And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/C/CHIPPING_AMERICA?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

You Christians! (:=)

Now I know which hand to get tattooed with my SSN

I think it interesting that they think an RF emitting device implanted in the skin will increase security.  I mean, it seems like a pretty simple thing to trigger the device into transmitting its ID and then duplicating that signal when I want to access the same resources.

If I want to do it stealthily, I shake hands with the guy while I've got the receiver on.  I just need in and I need in now, I knock the guy over the head, tie him up in a closet, and get the information.  I really don't care if I hurt people or not, I chop off his arm and take it with me in a garbage bag tucked under my coat.

I wonder when it will become a crime to refuse to have a chip implanted.

It will be much quieter and stealthier. like drug screening at work. You can choose to not be screened as long as you choose not to work in half of workplaces thereby lowering your income potential (usually big corps).

Naturally there will be more than one system (to avoid joining dataspaces *cough*) and you'll wind up with an arm like a bag of frozen peas.

And as naturally it will be a requirement for visas ...

How do you dig them out or nullify/pacify them to visit disapproving states?

As the article points out, it's mandatory for some jobs already, and in Mexico it's mandatory for some government officials to be chipped.

There are bills pending or in development to make chipping mandatory for prisoners in some states, and its under discussion to require it for military.