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HEALTH: Privatization of hospitals generally corresponded with worse quality of care, fewer cleaning staff per patient, higher infections and higher rates of avoidable deaths, according to a study published in The Lancet Public Health.

Road Trip Update 1: Happy Fourth of July from #Indianapolis, where we are staying couple of nights. Tonight we went and watched the very nice Fourth Fest fireworks show downtown. Here is the finale:

Road Trip Update 2: We left Indianapolis yesterday after spending 2 nights in the charming Crowne Plaza Hotel Downtown, a former major railway station. Some of their rooms are in genuine 1920s railway cars on tracks, & of course we booked one those & slept in a train car - pics):

Road Trip Update 4: In St. Louis we stayed in the wonderfully opulent Union Station Hotel, in the city’s former main train station, with spectacular decor preserved from the glory era of train travel. I wish they designed public buildings with beauty in mind like that today:

Road Trip Update 5: Must admit that I didn’t know before the trip that you can ride inside the St. Louis Gateway Arch (largest U.S. monument) to the top in these little 5-person tram capsules, but of course we did that. Very interesting, and a great view of the city from the top.

Road Trip Update 6: I’m very interested in architecture (especially 1900-present), so on our Midwest road trip we stop here & there for me to look at & photograph some unique examples. We stopped to marvel at the remarkable Saint Louis Abbey Church, just outside #StLouis MO:

Congratulations, Alex Alexander Ford ! Truly astounding achievement & productivity, especially since this large body of papers includes numerous must -cite key papers in our field. Your personal impact on GI research has been enormous, as this giant publication footprint shows.

Road Trip Update 7: When Marcia Elaine and I are on our long road trips, we like to visit little museums to learn about the history of each place. Here on a guided tour of the Trans World Airlines (TWA) museum in Kansas City. KC was the headquarters of this legendary major airline:

Road Trip Update 8: I was pleased to find that Kansas City has some really interesting and appealing modern architecture. Examples: The very impressive Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts (curvy building) and the Prairiefire Museum (the colorful building):

Road Trip Update 9: We’re now in the heartland of U.S. barbecue culture. Two cities on our trip are where 2 of 4 main U.S. BBQ styles originated & thrive: Kansas City style BBQ, & Memphis-style BBQ (pictured). We’ve taken full advantage & have had wicked-good BBQ multiple times.

Road Trip Update 10: We are in Memphis, TN, a city brimful with live music. We spent an evening in Lafayette’s Music Room, where 20 songwriters (pic) competed for best song prize, playing their own best song. It was delightful; such rich community of genuinely creative people.

Road Trip Update 11: Visiting the site of Martin Luther King’s April 4 1968 Lorraine Motel assassination in #Memphis was a very poignant experience, especially since his room 306 & its balcony where he was shot (where wreath is in the pic) are exactly as they were at the time:

Road Trip Update 12: Being on an exploration road trip of American culture, we naturally had to visit Graceland while in Memphis - the home of Elvis Presley. Gaudy but more modest than we expected, this beloved main home & refuge of the king of rock ‘n’ roll felt a bit sad to me.

Road Trip Update 13: Memphis was home of the kings of 2 music genres in the 20th Century: Elvis, king of rock ‘n’ roll, & B.B. King, king of the blues. B.B. King founded a blues club that still thrives on Beale Street. We went there for dinner & quality blues (Jason Foree Band):

Road Trip Update 14: We spent 1 day in Huntsville AL, home of the early years of the U.S. space program, mostly because Marcia lived there for a year as a teen (her father was a rocket engineer). We visited the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Here’s Marcia next to a Saturn V rocket.

Road Trip Update 15: We’re in Nashville, the heart of Country music. Being on American culture road trip, we went to a Grand Ole Opry show at the Ryman Auditorium - the “Mother Church of Country Music”. Live radio broadcasts from there helped make Country a major U.S music genre.

Road Trip Update 16: Nashville is our favorite city for live music. Nicknamed “Music City”, it’s overflowing w good singers & songwriters; live music in many venues day & night (bars, clubs, listen. rooms). We went to 3 great singer-songwriter sessions at the Listening Room Cafe: