Is this true? Will americans be required to have microchips?

[twbranch]

My Windows 7 machine has been nagging me for weeks that it could not register, I need to enter a valid product key. So I enter the one THEY EMAILED ME. It tells me it cannot activate, enter a valid product key. I give up and use windows for those few unbearable minutes I need it. Week later, I turn the VM on, same thing. Week later, same story. Finally it tells me I have five days or my computer is going to blow up or something. So I try to use their activation software, it tells me to call a number but doesn't tell me the number. Finally I go to the damn email Microsoft sent me with the product key THEY SENT ME that apparently is invalid, I lie my way through the stupid voice message system and get to talk to some lady in india who likes to talk while I am talking.

First she tells me, after getting my first name and my email address, that she has to put me on hold for a minute to help me. I ask her what exactly she is going to do to help me when she has absolutely no information about me or my system. Oh that's right, so what is your product key. So then I have to read this stupid 40 character string of gobbledeygook to her after which she puts me on hold. The she comes back, tells me that IS A VALID KEY and she has no idea why my shit windows won't activate. Then I get to open this applet that gives me an even LONGER string of numbers which I must read off, then she returns me an equally long string of 45 freaking numbers. Finally, she assures me, it is activated. I ask her why I had to do this, she says she doesn't know. I ask her am I going to have to do this every time she says no but I WILL HAVE TO DO IT EVERY YEAR.

Most people use this shit software. If they will put up with this nonsense, RFID implants and hand scanners for free lunch are a walk in the park - they're a "convenience."

I fucking hate Microsoft's software, and more and more I am hating that anyone tolerates this nonsense. This shit is indoctrinating society into becoming numbers in a vast machine of consumerism.

Fuck Windows.

Exactly how government healthcare will work. You will die before seeing the doctor. So why have doctors just have someone read your last rites.

[Bored@Work]

Exactly how government healthcare will work. You will die before seeing the doctor. So why have doctors just have someone read your last rites.

Your propaganda shit gets boring.

[M0BSW]

 What worries me is that what ever the Americans do 10 years later the sheep in goverment  in the UK follow, like little lap dogs, they'll turn us into the mindless Borg.

[twbranch]

Exactly how government healthcare will work. You will die before seeing the doctor. So why have doctors just have someone read your last rites.

Your propaganda shit gets boring.

Block it!

[SgtRock]

Greetings EEVBees:

--I looked for the AOL article, but I could not find it, so I do not know if there is anything to this. I usually look for a well known source for any interesting development I find. The quotations from the bill in the Snopes are not fleshed out enough to prove the allegations made, in my opinion, and the comments below mention that this is a version of the legislation that was never passed. So this this stuff about the chip refers only to language in a bill that the Democrats tried to pass, not passed, and so, at most represents intentions, not passed legislation. So I will have to brand this one unproven, and false. There are plenty of reasons to object to a complete Government takeover of the Medical Industry, without this one.

--Now, Poptones has said:
1) "F****ing neocons will stop at nothing to instill fear. It's the only way they know to lead."
2) "I f****ing hate Microsoft's software, and more and more I am hating that anyone tolerates this nonsense. This sh** is indoctrinating society into becoming numbers in a vast machine of consumerism. F**k Windows."

--Ah yes, more gibbering spittle flecked hatred instead of reasoned argumentation. Dave and the moderators have no sooner gotten this Blog on an even keel, than a new Troll with more Trollhouse Cookies arises. Poptones has now gone from accusing anyone that points out that UK Wind is performing way below its promised levels, of being Oil Company Shills, to gibbering bite the furniture hatred. He hates Windows. He hates people who "tolerate" Windows, huh. Hatred seem to be a major theme. Now Dave, who provides this Blog free of charge for our enjoyment does not sprinkle his commentary (which is never shy) with profanity, why should anyone else.

Now, Dave has said: "Only if you can afford healthcare, otherwise you'll die early."

