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Finnish Politician Suggests Embedding Chips In Citizens To Protect the Welfare State

New submitter janit writes that social benefits to Finnish citizens living outside of Finland have in recent days been the cause of controversy, and links to an article which suggests just how much of a controversy: A politician from the True Finns Party, Pasi Mäenranta, is also worried about the abuse of the benefits. He published a post on Facebook, where he suggests that all Finnish citizens leaving the country be embedded with an identification chip. Sounds like a parallel system might be a popular idea with some U.S. presidential candidates, too.

312 comments

  1. He has a point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    About google etc...

    1. Re:He has a point by MightyYar · · Score: 2

      "Mäenranta is not worried about this being a violation of privacy, since people are already willingly tracked with smartphones, Google or Facebook."

      Slippery slope, indeed.

      Still, I'd argue that Google does not (yet) have the monopoly on legal use of force on their side.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    2. Re:He has a point by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      False assumption. If you don't use them and block everything related to them, it's really hard for them to track you.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    3. Re:He has a point by TWX · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think that at least with smartphones he misses the point, when they were introduced the point wasn't to track the individual carrying the phone, it was to provide the individual with the ability to communicate and to use applications for productivity. Arguably some of the first smartphones from Qualcomm didn't even have data service, the productivity applications were entirely centered on the phone, and they were essentially Palm Pilots with a telephone function added to them.

      Jump to the modern phone, and you find that if people use features that allow them to "check in" from a given location, they only use that feature when they choose to use that feature. They do not state their location everywhere they go, they use it selectively, to essentially boast, or because they earn a living through online connectedness and marketing and it is to their advantage to share far too much information with the rest of us.

      As to the data communication between the handset and the carrier, that's an unfortunate necessity of the technology. The frequencies and density of users means that phones have to be tracked in order to remain in communication with them as they roam about a given area and change towers. The average cell user doesn't really understand how that technology works either, but would probably not be happy if their movements were being logged everywhere they went, an that theoretically should be privileged information between the carrier and the subscriber, as in the United States, one Federal Circuit has recently ruled.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    4. Re:He has a point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have taken a week where my smartphone is turned off, FB and other counts inactivated, and went off-line for a bit. People have a choice in this matter.

      I truly am not suprised that being tracked 24/7 is being proposed as a jump from optional to mandatory.

      However, the good news is that this is just a politician suggesting something. For every brain-dead suggestion by a politician over there, there are probably 10-50 "WTF" suggestions made by politicians here in the US. Some examples:

      "Venezuela's gun laws have reduced crime by 1000 times. Lets do a ban here."

      "All women who have miscarriages should be tried for murder or negligent homicide."

      "Roads are socialist. If you want to drive to work, pay for the road, buy a vehicle that handles potholes, or do without."

      Many other stupid suggestions by politicians. Here in the US where the education system is a laughingstock of the world (not the "civilized" world... the world), people actually give what would be a trollish suggestion credibility.

    5. Re:He has a point by MightyYar · · Score: 3, Informative

      I don't think our education system is a laughingstock - people fall all over themselves to attend school here. Our crappy urban and rural public schools are the laughingstock.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    6. Re: He has a point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Finland is beginning to sound like a shithole. Maybe they should join Russia.

    7. Re:He has a point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think our education system is a laughingstock - people fall all over themselves to attend school here. Our crappy urban and rural public schools are the laughingstock.

      Well yeah, if you make a qualification about "the system" that means looking at the whole thing.

      So yes, if you look at the top-tier institutions the US still has many of the global front-runners. And you are right that many international students will go to great lengths to get into one of those.

      But if you look at the system as a whole, it is not all that rosy. At all.

      Anyway, you just meant to crap on public schools, though, didn't you?

      Back on topic.

      The "True Finns" party, really? That doesn't sound at all scary, nuh-uh.

    8. Re: He has a point by turbidostato · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Finland is beginning to sound like a shithole"

      This guy belongs to a party called "True Finns". He's obviously a nazi douchebag. You have a point, though, since this party got 17.7% of the votes in the 2015 parlamentary elections, becoming the second largest one.

    9. Re:He has a point by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      No, I was not crapping on public schools. I send my own kids to public schools. Good, diverse, schools in a first-ring suburb.

      Right across the border, the funding level is several thousand dollars less per year. Not that it matters, because funding there doubled over 10 years and outcomes did not change. It's a mix of funding, corruption, sheer incompetency, and a very difficult student population. Rural schools have similar challenges. I'm not sure how we stratified into "pro" and "con" public school camps. I don't fall into either. I think it is self-evident that we need public schools to have a workable democracy. I think that relying on property taxes has led to uneven funding that is bad on even a pragmatic level. But I'm also not going to drink the Koolaid and say that the people running the show necessarily know what they are doing. Even in "good" districts, I think that much of the reason for the good performance is an easy student population. There need to be major reforms: funding and in how the schools are run and staffed. We also need to attack the source of the difficult student populations.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    10. Re:He has a point by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Still, not impossible. How do you know if the site you are going to has Google analytics built in? Cookies and webhosts tracking their usage with Google can reveal a lot more than the "just don't use them" crowd gives them credit for.

    11. Re:He has a point by swillden · · Score: 1

      Jump to the modern phone, and you find that if people use features that allow them to "check in" from a given location, they only use that feature when they choose to use that feature. They do not state their location everywhere they go, they use it selectively, to essentially boast, or because they earn a living through online connectedness and marketing and it is to their advantage to share far too much information with the rest of us.

      I have Google Location History turned on, which records everywhere I go, but I do it for other reasons which include (among others):

      So that my wife and a few other people I share my location with can find out where I am at any moment
      So when I want to know where I was and what I did a few days ago I can look it up in my Maps timeline
      So Google Now can track my location to alert me when I need to leave for appointments, etc.

      Nothing to do with boasting or marketing; it's for convenience, mine and that of my family.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    12. Re:He has a point by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1

      That people willingly allow themselves to be tracked much of the time does not make it okay to unwillingly force them to be tracked all of the time.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank
    13. Re: He has a point by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      Godwin's Law! LOL. You lose, you get nothing, good day sir!

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    14. Re:He has a point by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      If you look at the top 75% of students we do well. Very well with our top 25%.

      But American morons are the dumbest in the world.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    15. Re:He has a point by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      It can be worked around. I haven't done this last part yet. :)

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    16. Re:He has a point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "True Finns" party, really? That doesn't sound at all scary, nuh-uh.

      It's a bad translation so I'm sure they've come up with it themselves. They are complete idiots but a slightly more accurate translation of the name is "The 'Basic' Finns", "The Real Finns" or "The Primitive Finns" (hmm, I kind of like the last one...). They take pride in not being sophisticated or intellectual.

    17. Re: He has a point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Could you not be so racist, please? Leave those fucking kids alone.

    18. Re: He has a point by jmac_the_man · · Score: 1

      For every brain-dead suggestion by a politician over there, there are probably 10-50 "WTF" suggestions made by politicians here in the US. Some examples:

      "Venezuela's gun laws have reduced crime by 1000 times. Lets do a ban here."

      "All women who have miscarriages should be tried for murder or negligent homicide."

      "Roads are socialist. If you want to drive to work, pay for the road, buy a vehicle that handles potholes, or do without."

      The reason there's no links to these statements is because none of them are true.

    19. Re:He has a point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...

      Jump to the modern phone, and you find that if people use features that allow them to "check in" from a given location, they only use that feature when they choose to use that feature. They do not state their location everywhere they go, they use it selectively, to essentially boast, or because they earn a living through online connectedness and marketing and it is to their advantage to share far too much information with the rest of us. ...

      Finland has implemented EU data retention directive. It is mandatory to log the location of every phone, and provide the logs to the goverment (like in every EU country). So (cell)phones, are by law, tracking devices.

  2. The world owes me nothing... by cb88 · · Score: 1

    So, It doesn't get to chip me. In other words over my dead body...

    1. Re:The world owes me nothing... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      This would only be for recipients of social security who go abroad. No social security = no chip. Even so, it's a disgusting idea to require the chip to receive those benefits.

      Instead I would argue that no social security benefits should be paid to people living abroad, or have those benefits adjusted automatically for local cost of living. (excepting state pensions, which should be free to spend as one pleases). Require recipients to be registered in the country and have them collect their benefits in person.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:The world owes me nothing... by Shortguy881 · · Score: 1

      You were on the right track with the world owes me nothing bit. However, these people are on welfare and, at least in the US, they seem to think they are entitled to welfare. I am all for more stringent requirements for people on welfare, but tagging them is a bit extreme. I would propose just dropping welfare benefits for those living abroad. How can you expect to receive welfare from a country you are not in?

      --
      Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
    3. Re:The world owes me nothing... by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1
      Not being familiar with the Finnish system, this is for social welfare which I'm assuming is equivalent to welfare in the US which is paid to unemployed people that can find no other means of income.

      So if people on welfare are living abroad, why are you paying them anyways?

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    4. Re:The world owes me nothing... by jmd · · Score: 2, Informative

      Social Security Retirement is payable outside the USA now for citizens and other approved people (green card holders etc) who live in certain countries with agreements with the USA. This should continue. I worked and paid into Social Security Retirement as per the agreements. I would expect my money when I complete the requirements. But I don't hold my breath. Wall Street wants every penny of retirement money they can get their hands on.

      However, Social Security also has many other programs that I do not mind curtailing if the recipient lives outside of the country. Social Security Disability is one. SSI (Supplemental Security Income) is another. Both are cut off if you are outside of the country over 6 months. Medicare does not cover anyone outside the USA as far as I know.

      I gotta ask.... why do you exempt state pension from the mix? If I worked for the Sate of Ohio all my life I could retire to Thailand without a loss of income? But I cannot take my a Federal pension with me?

    5. Re: The world owes me nothing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the US, we pay into social security and it is a right to collect at retirement age. Welfare is a completely different animal in the US.

    6. Re:The world owes me nothing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why cut off SSD and SSI? Why not simply reduce it? As long as the standard of living would be better elsewhere, it's a win-win. We should be incentivizing people to make decisions (i.e. move to Mexico) which will reduce the outlay, rather than responding to whatever random decisions they've already made. Indeed, cutting SSD and SSI entirely is an incentive to stay in the U.S. It's not like people on SSI or SSD are globe trotting.

      The only problem is keeping track of people receiving those payments to make sure they're not gaming what rules are put in place. This is especially true for SSD, where you need to make sure the disability is still there. (Many, perhaps most, are psychiatric disabilities.) But the vast majority of Americans go to a handful of countries, and it would be relatively easy to open offices there.

    7. Re:The world owes me nothing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not pay less, but enough that people are incentivized to move abroad to locales with lower costs of living? For example, rather than paying both Social Security Retirement _and_ Supplemental income to a poor retiree, why not pay SSRI and a substantially reduced SSI if they move to a community in Mexico or Ecuador?

      It's a win-win. It might offend some people's sensibilities, but at the end of the day if it means we save money then we should it. My only concern would be that people weren't ending up in situations where they're being taken advantage of. But I'm not sure what kind of oversight we have for that kind of thing in the U.S. now, anyhow. Presumably most overseas retirees would end up in pre-existing expat communities where they could find advice and support. We could also locate administrative offices in those communities.

    8. Re:The world owes me nothing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe they moved over a boarder to find a job. Are people fixed to one state if they are on welfare?

    9. Re:The world owes me nothing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This article isn't about the US. The scale and goals of the of Finnish welfare system are different.

      I think it's more comparable to Social Security, and less to food stamps.

    10. Re: The world owes me nothing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The standard of living is already pretty bad on SSI.

    11. Re:The world owes me nothing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A bet you the boarder would be pissed if that happened.

    12. Re:The world owes me nothing... by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      Actually he was saying that anyone who left the country would be chipped. Supposedly it would help finding them in a disaster. Don't see how. Maybe with the identification. But it's not like they could sweep a detector over the snow or rubble and find the chip under a meter. A good search and rescue dog would find a person in that case. Besides they would have to know the person was a Finn in the first place because nobody else would have a chip.

      And it wouldn't be just for people going to live abroad. Just thinking about someone on social security. Imagine if they had a child, relative, or friend and they paid for their visit out of country. It wouldn't have to be extravagant, maybe a train ticket to Germany. Or what if they did a day trip for some cross border shopping? In both cases they would get chipped but it's not something that anyone would complain about them doing.

    13. Re:The world owes me nothing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh you'll get a chip eventually.

      First it's discounts and 'convenience'.

      Next it's special offers and easy login.

      Then it's 'required'.

      And a short time later it's REQUIRED because 'everyones using it already'.

      Watch and see. We're on step 2/3 with tracking chips for your car right now.

    14. Re:The world owes me nothing... by khallow · · Score: 1

      Instead I would argue that no social security benefits should be paid to people living abroad, or have those benefits adjusted automatically for local cost of living. (excepting state pensions, which should be free to spend as one pleases). Require recipients to be registered in the country and have them collect their benefits in person.

      And why would you argue any of that? I find it interesting how cruel people can be even when they supposedly are being generous with other peoples' money.

    15. Re:The world owes me nothing... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      I think we're in agreement. What you call social security retirement is commonly called a "state pension" in Europe. It's not a pension paid to former employees of the state, but it's paid *by* the state, hence the name. . Here in the Netherlands, everyone who has lived here for 50 years gets it, even the former queen. And I think this pension should not be adjusted for cost of living if one chooses to live abroad.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    16. Re:The world owes me nothing... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      How much should it be adjusted up for those that live in Monaco?

