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Vaccine

I got my Moderna Booster shot on September 9. Some side effects on the day after but a small price to pay for the extra protection. The latest data I have seen shows 6.06 billion doses have been administered resulting in 2.54 billion people fully vaccinated. That makes 32.6%. A long way to go, especially in developing countries. In the United States, 388 million shots have given with 183 million people fully vaccinated. That makes 55.6%, which means 44.4% have not gotten vaccinated. It is highly unfortunate the subject has become politicized like almost every issue. There is no logic to support not getting vaccinated unless there is a medical contraindication. My simple explanation for the situation is poor marketing communications. As a result of this, our healthcare providers are unfairly stressed to the hilt taking care of unvaccinated Americans, and healthcare facilities are at the brink with inability to get enough employees on board. Unvaccinated Americans have died at 11 times the rate of those fully vaccinated since the delta variant became the dominant strain. Between early April and end of June,  unvaccinated people died from covid-19 at 16.6 times the rate among the fully vaccinated.

iPhone 13

The iPhone 13 Pro Max arrived on Friday at 2 p.m. The setup took minutes by just placing it next to the iPhone 12 Pro Max it is replacing. They have made upgrades really easy. The main benefits of the new model are increased battery life, better cameras, and a big beautiful screen. All three of these attributes were already the best money can buy, but just keep upping the game. The notch at the top of the screen is 20% narrower and the stainless steel around the Sierra Blue back is quite attractive. 

Space

SpaceX’s Dragon completed the world’s first all-civilian mission to orbit. In my opinion, this achievement is way beyond what Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin or Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic have done. Currently reading and greatly enjoying Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX.

Wall Street

All the MAGFA stocks were down except Microsoft which continues to please investors. Governments around the world are attacking big tech left and right but I believe they will weather the storm. In the other tech category there continues to be a lot of volatility. Coinbase down 17% following the rout on crypto. Startup Upstart is experiencing meteoric gains. They have gone from nothing to a company valued at $25 billion. They are applying AI in an innovative way to modernize how bank loan applications are evaluated. Banks are jumping in probably figuring it is cheaper to use Upstart than to revamp their own outdated systems and procedures. 

Crypto

Crypto took a big hit after China announced crypto is being banned. China is banning more and more things as the Communist party tightens its grip. I could be wrong but I don’t think crypto can be killed. I believe entrepreneurs will reinvent how things work to make it more attractive. I believe we will see things migrate out of China’s reach.