I think it would be interesting to see what % of people actually didn't mind it at all, and did it correlate with any other personality traits or, um, professions...
I also don't think it would bother me at all, but I know it would really bother my wife. I know she can't be "alone with her thoughts" or they quickly turn negative. I've never really understood that. I'm constantly wanting to turn off the radio if we're in the car together so I can think, and she insists that we keep it on. The thing is, she's not depressed or anything. It's some kind of normal response that I completely don't understand.
The other thing that comes to mind is that in prison the really bad punishment is solitary confinement. It always seemed to me that if I had to go to prison and be stuck in a building with hundreds of possibly violent convicts, then please sign me up for solitary! I think they do have writing instruments and books, etc. too. Weird.
"Republic" doesn't mean what you think it does. It has nothing to do with democracy. It simply means a country that is not ruled by a dynastic leader. That's it.
So both parties have an official policy of republicanism if they are not actively seeking to replace the president with a leader chosen by dynasty.
They have a ridiculously small turning circle, surprising acceleration, and a roomy, disabled-accessible interior.
Your comment about fat people is absolutely pointless, as you well know, and doesn't exactly reflect well on you.
Google doesn't know that stuff, though. Google's map data is great - don't get me wrong - but it doesn't know about the fluctuations in traffic that the cabbies do. It doesn't know about that accident that happened 30 minutes ago, that the cabby saw earlier, or that small street which is marked incorrectly on Google Maps which is navigable. It also doesn't know what "That road of Essex Road where there used to be that pub called the Red Lion or Red Dragon or something" refers to, which is something plenty of cabbies would know, as their knowledge extends far beyond The Knowledge, and includes plenty of historical data for well-travelled routes.
So yeah - Google is great, but it's not up to the standard of even an average black cab driver.
"I am, therefore I am." -- Akira