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    17. Re:The world owes me nothing... by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      If they are a permanent resident elsewhere, the local benefits would kick in. So cut off the payments for "unearned" SS.

    18. Re: The world owes me nothing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Collecting SS benefits is not a "right" at all (see SCOTUS Nestor v. USA). However you paying in (via taxes) is a guarantee.

  3. 2084? by sycodon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I guess we need a second installment of 1984 as the pace of ideas from authoritarian control freaks have exceeded Orwell's wildest nightmares.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:2084? by alvinrod · · Score: 5, Funny

      You'll just end up with another batch of idiots that think it's an instruction manual.

    2. Re:2084? by L1mewater · · Score: 1
    3. Re:2084? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If ever there was an issue that would get me protesting on the streets, this is one of them.

    4. Re:2084? by Lizzy_Bee · · Score: 1

      There is a very relevant line, in 'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith', that both speaks to where we're headed as humans, as well as to the past (the rise of the pre-WWII Nazi party, and spoken by "Senator Padme Amidala..."So this is how liberty dies...with thunderous applause." But, yes, I can see where George Orwell might be shocked at how short his future visions fell, as well as the same for Ray Bradbury ('Fahrenheit 451').

      --
      "Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." -- Dr. Buckaroo Bonzai, PhD
  4. To echo an Internet meme: by pecosdave · · Score: 0
    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
  5. Chipping implies LIVESTOCK as status... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sorry, but I've got a GFY for him and suggest road gravel and lye.

    1. Re:Chipping implies LIVESTOCK as status... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not livestock. Chipping implies PETS.

      Which is ironic, considering the topic is welfare benefits.

    2. Re: Chipping implies LIVESTOCK as status... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Should anyone in your family ever need welfare, you'd want them chipped?

  6. Where have I heard this before... by meta-monkey · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Revelations 13:16-17:

    And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name...

    Just sayin', regardless of reality or fantasy, when your policy suggestion is basically the exact thing the devil does during the "end times," you might have a tough sell there.

    --
    We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    1. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Viol8 · · Score: 1

      Careful, you'll get the Rapturists all excited and checking their calenders.

    2. Re:Where have I heard this before... by kilfarsnar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Revelations 13:16-17:

      And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name...

      Just sayin', regardless of reality or fantasy, when your policy suggestion is basically the exact thing the devil does during the "end times," you might have a tough sell there.

      I'm not Christian, but I'm glad for that bit of prophesy. This type of thing is all about control. Imagine if you run afoul of the authorities and they are able to cut you off from society just by switching off your chip. It's the same reason I do not look forward to any "cashless" economy, though there are plenty of idiots who think it's a great idea. Once you have to go through an intermediary to conduct any transaction, they've got you by the balls.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    3. Re:Where have I heard this before... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      They said that about credit cards, which now even carry a chip.

    4. Re:Where have I heard this before... by meta-monkey · · Score: 2

      Which is pretty sinful, IMO, thinking they can predict the end.

      Matthew 24:36:

      "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    5. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can not use a credit card or leave it at home.

    6. Re:Where have I heard this before... by TWX · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hell, I don't like the idea of a cashless economy because it's dependent on too many active systems that all have to work for it to work. A simple power outage could prevent people from purchasing emergency supplies from their local grocery store, which could otherwise take cash, and could even go so far as to tabulate sales tax by hand or with the store's retail supply of battery-operated handheld calculators.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    7. Re:Where have I heard this before... by meta-monkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There's a lot of wisdom in the Bible, and other early church writings. Throw out the magic and it's the collection of stories about human nature and conflict written down over thousands of years by the people who had to figure out how human society can and should work. We take that knowledge for granted today, but these people had to figure it out for themselves. And people haven't changed that much.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    8. Re:Where have I heard this before... by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      I didn't realize my VISA card was embedded in my skin by the state. TIL...

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    9. Re:Where have I heard this before... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      http://www.christianmediaresea...

      This was actually a big part of the public mind way back when. Hell, Koreans still print that people who suffocated in their sleep happened to be next to an electric fan at the time....

    10. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So put it on everyone's left hands.

      "The Bible says this would be the work of the devil!"
      "The Bible says the right hand, this is the left. What, you're saying the Bible was wrong?"

    11. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We take that knowledge for granted today

      You mean we've lost it, and thinking that we now have that knowledge innately is part of the evidence that we've lost it.

    12. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That scripture is about participation in a system controlled by the devil, not about any particular mark or token that would show it outwardly. If you participate in it, you're "marked". And as is shown elsewhere in the Bible, the "whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one". It basically tells us that those who participate in the politics and other controlling interests (mercantile or religious) of this world are allying themselves with Satan. It also tells us that, at some point, those who refuse to participate will be refused service, possibly to the interruption of their daily lives.

      The number itself is a combination of 6 (falling short of 7, which signifies divine completeness) and 3 (repetition for emphasis). It points to the mark of the beast being something that shows a person to be woefully short of measuring up to God's standards, and in fact rejecting them.

      This chip is not the mark of the beast. It's just a stupid RFID chip. Your body will likely reject it as a foreign object at some point and will flush it out soon thereafter.

    13. Re:Where have I heard this before... by juanfgs · · Score: 1

      So if we got one guy saying "Tomorrow the world will end" the judgement day will never come?

    14. Re:Where have I heard this before... by houghi · · Score: 0

      To be honest, if the Devil does it and God doesn't, I rather side with The Devil. But that is just a personal preference (that will be downvoted by people who disagree with how I think.)

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    15. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nothing new. People have always controlled who is allowed to buy and sell. Imagine trying to sell in the temple in biblical times if you were goyem. Also imagine trying to be a money lender if you were not a jew during the middle ages. Everyone has a place in society. People need to respect there place. There are elites who work in the media and then there are those that are allowed to work at Mc Donalds.. By adopting universal identifying chips we can easily keep everyone separated. Back in the bad old days we used to keep people separated by their skin color. This was inherently discriminatory and racist. Now in more enlighted times we can just give everyone a serial number that will determine their role in society. I am glad the USA is finally adopting a more progressive European policy w/ concerned with class divisions. No more will 'elite gang star rap artists' be forced to have to deal with lesser none entities who are not in the media industry.

    16. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know it's meant tongue in cheek but...
       
      That's one of the many problems in society today, the word "know." Too many have and idea but claim it as fact. That's one of the basis for all the schism we see between social groups, political parties and religions.
       
      I don't mind people "having an idea" but when you say you "know" something there is no room for misinterpretation.

    17. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which means there are extremes to any doctrinal position one wishes to follow. Nothing new here. This problem goes back about two thousand years. Read the Bible.

      The "tomorrow the world will end" folks were corrected by Paul in 2 Thess 2 & 3.

      The "judgement day will never come" people were corrected by Peter in 2 Peter 3.

    18. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The True Finns is a party based of causing ruffles and controversy. A detention whoring is a legacy from the less controversial political past from the 80's and before, partly through the spoke man himself. Now the creature what he helped to create is starting to have a life of its own. Also, thy shall not feed the Facebook and Twitter trolls.

    19. Re:Where have I heard this before... by c · · Score: 1

      Just sayin', regardless of reality or fantasy, when your policy suggestion is basically the exact thing the devil does during the "end times," you might have a tough sell there.

      The obvious question being, how relevant is this particular bit of mythology to Finnish society? I don't have any strong insight into this... I understand that they're predominantly Christian, but I'd also expect that nations with a heavy socialist bent wouldn't be quite as ready to call their government an agent of the devil. How does the typical Finn interpret this particular passage of the bible?

      --
      Log in or piss off.
    20. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jesus also said:
      And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Luke 21:28

      There's a difference between predicting the "DAY AND THE HOUR" (i.e. a specific day, date or whatever), and watching the times and the seasons.

    21. Re:Where have I heard this before... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      To be honest, if the Devil does it and God doesn't, I rather side with The Devil. But that is just a personal preference (that will be downvoted by people who disagree with how I think.)

      This is a good point. If you've read your Bible, you see that God does a lot more horrible things to people than the Devil does.

      There is good reason to wonder about the other side of the story.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    22. Re:Where have I heard this before... by mr_mischief · · Score: 1

      I may just have to rewatch Dogma this week.

    23. Re:Where have I heard this before... by dryeo · · Score: 1

      I remember shopping when the power went out and the store handed out flashlights and calculators to the cashiers. That was back when everything had price tags.
      Last time I was shopping and the power went out, the cash registers kept working but went down one by one as the server started screwing up, gotta love Windows and the fact that they obviously hadn't tested enough.
      Even if the system hadn't started crashing, they only have so much time on their UPS and first thing they did was stop new customers from entering the store.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    24. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      any "cashless" economy... Once you have to go through an intermediary to conduct any transaction, they've got you

      Cashless doesn't necessarily require an intermediary; you could use peer-to-peer electronic cash.

    25. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You managed to mess that up with the first word. It's Revelation.

    26. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Intrepid+imaginaut · · Score: 1

      You're kind of idealising biblical societies there though - sure they worked, you can make almost anything work if you believe hard enough, but that doesn't make them optimal. Still, it's true that the bible contains quite a bit of actual history.

    27. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless you're talking about a mom and pop, they're not going to sell to you when their power is out anyway. It would be nearly impossible to track merchandise unless they [at the time expense of their employees] wrote down the barcode and price of every single thing they sold you, and then later paid their accountants to go through each and every one.

    28. Re:Where have I heard this before... by aristotle-dude · · Score: 1

      To be honest, if the Devil does it and God doesn't, I rather side with The Devil. But that is just a personal preference (that will be downvoted by people who disagree with how I think.)

      This is a good point. If you've read your Bible, you see that God does a lot more horrible things to people than the Devil does.

      There is good reason to wonder about the other side of the story.

      What are you talking about? So you are now blaming god for the actions of man?

      You atheists are hilarious. The devil destroyed our relationship with god and each other.

      --
      Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
    29. Re:Where have I heard this before... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Those things came to pass when the Romans destroyed the second temple.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    30. Re:Where have I heard this before... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Such as:

      Never cut your hair.

      Never wear cloths made of more than one fiber.

      Never have a man answer to a woman.

      Don't go near a woman on the rag until she stops bleeding and has been to the ritual bath.

      Why do god botherers cherry pick the few rules that turned out to be good ideas and ignore all the others?

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    31. Re:Where have I heard this before... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      What are you talking about? So you are now blaming god for the actions of man?

      Well, He created us in his image, didn't he? So yeah, it's on Him.

      You atheists are hilarious.

      I'm not an atheist.

      The devil destroyed our relationship with god and each other.

      Yes, by eating an apple and having sex. What a childish and limited view of God you have. Big Voice In The Sky who will destroy His relationship with you if you happen to do what He created you to do. That's what you get for basing your entire understanding of God on second and third-hand sources.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    32. Re:Where have I heard this before... by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Not if we put it on their left hand.

    33. Re:Where have I heard this before... by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      If the Son of God is God, how can the Son not know?

      That seems to break the Trinity.

      What's funny is that nearly every generation has thought theirs to be the last for millenia. The disciples thought the second-coming would be within their life times. Repeat for another 100 generations.

      More recently, people thought the world would end through nukes, AI, global warming, disasters, zombies, or any of a variety of other things. But every generation hates their kids and every generation thinks they are last.

    34. Re:Where have I heard this before... by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      50% of those are pretty good.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    35. Re:Where have I heard this before... by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      You're asking for logic from religion? Really?
      The post you're replying to says only the father knows. The trinity relation is: The son is not the father. The father is not the holy ghost. The holy ghost is not the son. The son is god. The father is god. The holy ghost is god.

      Thus does Christianity deny the transitive property of equality. It would be more fun if they also denied the reflexive property, but perhaps that would be too much for even a religious mind.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    36. Re:Where have I heard this before... by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1
      There is controversy as to whether the number is 666 or 616.

      Your body will likely reject it as a foreign object at some point and will flush it out soon thereafter.

      The RFID chip will be inserted under your skin, likely in a place where you can't remove it without a surgeon, who will be subject to severe government punishment if he does so. If it's not in your digestive tract, it's not going to be flushed out.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    37. Re:Where have I heard this before... by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      I'm not asking anything of religion. Just pointing out a gap and seeing if it's as obvious to others as it seemed to me.

      The Son is God. God is all knowing. The Son doesn't know when Armageddon is. I don't care if it doesn't make sense. Just making sure my understanding is correct (or if not correct, at least logical).

    38. Re:Where have I heard this before... by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      That's part of the "mystery of faith." Here's an apologetic. Scroll down to "Reason and Supernatural Mystery."

      You've heard this same line of thought before in scientific contexts and probably agreed with it. For instance, you'll hear an astronomer offer a solution to the Fermi Paradox, that the alien activity is going on right in front of our faces (cosmically) but we can't comprehend it, any more than an ant understands that its hill is next to an interstate highway.

      Or wave/particle duality. How can something be both a particle and a wave? You can get a glimpse of an idea (but this is only a metaphor to help understanding. There is no intuition in quantum mechanics). Take a cylinder and place it between a light source and the wall, and point one of the round surfaces at the light. Now look at the wall. What do you see? A circle. Now rotate the cylinder 90 degree on its axis. Now look at the wall. What do you see? A rectangle. So which is it? A circle, or a rectangle? It's both and neither, much like the way the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all one God, but distinct from each other.

      Our vision of God is like a dim view of a more perfect geometry.

