Walter Gregg - Juneau


The site you have reached, W-Gregg.Juneau.AK.US, was my first personal website. I've replaced it with Walt.Gregg.Juneau.AK.US. But in consideration for other people's bookmarks and links I haven't removed it.

March 24, 2018: March for our Lives

Parkland students guest edit Guardian US: theguardian.com/us-news/series/parkland-student-takeover.

[Parkland students] manifesto to fix America's gun laws: theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2018/mar/23/parkland-students-manifesto-americas-gun-laws.

[Parkland Students] power in silence: youtube.com/watch?v=u46HzTGVQhg; and theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/24/marchers-across-the-us-united-in-plan-for-pro-gun-politicians-vote-them-out.

"Bans on assault weapons" are "fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of 'dangerous and unusual weapons.'" -- Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court Ruling limiting the reach of the 2nd Amendment, quoted in theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/17/second-amendment-nra-corey-brettschneider.

Updated and Moved

List-webpage-indexes. Because search engines can blacklist any page or site at any time for any reason.

List website directories. Because you might want to browse by topic or viewpoint instead of searching for a needle in haystack.

Refuse GCI Digital Local Phone Service. Why? You might be concerned about absent minded elders unplugging the box; about losing service in as little as 4 hours without power; about fax machine difficulties; about dialup modem issues, and so forth.

JavaScript to switch visitors to a canonical URL. Why you probably should not use this script.

2016

July 21, 2015. Dad's last day, the same date as Grandpa died so many years ago. A brilliant star came and took him home. At some point I'll do something with Dad's page at gregg.juneau.ak.us. As is, there's a link to the family story at the city museum, Grandpa's poem Around Yakobi, and a recording of Dad and Grandpa playing Grandma's Loralee.

2014

Oh dear. Early in November I discovered, quite by accident, that IE8 would not display my home page. And how was I to know? It and its siblings probably decline to show various subpages too. The entire IE series clearly comes from Slytherin House and was probably spearheaded by Professor Snape. So I'm cutting out bits and pieces of the home page in the faint hope of finding what bit of the web the Evil Empire has decided to devour this year. No idea if its working yet.

About the only thing new for a long time is I now use Pinboard to save bookmarks to things I want to read in more detail or think might come in handy someday. So if you are truly bored, you can visit https://pinboard.in/u:WaltMG and see some of what I've been reading lately.

2013

November 8, 2013. I'm now making limited use of Google+ (Google Plus). Google uses it as a sort of ID card, to help verify authorship. It also lets you "share what's new," as Google puts it. Supposedly you can limit what you share to selected 'circles'. But I pretty well take the NSA's view: anything that touches the internet is public. All in all, I'm not fond of Google+, as explained in a note on that system. I'll probably just post a Google+ note when I have something new on my website. Which is seldom.

November 1, 2013. Is Medicaid Expansion the Ultimate Vote Loser? 2017: Well, look at the election. But don't read it wrong. The problem is that low income people are denied a health exchange subsidy, must sign up for Medicaid, and in many states, must repay Medicaid not less than $6,000 a year from age 55 to death. The children may lose everything at age 21. Meanwhile, wealthier people (Congress comes to mind) get a full subsidy and never repay a cent. People know it, and they're angry. But there's no choice. My income is too low for a subsidy, so my cheapest health exchange Blue Cross policy is $15,000 a year with a $6,500 deductible. My grandfathered Blue Cross was $7,500 a year with a $5,000 deductible. Can anyone say 'scam'? My Medicaid replacement is $0 a year with a $3 copayment. Denying low income people a subsidy may be intended as a favor, but it's clearly insane. What about Medicaid repayment? Alaska reportedly limits reclamation to long term care.

October 31, 2013. The FCC has approved GCI cable TV's purchase of several Alaska broadcast stations. GCI is the only significant cable TV company in Alaska and has almost total control of the market in a state where much of the population can't receive broadcast TV at all. I filed comments opposing the transaction (On GCI purchase of KATH and Opposition to Pleading to DENY Public Comments of Walter gregg. The latter was in reply to a Denali Media pleading linked to in Re: Denali Media (GCI) Opposition to Informal Comments on KATH/KTVA TV). A number of Alaska broadcasters also filed oppositions to the transaction. But the approval is hardly a surprise. People living in Washington DC have no conception of the scale of Alaska or the reality of how one corporation really can dominate the entire market in this state. With the approval and no conditions, it's to be expected that the diversity in reporting and views will eventually be materially reduced. So I'm disappointed, but not in the least surprised. The sun will still rise. Eventually.

2012

  1. Juneau issues related to the threatened closure of Foodland Alaskan and Proud. Juneau's only downtown supermarket was going to close. The city didn't seem to take an interest in avoiding this. I was concerned about the possiblity of the legislature convening in a town that might not even have a supermarket within miles of the Capitol. I send the linked letter to express those concerns.
  2. On Health Care reform: You're not a criminal if you don't have health insurance, and Congress can't make you one for that. So said the The U.S. Supreme Court. So can I finally drop my healthy individual Blue Cross policy and save $6,000 a year in premiums? I get basically nothing from it, given its $4,000 or $5,000 deductible. So go on, go bare, drop the policy. Spend the money you save on medical care. Food. Fuel oil. What could possibly go wrong? Even if I get sick now they have to insure me. Or do they? It seems that you aren't allowed to buy buy through the insurance exchanges if your income is below a certain threshold. And states are allowed to opt out of the Medicaid expansion. So it might be risky to go without after all. On the other hand, either Blue Cross will take your money or you will snatch it out of their greedy little hands. Don't take getting taken. Cancel the policy? Fortunately, no decision is so big or so complicated that it can't be run away from.

2008

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2005

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2003

2002

; (2008 (Rev. 2017); W-Gregg.Juneau.AK.US is being replaced with Walt.Gregg.Juneau.AK.US); CreativeCommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0.)

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