Stupidest Shithole in America: Mississippi

By Michael J.W. Stickings

(It's our second entry in this new series. For the first -- Nelson, Georgia -- see here.)

I'm no great fan of Mayor Bloomberg's "abritrary and capricious" ban (or, rather, attempted ban, now that a judge has blocked it) on large sugary beverages, but from a public health perspective, and pretty much from any civilized perspective, this is worse: 

Fattest State in the Country Passes 'Anti-Bloomberg Law'

Mississippi's governor is poised to sign legislation — referred to (at least by NPR) as the "Anti-Bloomberg Bill" — that would ban local governments from regulating menu calorie counts, portion sizes, or "consumer incentive items" (e.g., Happy Meal toys) at restaurants and in vending machines. Mississippi has a solid winning streak going and it doesn't need anyone mucking it up.

There's something to be said for, you know, consumer choice, and for freedom generally, but this willful, and indeed gleeful, embrace of obesity and general unhealthiness is just obscene.