      So, you're right. It is a gap in our understanding, but it's not because we're too dumb to understand that. We're very well aware of it. But we recognize that there are things we do not understand, and things we can probably never understand, in the same way an ant will never understand us.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    39. Re:Where have I heard this before... by aristotle-dude · · Score: 1

      What are you talking about? So you are now blaming god for the actions of man?

      Well, He created us in his image, didn't he? So yeah, it's on Him.

      You atheists are hilarious.

      I'm not an atheist.

      The devil destroyed our relationship with god and each other.

      Yes, by eating an apple and having sex. What a childish and limited view of God you have. Big Voice In The Sky who will destroy His relationship with you if you happen to do what He created you to do. That's what you get for basing your entire understanding of God on second and third-hand sources.

      The irony of your statements are delicious. The manuscripts of the new testament are close enough to the generation of people who would have witnessed the events that we should conclude that the first copies were written down within a decade or two from those events either by the witnesses themselves or by a scribe transcribing their testimonies. We also have the epistle letters to the churches written by the apostles themselves to congregations around asia minor. Name any other faith where manuscripts exist from within a century of the events described let alone decades. The epistle letters again where written within a decade of the start of the church.

      The reason why I say the irony is delicious is that you seem to have missed the fundamental theme of the bible where we are called to approach god as his children. That requires you to not approach god like this "Hi God, this is George here and I think I have most of my stuff under control myself and I just need a favour from you....". God is not our butler, our next door neighbour we borrow garden tool from or anything else like that. The fact that we can approach god as his children is a gift of grace.

      The bible account does not specifically call the fruit out as an apple and sex in the garden is something that you have interpreted. The account seems to indicate that they suddenly became aware of their nakedness and covered themselves not that they jumped each others bones. They were hiding from God when he came into the garden looking for them. They were in a state of shock.

      You see, they had lost their innocence and they realized that they broke the one rule that god had given them and that brought them shame. That act of broken trust caused a rift between man and god that god himself had to come down to fix.

      I think you need to go back and reread the bible. It is a story about the creator trying to have a relationship with his creation like a father tries to have a relationship with his prodigal son.

      The story of the prodigal son illustrates how God feels about us.

      --
      Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
    40. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not all Christians believe in the trinity. The Son of God is the MAN Christ Jesus; not a second person of the trinity, but the humanity of Christ. This explains the distinction better than trying to limit the deity of the second person of a supposed triune Godhead.

      The titles Father and Holy Spirit are just two different titles for the same one true God.

    41. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Luke 21 is Luke's version of the Olivet discourse where Jesus discussed end time events leading up to His second coming. He spoke of several things like natural and man-made disasters, war, false Christs, persecution etc., right up to the second coming in verse 27. The destruction of Jerusalem is only mentioned in verses 20-24. His statement in verse 28 refers to all of these events combined.

    42. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup, that's why Peter warned us about not being like the scoffers:

      2 Peter 2:3,4
      Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
      And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

    43. Re:Where have I heard this before... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      The manuscripts of the new testament are close enough to the generation of people who would have witnessed the events that we should conclude that the first copies were written down within a decade or two from those events either by the witnesses themselves or by a scribe transcribing their testimonies. We also have the epistle letters to the churches written by the apostles themselves to congregations around asia minor.

      Paul was not an apostle.

      The reason why I say the irony is delicious is that you seem to have missed the fundamental theme of the bible where we are called to approach god as his children.

      Again, you're using second and third hand sources. Is "close enough" really close enough for you to base your entire understanding of your god?

      The bible account does not specifically call the fruit out as an apple and sex in the garden is something that you have interpreted. The account seems to indicate that they suddenly became aware of their nakedness and covered themselves not that they jumped each others bones. They were hiding from God when he came into the garden looking for them. They were in a state of shock.

      That account isn't just second hand, but at best 30th-hand. How many generations passed between Adam and Eve and the first written accounts?

      I think you need to go back and reread the bible. It is a story about the creator trying to have a relationship with his creation like a father tries to have a relationship with his prodigal son.

      At least you admit to basing your entire understanding of a higher power on a "story".

      The story of the prodigal son illustrates how God feels about us.

      Not a story...a "parable". Written by a Greek physician who was no where near Jesus. The parable appears only in Luke, and Luke was a disciple of Paul, who himself was nowhere near Jesus or the apostles. So Luke is at best maybe four times removed from any of the things he wrote about. Is that "close enough" for you to base your entire understanding of your deity?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    44. Re:Where have I heard this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A lucky guess does not count as knowing. Just because you state something over and over until it happens doesn't mean you had knowledge it was going to happen.

  7. Social problem, technological solution. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You're smarter than that, Finland.

    1. Re:Social problem, technological solution. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I don't know. Wasn't this the country which suggested calling emergency services if an Uber car is met?

    2. Re:Social problem, technological solution. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're smarter than that, Finland.

      The True Finn party is pretty much a random selection of demagogues, racists, neo-nazis. I mean this literally, they have actually been noted by the media for their... interesting utterances.

      And the leader is a charismatic demagogue, I think if he left the picture right now, the party would break down and become marginalized.

      Also due to the multi-party system they're essentially impotent currently, as they only control 19% of the parliament, and none of the other parties will support their more insane ideas.

  8. WHICH candidates? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    >> (ID chipping) might be a popular idea with some U.S. presidential candidates, too

    Do you have something to back that up? Did the Clintons go on the record back in the Hillarycare days on this or something?

    1. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which party enacts policies that place more government control over people's lives? Answer this and you'll have the answer to your own question.

    2. Re: WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um...both parties unless you are blind

    3. Re:WHICH candidates? by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      Which party enacts policies that place more government control over people's lives? Answer this and you'll have the answer to your own question.

      So, both of them?

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    4. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Deion Sanders summed it up perfectly: Both.

    5. Re:WHICH candidates? by circletimessquare · · Score: 0

      so you're referring to republican efforts to make voting hard for poor people by insisting on them getting identification documents that can be expensive

      got it

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    6. Re:WHICH candidates? by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      Well, all of them except the Libertarians and Anarchists. And I'm not sure I believe those two actually exist.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    7. Re:WHICH candidates? by fnj · · Score: 1

      Correct. We have a winner.

    8. Re:WHICH candidates? by fnj · · Score: 1

      Absurd overreach. An ID card need not have any appreciable cost. Poll taxes and the like have already been ruled out. Try again.

    9. Re:WHICH candidates? by dywolf · · Score: 2

      You must be talking about Republicans.

      You know, the ones who keep trying to dictate the lives of those who receive public benefits, telling them which food to buy ('they bought expensive meat!"), controlling their sex lives ("stop having so many kids....but don't contraception or get an abortion!"), and telling them how they don't deserve a minimum wage ("you don't deserve to live outside of poverty and out of the street!! but you stould still get an education you cant afford and pick yourself up by your bootstraps!"), trying to keep them voting ("a day off to vote? this isn't a democracy!"), and so forth.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    10. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So Republicans then?

      Prediction: When national healthcare is implemented the in the US (not if, but when), it will be the GOP leading the charge to outlaw obesity and dictate healthy lifestyles to people.

      All their previous heartache over large soda bans, cigarette taxes, and being free to die early and unhealthy will be completely forgotten.

      Which it's important to note is the opposite of the left's approach: they simply tax it, or create incentives not to do it, but you are still free to do it, regardless of all the GOP's complaints otherwise. But when the GOP grudgingly gives benefits to the poor they try to dictate their very lives with drug tests, food lists, etc.

    11. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A Libertarian is just a far right wing Republican who wants to smoke weed.

    12. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so you're referring to republican efforts to make voting hard for illegal aliens by insisting on them getting identification documents that can be expensive FTFY

    13. Re:WHICH candidates? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Which party enacts policies that place more government control over people's lives?

      There was one senator who voted against the Patriot Act, and it was not a Republican.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    14. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So tell me which party voted 100% to compel Americans to buy a contract from private companies under penalty of fines? Which party voted 100% against this? Which party lied their ass off about the results it would have? If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. It will not add a thin dime to the deficit. The average family will save $2,500 per year. There are no death panels. Etc. Is this ringing any bells? Which party is illegally regulating CO2 as a pollutant? Anyone who believes there is a spit of difference between the two major parties is delusional. This is why conservatives are in open rebellion against the establishment republicans.

    15. Re:WHICH candidates? by dywolf · · Score: 1

      you're right it shouldn't.
      that hasn't stopped them though.

      you and those like you seem totally unaware that even a 25$ fee for a drivers license can be out of people's reach.

      they also rather conveniently tend to ignore the hidden costs of obtaining such ID, such as taking the day off (days they frequently either don't get, and cant afford to take without pay), bussing across town (my experience being Atlanta, where they oh so conveniently have been shutting down both state ID issuers and polling places in or near the poorer neighborhoods, requiring travel clear cross town (which means either multiple bus changes and a couple hours each way, or at least one incident of being pulled over for a totally random fishing expedition I mean investigatory stop that never seems to happen to other 'certain' folks)), or in some places even across a significant portion of the state (west texas comes to mind).

      it's only an overreach if you're ignorant of the trouble getting these ID's can pose for people. which means it's not an overreach at all.

      it bears repeating: the fact that proving someone's ID in order to vote is tends to be a burden on low income voters and minorities, and almost no one else, is not a bug, but a wholly intended feature of these laws.

      if these people actually wanted voter ID for ID sake, and no other ulterior purpose, ID's would be completely free, and obtainable by and thru the mail, or similar method. (ignoring for the moment that voter registration cards are already typically obtainable via mail, and really, is all the proof of unique identity that should be required any way)

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    16. Re:WHICH candidates? by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Here in Canada the Conservatives passed the "Fair Elections Act" which mandates official ID with your current address on it. $75 for my wife who has lots of official ID but not with her address (previously she'd just show a bill with her name and address). This also disenfranchises people without a numbered address such as natives on their reservations, students who are living somewhere for a few years while attending university and others.
      They also used the act to take away much of Elections Canada investigative powers for fraud such as the robot calls they previously got busted for, going over spending limits that they keep getting busted for and changed a few other things so they can subvert our attempt at election financial reform, putting the costs on the taxpayer as the right loves to do while trumpeting that they don't.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    17. Re:WHICH candidates? by mr_mischief · · Score: 2

      So the Democrats don't want to tell me I can't have a firearm, that I must have health insurance, that I can or can't do business with Cuba or Iran... You see? It's both major parties that are statist and controlling. They just keep people divided over which parts of your life they want to control more. If you want less control over your life exercised by the state, try the Libertarians.

    18. Re:WHICH candidates? by mr_mischief · · Score: 2

      Yes, Feinstein just wants to tax your firearms, not ban them completely. Keep telling yourself that.

    19. Re:WHICH candidates? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      exactly, thank you

      republican efforts to disenfranchise the poor shows who and what they really stand for, and it's not the american people

      soon enough though enough of the old assholes will die off, and not even gerrymandering will save them

      in the 2014 midterms we see a "celebration" of republicans taking many congressional seats, and hand wringing about how and why democrats don't vote in the midterms

      funny thing is though, millions of more democrats voted in the midterms than republicans. but they were all concentrated in democratic districts. only gerrymandering saved the republicans

      it gets to the point though that no matter how crazy and convoluted you draw the districts, no insane shape will preserve that precious 51% majority

      gerrymandering and disenfranchising poor voters is all the ideologically bankrupt party has left on their side

      simple demographic inevitability points to their long term decline

      soon enough though they will abandon their ignorant social conservative wedge issues and act like they were always the republican party of women's reproductive rights and gay marriage and marijuana legalization and reigning in police abuse of minorities and gun control. memory is short in politics

      necessity will force the republican party of the future to abandon all the ignorant screeching of the republicans of today

      tick tock, tick tock

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    20. Re:WHICH candidates? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      yes, that is the ignorant propaganda they use to sell their poor-hating initiative. nicely regurgitated, good little partisan tool

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    21. Re:WHICH candidates? by mr_mischief · · Score: 1

      For completeness, in the House there were 66 Nay votes. 59 were from Democrats, 3 from Republicans, and 4 others.

    22. Re:WHICH candidates? by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      If your take away from that is that one (probably your) party is better than the other and not that they're both incredibly shit, you're kidding yourself as much as the person you're responding to.

    23. Re: WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos!

    24. Re:WHICH candidates? by TwoEyedJack · · Score: 2

      If illegals voted 80% for Rs, the Ds would seal the border tomorrow.

    25. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ........if these people actually wanted voter ID for ID sake, and no other ulterior purpose, ID's would be completely free, and obtainable by and thru the mail, or similar method. (ignoring for the moment that voter registration cards are already typically obtainable via mail, and really, is all the proof of unique identity that should be required any way)

      Whatever requirements there are for ID cards (birth-certificate or whatnot) should be valid forms of ID absent of the ID card itself when standing in line at the polling location.

      Of course, the purpose of the ID card is to disenfranchise the poor by forcing them to jump through hoops, drive long distances, wait in lines, and pay fees to obtain an ID card for the sole purpose of being able to vote. Remember not so long ago when Democrats would rent buses and truck in bus-loads of people from poor neighborhoods to polling locations? The Republicans push for voter-ID cards was specifically designed to thwart that practice.

    26. Re:WHICH candidates? by operagost · · Score: 1

      I kinda feel that people who owe their livelihood to the people do have to justify it. If you're going to expect citizens to pay for a welfare state, they'll have to follow the rules. If they don't want to, they can take care of themselves like the rest of us have the liberty to do.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    27. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then why is a state issued birth-certificate not enough evidence for identity to be able to vote?

