak.

    I hate that I want to feel nothing but the sweet stinging slice of a silvered blade.

    It's only the finger pressing down that hurts.

    Current Mood: confused
    Current Music: Ani Difranco - Pulse
    Saturday, February 12th, 2005
    5:48 pm
    ...To live, to breathe. You're taking over me.
    "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
    Billy - age 4

    "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
    Bobby - age 7

    "You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you do mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
    Jessica - age 8

    Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."


    I've been making a group for our new room in Yahoo. How important is sleep, anyways?



    Subscribe to DsFF





    Powered by groups.yahoo.com



    Current Mood: happy
    Current Music: Evanescence - Taking Over Me
    Wednesday, February 2nd, 2005
    3:57 am
    ...I will not be drowned by your thoughtless scheming.
    If the chat rooms that we all frequent on Yahoo are made up of the people who go to them, then what does it matter what they are called? Why is it so vital for someone to ‘get a fresh start’ by creating a room when they take everyone from the original room with them and the same drama follows them? It would be a different matter if someone was creating a new room so that it could actually BE a NEW room. But this is the same room with a new label. It is a pathetic ploy. We’re being used as pawns in a game played by a subbie to get back at her ex. Pushed around like kiddies in a custody battle.

    Now.. if I keep frequenting this new room, then am I taking a side? If I go back to the old room, is that making a stand against the stupidity of the whole drama, or is it actually buying into the problem? Fuck it.. you both suck. I’ll go and watch NCIS.

    Current Mood: nauseated
    Current Music: Evanescence - Thoughtless
    Wednesday, January 19th, 2005
    7:26 pm
    ...I will only complicate you.
    I’ve been thinking a lot about how things went in an argument that I had the other day. And basically, the only thing that I’ve come up with is that I shouldn’t have let the argument happen.

    I asked a question about a task that had been given to me the other day, and was told that there was an implied question inside of it. I said that I knew that there was, and that I wasn’t going to ask it. I didn’t want to ask it because I didn’t need to know the answer to it. He knew what the answer to it was, and that was good enough for me. He knew where things were going, and that’s all that I needed to know.

    It should’ve been the same in the argument. I should’ve realised that he knew what was going on in what we were arguing about, and that was enough for me. I should not have needed to ask why and where and how. I should’ve trusted. And I didn’t do that. That was wrong of me.

    It’s like the story that I was told of the submissive tied to the cross and blindfolded. If she stays silent for the time that she is there, then she is ready because she trusts that he knows what he wants of her. If she asks if he is still there or if something should be happening, then she isn’t trusting him. She isn’t ready.

    I’m so sorry that I wasn’t ready. I wish with all of my heart that I had been.

    I only wanted to feel arms around me and hear soft words in my ear.

    “I am right here, cunt. I’ve got you and I am right here.”

    Current Mood: guilty
    Current Music: Tool - Sober
    Tuesday, January 18th, 2005
    7:36 pm
    ...I'm going to push you away first.
    “I don’t know where your mind is lately.”

    I’ve been trying to catch your attention for a long while now, without being demanding and a bother to you. It’s hard to know where the line is drawn, though. I tell you that I miss you, that I miss being touched by you, I miss being held by you and hearing your voice. And you say that you miss me too. But then nothing changes. How do I tell you more clearly without being demanding? How do I catch your attention while respecting your space?

    “I am to wait, though waiting so be Hell,”

    What happens when I can’t wait any longer?

    Current Mood: confused
    Current Music: George - Special Ones
    Monday, January 17th, 2005
    4:24 pm
    ...Thumbing through the pages of my fantasies.

    You Are Amy Lee!


    Gothy, expressive, woman-in-pain
    Who looks damn good in a corset
    "When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
    When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears"





    Who's Your Inner Rock Chick? Take This Quiz :-)



    Find the Love of Your Life
    (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.



    Current Mood: angry
    Current Music: Evanescence - Thoughtless
    Friday, January 14th, 2005
    12:02 am
    ...I am just like everybody else.
    Happy Birthday to me, I suppose.

    Current Mood: indescribable
    Current Music: Ani Difranco - Superhero
    Wednesday, January 12th, 2005
    2:49 pm
    ...A thief, a whore and a liar.
    HASH(0x88ad0bc)
    Your dark side is centered around Fear. There are
    too many feelings burning inside your chest
    making your heart beat so hard, you feel fear
    crawling under your skin, running with your
    blood, possesing your soul. All you want is a
    warm shoulder to lean on, a quite voice to tell
    you everything is going to be ok, so you
    finally feel secure, safe and loved like you
    always wanted to be. You will find what you
    want when your feelings start to see the light.