--Under the coming plan, even if you can afford healthcare, if the only source of it ,the Government decides, you are not worth the trouble, you will die early as well, and the Government will not refund any money to your family. My guess would be that under "Obamacare" healthcare will be rationed. The statement that "If you like your Doctor, you will be able to keep him [or her, SIC]" has already been proven false. Likewise with the assertions that it will not cover abortion, and that you will be able to keep your present insurance plan. I just do not think that a wholesale takeover of one sixth of the economy is necessary, but it does hasten the day when the World is just one big institution, and we are it inmates.

"I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left. "
Margaret Thatcher 1925 -

Best Regards
Clear Ether

[gxti]

This is the most insightful, informative and on-topic thread in the history of the universe. Better close it now before it goes downhill.

[poptones]

Exactly how government healthcare will work.

Except we ALREADY have government health care - it's called medicaid and Medicare, which covers most retirees and the disabled. No death panels. No one telling you where you can go see a doctor. Unless you count all those who presently  can't GET insurance because the corporate INSURANCE COMPANY "death panels" tell you you're going to die or you can find your own way to pay that 100,000 dollar treatment out of your own pocket.

The plans are for regulating insurers - again, not government health care... unless you can't afford something else. Then you get... wait for it... medicaid, or you get some assistance to help you pay for one of the same plans as everyone else gets to choose.

Not government health care. But a neocon will never admit this. Even Romney claims he wants to appeal obamacare, but all he talks about replacing it with is obamacare with a different label on it.

[twbranch]

Obviously you never served in the military. The health care in military is government healthcare and it sucks.

When the government controls it....it is government heAlthcare!

[SgtRock]

Greetings EEVBees:

--Poptones has said, without the profanity this time, that "Unless you count all those who presently can't GET insurance because the corporate INSURANCE COMPANY "death panels" tell you you're going to die..."

--Ah yes, those evil Corporate Insurance Companies that will not provide insurance to the dying, or those with pre-existing conditions. That is because they are trying to stay in business so that thier customers will have insurance. Of course it must be admitted that Insurance Companies are "Evil" profit making enterprises owned by "Evil filthy rich stockholders"

--You, might also note that the Corporate Insurance Companies will not sell you home insurance that covers your burned down house, after it has burned down, the evil bastards require that you buy insurance before you house burns down. And, similarly for trying to buy insurance to cover a car accident after the accident, these crafty evil profit makers, will stop at nothing to fuel their greed. We should just put them all out of business and let the Government handle the whole mess, and while we are at it the Evil Energy Companies as well. Maybe the list would be shorter if we just listed the Free Market Enterprises the Statists do not want to confiscate.

"I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled."
P. G. Wodehouse 1881 1975

Best Regards
Clear Ether

[tom66]

Fun fact: Last year in the USA, 45,000 deaths were attributable to lack of health insurance. (1)

That's almost fourteen 9/11's per year. If the money was directed to healthcare instead of invading countries, funding the military-industrial complex and buying more tanks, I wonder what the effect would be on the population. Heck, it might even improve the economy - after all, people who are unhealthy cannot work, which means less spending, and less jobs. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

We have the NHS in the UK. It is one of the best healthcare systems in the world. It costs around $3,500 per capita to us brits. The USA cost is $7,500 per capita. (2) Which system is more efficient and doesn't leave people to die if they can't afford to pay? Also, I might say that this country has better healthcare quality than the USA ... which came last in a survey on healthcare quality. (3)

The good thing about the NHS is you only pay what you can afford. Everyone contributes and for example if you require cancer treatment that might cost hundreds of thousands of pounds you only contribute a small NI payment. You do pay for some things - for example, glasses after age 16 or under age 65 (IIRC), most prescription meds (though heavily subsidised and sometimes free in some cases), and dentistry among others... but in general, it's all freely provided. They completely, over a two year period gave me braces and fixed my teeth, which would have cost a lot more in the good old US of A - I doubt I'd even be able to afford it, despite the great improvement in quality of life it has brought. Oh, and it's virtually impossible to sue a doctor in this country, so they aren't constantly doing pointless tests for fear of missing one small thing then getting sued over it.