      Oh, I see, because the reason is that everybody has a birth certificate, and the point of the law is to disenfranchise the poor / elderly / students (the Democratic party's base) by making people get "IDs" that have expiration dates, and cost money to obtain / keep current.

      http://www.votetexas.gov/register-to-vote/need-id/

    28. Re:WHICH candidates? by hendrips · · Score: 2

      Most of Europe requires photo ID to vote, or require documentation that would be needed to get a photo ID. I know Germany, the Netherlands, and Ireland all require photo ID or similar documentation to vote. I somehow doubt that all of these countries have fallen victim to a nefarious Republican plot to disenfranchise the poor. Only in the U.S. is it controversial to require an ID to vote.

    29. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No fucknut. The voter ID laws are to ensure that only people eligible to vote are casting votes. The left always whines that it never happens, yet even one of Hillary's staffers was caught voting illegally in NH. We don't know how bad it is because we're not asking for state IDs. The poor seem to manage acquiring an EBT card just fine, there's no excuse.

    30. Re:WHICH candidates? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      illegals voting has never, ever been a problem that ever swayed any contest ever. it's a completely made up issue. so republicans can fake the fear, to push for laws that restrict poor people from voting

      but keep on with your ignorant hysteria. you are the republican party: dumb and angry about stupid fears

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    31. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most of Europe requires photo ID to vote, or require documentation that would be needed to get a photo ID. I know Germany, the Netherlands, and Ireland all require photo ID or similar documentation to vote. I somehow doubt that all of these countries have fallen victim to a nefarious Republican plot to disenfranchise the poor. Only in the U.S. is it controversial to require an ID to vote.

      Emphasis mine. The difference is that in the USA: you need a birth certificate to get a photo-ID (everyone has the birth certificate, by the way), however that same birth certificate is NOT enough proof at the polling location to vote in the US States that have passed these voter-ID laws.. States quires you to have the "ID card" which is a PITA to obtain for the poor / elderly / student -- the exact group the Republicans are disenfranchising. Also, the ID-card expires so you have to continuously re-register to keep the ID valid (an expired ID is not valid ID at a polling location).

    32. Re:WHICH candidates? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      I don't know about the US but in Ontario if you don't want a driver's license then you can get a photo ID from the provincial government for $35 that is valid for five years. You still have to go and get your picture taken but you don't have to write the first test and then take the practical driving tests which means that you don't need access to a car.

    33. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No fucknut. The voter ID laws are to ensure that only people eligible to vote are casting votes....

      Since the only requirement to vote is residency and age, the only documentation required should be a state-issued birth certificate -- which answer both the age and residency questions.

      Requiring a birth-certificate is not enough for Republicans though, the required "proof" must be a Photo-ID that costs time/money to obtain and has an expiration date so you are required to keep spending the time/money to "prove" yourself repeatedly.

    34. Re:WHICH candidates? by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      ...good little partisan tool

      Oh do tell!

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    35. Re:WHICH candidates? by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Don't be a moron. State IDs are free. At least the last one I had was. And leave your silly partisanship at home!

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    36. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so you're referring to republican efforts to make voting hard for poor people by insisting on them getting identification documents that can be expensive

      What, five bucks? That argument just doesn't stand. Dems are bleating that one in Virginia and even a voter registration card was acceptable - and that's free.

      Vote early, vote often!

    37. Re:WHICH candidates? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      the id cards are a lot more time and money than just $5 bucks

      you can't just make shit up, that makes your opinion invalid

      it's an impediment to the poor, the Republicans know that. the Republicans are trying to keep the poor from voting

      voter fraud by illegals has never, never been an issue in any election ever in the USA

      it's just made up crap fearmongering hysteria to hurt real Americans. but since Republican ideology just boils down to "rich? we love you! you can do no wrong! poor? hurry up and die you piece of shit" then it tracks

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    38. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Holy shit are you wrong. You have to be a US Citizen to vote in state or federal elections.

    39. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anyone can forge a birth certificate. State IDs have more stringent security. Any photo ID needs to be updated over time, and anti-counterfeiting technology changes over time. It also flushes illegal IDs out of the system. Local news just had a story where NH has arrested dozens who were using false paperwork to get a state ID here while in MA there have been more cases of false papers, but no arrests. Having to renew gives the state the opportunity to catch some of the ones that got past the checks. It also flushes out those IDs of people who have moved outside of the state.

      Sickening to see people say this is an attack on certain groups. What it targets are people voting illegally. The law spells out that only citizens are allowed to vote, obviously we need to confirm that people are citizens when they vote.

    40. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I disagree 100% -- if birth-certificates can be easily forged, then fix THAT. Regardless, to get a proper voter-ID, you still have to present that easily forged birth-certificate, so this process does nothing other than to disenfranchise people by making it difficult to vote.

      Trying to prevent a handful of "illegal votes" (and I'm giving you vast leeway with a "handful" -- there has been absolutely zero evidence of any actual voter fraud, if you have proof then show it), you are willing to disenfranchise millions of legit USA-born citizens their right to vote.

      Now, whatever "proof" is required to get a voter-ID, should also be accepted as equivalent proof when voting. If someone wheels in a 85-year old great-grandmother who has nothing but an long-expired "photo-ID" and her birth-certificate -- she SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO VOTE.

    41. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And Trump doesn't actually think all Mexicans are rapist, just most of them.

      The exception proves the rule fallacy, eh?

      GP over generalized, but one person and one issue is hardly the counter you need.
      Especially since a gun ban would save lives anyway, much as the social programs do by keeping people from dying in the streets.

    42. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The feds already tried to standardize state IDs with the Real ID act. That was a horrible failure. Fact is, the states run themselves in most matters. This means different states will do things different ways, which is fine. But it also means the states have an interest in making sure that only state residents have the IDs. It may be inconvenient, but it's the system we have. Think of what the colonists went through to even survive, I think people in modern times can make the small effort to get an ID every four or eight years (or whatever is applicable in your state).

      You can prove voter fraud right now because ANYONE can vote. We don't know who is casting ballots. That's the whole point of requiring a state photo ID. You can't prove something when you've purposely fixed the system such that proof is impossible. The only way we catch them right now is when someone is stupid enough to admit to it (which I think is how Hillary's staffer got caught in NH), or a state agent spots the same person in multiple voting centers which is rare but happens.

      Grandma can still vote. States usually allow a provisional ballot, and she'll have to prove she's legit within a certain amount of time before the state is obligated to investigate.

    43. Re:WHICH candidates? by TwoEyedJack · · Score: 1

      OK, then maybe you can tell us why BHO is so intent on enabling illegal immigration. It couldn't be to solve the problems of teenage unemployment, prison overcrowding, or crime. In your response, please clarify why you think it is that BHO sues states that pass immigration laws identical to federal laws, refuses to enforce federal laws, has pulled ICE off large swaths of the border, and refuses to prosecute sanctuary cities.

    44. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Okay, I did make that up. It's actually $10 for an adult ID card.

      http://www.dmv.state.va.us/drivers/#id/adult_id.html

      But, again, the voter registration card was acceptable. And that is free. 100% free. Always has been.

      Show me somebody - anybody - who can not get some kind of acceptable identification because of their race or economic status. This has been asked time and time again and nobody can come up with an answer.

      It boils down to two things.

      1. Fraud. It just does. If my neighbor doesn't go to the polls, I can just go in his name and get another vote.

      2. The more indifferent someone is about politics the more likely they are to vote democrat. That's the Democrat's push to get more and more warm bodies into the voting booths. The 19 year old girl who registered only because the registrar was literally sitting at the same table as the DMV clerk is the one who will vote for Bill Clinton because he wears briefs or Barack Obama because he's black.

    45. Re:WHICH candidates? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      http://today.law.harvard.edu/w...

      as for your #2, that's ignorant hate. you imagine the motivations of people you dislike. you're the problem, to arrogantly assume that, makes you a worse kind of person than what you describe

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    46. Re:WHICH candidates? by circletimessquare · · Score: 0

      it's a VAST CONSPIRACY DUDE, out to totally DESTROY REAL AMERICANS

      (insert Alex Jones herp derp here)

      how do you fear-addled retards even make it out of bed in the morning, with the world so out to get you?

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    47. Re:WHICH candidates? by TwoEyedJack · · Score: 1

      Typical Alinskyite. Responds to serious questions with ridicule. See Rule #5. Fail.

    48. Re:WHICH candidates? by circletimessquare · · Score: 0

      alinsky lol

      i didn't even know who that guy was until all the herp derps started spouting this name, i was like, who the fuck is alinsky? ah, some random nugget the conspiratards latched onto, to frame their fantastic imagination

      yup, classic alex jones crap

      and you didn't ask a serious question. you're a retard. the issues that matter to you are fantastic fear-addled crap. you're not an intelligent nor a serious person that will ever matter. you spout conspiracy nonsense and other hysterical low iq propaganda. you're a fucking joke. you morons are very entertaining but that's all you are: a dancing fool that people point and laugh at. dream fuel can't melt steel reality yo

      just hurry up and die already. that's the best you can do to improve your world, retarded crackpot

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    49. Re:WHICH candidates? by KGIII · · Score: 1

      No, that is just the noisy Libertarians. Most of as quite sane (though we may smoke weed). The ashamed Republicans have taken over the party. Most of us believe in moderation and that Ayn Rand was a moron.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    50. Re:WHICH candidates? by TwoEyedJack · · Score: 2

      No, you are the moron if you think borders don't matter. You hide behind cynicism and ridicule as if they make you sound intelligent. They don't. You sound childish. Grow up.

    51. Re:WHICH candidates? by Pfhorrest · · Score: 1

      And which party killed off all the other, better options besides that corporatist farce or leaving the broken corporatist farce we already had in place? Which party first rolled out such a system on the state level (in MA) almost a decade ago?

      --
      -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
      "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
    52. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Holy shit are you wrong. You have to be a US Citizen to vote in state or federal elections.

      What the hell do you think a "state-issued birth certificate" is proving if not US Citizenship? The morons are out in full force today.

    53. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wouldn't a libertarian or anarchist president be a contradiction to the ideology? I don't know whether most anarchists or libertarians consider the two separate ideologies and I don't care so if you are one (or the other), don't bother explaining. I'll nevertheless consider it an explanation why you're a whackjob and not a nutjob and how it's totally different.

    54. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because the only way Democrats keep control in many states is the undocumented immigrant vote.

    55. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "residency and age"

      Those are different than where you were born. I was born in one state, I live in another. Birth certificates are not useful since they don't even have a photo. You can use that along with other supporting documentation to get a state ID, and you use that to vote.

    56. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Grandma can only vote if she has a valid (meaning: not expired) voter-ID card -- same goes for the other 32 voter-ID states. In Texas, Grandma would not be allowed to vote because: a) her state-issued DL is expired, and b) birth certificates are not considered a valid voter-ID alternative.

      What is really asinine is that Texas accepts Military-ID as a valid voter-ID alternative, however the US Military allows illegal immigrants to join -- so the bullshit about these voter-ID laws to prevent illegal immigrants from voting is just that: Bullshit. Yet, they will NOT accept the one piece of paper that is the undeniable proof of someone's citizenship and age (the ONLY two requirements for voting): a state-issued birth certificate.

      The real reason Texas (and other states) do not accept birth certificates as proof of voter eligibility is that they do not want poor / minority / elderly / students to vote at all (ie: the Democratic base). Texas does want all military personnel to vote (even if they are illegal immigrants) because that group decidedly votes Republican.

    57. Re:WHICH candidates? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      No, you are the moron if you think borders don't matter.

      where did i say that retard? can you tell the difference between the real people you are talking to and what they say, and the scary bogeymen that only exist in your head?

      of course not, you're a low iq crackpot

      herp derp herp derp

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    58. Re: WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They are not free, however they should be. And also, they should hand them out at polling locations to people who bring in the requisite birth certificate as proof of citizenship and age.

    59. Re: WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There should be a gun in every black hand.

    60. Re: WHICH candidates? by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      It's been a very long time. I don't remember paying for my plain old state ID. I guess the service is just one of those things we let slip through. Now, proving residence, that's more fun...

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    61. Re:WHICH candidates? by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      You broke my heart, you cheat! I thought you only trolled me!

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    62. Re:WHICH candidates? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      A birth certificate in your hand proves that you have a birth certificate in your hand. It doesn't prove that it's yours. Voter fraud is a severe problem and Democrats are its master practitioners.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    63. Re:WHICH candidates? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      If you're too fucking lazy to get a voter ID you shouldn't be voting. You also shouldn't be eating, you're a drag on humanity.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    64. Re:WHICH candidates? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      voter fraud by illegals has never, never been an issue in any election ever in the USA

      I suppose it's possible that you're ignorant and naive, but it's far more likely that you're a malicious liar.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    65. Re:WHICH candidates? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      The phenomenon of blacks voting for Obama because he's black is already well documented.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    66. Re:WHICH candidates? by dryeo · · Score: 1

      $75 here in BC, and they've closed down most of the Motor Vehicle offices so you have to go a ways to get it. For my wife, who has good Federal ID, I have to take a day of off work to drive her ($20 in gas thanks to $1.38 a litre gas here) in to get the Provincial ID so she can vote in the election in October.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    67. Re: WHICH candidates? by mr_mischief · · Score: 1

      Yes. #blackhandsmatter #allhandsmatter

      Firearm safety and marksmanship should be in the schools. My state made me learn to polka and square dance in physical education class. When the hell is that going to be useful?

