RFK Jr. Wants Every American to Be Sporting a Wearable Within Four Years
Technology
143
Beiträge
96
Kommentatoren
3.4k
Aufrufe
-
As a friend once wrote, “wearing a watch is like being handcuffed to time.”
This is pretty out-of-touch. I mean, a lot of us kinda need to know the time at some point. It takes a special kind of privilege to be able to unshackle yourself from any semblance of a schedule, a privilege that not many of us have.
I have a decent sense of time and an abundance of options to verify it
-
You know what else would help? Annual (or more) blood tests during routine wellness checks with your doctor.
Do you know why most people don’t get those?
Insurance won’t cover them.
My insurance covers this.
I tweaked. Many (most?) don't.
-
Sure Bobby. I went and got myself an open-source "smart" watch that pairs with another FOSS app that doesn't send anything outside of the device.
What? Not like that? Oh, too bad.
I'm looking at getting a Pebble.
-
The best part is the random bill.
- Go to the doctor. Get blood drawn.
- Doctor send the blood to a lab for the test. Doesn't tell me who. I don't care who. It's their subcontractor, let them worry about it.
*Go back to the doctor or get a call for results. Pay the doctor the standard co-pay.
*Months later a random company sends me a bill. This is a company that I have never interacted with or entered into any contract with, for work that somebody else (presumably my doctor, but who the fuck knows for sure) asked them to do for them, sending the results to that other person and NOT to me.
The system is broken. If any other company subcontracted a part of their work to a third party, you as the client would reasonably expect that work to be paid through the original contract, not get a bill directly from the subcontractor. I didn't hire them, the doctor hired them. As far as I'm concerned, that's the doctor's subcontractor and their debt, not mine. I paid the doctor already.
Or another variant.
- Go to the emergency room.
- Get separate bills FOR THE SAME SERVICE from the hospital, the doctor, and somehow the hospital again but this time it's the emergency room (which is somehow separate with a different billing company).
The system is not just broken. It is designed to fleece us and train us to always accept whatever debt the institutions decide to levy on us without question.
As medical bills can't currently ding your credit score, I just throw them in the trash.
-
If it ever comes to this, I'm going to "forget" to charge mine. Every day since it comes out of the box. I might wear it so that I don't get stopped in public but this is going to be a brick.
I'm sure soon enough we'll be "wearing" them inside our bodies so we don't have to be troubled to make sure they're working. Hasn't that been the Big Tech dream for decades now?
-
I chose to stop wearing a watch more than 20 years ago. I thought about getting one for the health benefits five years ago, but concluded that I don't want to have a watch nor cover an awesome tattoo. As a friend once wrote, "wearing a watch is like being handcuffed to time."
“wearing a watch is like being handcuffed to time.”
That's perfect! I'm stealing this. I HATE, despise, loath in every respect clocks, watches, calendars and any other form of scheduling oppression. Go pound sand - I'll show up when I show up.
-
This post did not contain any content.
I love how these extremist Christian Republicans always go on about the mark of the beast and how everyone will be forced to wear it but that the righteous man won't wear it....
All of them will do this, mark my words. These fuckers are worshipping Satan as far as they know and they're fine with it.
-
This post did not contain any content.
From: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/21/rfk-maha-ultra-processed-foods
A key adviser to Kennedy, Calley Means, could directly benefit from one of the campaign’s stated aims: popularizing “technology like wearables as cool, modern tools for measuring diet impact and taking control of your own health”.
Calley Means is a senior Kennedy adviser, and was hired as a special government employee to focus on food policy, according to Bloomberg. He founded a company that helps Americans get such wearable devices reimbursed tax-free through health savings accounts.
Casey Means is Calley’s sister. She also runs a healthcare start-up, although hers sells wearable devices such as continuous glucose monitors. She is Kennedy’s nominee for US surgeon general, and a healthcare entrepreneur whose business sells continuous glucose monitors – one such wearable device. Calley Means’s company also works with Casey’s company.
Due to Calley Means’s status as a special employee, he has not been forced to divest from his private business interests – a situation that has already resulted in an ethics complaint. Consumer advocates, such as the non-profit group Public Citizen, had warned such hiring practices could cause conflicts of interest. HHS did not respond to a request for comment about Calley Means’s private business interests, or his role in crafting the publicity campaign.
