Getting fat at Guantanamo

"Is America the only country in the world that could run a prison camp where prisoners gain weight?" Manny Howard asks in Slate.

Possibly. The 19 Afghan war prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay in April had each gained an average of 13 pounds during their 14 months in captivity. Howard set out to find out exactly why.

It's an interesting account, with lots of disturbing insights into institutional food service -- at universities as well as prisons. Turns out the man in charge of feeding inmates and soldiers at Guantanamo was "perversely well-prepared" for the job, having run food service at the University of Michigan in civilian life.