    68. Re:WHICH candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, you are saying birth certificates should have photos on them?

  9. Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by calexontheroad66 · · Score: 1

    There are much easier ways to make the welfare system well financed and sustainable than to get a chip into people.
    This seems to be a non sequitur argument which is set to frame the political discussion in a way that it becomes a legitimate policy option.

    1. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      This seems to be a non sequitur argument which is set to frame the political discussion in a way that it becomes a legitimate policy option.

      Yeah, that's the idea. This type of thing will be sold as either a security measure (as in this case) or a convenience feature.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    2. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      I've already developed a superior welfare system for America that would terminate poverty and permanently baseline our economic growth somewhere about where it sat during the 90s, with all that rapid growth from computers uncorking all production bottlenecks. I wonder if Finland, Norway, or some other rich countries have the economic basis to successfully implement such a system; in America, it reached cost-parity with our current system in 2013 (I projected all the way back to 1950, which is hilarious: 1.5% of our total individual and business income went to welfare back then, while my system would have cost 120%-135%; in 2013, the numbers were 17.2% and 17%).

      I don't imagine you could rubber-stamp my system across the globe, but I also can't imagine what differing risks would impact various countries. I've made my system generically stable, but I'm American and only have America as the generic model.

    3. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by fnj · · Score: 1

      Well. Are you keeping your system a secret or something? Do you want payment? Otherwise, where's the link to an exposition?

    4. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Less secret and more that people don't listen. Politicians want a token to get votes; everyone else wants humanitarian efforts--meaning they want funding backed by carbon credits or whatnot, they want to give everyone $4000 for every child they birth, and they want to pay people enough money to live *comfortably* (i.e. $20,000 per person) so that nobody has to work anymore. I've had so many arguments with people who imagine everything will go exactly the way they want, while I'm here slimming down risks and designing systems that can't possibly fail because failure only means success in a different way--or, at the absolute worst, minor butthurt as things become slightly worse due to such things as people (and businesses) not actually caring about making a profit.

      Anyway, it's just a vanilla Citizen's Dividend. The absolute simple explanation is an expansion of Social Security to cover everyone over age 18, natural-born, resident, American citizen. The total payout over a lifetime is such that saving each deposit until retirement nets you the average Social Security income for the rest of your life; more importantly, I've computed the profitable market prices for housing (rent), food, clothing, utilities, and so forth, and scaled it appropriately to the single individual. In 2013, that's actually under $600/month--it's actually *well* under $600/month, but I've scaled everything to risk coverage, padding up $224/mo rent to $300/mo, padding up $35/mo food (largely beans and rice, with chicken 2-3 days per week, plus some cheap vegetables) to $100/mo, and so forth. There's an 8% pad on top the whole lot (I would prefer 15%).

      It's entirely flat income tax funded, with a 17% fixed target. Over time, total income increases, and so it tracks inflation; but total buying power also increases (wealth increases--I'm writing an economic paper on this, which means I actually have to read up on economics), so the quality-of-life and the stability of the dividend increases for each year beyond 2013. I'm much more comfortable at the 2018 implementation timeline than I am at 2013. Obviously, some misguided plans to fund by carbon taxes will fall flat when people start mass moving to renewables--the people proposing such plans are hoping for exactly that change, yet have not considered the money needed to support the poor will vanish as their goals are met; they won't fucking listen to me.

      The target plan is all natural-born, resident, American citizens over the age of 18. This avoids a gold rush influx of immigration for free money, while ensuring anyone neither living in America (and under taxation) nor deployed in America's military is ineligible for benefits. A lot of people want to give $4,000 per child as well; this is a bad idea. To provide an income per child adequate for the welfare of the child, you must figure out what most (e.g. 99.7%) families require to raise a child to 17, and provide that. Besides the obvious ups and downs of costs during life (and hand-me-down clothes for that second and so forth child), that means the great majority of families get more money than they need--meaning popping out welfare babies is profitable. I suggest instead a risk control of simply letting states scale down their welfare systems until they're just providing food stamps, unemployment, and HUD vouchers to immigrants and families; but people are vehement about thinking of teh chlidren.

      I also want to repeal minimum wage. This plus moving OASDI to an income tax funding a dividend reduces the cost of labor dramatically: although individuals have strong negotiating power and can simply not work, they already have life and livelihood coming to them regardless; wages are additional. They can accept wages justly compensating them for their work, without first thinking about the desperation to live; these wages, often, will be smaller, but not so small as to constitute an unacceptable and unfair exchange between parties. Reducing labor costs causes the cycle of wealth to accelerate, and also slo

    5. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      Its probably based on a negative income tax, which I support so long as its tied with a flat tax rate.

      Key advantages include no need for minimum wage laws (the one and only exemption is a disincentive against low wages), is automatically progressive, is dead-simple, and eliminates the need for welfare programs.

      The only tunable parameters are the tax rate, the exemption amount, and the exemption rate. This of course doesnt allow politicians to reward and/or punish, so they will never support it without corrupting it with additional shit.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    6. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by digsbo · · Score: 1

      I never hear anyone advocating GMI or your version of it address the pathologies that come with people not having to work for a living. You don't forsee any unintended consequences/social pathologies with this plan?

    7. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      If you're asking if people will decide to take the easy life, the answer is the obvious yes. People chose to steal, to prostitute, and to knowingly market pseudoscientific bullshit to con people out of their money.

      All of these problems, while annoying, are minimal. Unemployment is currently 5.3%; while of course 3% deciding simply to not work will have severe economic effects, a sufficiently small number will be less likely to cause dearth of employment in whole markets. That is to say: were we faced with 5.3% unemployment, 0.3% of which is just people who are satisfied with next to nothing but survival, we wouldn't find New York, Baltimore, or San Francisco completely devoid of hirable labor, and so would only transfer jobs to people who are seeking work. If we faced 5.3% unemployment and 4% had decided that jobs are for chumps... well, we may have some trouble in the labor market.

      Predictably, people want more. I made, under unemployment income, a wage of equivalently $10.50/hr--$420 per month. Were I to take a wage of $10.75/hr working for Federal Express, I would essentially work for 40 hours per week at a wage of 25 cents--not working, I had made $10.50, and now, working, I make $10.75. While I do want more than unemployment ... I'm not working for a quarter an hour.

      By the same token, my Citizen's Dividend--not simply a guaranteed minimum income, which may draw away when you cross that minimum on your own means (e.g. if unemployment, above, would continue to pay me $2.50/hr if I got an $8/hr job at McDonalds)--keeps paying when you're Warren Buffet, with no increase or reduction. If someone were willing to pay $5/hr, well, that's $5/hr more than I have now, isn't it? Capsules and glorified hotel rooms are spartan living quarters, after all; and we all wish to live as kings, vacationing in our mountain retreats for the three-day memorial weekend once per year to demonstrate how rugged we are without actually having to live like the cretins at Sparta... or was it the Spartans at Crete?

      As to your question, then, I see people refusing to work if you try to compensate them $2/hr for hard labor. They may accept $4/hr or $6/hr or whatever to lounge around in an air conditioned room operating a cash register and smiling at idiots; they probably won't take $6/hr to do grunt labor shoveling heavy gravel across an open field in the burning hot sun for 10 hours per day, because fuck you, pay me. I see them commanding more negotiating power, but not foregoing work; thus I see the repeal of minimum wage as a way to avoid published standards of fairness (shoveling rocks is a minimum-wage job, after all... isn't minimum wage "fair"? This is one of the most powerful negotiating tactics available), driving wages closer to fair--down in many cases of light, low-stress, comfortable tasks, up in cases of strenuous and dangerous labor.

      To go further, into secondary effects, statistics claim 92% of female prostitutes protest they would get out of prostitution if only they had enough money to live and work. I don't believe this for a second; I do believe they got into prostitution due to desperate need for survival. I entreat you imagine the next generation of women without that driving need, and how it would impact their likelihood to sell themselves as a commodity. The statistics claim 40% of New York prostitutes start as children, with the average age of prostitution beginning at 14--which means a lot of 12-year-old hookers on the streets somewhere.

      The blacks need as much food as whites and asians; I'm not sure about Mexicans, since they're so small. In any case, you can't very well point at blacks and claim welfare abuse and shit when they get exactly the same monthly deposit a middle-class white man gets. Someone, once, asked me what specific steps I took to address racial inequality in my plan; I spent several long seconds confused at the

    8. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      I made, under unemployment income, a wage of equivalently $10.50/hr--$420 per month.

      Per week. Holy fuck.

    9. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by digsbo · · Score: 1

      I'm not in the least concerned of the cost of feeding people. Housing, even, probably isn't *that* bad to pay for. The problem is that income doesn't actually equate to people choosing to raise children properly. To not abuse them, do drugs while they're pregnant, make sure they go to school, and what not. I raise the point because of what my wife saw while working in a poor school district. Basic civilized behavior seems to go by the wayside for a high enough percentage of a community that already gets food and housing. When it goes by the wayside, the criminal behavior becomes incredibly expensive.

      I just see GMI as a subsidy for breeding criminality into a greater and greater portion of the population.

    10. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      The problem is that income doesn't actually equate to people choosing to raise children properly. To not abuse them, do drugs while they're pregnant, make sure they go to school, and what not.

      Can't do much about that through financial policy; you need direct social policy for that.

      I just see GMI as a subsidy for breeding criminality into a greater and greater portion of the population.

      This is why I reject the prospect of paying a cash benefit for having children in your household. An EBT system doesn't relieve a parent of an expense when they have children; it provides funds to offset the new expense. Granted, the same problem arises: the EBT must allow for mismanagement (waste of food) and market fluctuations, meaning people can buy food and feed themselves *and* their kids, opening their budget a bit; and I only recognize that impact as smaller than simply forking over a cash benefit, wholly restricted to the size of the basic food costs. Still, it is no more risk than we carry now; and we must do something for the general welfare in such cases.

      The fact of the matter is people have two great imperatives: providing for themselves and providing for their children. It is an abuse to call the lawless behavior of a person whose children are starving "criminal", because what the fuck do you expect a person to do? They will do anything they can to feed themselves, to ensure their own life and safety; many persons will step in to protect children in general; and even so, a great many people will cut *other* families's children's throats by their own hands if it will protect their own starving children.

      These are fortunate facts of life, as, annoying as they may be to reason, they produce the social infrastructure which allows humans to accomplish great things. Without these impulses and imperatives, all humans would be casual criminals, ready to lie, cheat, steal, and murder at will for the simple pleasure of improving their own lot by a tiny margin. Without the impulse to form gradually stronger social groups--nations, communities, interest groups, allies, friends, and family--we would see the routine exploitation of everyone, up to and including a high incidence of fathers routinely raping their daughters (and their friends) the moment puberty sets in.

      Given that in consideration, you must recognize that pressures placed upon a person's survival or the well-being of his children breed socially destructive behavior not unlike crime, behavior which we can only labor to call crime by denying our own moral imperatives. For all your observations--which, I suspect, are confounded by many things, between circumstance and common distorted thinking--you cannot deny the effect desperation for survival of self and kin have on an individual.

    11. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by digsbo · · Score: 1

      It is an abuse to call the lawless behavior of a person whose children are starving "criminal", because what the fuck do you expect a person to do?

      I'm not talking about people stealing to buy food. That, as far as I know, doesn't happen very much. People steal to buy themselves drugs, but I'm talking about gross child abuse, negligence, or general violence in and around the home, or having additional children in a "home" that's already damaging children on a daily basis.

    12. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      I'm not talking about people stealing to buy food. That, as far as I know, doesn't happen very much.

      I was highlighting the counterpoint, the need for welfare. With modern welfare, 49.1 million Americans still go without adequate food; we have 320 million Americans, meaning a full 15% frequently struggle to find enough to eat. This is a very real problem, the solving of which has very real benefits; your concerns are simply the supposed side-effects of solving this problem.

      I'm talking about gross child abuse, negligence, or general violence in and around the home, or having additional children in a "home" that's already damaging children on a daily basis.

      That's all stuff you can't really do much about without good, strong social policy. Back in the 50s, we still had PSAs and stuff, pushing our moral agenda on society; today, we do none of that, which means we don't show people what we think a good household looks like.

      If only the state sent out pamphlets and video and announcements on good parenting, attacking solid issues like maximizing cohesion between parents and children so your kids don't piss you off so much by acting like little motherfuckers, or improving their academic performance so their teachers stop fucking calling you all the damn time, or keeping them engaged in a positive social atmosphere so the police stop coming to your house and charging you fines, we might encourage little changes that give big effects.

      At the very least, we could make parents more self-conscious about the judgment of their peers about their parenting.

      I've been working on educational policies which should sharply reduce these problems in the next generation. I took a prior position of modifying school districts based on local need; while I don't retract that position, I think we can safely de-emphasize it, as I've determined the strategies which most help those students in the poorest districts also greatly improve the academic performance of those students in the most financially secure districts.

      Most of the stuff I'd want to implement to bring students in poor, black, inner-city ghettos would raise students in white upper-middle-class suburbs up to a higher standard, as well, most likely elevating both in total to the same level of performance--the poor by a much larger degree from where they start, of course, due to the factors you cite. I believe it's environment, and not breeding; I simply wish to transfer the advantages of a better environment to all students.