-
I love how these extremist Christian Republicans always go on about the mark of the beast and how everyone will be forced to wear it but that the righteous man won't wear it....
All of them will do this, mark my words. These fuckers are worshipping Satan as far as they know and they're fine with it.
Everyone in America has to give out their social security numbers to every fucking company and government department because it’s the closest thing we have to a national ID.
Why can’t we have a real, secure, National ID system? Because it’s the mark of the beast!!
But now that RFK Jr wants to hunt people for sport I’m sure they will fall in line.
-
“wearing a watch is like being handcuffed to time.”
That's perfect! I'm stealing this. I HATE, despise, loath in every respect clocks, watches, calendars and any other form of scheduling oppression. Go pound sand - I'll show up when I show up.
You would have a nervous breakdown in my house. Clocks in every room and 20 watches hanging in my room.
-
The best part is the random bill.
- Go to the doctor. Get blood drawn.
- Doctor send the blood to a lab for the test. Doesn't tell me who. I don't care who. It's their subcontractor, let them worry about it.
*Go back to the doctor or get a call for results. Pay the doctor the standard co-pay.
*Months later a random company sends me a bill. This is a company that I have never interacted with or entered into any contract with, for work that somebody else (presumably my doctor, but who the fuck knows for sure) asked them to do for them, sending the results to that other person and NOT to me.
The system is broken. If any other company subcontracted a part of their work to a third party, you as the client would reasonably expect that work to be paid through the original contract, not get a bill directly from the subcontractor. I didn't hire them, the doctor hired them. As far as I'm concerned, that's the doctor's subcontractor and their debt, not mine. I paid the doctor already.
Or another variant.
- Go to the emergency room.
- Get separate bills FOR THE SAME SERVICE from the hospital, the doctor, and somehow the hospital again but this time it's the emergency room (which is somehow separate with a different billing company).
The system is not just broken. It is designed to fleece us and train us to always accept whatever debt the institutions decide to levy on us without question.
The doctor bill is separate because they're not hospital employees. The only have privileges to work at a given hospital, not for them.
The separate ER bill is likely some fuckery I'm ignorant of.
-
As medical bills can't currently ding your credit score, I just throw them in the trash.
Only up to $500 though? And if you keep ignoring them, what will you do when you run out of providers? I can't go to the one hand expert in the area because I owe him money. Same for the CVS doc.
-
My watch runs for years from a coin cell. There's no way that I'm replacing it with an internet connected spy device that constantly needs to be charged.
I've got 20 watches and only ever change the Swatch batteries. They're laughably inefficient. One is an old smart watch, but it needs charged daily and I'm not up to all that.
-
I have a decent sense of time and an abundance of options to verify it
I have a decent sense of time
I don't lol. I mean can check outside, even out in the middle of nowhere, and have a rough idea; but I like knowing it because that's just how my brain works.
and an abundance of options to verify it
Sure. Phone, computer, microwave, oven, TV, wall clock, city clock tower, someone else's watch, etc. But again, I like having it right on my wrist. I've worn watches by my own choice since I was a kid, and now I've got a small collection.
-
This post did not contain any content.
casio calculator watch or bust
-
I'm looking at getting a Pebble.
Same, I loved my Pebble Time Steel. I still do, and I still wear it sometimes (still got a week long battery life), but my daily driver is my PineTime.
-
I tweaked. Many (most?) don't.
Interesting. I've never had an issue with it over multiple insurances. Maybe it's just the plans my employers went with ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-
You would have a nervous breakdown in my house. Clocks in every room and 20 watches hanging in my room.
Stop it Patrick! You're scaring him!
-
I'm looking at getting a Pebble.
Dude I used my Pebble way more organically than I ever used my much fancier Fitbit
-
What types of data does the US sell to advertisers? Do you have ANY evidence of the always listening mic? You'd figure after 10 years of this we'd have at least some evidence, right?
I don't know if the USA currently sells data. It appears to be illegal but the current administration doesn't always play by the rules.
Have you ever used a phrase activated voice assistant (hey Google, Alexa, Siri). They are always listening in case you use the phrase. Amazon and Google both admit they record and stores voice data. Google sells ads based on search history.