You're right. Healthcare insurance companies can't afford to sell cover to people who have cancer or other life threatening diseases; and they shouldn't be required to. I don't know how the US got into the situation it is right now. I have no idea what will cure it but I tell you what won't? Doing nothing and making silly political arguments. What needs to happen is free healthcare. It should be a fundamental right. Whether it is mandatory or state-provided insurance or implemented otherwise... I don't know. I'd personally vouch for an NHS-style system, but I know it would essentially mean the entire healthcare business gets turned on its head.

Sources:
 1. http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/09/new-study-finds-45000-deaths-annually-linked-to-lack-of-health-coverage/
 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_(PPP)_per_capita
 3. http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/06/23/us-usa-healthcare-last-idUSTRE65M0SU20100623

[EEVblog]

So all in all: A Healthcare system isn't the dumbest idea ever. You may not need it now, but we all get older (at least I hope so).

Put simply you are dumb if you do not have a national universal healthcare system. The US is the only country stupid enough not to have one, because they somehow equate it to being an evil "socialist" thing.
And as result people in the US die because they cannot afford health care, it's a disgrace. That does not happen in Australia or any other country with a universal health care system.

Dave.

[EEVblog]

Didn't Australia have government run healthcare? I may be wrong but I was thinking they got rid of it because it didn't work! I don't live there so I have no idea.

No, we did not get rid of our government run universal health care. It works just fine, like it does in every country that adopted it. As far as I know, no country that has adopted it has abandoned it, because it works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(Australia)
Some things are good and bad with it, like everything, but the fact is no one dies because they cannot afford health care or do not have insurance because they lost their job etc. And that's the whole point of universal health care, if you get sick, you get treated, regardless of your socio-economic status. No one has to worry about their health because they lost their job.
If a homeless bum on the street has a heart attack, they will get immediately treated by the best doctors in town.

Dave.

[poptones]

Ah yes, those evil Corporate Insurance Companies that will not provide insurance to the dying, or those with pre-existing conditions.

What about those evil hospitals? The ones with emergency rooms that are required by law to accept patients they know will likely never pay the bill? We already have "socialized medicine" we pay the bill for it every time we go to the doctor. We also pay the bill for it in the form of Billions in uncollected debt.

There's a reason we have LAWS. Sorry if it offends you but the quest for a dollar is not the universal fucking law of nature. We require hospitals t take emergent patients because we, as a society, are saying we will not turn away someone in mortal danger.

That is, unless they're dying a slow, miserable death.

Or they might.

Then, they're on their own.

[Bored@Work]

One thing that should be mentioned is that those who oppose public healthcare want those who can't afford it to die. They won't admit it, but they want that bum on the street "disappear". They want the riffraff to "go away". They think these people are worthless,  that certain minorities, members of certain races, members of the lower classes etc. are worthless and don't deserve medical treatment. They think they themselves will never be ill or will always have enough money to not be one of "those".

All this talk about health care quality is just a red herring. It is not about quality. It is about money and getting rid of those they hate.

[FenderBender]

As an aside, seems they are now using palm scanners in US primary schools to pay for lunches:
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-10-02/news/bs-md-ca-school-scan-20121002_1_karen-sarno-lunches-scanner

The first thing that strikes me is, the spread of germs. Every single child putting their hand on a scanner at lunch time just before they eat, yeah, that's smart... 

Dave.

No worse than using a keypad. Most schools you have to put in your school ID before you buy lunch because some kids get reduced priced lunch or free lunch depending on his/her family's  economic status. I get neither but I do have money on my lunch account so that I don't have to bring money to school everyday. It's like a bit debit card for lunch.

Sure it's gross...but how about every door knob, desk, book, pencil, whatever...it's all gross. Doesn't mean you have to make it more gross..but in the scheme of things, it's whatever.

[johnboxall]

Dave didn't Australia just get rid of that crap because it didn't work? Your government needs to have a talk with ours. Hopefully, our new president will get rid of it. I am scared of it myself.

Get rid of what?

Dave.