      All of this, of course, would require one to two generations to catch on. Those students already past the early grades would miss this benefit, and grow up status quo; those students entering would become the new parents, 30 years later, mixing their kids with half a generation of kids living in educationally-disadvantaged households, themselves receiving the same remedy as the new generation of parents. It won't fix everything, but it should help immensely.

      You realize, of course, that all this--the new welfare system, the new education system, and so forth--is really the most effective way to destroy America, right? Can you imagine the repercussions of a truly free population, of every human being set on the firm ground of extremely rough survival and the maximum utility of their brains? Either of those is dangerous; combine the ability to fall back to an unpleasant but survivable position with the full knowledge and skill of employing the brain as a powerful tool to its maximum potential and you have the most tactically-dangerous threat any country has ever faced. America has shaped itself around a core of exploiting the desperate and stupid; that will one day prove impossible. Forever.

    13. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by digsbo · · Score: 1

      If only the state sent out pamphlets and video and announcements on good parenting, attacking solid issues like maximizing cohesion between parents and children so your kids don't piss you off so much by acting like little motherfuckers, or improving their academic performance so their teachers stop fucking calling you all the damn time, or keeping them engaged in a positive social atmosphere so the police stop coming to your house and charging you fines, we might encourage little changes that give big effects.

      At the very least, we could make parents more self-conscious about the judgment of their peers about their parenting.

      In the current culture, it's not even permitted to plainly point out that kids from lower SES do better when they spend more time at school, but kids from higher SES don't need more school time. The code phrase in the psychological studies is "more research is needed".

      I don't know what you think of political correctness or cultural sensitivity, but when it's verboten to plainly speak the truth in psychology and the social sciences, I don't know what kind of message to make parents "more self-conscious" you think you'd be able to send - it's almost delusional to think you wouldn't be met with a cry of "CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE!".

      Not that I disagree with the idea of actually telling people "Breeding and not caring for children properly is totally unacceptable." I just don't think there's much realism in thinking you're going to be allowed to A) pay for that behavior, and B) dictate social norms.

    14. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Mass-mailing can have a neutral, helpful tone that allows people to shift the focus off themselves, and judge others. That gets the speaker out of the hot seat.

      I was, mostly, citing a problem. Education systems are easier to fix, except politicians don't want to--if you go from 40% success to 85% success, you get 100% media coverage on the 15% of students failing, and their parents claiming your new education system fucked them all up.

    15. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by digsbo · · Score: 1

      You think mass-mailings are an effective way to communicate with parents who abuse or neglect their kids? Have you dealt with dysfunctional families in any clinical or direct service setting?

    16. Re:Cue to convenient policy to control the masses by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      It's called "propaganda" and it has a stronger preventative mechanism than effective mechanism. It weakly moves people toward whatever the propaganda indicates; new generations form habits following the propaganda more readily.

      Really, part of the problem is everyone wants a panacea for everything. Democrats r ebil, republercans r teh devilz, etc. If we just taught computers in school, all kids would become brilliant, they'd all get jobs as computer programmers, and they'd develop logical reasoning skills to save themselves from politicians. So on and so forth everyone get free college.

      Things aren't done by halves; they're done by tiny little building blocks, grains of sand that eventually form Arrakis.

  10. I'm all for chipping politicians by PeterM+from+Berkeley · · Score: 2

    Especially US presidential candidates....

    --PM

    1. Re:I'm all for chipping politicians by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      Can we connect the chips to a mild electric shocker. Each person would be able to administer a shock to a candidate, but the amount would be barely detectable. When you get enough people together, though, you could cause the candidate some major discomfort. Did Candidate X just insult all women? He's going to be feeling some serious voltage tonight!

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    2. Re:I'm all for chipping politicians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The problem with that is everyone is so easily offended that anyone implanted with your shock chip would be fried in seconds.

    3. Re:I'm all for chipping politicians by TWX · · Score: 1

      Heh. OT, but I found it amusing that when Jeb Bush spoke against Donald Trump's derogatory comments, he cited women as 53% of the voters, using the number like it was a significant minority when it's actually the majority.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    4. Re:I'm all for chipping politicians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...with a wood chipper.

      CAPTCHA: chopped

    5. Re:I'm all for chipping politicians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heh, OT, but if I insulted Malcolm X and you took my quote out of context to be directed against "black people I don't like", I'm pretty sure that would make your interpretation the thing that was racist.

      IMHO

  11. Which presidential candidates? by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 1

    Sounds like a parallel system might be a popular idea with some U.S. presidential candidates, too.

    I'm genuinely curious. I know the knee-jerk reaction is going to be "Teh Republicanz!", but I haven't heard any suggestion from any Dem or Rep that they want to introduce this. National ID cards? Sure, there are some politicians spouting that, but chipping people like dogs is a step beyond that.

    --
    Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    1. Re: Which presidential candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The plan for "Real ID" is already being implemented. In the near future you won't be able board a plane with your Real ID or a passport.

    2. Re:Which presidential candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But why do we treat dogs like dogs. It bothers me when the SPCA and humane societies help the homeless dog population by rounding them up and sending them to extermination camps to be humanely executed. We control dog population by among other things, forced sterilization. If it is wrong for humans why is it wrong for dogs. People say it is because humans are smarter that dogs and therefore given more rights and responsibilities. I would counter that democrats are no smarter than dogs, and that if we do not forcibly sterilize democrats. Why should we forcibly sterilize dogs?

    3. Re:Which presidential candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When dogs aren't property, can own property, vote and pay taxes THEN you can convince me that we ought not be sterilizing them -- or that we should be sterilizing Democrats.

    4. Re:Which presidential candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Democrats don't pay taxes.

    5. Re: Which presidential candidates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Real ID is dead in the water. Compliance was too expensive and the feds only set the standards, they didn't offer to fund the system. Some that did implement it have already announced that they'll be switching to a less costly system in the near future which won't be compliant.

  12. Moo? (is that enough o's?) by Overzeetop · · Score: 1

    Wait...are you implying that chips are for cows?

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    1. Re:Moo? (is that enough o's?) by TWX · · Score: 1

      Maybe the AC that has been posting that can't bring himself to continue when reality becomes more ridiculous than this appeal to the absurd...

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    2. Re:Moo? (is that enough o's?) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um... Moo?

    3. Re:Moo? (is that enough o's?) by mark-t · · Score: 1

      What does it say about slashdot that a recurring offtopic post has almost become an site-local meme?

      I have an idea, but I can't think of how to describe it without invoking another meme that involves sharks and jumping over them.

    4. Re:Moo? (is that enough o's?) by TWX · · Score: 1

      Compared to so many horrible recurring spam offtopic posts the cow one is almost a breath of fresh air.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  13. easy hack - bad idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All the "chip" technology is moving to China. They own IBM servers, laptops, and much of all computer fabrication in the world. To roll out to the travelling civilian population means it isn't the 1-2 bleeding edge samples, but is instead commodity hardware.

    This is a great way to backdoor their operatives into Finland, or the US, or really anywhere. It also gives any traveller a giant target - want to find and kill an American abroad - use chip based selection.

    Suggestion: Go ask the US national labs how they feel about smartphones - especially something like the iPhone. If it isn't' singing aria's about its securability - then it is a bad idea to put its dumber cousin into a person.

    1. Re:easy hack - bad idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually high tech chips are not made in China. Intel purposely keeps their China fab atleast 2 nodes behind to prevent leakage. Their high tech stuff is made in the US, Israel or Ireland.

  14. Pedophiles also by Yoda222 · · Score: 3, Funny

    He is using several arguments: we could track terrorists (== people going to Syria), we could find easily people in natural catastrophes. I think he missed one of the advantages. If everyone, including children, has a gps chip, and the data about location is stored for a reasonable amount of time (let's say 50 years, but more is possible) we will be able to find possible pedophiles if a children complains, even 50 years later!

    1. Re:Pedophiles also by NonUniqueNickname · · Score: 2

      This Exactly. Implant always-on tracking devices under everybody's skin because think of the children.

    2. Re:Pedophiles also by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds good. Why not just stop there. Why not be proactive rather that reactive. No one knows who is going to be a pedophile. Why not just send everyone to a facility where they could be watched 24-7. We would have separate facilities for people under 18 and those over 18 to ensure no funny business takes place. Also this facility would be safe and secure. Call is a gun free zone. We don' want anyone to go hungry, so everyone's food should be paid for by the state. Health care also. What could we call such a place? I know let's call it a prison. Yes. Free prison for all. Maybe we could get a political candidate / party to stand for the free prisons platform (fpp). Hell I bet we could get all of them to support it. Of coarse they would call it something else. But the names really do not matter.

      Yes it is a crying shame that in 2015 the greatest country on the planet earth (the USA) still has not followed through on it oath to provide for the disadvantaged (everyone) by providing them free prisons. Shure we lead the world, but we can do better. I demand that the politicians end there war on women / blacks / whatever and that they support us by giving us the prisons we deserve.

      -Did you vote in the last election. If you did, than you voted for a candidate that was supported and endorsed by the media ruling class that guides controls and determines all our thoughts and deepest held convictions. We are brainwashed as thoroughly as anyone in the PRK.

    3. Re:Pedophiles also by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bible allows men to marry female children, including via force.

      Deuteronomy ch 22, v 28-29, hebrew.

      Ofcourse the cunt politician would be for the chips and against the pedos.

      This culture needs to be overthrown.

    4. Re:Pedophiles also by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We will also be able to track down people who atteneded rallies of your political opponents, how useful!

    5. Re:Pedophiles also by aristotle-dude · · Score: 2

      Bible allows men to marry female children, including via force.

      Deuteronomy ch 22, v 28-29, hebrew.

      Ofcourse the cunt politician would be for the chips and against the pedos.

      This culture needs to be overthrown.

      What crack are you smoking? It says that if a man sleeps with a virgin and they are found out, he has to pay the family reparations, marry her and never divorce her. That implies that he is not only has to pay money as penalty but loses the right to refuse marriage to her and the right to divorce her at at later time.

      I don't think you understand the context of that scenario. Men were allowed to divorce their wives and women had few rights in that society. A divorced woman was extremely vulnerable economically.

      That guy is held accountable for that woman/girl for the rest of his life. They did not have a welfare state back then.

      --
      Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
  15. Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom - Finland Ed. by Irate+Engineer · · Score: 1

    While Marlin Perkins sits back in his Mutual of Omaha office, Jim Fowler is out in the helicopter shooting herds of Finns with tranquillizer darts and tagging them with chips after they collapse.

    Way to treat people like animals. Why don't we just tattoo them, and make them wear armbands? Oh wait...

    --

    Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!

    Vote for Bernie in 2016!

  16. True Finn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The Finns Party (this is the current English name of the party!) politicians are notorious for posting stupid shit on Facebook. A few weeks ago one of their politician declared a "war on multiculturalism" on saturday wee hours and that caused a fucking massive controversy and spawned demonstrations.

    The Finns party are known for their radical stances on various subjects, so this should be considered too when evaluating these posts.

    1. Re:True Finn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A few weeks ago one of their politician declared a "war on multiculturalism" on saturday wee hours and that caused a fucking massive controversy and spawned demonstrations.

      Here is the particular post in Facebook.

    2. Re:True Finn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so they're the Finnish version of the US tea party or the UK's UKIP?

    3. Re:True Finn by mr_mischief · · Score: 1

      So you're saying he just wants to make sure he only has true believer followers from the pure chosen ancestry? Got it. Is there a special salute and a secret police?

  17. Troll? Must not have liked the source. by pecosdave · · Score: 0

    I mean, Allen B. West is a well known Republican.

    How about a different source?

    (BTW, I am not a Republican)

    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
  18. Nothibg to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Finn here.

    He's a municipal "politician", with no chance of being elected to parliament.

    He has been appropriately ridiculed nationally, apparently it's time he was ridiculed internationally too. Have at it.

    1. Re:Nothibg to see here by TWX · · Score: 1

      So like Pat Buchanan? Got it.

      Buchanan was parodied here with some kind of sketch suggesting installing nonremovable collars on illegal immigrants caught crossing the border. When they would attempt to cross again the collar would explode. It sounded like someone took the idea of the collars from the inmates at the beginning of The Running Man.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    2. Re:Nothibg to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Finn here.

      He's a municipal "politician", with no chance of being elected to parliament.

      He has been appropriately ridiculed nationally, apparently it's time he was ridiculed internationally too. Have at it.

      Finn here also.

      The person I am replying to is apparently a supporter of ISIS since this issue has been raised because the muslim immigrants that go to fight alongside ISIS in Syria still get their welfare benefits from Finland while being abroad.

      Do not believe communists lies.

    3. Re:Nothibg to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A reasonable and persuasive argument. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

  19. Oblig. by Sir_Eptishous · · Score: 1

    And so it begins.

    --
    We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
  20. Let's make a deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can embed a chip into me. But, it has to come as part of a bionic implant that gives me superhuman abilities.

  21. Just don't give benefits to non-residents by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

    My Citizen's Dividend plan has the following eligibility: all natural-born, resident, American citizens over the age of 18 receive the full Dividend.

    If you weren't born here, you don't get it. This prevents an influx of gold-digging first-generation immigrants from coming to America for the free money.

    If you aren't living in America, its territories, its military bases, its naval ships, or in active military deployment, you're not resident and you don't get shit. You left the country; we'll pay you to come back.

    Kids don't get shit, either.

