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Study shows higher speeds make safer highways

The reason Knoxville wants to (or has..I don’t know) lower speed limits along I-40 is not for safety but in an attempt to reduce emssions so they can acquire federal funding for that stupid Orange Route. The air is too polluted to qualify for federal funding to destroy Harden Valley..I mean, build the useless road.

June 2005 is the deadline for air quality issues. The Long-Range Plan (LRP) must be met in order to get Federal funding. The LRP is updated every three years. [Source]

Wonder if they made it. Hey! Knoxville was part of the 1914 Dixie Highway. It befuddles me why Knoxville is so shortsighted as to try to steer commerce away from this wonderful downtown everyone wants to create. Not really, I understand that the 5 interchanges planned along I475 will make some political good ol’ boys some big cash while destroying some beautiful scenic countryside and historic caves for a matter of 24 miles of road. Think about the fortune we are spending to reduce travel time by about 15 minutes.

Hmm. Having read over the Knoxville Parkway information I can see why some of the arguments for the Orange Route are compelling. Still, I think it probably will turn out to be one of those things that looks better on paper than in reality. Let’s hope I’m just not turning into a curmudgeon because I think I’m too young for that. Anyhow, back to my point! Higher speeds make safer highways!

In 2005, according to new data from the National Highway Safety Administration, the rate of injuries per mile traveled was lower than at any time since the Interstate Highway System was built 50 years ago. The fatality rate was the second lowest ever, just a tick higher than in 2004.

As a public policy matter, this steady decline is a vindication of the repeal of the 55 miles per hour federal speed limit law in 1995.

Of the 31 states that have raised their speed limits to more than 70 mph, 29 saw a decline in the death and injury rate and only two–the Dakotas–have seen fatalities increase.

Source provided by Tom Maszerowski.

Questions and Answers from Knoxville Regional Long Range Transportation Plan Meeting

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Understanding CRONTAB

Time to write cron job to make sure a process fires every morning on a linux server. This sums it up quite well!

* * * * * command to be executed
– – – – –
| | | | |
| | | | —– day of week (0 – 6) (Sunday=0)
| | | ——- month (1 – 12)
| | ——— day of month (1 – 31)
| ———– hour (0 – 23)
————- min (0 – 59)

So I’m looking at:
0 1 * * * /usr/bin/wget -q -O- myfile.php
To run every morning at 1am.

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Do you have sound studio access out west?

Do you have access to a sound studio in West Knoxville? Thought I’d ask before dragging the family to East Knoxville. I have a project to record a 15 second sound bite. I figure I need 5 to 30 minutes of studio time but this isn’t worth studio time so I need to do it on a favor or trade in service. I’d much prefer to do it somewhere near home than across town.

Doing it at Roland, Scripps, HGTV, or Jewelry TV would be cool!

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My citizenship has been revoked – 65%

I scored 13 out of 20 on the immigration test. There were 4 that I changed my answer on. Had I followed ye ol’ high school standardized testing rules that would have put me at 17 out of 20. Some of my mistakes are embarassing!

Why would I know this?

19. What INS form is used to apply to become a naturalized citizen?
a) Form N-200 “Petition for Naturalization”
b) N-400 “Application for Naturalization”
c) Social Security card
d) FD-258

Thanks to Deliverance for the the link.

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Dead for 19 months without investigation

It appears the TBI is willing to investigate a murder if the district attorney’s office will request the investigation. Attorney General Randy Nichols refuses so a walk has been planned in Knoxville on July 14 to publically ask Nichols to make the call to the TBI. Les Jones has posted the details at No Silence Here.

I have not followed this case and do not understand the politics behind the difficulty; however, if my child had been murdered, I would be ever vigilant in seeing a proper investigation executed. I would want the support of my community in my walk on July 14.

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Clean that machine!

One of the things I can do well is bring a PC back to life that has been so heavily attacked with viruses, malware, spyware, and adware that it can’t even boot. I charge $95 to clean the machine and ask that you let me bring it to my house since it usually takes 5 or more hours.

Right now I have one that is giving me a hard way to go because of something called Surf SideKick. Here’s a list of the baddies:

Continue reading Clean that machine!

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Callings to a sweat lodge

I have had the honor of an invitation to a sweat lodge. They will be constructing it today and participating tonight. I want to help build it. The timing on the invitation is quite synchronistic. I feel I have made some rather positive changes in my recent life and a sweat would be a wonderful opportunity for reflection. Unfortunately, I must turn down the invitation. My project is consuming me and must, without fail, be completed in whole today! I have never done a sweat lodge and hope that such an opportunity will present itself again one day.