Didn't Australia have government run healthcare? I may be wrong but I was thinking they got rid of it because it didn't work! I don't live there so I have no idea.

This is what we have - http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/medicare
Of course you can also have your own private health insurance through a variety of providers, and also use private hospitals at your/their expense. The Federal Government even subsidises PHI (subject to a means test) to try and keep people out of the public system.

[SgtRock]

Greetings EEVBees:

--Tom66 has said "What needs to happen is free healthcare. It should be a fundamental right."

--The notion of "free healthcare" violates the Laws of Thermodynamics and the Free Lunch principle. Hell if its free, lets make everything free. I think what Tom really means is "Lets have the US Government take over the entire industry at taxpayer expense." Lets throw in a free house. If its free then nobody is paying, right? What good is medical care if you have no where to live. Because we all know that the wages of working people are an infinite cornucopia, that is why the USSR is the wealthiest country in the world. Come to the UK, bring all your wives and their children, put them all on welfare, and vote Labor.

--Now Dave has said "As far as I know, no country that has adopted it has abandoned it."

--Freebies are notoriously hard to revoke, n'est-ce pas?

--Dave has also said "If a homeless bum on the street has a heart attack, they will get immediately treated by the best doctors in town."

--Here, Dave may have inadvertently left the impression that in the US, street bums are left to die and then the garbage truck is called. In fact this is not the case. An ambulance is called and the heart attack victim is treated at the nearest Hospital qualified to treat heart attacks, that being quicker that searching for the best doctors in town.

--I have a friend who is by choice a homeless person. He has no money and no insurance. He may quite possibly soon die of cancer. He has had countless operations and treatments at at state of the art facility (the same one my family goes to).

--Poptones has said, profanely and with extreme hostility as usual "Sorry if it offends you but the quest for a dollar is not the universal f***ing law of nature."

--Pop just might be wrong about this one. Try hiring workers for no money. And, just where does he think the money for these programs comes from, if not from people who pay taxes with dollars they quested for.

BoredAtWork has said "All this talk about health care quality is just a red herring. It is not about quality. It is about money and getting rid of those they hate."

--I see, so anytime anybody opposes more growth in government it is just because they are "Evil Genocidal Maniacs" No other possibility exits. Give this man as sidearm and make him a Commisar, he will know what to do. Speaking of extreme spittle flecked gibbering hatred, here we have the latest Trollhouse Cookie.

--Good point by FenderBender.

"He was born ignorant, and has been losing ground ever since."
Fred Allen 1894 1956

Best Regards
Clear Ether

[EEVblog]

No worse than using a keypad.

Yes, it is. Because almost every single student forms a line and touches the pad in exactly the same way, systematically every day, and right before they eat.
You don't get nearly the same result with keyboards, or even door knobs etc.

Dave.

[FenderBender]

No worse than using a keypad.

Yes, it is. Because almost every single student forms a line and touches the pad in exactly the same way, systematically every day, and right before they eat.
You don't get nearly the same result with keyboards, or even door knobs etc.

Dave.

I wouldn't be too sure of that. Schools are disgusting places. I'm not endorsing hand scanners, just saying...kids are nasty, schools are nasty. hand scanner is nasty...but so is the table they sit at, the money they pay with, the books they study with. Perhaps a finger scanner would be better..not as much contact.

We have 3,600 kids on our 5 acre campus. It's a health nightmare. I don't think a hand scanner  is going to make too much of a difference. It might speed up the lunch line...however, a keypad is equally as easy, so I'm not sure why in the hell they would use a hand scanner...it seems like problems waiting to occur. I agree that hand scanners just seem pointless from a practical standpoint unless they are like 100% accurate the first scan...

[tom66]

--The notion of "free healthcare" violates the Laws of Thermodynamics and the Free Lunch principle. Hell if its free, lets make everything free. I think what Tom really means is "Lets have the US Government take over the entire industry at taxpayer expense." Lets throw in a free house. If its free then nobody is paying, right? What good is medical care if you have no where to live. Because we all know that the wages of working people are an infinite cornucopia, that is why the USSR is the wealthiest country in the world. Come to the UK, bring all your wives and their children, put them all on welfare, and vote Labor.