    The primary risk control of the second-generation risks is a vestigial legacy welfare system: although unemployment, HUD vouchers, and food stamps mainly go away (and Social Security effectively expands), a tiny portion of those state-run welfare systems (probably consolidated into a single department, since even die hard bureaucrats aren't that ridiculous) remains running to provide welfare services to immigrants and families. This avoids paying everyone $4000 per year per child, which would have to be more money than 99% of families strictly need per child, meaning 99% of families have more spending money if they pop out welfare babies; the legacy systems hand out shit like EBT, so you can buy your kid food while we don't give you extra money for video games and drugs.

    Why pay your citizens when they're not resident? If they're not resident, you shouldn't tax them; if you're not taxing their income--that is, if they both have income *and* aren't subjected to taxation--why are you providing them benefits? I write the social contract quite fragile, so you don't get benefit even if you're taxed *if* you just moved here from elsewhere, and so you don't get benefit if you leave the reach of taxes. That's harsh for some, but stabilizes the system for the vast majority; your country isn't 1/4 first-generation immigrants and half your citizens don't live outside the country (and you wouldn't have the tax basis to pay them all a welfare benefit if they did).

    Leaving your country is a risk. You follow it when the opportunity risk is bigger than the threat risk.

    1. Re:Just don't give benefits to non-residents by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Move to Alaska and leave us alone.

    2. Re: Just don't give benefits to non-residents by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I am a first generation American, born in Canada, and I will explain to you how America works, since you don't seem to understand.
      A) Nobody is entitled to anything.
      B) We pay taxes -- on our world wide incomes.
      C) If we leave the country, we still pay taxes -- on income that we earn both inside and outside the country.
      D) Most "native born Americans" are lazier and less successful than most first generation immigrants.

    3. Re:Just don't give benefits to non-residents by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      another libertarian dream country aka nightmare for everyone else.

    4. Re: Just don't give benefits to non-residents by operagost · · Score: 1

      His idea includes NOT taxing people who are not resident, AND not paying them any dividend. So that would be changed.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  22. How does embedding a chip differ from issuing by mark_reh · · Score: 1

    a passport in terms of the security it provides for "the state"? Do you think that people won't be stealing/selling the chips to others who want to be identified as Finnish citizens? Do you think that a minor surgical procedure that can be performed in any alley is going to be more secure than a printed document?

  23. What a ridiculous proposal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    His political career is finnish.

    Thank you. I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

  24. Universal ID system by aNonnyMouseCowered · · Score: 1

    This is just a high-tech version of a universal ID system. That is what we need to oppose since you can easily extend the concept to allow for non-invasive natural ID technologies (aka biometrics) to become the "mark". That and universal surveillance.

  25. Radical idea... by MikeRT · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How about we punish people who abuse the welfare system with blacklisting from it? In the US, our Office of the Inspector General for Social Security found that the Social Security Administration was committing black letter of the law violations on about 25% of the Social Security Disability payments it was awarding. That means the floor for how much corruption is 25% of all transfer payments. Send the employees involved to prison and blacklist the fraudulent recipients from receiving it, even if later they end up needing it after all. Cruel? You bet. That's a feature in dealing with welfare cheats. If they're going to cheat the current recipients who need it and the tax payers, then by God society isn't going to have a wad of cash ready for when they do need it.

    1. Re:Radical idea... by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      Prison? Public execution on prime time TV.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    2. Re:Radical idea... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lifetime imprisonment for anyone caught evading just one cent in taxes, even interstate use tax! We can't have them get a job and have the opportunity again now can we?

    3. Re:Radical idea... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Somehow I don't think you'd like to be executed for making a typo in your job.

    4. Re:Radical idea... by Locando · · Score: 1

      Not radical, just an insistence on seeing this in purely moralistic terms without consideration for pragmatism or the possibility of alternative moral viewpoints. That said, you're advocating something that you yourself find cruel. So I don't see how you can make a moral argument for it: Couldn't you just as easily argue that the welfare cheats deserve the right to be cruel based on some arbitrary justification that only serves to obscure the actual rationale of "because I have the power to get away with it"?

  26. His party's description is interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "The party combines left-wing economic policies[16] with conservative social values, socio-cultural authoritarianism, and ethnic nationalism."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finns_Party

    Seriously Finland? 17% of you think this is a good thing? Most of us out there would like to see left-wing social values combined with conservative money spending, and just forget the rest.

    Yikes...

    1. Re:His party's description is interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So... he's saying they're National Socialist? Hm. I want to say there's been another term for that in the past, maybe something of a contraction of the two... What could it possibly be?

  27. Ok... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... now I understand Linus.

  28. huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So stopping welfare abuse is protecting the welfare state? So conservatives are trying to protect the welfare state when they claim their actions are to curb abuses, that never really curb abuses.

  29. As America catches up to chip-and-pin ... by scunc · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... Europe considers implementing a new chip-in-Finn system!

  30. How can related news be a troll? by pecosdave · · Score: 1

    It's not like it's unreported or tinfoil hat. It's straight up relevant counter points!

    BTW, chipping isn't the right idea either.

    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    1. Re:How can related news be a troll? by dywolf · · Score: 0

      The insanity is strong in this one.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    2. Re:How can related news be a troll? by pecosdave · · Score: 2

      It really keeps me going.

      I just really like to call out people with blinders and agendas, as certain mods obviously have.

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
  31. I'm all for embedding chips in politicians ... by Ihlosi · · Score: 2

    I'm all for embedding chips in politician to protect the state... oh, wait ...

  32. Re:It's because of immigrants by TWX · · Score: 1

    Then require the ex-pats to register with their local consulate or the nearest consulate or embassy that does business on behalf of Finland, and set up a regular appointment schedule that they have to keep in order to keep receiving benefits. Also consider the nature of the financial institutions that the government is willing to direct-deposit to, such that they have to be banks that don't work with groups like ISIS.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  33. I'm cool with it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As long as all the politicians get one first :D

    Our own elected representatives are the absolute poster child of welfare. Considering how much they actually work vs what their financial and retirement compensation pays out, I would say the ER's are pretty much pot, meet kettle here.

    Chip every one of them and anytime they decide not to show up for a vote, or are out campaigning instead of doing their damn job, no pay for jhou that day :D

  34. Ownership, not control by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Control" makes it sound almost benign. "Those selfish bastards are trying to control us." That's something you can actually relate to as a human being, even if you oppose it. After all, it happens in the workplace every day.

    Unfortunately, the reality is much less human. It's about ownership. There is only one reason to imbed a tracking chip in another living being: because you own it. Control may be the objective, but ownership is the relation which makes it possible, whether that ownership is announced outright (as in totalitarian states) or obfuscated via the political system (as in democratic states).

    In any event, if a human being can legally force another human being to accept a tracking chip, then the only rational description of this relationship (from above, so to speak) is that the first human being owns the second.

    1. Re:Ownership, not control by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      "Control" makes it sound almost benign. "Those selfish bastards are trying to control us." That's something you can actually relate to as a human being, even if you oppose it. After all, it happens in the workplace every day.

      Unfortunately, the reality is much less human. It's about ownership.

      I can dig that. My views on this type of thing are more extreme than I admit in public, even on this board.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    2. Re:Ownership, not control by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is exactly this anti-freedom mindset that causes me to lose all concern for the future of humanity. IF this mindset prevails and coercive authority succeeds in transforming human civilization into the cattle farm of their wet dreams, complete with 95% of the population mindlessly parroting the slogans of totalitarianism (as we see already within this discussion), then I can honestly say I don't give the slightest damn what happens to humanity in the future. And why would I? That future is proof that humanity doesn't give the slightest damn about me.

      On the upside, that's one less thing to worry about.

  35. alternative viewpoint by s.petry · · Score: 1

    I don't believe an update is needed, because the tyrants don't have new ideas or plans. The implementation of the ideas is being closer to a reality does not make it a new idea.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  36. It already exists in the US - your SS number by Overzeetop · · Score: 2

    Let's face it, the Bible is allegory and the Social Security number is the number you fear. You are marked with it at birth, and though it may not appear physically on your skin, it is embeded in your mind, and written by (in) your dominant (right) hand every time you complete a business transaction. It is essentially a permanent number which identifies you and is almost impossible to change. You are taxed through it, every business is tracked by it, every significant financial transaction requires it - to buy a house, get a car, apply for government help, collect disability or retirement benefits, even to sign up for tickets to the Masters golf tournament.

    To not see that the beast has already taken over and given to embed a number in everyone is to be blind to what has already occurred. The chip isn't the problem, the chip is just a convenience. It's your participation in the entire last century of society that dooms you to hell.
     

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    1. Re:It already exists in the US - your SS number by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Let's face it, the Bible is allegory and the Social Security number is the number you fear. You are marked with it at birth, and though it may not appear physically on your skin, it is embeded in your mind, and written by (in) your dominant (right) hand every time you complete a business transaction. It is essentially a permanent number which identifies you and is almost impossible to change. You are taxed through it, every business is tracked by it, every significant financial transaction requires it

      KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF MY SOCIAL SECURITY!

      Also, Social Security in the US has been around since 1935, so if it's a sign of the End TimesTM, then Somebody up there has been slacking off.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:It already exists in the US - your SS number by cellocgw · · Score: 1

      Well, for those of us of a certain age :-(, our SSN does not actually identify us.Yes I know the Fed gov't now treats us as identified by our SSN, but I got mine by walking into an IRS office and requesting one. I could have gone back the next day and requested another -- but since at the time the only purpose of the SSN was to track my earnings so as to calculate my retirement payments, splitting my salary reports between 2 numbers would have been stupid.

      --
      https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
    3. Re:It already exists in the US - your SS number by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How else should the govt identify you for the various things they do, numb nuts? By your name? Yeah... because everyone has a unique name. There obviously has to be a unique identifier and the social security # is that.

      Your username is apt here... over the top indeed. Do civilization a favor: slow down on the drugs and back away from the keyboard.

    4. Re:It already exists in the US - your SS number by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Well, for those of us of a certain age :-(

      You look darn good for your age, too.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:It already exists in the US - your SS number by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you dont have progressive tax on retirenment money?
      In countries like Finland or Sweden it would beneficial to get half the money to two legal entites because of progressive tax.

  37. FUCK YOU! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll die of starvation or worse on the street rather than take THE MARK OF THE BEAST when it comes. Loyalty to God is above all else.

  38. Ievan polkka. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > he suggests that all Finnish citizens leaving the country be embedded with an identification chip.

    Passports already carry a mandatory chip. Thus finnish people traveling outside the European Union are already chipped in a way, but their passports can become lost or stolen and re-used for illegal activities.

    If dog can be micro-chipped without ethical problem, humans could be, too.

    1. Re:Ievan polkka. by aristotle-dude · · Score: 1

      If dog can be micro-chipped without ethical problem, humans could be, too.

      Ok, so don't have a problem then if you get stripped naked, put on a leash and chain and left outside with a bowl of water and dry dog food then?

      --
      Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
    2. Re:Ievan polkka. by ai4px · · Score: 1

      Some people like to be lead around on all fours with a leash. To each his own!!

  39. I prefer Tagging and tracking politicians. by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    Politicians need to be tagged and monitored. Bonus points if you can build remote shock capability into the tags.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  40. This is an inevitable development by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Scandinavian welfare states evolved from the traditional communitarian cultures of these countries. Within this culture, the Lutheran moral code promotes helping each other out in time of need while stigmatizing freeloading.

    But now Europe as a whole is facing an uncontrollable, Arizona-style flood of refugees who are not part of this culture and who do not feel restrained by the Lutheran moral code. Now Finland has its first Joe Arpaio.

    1. Re:This is an inevitable development by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You talk of Scandinavia in the first paragraph, then Europe as a whole in the second. The two are not the same at all and conflating them is disingenuous at best.

      By far the vast majority of refugees into Europe end up in Germany - a country not known for its "Scandinavian communitarian culture".

    2. Re:This is an inevitable development by Yoda222 · · Score: 1

      That's why the "true finns party" is asking for the end of the mandatory second language in school. They think Finns don't need to speak the language of these "arizona-style flood of refugees" who have been there only for ... ever (or close) and speaks Swedish.

    3. Re:This is an inevitable development by digsbo · · Score: 1

      Insightful. It is interesting that people DO NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT the revenge effect of the social democracy facing immigration. It's notable how badly things are ghetto-ized in France. It's notable that the countries with the biggest cultural/ethnic supermajorities (the scandinavian countries) are also the ones with the most virulent anti-immigrant minority parties. Germany seems to be dealing better than some, but even they aren't actually doing as well welcoming immigrants as the USA. People forget that the USA has one of the top five most liberal legal immigration policies.

    4. Re:This is an inevitable development by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Nah. This is a crackpot politician in a party of far right (as in fascism) weirdos. Very far from popular opinion in Scandinavia.

    5. Re:This is an inevitable development by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How is that remotely related to Joe Arpaio?

      Old Joe only enforces the laws on the books, to mis-characterize him as something else is racist hyperbole.

    6. Re:This is an inevitable development by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now Finland has its first Joe Arpaio.

      You should try reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels. That view isn't new in Scandinavia.

      You also might try reading the summary of this story. The problem isn't people coming to Finland to get benefits. The problem is Finnish people getting benefits when they are outside Finland (and in some extreme cases using those benefits to fund ISIS). Even if part of the immigrant community, these are people who have been in Finland for decades. They may even have been born there. They aren't sudden new arrivals.

