And the people who would have us all branded like cattle and trackable via a publicly interconnected (but ultimately, privately owned and maintained) centralized network move one step closer to reaching their goal...

Hey Lisa -- that's a pretty slanted intro -- what's your beef?

Well, I have two actually, thanks for asking :-) :

Beef #1 -- This company is basically asking for permission to market a treatment that hasn't been approved by the FDA yet. According to this AP article, the company hasn't even started the process yet. I don't like non-FDA approved drugs being marketed like FDA approved drugs (for hopefully obvious reasons).

Beef #2 -- We, as a country and a world, haven't figured out the legal, privacy and ethical issues yet if this whole implant thing, and until we do, I think that giving the private sector the "ok" to move forward with producing and marketing such systems as if they are already legal is a really bad idea. (Much in the same way that we aren't officially cloning humans yet until we figure out that mess.)

Anyway, what do you think about this stuff people? Are you ready to run out and have an uber-tracking device implanted under your skin?

Okay, next question: Are you ready to have one implanted into your newborn child?

Check out:
U.S. to Weigh Computer Chip Implant.

A Florida technology company is poised to ask the government for permission to market a first-ever computer ID chip that could be embedded beneath a person's skin.

For airports, nuclear power plants and other high security facilities, the immediate benefits could be a closer-to-foolproof security system. But privacy advocates warn the chip could lead to encroachments on civil liberties.

The implant technology is another case of science fiction evolving into fact. Those who have long advanced the idea of implant chips say it could someday mean no more easy-to-counterfeit ID cards nor dozing security guards.

Just a computer chip - about the size of a grain of rice - that would be difficult to remove and tough to mimic.

Other uses of the technology on the horizon, from an added device that would allow satellite tracking of an individual's every movement to the storage of sensitive data like medical records, are already attracting interest across the globe for tasks like foiling kidnappings or assisting paramedics.

Applied Digital Solutions' new "VeriChip'' is another sign that Sept. 11 has catapulted the science of security into a realm with uncharted possibilities - and also new fears for privacy.

"The problem is that you always have to think about what the device will be used for tomorrow,'' said Lee Tien, a senior attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy advocacy group.