Straw-man argument (you're good at them!) Housing actually is a human right, but at the moment, I agree, it's not something that can be done. Except, it is... mostly. You can get a council house here under certain conditions and most of the rent is covered, I think - I'm not an expert. It's a dire place to live though. Have you ever seen the buildings? About 3% of people are homeless in this country.  Anyway, this is not a debate about housing. Leave it on healthcare for now. I would rather be healthy and homeless, than home and ill because I can't afford treatment.

I don't suggest the US government take over the healthcare system as that creates a lot of problems. In the UK the NHS is separate from the government - it's funded to the tune of about £96 bn, but run as a separate organisation. That way political influence is limited, and budgeting is run by the individual hospitals.  And it doesn't mean no one pays! Of course it doesn't! People pay WHAT THEY CAN AFFORD. That is a fair system. If you earn more, you put more towards the healthcare system. What is the problem with this idea? Is it unfair to richer people? £96 bn funds 60 million people's healthcare at £1,600 per capita (add on costs for prescriptions etc to get £2,200/$3,500 USD.)

The UK government has statistics on the number of people travelling abroad for UK healthcare and how much it costs us. Guess how much? 50%? 20%? 10%? Think about three orders of magnitude smaller... 0.03% of the NHS budget. Barely a speck of ink on the accountant's workbook.

It's Labour by the way (we use 'u') and they're actually quite centre aligned (leaning left) rather than left like the Democrats.

[perfect_disturbance]

Not to distract from this energetic healthcare debate. But what do all the non-americans on this board care. Its funny I never hear people here arguing what the British should do or complaining that the Australian prime minister is stupid. Why are you all so worried about what we are doing? As fas as I'm concerned that's the great thing about their being different countries your happy with how your healthcare system works and I'm happy with mine.

[EEVblog]

Not to distract from this energetic healthcare debate. But what do all the non-americans on this board care. Its funny I never hear people here arguing what the British should do or complaining that the Australian prime minister is stupid. Why are you all so worried about what we are doing? As fas as I'm concerned that's the great thing about their being different countries your happy with how your healthcare system works and I'm happy with mine.

a) Because I have a lot of Yankee friends. Forgive me for caring and wanting to be part of the debate.
b) America is the world leader in bat-shit crazy government, politics, financial excess, and international bullying. And a lot of what America does can have global repercussions that does actually effect us outside the US. And it's morbidly fascinating if anything. Better than reality TV that's for sure. Everyone likes to watch a train wreck in slow motion 

Dave.

[AntiProtonBoy]

Why? Because of the mentality behind it.  And the fact that people are actually suffering needlessly as a result. People get thrown out of hospitals and onto the curb, because they can't pay? People unable to admit themselves for consultation, because of credit debt? People unable to afford life saving medication? Shit like that makes my blood boil. I can't believe such of practices are consciously tolerated. I think it's rather sad and pathetic for "modern" country, such as the USA.

Here is another reason why: For a healthy, cohesive society to exist, one needs to look beyond the selfish needs of the fortunate. Living in a society means helping one another when there is a need and also allow the individual to flourish. Being charitable and social is about lifting the standards of living and establishing a basic safety net for everyone; because anyone can potentially be in the same position as the underprivileged for a myriad of reasons.

[EEVblog]

As fas as I'm concerned that's the great thing about their being different countries your happy with how your healthcare system works and I'm happy with mine.

That's because (I would presume) you are:
a) employed
b) insured
c) likely have no chronic condition making you reliant upon the medical system

Dave.

[EEVblog]

FWIT one of the things I don't like about our universal health care, is that everyone pretty much pays tho same, and there is no (financial) incentive to actually live a healthy lifestyle.
I like paying for medicare of course, because that's how the system works. But I'm (who lives a healthy livestyle) paying the same as a morbidly obese chain smoker with preventable diabetes etc
It doesn't seem right. But I don't think there is an easy solution for this.

Dave.