    7. Re:This is an inevitable development by ai4px · · Score: 1

      So Marko McFinn is living abroad and has an RFID chip embedded in his arm. How do the government officials in Finland know he has still got the chip and how do they know to stop his benefits? Afterall, there may not be any RFID readers in teh other country.

    8. Re:This is an inevitable development by ai4px · · Score: 1

      I was in München last fall. It looks like little arabia around Karlsplatz. I think the Germans are a little too friendly to their immigrants. Of course it doesn't help that the german birthrate has fallen below 1.8:1.

    9. Re:This is an inevitable development by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think there were Assyrian refugees in Finland a thousand years ago let alone ten thousand. The "for ever or close" falls quite flat.

    10. Re:This is an inevitable development by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Each European country is responding to the refugee flood in its own way. A lot of them are ending up in Germany right now because the country is known as a soft touch; within Scandinavia, it's Sweden. For a time, France was the most accepting country, but since Charlie Hebdo, French enthusiasm for the invasion has palled, so right now they're all piling up in Calais, at the south tunnel entrance in hopes of crossing the Channel.

    11. Re:This is an inevitable development by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Yes, but you can get that the "Finnish people using benefits to fund ISIS" are not Finns. This is just a belated attempt to control social benefits going to refugees.

    12. Re:This is an inevitable development by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I *think* but don't know for sure that this would somehow better track when you left and when you came back into the country. That is, to prevent people from spending five months unemployed in Thailand, which must be really tough on Finnish unemployment benefits... Nothing which couldn't be done with current systems - if you go outside Schengen, your passport will be checked and when you return as well so it could be done with that information as well. At the moment, the Finnish government recommends that you file a voluntary "leaving the country" notice with more information (dates etc.) which is used to locate you in case of emergency. If I were paranoid, I'd suspect that his next step is that that RFID chip will be used for other purposes as well - at least if you're unemployed. However, the "True Finns" party is 100 % morons so he wouldn't have come up with a scheme to do it subtly unless he got a brain chip implant first.

      Finally, I might add that I've been unemployed here and the "clever" way they checked that I was indeed here was notices that my job applicant status in force until date such and such and later a new notice through snail-mail saying that it was in fact only in force until an earlier date at which I had to visit the job centre. I've heard that some people ask their friends to check their snail-mail and visit the job centre for such purposes but I would never have even dreamt of doing it. I believe in the welfare state - perhaps out of gratitude - and follow its rules (i.e. I pay what I must and nothing more and I accept what I'm entitled to and nothing more). Not to be a true finn moron but I've also heard that many of the immigrants have figured out to exploit the system to a far greater extent than any Finns. The most extreme way I've heard of is to have a pizza joint and not only have relatives who receive unemployment benefits work for you and pay them under the table and also buy all your food (and food for them as well as part of the payment) through the business and thereby first avoid VAT and second reduce profits to pay less taxes on those as well. It's pretty hard to monitor because pizza joints have to throw a lot of food away past its expiration date and the amount of topping on each pizza is not apparent from receipts so how can the authorities prove abuse? It's pretty much certain that that sort of thing is going on if you pay under 7 € for a pizza anywhere around Helsinki. Perhaps not in cheaper areas but I don't know.

    13. Re:This is an inevitable development by Yoda222 · · Score: 1

      I didn't know that Assyrian refugees in Finland were speaking swedish (you know, the people I was speaking about, in my message). But I wanted to point out the ideas of the same party about the fact that "who cares about swedish-speaking finns, let's just forget about this", and I wanted to try to understand how you could justify this idea with the "uncontrollable, Arizona-style flood of refugees who are not part of this culture and who do not feel restrained by the Lutheran moral code".

    14. Re:This is an inevitable development by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In most countries you cannot get a finnish passport (no embassy with the proper biometric equipment).
      So if you are a Finn living in a such country, you often find it easier to get a passport/citizenship of your new home country.
      And you let your 4-year passport expire (Finnish passport are for at most 5 years, and are semi-invalid the last year).

      So if you in the future would need to prove your citizenship, to claim your hard-earned retirerment money, you might need to prove your citizenship without a passport.

      But this is not the point of the politician. His point is to avoid Mohammed coming to Finland, getting Finnish Wellfare money (cash to bank account, automatic monthly payment) and then leaving Finland for Mohammedland. And still collecting the Wellfare money.

    15. Re:This is an inevitable development by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People forget that the USA has one of the top five most liberal legal immigration policies.

      Do you have a citation or justification for that? And who are the top four? :-)
      As someone who is tired of the heavy-wellfare nannystate Europe, I am looking for reasonable alternatives.
      For me the US still appears a fascist bunker to get into. Let alone if I would be born in a more unfortunate part of the world.

  41. As usual... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To paraphrase a known formula:

    "Here in Finland we have this thing called 'idiotic politicians' "

    Surely not constrained into Finland only, but this is just a lot of noise from a representative of a party that has been a magnet for extremists and only recently has started to clean up its act to become a relatively worthy political force.

    Will probably splinter into 2-3 groups due to the pains associated with decency...

    Surely not worth /., even in its current, sordid state...

  42. They wouldn't be able to do that by mpercy · · Score: 2

    Typical retail clerk, probably per store policy, in a power outage will be to say "Can't do it." Can't/won't take cash because "the computers are down". You can tote up the costs and add the tax and have exact change, but they still won't make the effort to accept it because "the computers are down".

    1. Re:They wouldn't be able to do that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol, I've made 7-11 do this twice now. Good thing about being a regular.

      Biggest problem is most of the cash drawers don't open manually, no place to put the money. Nor is there a safe drop.
      No security either i bet, they should lock the doors (wonder if anyone has the key?) and not stand around outside I should think.

    2. Re:They wouldn't be able to do that by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Typical retail clerk, probably per store policy, in a power outage will be to say "Can't do it." Can't/won't take cash because "the computers are down". You can tote up the costs and add the tax and have exact change, but they still won't make the effort to accept it because "the computers are down".

      Must suck to live where you do.

      With EFT systems, comms failure (lost connection) is more common than a power outage. Where I live I can still pay with cash where as the fool who puts everything on credit finds themselves putting things back.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    3. Re:They wouldn't be able to do that by Reziac · · Score: 1

      I've already run into that -- network was down, so the meatspace store (I've forgotten what one), which relied on some network app for all transactions cash or otherwise, could not take my money. Or anyone else's. Not Good.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  43. Obvious Nazi is Obvious. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the True Finns Party

    That was the giveaway for me.

  44. See his sig by mpercy · · Score: 1

    He advocating a Citizen's Dividend of 17%. 17% of what I'm not sure, but the general idea of a citizen's dividend is that profits from government own commons, like oil drilling permits and royalities, mineral rights, timber rights, should be charged and paid out to citizens directly instead of going into government's general funds.

    1. Re:See his sig by mpercy · · Score: 1

      Something like this http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

  45. What exactly ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    ... is the point?

    They want to detect Finns leaving the country at border crossings so as not to fund expatriates? Good luck with that. There are too many non monitored points one can cross the border and I doubt the RFID chips will be worth a damn once the people are out of range.

    Controlling who has access to bank accounts and from where might be a better aproach. Auto deposit of benefit checks could be cut off if the account is accessed from overseas for an extended period of time.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  46. Member of The Finns party AKA The Hineys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This "politician" hails from a party known in Finland as: The Hineys.
    That should tell you how their views are generally regarded.

  47. Nope by ITRambo · · Score: 1

    To all politicians that think chipping citizens is a good idea: Fuck you.

  48. Expand Social Security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why not just extend welfare protections to everyone? If everyone is entitled to social security, you limit the types of abuse. The wealthy would then make up the difference with taxes.

  49. Only ONE proper response to an idea like this: by kheldan · · Score: 1

    ..and that response is: Fuck you, asshole. How about we 'embed' our collective boots in your ass, jerk? Fucking politicians, why do we even tolerate them!?

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
    1. Re:Only ONE proper response to an idea like this: by mjwx · · Score: 1

      ..and that response is: Fuck you, asshole. How about we 'embed' our collective boots in your ass, jerk? Fucking politicians, why do we even tolerate them!?

      This is a minor politician from an extremist party appealing to populist hate and fear to get their name in the papers and remain relevent. The correct response is to ignore the living fuck out of them.

      They aren't worth the time it takes to tell them to fuck off and calling them arsehole is an insult to genuine arseholes. Worse than that, it gives them the validity they desperately seek.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    2. Re:Only ONE proper response to an idea like this: by kheldan · · Score: 1

      Yeah sure. But there are plenty of policitians and whoever else that would just love it if there was a law mandating everyone have RFID implanted in them, but they all know it's political suicide to even discuss such a thing. All it takes is one idiot willing to take the heat for the idea and maybe it opens the door to it. No thanks.

      --
      Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
  50. So charitable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the Lutheran moral code promotes helping each other out in time of need

    I like to help others in their time of need too! Let's mug someone and give the proceeds to charity!

  51. Scotland called... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They want their logical fallacy back.

    "A politician from the True Finns Party, Pasi Mäenranta..."

  52. Over your dead body. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I do not receive any social benefits from Finland but if they even thought about chipping my parent for receiving pension that she worked hard for when our family lived in Finland, that person trying that would lose their life very slowly. We are humans not cattle.

  53. For our own protection by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No worries, ha

  54. The number of The Beast by JustNiz · · Score: 1

    The first thing I thought of when I read this were the numbers that the Nazis tattooed prisoners in death camps with.

    It amazes me how a politician would think its OK to even suggest this, and how he can even still keep his job.

  55. cashless economy = jobless economy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If we have a jobless economy, cashless is the natural result.

  56. Party hacks = don't think! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Both halves of the one party system want control over us.
    Whether it is the RINO party or the Leftocrat party.

    Or did you forget ObamaDontCare which forces people to buy insurance they cannot afford or else they get fined, or punish nuns for not providing class-1 carcinogens to their employees. Leftocrats big time.

    Stop being a partisan hack. Use your brain. Both halves are corrupt.

  57. Him first by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    After he had one implanted, we can discuss it.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  58. What good is an RFID chip... by ai4px · · Score: 1

    If no one scans it? OK, great, put an RFID chip in a person so they can receive State welfare while living outside the State. What difference does it make? The checks are direct deposited, who verifies the person's identity when they are /outside/ the country? Seems the simple solution is to not offer welfare to citizens who choose to not live in Finland.

    1. Re:What good is an RFID chip... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The checks are direct deposited, who verifies the person's identity when they are /outside/ the country? Seems the simple solution is to not offer welfare to citizens who choose to not live in Finland.

      Uh, if I understand you correctly, you think we use checks at all in Finland? I don't think I've ever come across a check being used in this country and I'm 36. Banks were online in the 90s and practically everyone uses bank transfers for non-cash payments. So with bank secrecy nobody can tell where in the world I make ATM withdrawals. I just need to have a permanent address in Finland (and otherwise qualify for benefits)- The job centre then submits information that you're a job seeker to the social security system who then pay you. Considering that unless you get a request to visit the job centre in person, you don't need to reside in Finland. If you want to be careful, you might want to use a Finnish proxy when accessing the social security system website and job centre website.

      Maybe I should also elaborate that there's a distinction here between benefits for job seekers and welfare. The former has few conditions apart from namely being a job seeker. However, the latter requires that you submit a lot more personal information - including your bank statements - and then you really couldn't have too many withdrawals from Thai ATMs and simultaneously claim to be here.

    2. Re:What good is an RFID chip... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They formally live in Finland. Just having vacations (9 months a year) in Mohammedland (the land they had to flee from to avoid persecution).

  59. Americans already have one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As an American living outside the USA, I can't even get a bank account from most banks because of the ridiculous reporting requirements (if they have even 1 customer with US citizenship, the entire bank becomes subject to a bunch of extra rules). I not only have to continue filing taxes every year even though I work in a foreign country (something unique to America and only a couple other countries) but I have to also file, separately, an FBAR every year, telling them about every bank account I have access to that ever had $10,000+ in it during the year (despite the fact they already know about it because of the filing requirements posed on banks).

  60. What would happen next? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    Small boys with a predilection for building protocol droids using home robot kits and pod racing will start developing a scanner to find the embedded chips in their mother's bodies to liberate them.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  61. So who was ahead of his times? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    McVeigh complained that the Army had implanted a microchip into his buttocks so that the government could keep track of him. [Ref 1]

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  62. Especially if they want to run for president later by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    new ways to dig up dirt on and discredit opponents of the state, even if you have to make it up.

  63. You can have one or the other by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    You can have a welfare state
    Or
    You can have open immigration.

    You cannot have both.

    Personally, I'd be happier with open immigration and no welfare state. Just me. But everyone is addicted to the welfare so that means immigration has to be tightly controlled.

    And here someone accuses me of not being politically correct. Politically correct is frequently idiotic. You cannot have open immigration and a welfare state. I'm not even going to explain why... its self evident. And that fact that pointing out the obvious there is politically incorrect should be a wake up call to believers in political correctness that the whole framework is useless.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
  64. A whisper from the forgotten past by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From a long ignored book - the Book of Revelation: Chapter 13 verses 16 & 17 "He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name". We have choice to embed the chip on the right hand or forehead.

  65. And so it begins... by iq145 · · Score: 1

    ...as prophesized

  66. Everything for the welfare state? by Roodvlees · · Score: 1

    The welfare state is not a goal of itself, or should not be. This looks like the time to start breaking down the welfare state, if this is what is needed to keep it working.

    --
    Thank you, Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden and so many others, for courageously defending humanity, my freedom and more!