@calfoxwc said:

let's just go with pictures.....

Awesome word salads, cal. But why do none of the pictures look back further than 2009? There is data that old...

Here's a friends and allies sampler... plus Russia... all from your guys at Pew:

http://www.pewglobal.org/database/indicator/6/country/233/

@the-cysko-kid said:

Rivers and lakes, pretty much. It rains a lot here, not really a shortage of fresh water. The good shit comes from scotland, filtered through the 'mountains'

for graduation way, way out in the wilderness for two weeks.

That's at the end of the paved highway, end of the two lane paved road,

the end of the dirt road, and to the end of the jeep trail back to a remote lake.

and we camped on the other side of a large lake.

and we drank the water right out of the lake. It was outstanding. Of course,

we checked with the ranger back at the little store at the start of the jeep trail

before going out to camp.

Anywhere you go where people have been....there's usually garbage.

but water could always be contaminated with animal poop, too. The ranger said

they test this particular lake a lot, ever since they had a forest fire years ago.

Had to go to the Mississauga River to catch fish, nearly no fish in the lake, from the ash

from the forest fire.

the red man said the white man would shit everywhere.....lols.

Where do bits get their fresh water from? What's the main source of fresh water in England?

@oldbrownsfan said:

I don't buy into the fact that any one person can shift global sentiment concerning the US but some actions might.

Note: I usually don't read your posts on the football forum - but I don't have you on ignore, I read yours

depending on the responses that indicate that you were reasonable and and honest in your post(s).

@calfoxwc said:

It def bought you an extra week off my ignore list just by itself.

@gftchris said:

go back two pages, Cal actually posted something worth a damn. The Bear grylls meme. I'm still dyin.

Posted Today, 10:35 AM

@clevfan4life said:

I must have missed something...

@gftchris said:

So US and europe is around 6-7 times per week. Basically once per day, with maybe one per weekend if you don't leave the house?

Yep. I was surprised by a couple of countries but...

WSS

@westside-steve said:

So US and europe is around 6-7 times per week. Basically once per day, with maybe one per weekend if you don't leave the house?

Marine Le Pen and Nigel Farage are the leaders of two french and british very right-wing parties, both anti-europe/EU, anti-immigration, anti-foreigners etc. for example, and their parties get some share of the vote - 27% in the latest french (regional) elections, about 15% in the british elections. There's a lot of anti-europe feeling going on at the moment because of the failing economies of some countries having to be bailed out by the others (mainly germany). The greeks, for example, have defaulted a couple of times on repayments. Their government and taxation in particular is hugely corrupt, with tax evasion and avoidance the norm for everybody - tax inspector comes, bribe him, pay no tax; there is a swimming pool tax (rightly or wrongly), and only 300 pools have been declared, while google maps shows thousands in athens. That kind of thing. So they default, Germany and the other richer countries put together a fiscal plan for them, and the people of greece are outraged because they (the germans) are demanding cutbacks in spending. Unbelievable.

But when I speak of the Pittsburgh Cleveland rivalry it's the plethora of posts referring to Pittsburgh women as being big and fat and ugly and the male residents ignorant trailer park hillbillies.

Not so much the nuts and bolts of running a football team.

I'm personally not familiar with any of your more extreme candidates in any European country.

I wouldn't guess Donald Trump rivals any of them.

WSS

@westside-steve said:

That's possible, but on a 'bathing time to skin surface area' ratio we probably still win Honestly though, every country here has a stereotype about which is dirty. For us it's the french. For them it's the germans. For them it's the austrians I think. It goes on. Generally european people are clean? My old american roommate used to shower once a day, same as pretty much everyone I've lived with (save for the indian guy...that's a stereotype for a reason).

Regarding Obama, it's more like the world used to think the US was backwards and racist, then he was elected and the world thought 'hey maybe we're wrong about them'. To continue the football analogy, it's like the NFL looking at cleveland, fired their coach and cut the first round QB drafted two years ago, hired a new coach and gonna draft another first round QB. That Jimmy Haslam has no idea what he's doing. And then it works out, and in two years we're in the playoffs, and people start thinking 'hey, that Jimmy Haslam, maybe he's on to something?' Now, you're at the point where Jackson and QB are retiring, and it's time to go again, and there's the chance to confirm that he knows what he's doing, or he can hire another dud and draft another 30 year old 5'6" rookie QB and it's back to 'normal'.

(donald trump and ben carson are those 5'6" QBs btw; hillary is the 'safe' - high floor low ceiling QB; Sanders is that guy who always comes out of nowhere in the final year before the draft/election to become a possible draftee; etc)

WSS

As far as the op, I could imagine that Obama has made us seem more favorable in the eyes of countries envious of our power and place in world influence.

If a new coach took over the Steelers and they started going 3 + 13 for years on end I would hate them less.

And yes indeed there are some of those island nations that beat us out for chubbosity.

I was surprised to see Kuwait in the top 10 or so!

I'm not making excuses, we do have a lot of fat people. But we bathe more often than Europeans I think. We need to since we are fat.

WSS

Again, you're trying to defend by attacking me and the UK. Yes, we have some poor dentistry compared to the rest of the world. It's getting better, I think, but still lagging. But that's more a stereotype of people, not the nation, which is what the OP was talking about. Being gay has been pretty much a non-issue here for some time, and I think it was just a case of getting things through the courts that made it take so long. There wasn't much in the way of opposition, either way.

I would not be shocked if many parts of the world saw the UK in a similar light to the US in terms of recent history - yes the US is typically at the vanguard of any bombing run, but usually followed by us, the little brother. In broader terms, though, we're seen as still clinging desperately to a fading/faded empire, still with that island nation mentality, that sort of thing. At least, that's what I believe. And to a degree it's correct, plenty of people here are like that. Some people don't even leave the country for holidays ever - "why would I leave when I have everything I want here?" I can understand that, sort of, in the US, where you basically do have everything, but it's ridiculous here.

The jihad against the west is primarily directed at the US, I agree. If you were closer, connected to europe by land, you'd see a lot more terrorism, I don't doubt. But, at the risk of going off topic, I'd wager there's a pretty direct link to the active role the US takes in bombing the middle east.

As for fattest nations? I'm guessing a lot of those are pacific islands - tonga, fiji, samoa etc. where being fat is still seen as a status symbol, and with the very cooperative environment, relatively easy (unlike desert africa for example).

Again, please bear in mind this isn't meant to be an attack, this is me conveying the impression people here in London (who make up a pretty comprehensive cross section of europe) and my friends around the world have of the US. At a personal level, people think most americans are lovely, but at a national level, still way behind. That's what I'm trying to say. That's what the OP was about, how the nation is perceived by people in other countries, and being a person from and in another country, who works (and lives) with people from other, other countries, I wanted to give some feedback on that. In short - it was *bad* and under Obama has improved a lot, contrary to the OP's assertion.