    What is the center of your dark core? (updated)
    brought to you by Quizilla

    Current Mood: scared
    Current Music: Evanescence - Farther Away
    9:49 am
    ...Which of us do you love?
    Farther Away
    (by Evanescence)

    I run to you

    I took their smiles and I made them mine
    I sold my soul just to hide the light
    And now I see what I really am
    A thief, a whore, and a liar

    I run to you
    And run away from this hell
    Call out your name
    Giving up, giving in
    I see you there
    Still you are
    Farther away

    I’m numb to you,
    Numb and deaf and blind
    You give me all but the reason why
    I reach but I feel only air and night
    Not you, not love, just nothing

    I run to you
    And run away from this hell
    Call out your name
    Giving up, giving in
    I see you there
    Still you are
    Farther away

    Don’t leave me here
    By myself
    I can't breathe

    I run to you
    And run away from this hell
    Call out your name
    Giving up, giving in
    I see you there
    Still you are
    Farther away

    Don’t leave me here
    By myself
    I can't breathe

    I run to you
    And run away from this hell
    Call out your name
    Giving up, giving in
    I see you there
    Still you are
    Farther away

    I run to you
    And run away from this hell
    Call out your name
    Giving up, giving in
    I see you there
    Still you are
    Farther away

    Current Mood: guilty
    Current Music: Evanescence - Breathe No More
    Wednesday, January 5th, 2005
    3:28 pm
    ...And now I see what I really am. A thief, a whore and a liar.
    Small Blue Thing
    (Susanne Vega)

    Today I am
    A small blue thing
    Like a marble
    Or an eye

    With my knees against my mouth
    I am perfectly round
    I am watching you

    I am cold against your skin
    You are perfectly reflected
    I am lost inside your pocket
    I am lost against
    Your fingers

    I am falling down the stairs
    I am skipping on the sidewalk
    I am thrown against the sky

    I am raining down in pieces
    I am scattering like light
    Scattering like light
    Scattering like light

    Today I am
    A small blue thing
    Made of china
    Made of glass

    I am cool and smooth and curious
    I never blink
    I am turning in your hand
    Turning in your hand
    Small blue thing

    Current Mood: moody
    Current Music: Evanescence - Farther Away
    Thursday, December 30th, 2004
    8:42 am
    Is there anything to say?
    Her baby or son: this choice almost tore them apart
    Date: December 30, 2004

    By Natasha Granath


    Jillian Searle was forced into an unimaginable decision: to let go of her son Lachie so she could cling to her 20-month-old baby as the tsunami crashed through their Phuket hotel.

    For Lachie, only five and unable to swim, it was the beginning of a near-fatal nightmare that he survived by clinging to a pole in the hotel lobby, waiting for the raging waters to subside. All the while, Mrs Searle and her husband, Bradley, believed he was dead.

    As the Perth mother and her two sons were swept up by the water, she feared that if she tried to hold both Lachie and her baby, Blake, they would all be lost.

    She clung to her older boy for as long as she could, but as her strength waned she appealed to a young girl nearby to grab him. Mrs Searle, fearing she would never see her son again, screamed to the girl not to let go.

    Later, after the immediate danger had passed, she found the girl again - and learned she had lost hold of Lachie.

    Mr Searle had watched the scene unfold from a balcony, unable to reach his family and convinced the wave would kill everyone in its path.

    "The water had gone out and just rushed back in again and it was so horrific that when I got out of the front of the hotel I thought they were all dead for sure," he said.

    He found his wife and youngest son just as a second giant wave swept through. They climbed on top of play equipment in the hotel grounds.

    When the water subsided the couple began a frantic search of the hotel, in darkness, wading through wreckage. They were convinced their son was dead.

    They had almost given up hope when they found him with a security guard and grabbed him from the man's arms. He told them he had held onto the pole for nearly two hours with his head just above water.

    "I cried for Mum for a long time and then I was quiet," he told his father, adding: "My hands are all dirty and I need to wash my clothes."


    How much is enough?

    The Bush Administration announced it would more than double its aid package to $US35million ($45million) and indicated more was on the way.

    "The US is not stingy," said an indignant Mr Powell. "We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world."

    The Government initially said it would give $US15million in aid, an amount considered paltry given the scale of the disaster.

    Critics noted that the US was giving less than the cost of a F-16 fighter plane.

    Mr Powell said the initial amount was not supposed to be seen as "just a one-time thing". Australia - which has only one-tenth of the population of the US - has increased its donation to $35million - which is more than Britain, Germany and France combined. Japan is the second highest international donor, giving $US30million.

    France has so far pledged just $170,000, plus a plane with 100 medical personnel and relief workers on board.

    Current Mood: Overwhelmed
    Current Music: Tears
[ << Previous 20 -- Next 20 >> ]
Purity Corrupted and Other Tales   About Blurty.com