EVACUEES BINGE ON CAPE: SPEND FED CASH ON BOOZE, STRIPPERS

Well, well, well - the Nanny State in a nut-shell. Aren't you glad to see your tax dollars being put to such good use? Now honestly, are you really surprised by this story? FACTOID: FEMA has handed out $1.5 billion (yes billion with a "b") dollars of our money in the form of these $2,000 debit cards. Doesn't it make you all warm and fuzzy inside to know you've helped keep the storm victims laps covered in strippers and tummies filled with booze? I know it makes me feel like I've just been mugged a Good Samaritan.

BOURNE – Hurricane Katrina evacuees hastily handed $2,000 in federal relief money last month have been living it up on Cape Cod, blowing cash on booze and strippers, a Herald investigation has found.

Herald reporters witnessed blatant public drinking at a Falmouth strip mall by Katrina victims living at taxpayer expense at Camp Edwards on Otis Air Force Base. And strippers at Zachary's nightclub in Mashpee, a few miles from the Bourne base, report giving lap dances to several evacuees.

"They were tipping me $5 a pop,'' said a Zachary's dancer named Angel. "I told them I felt bad taking their money. But I still took it.''

Another dancer said a large group from the military base was in Zachary's recently and she gave lap dances to several of the victims.

"Some spend good money, but others don't,'' she said.

An assistant club manager, who gave his name only as Michael, acknowledged yesterday that the strip joint is popular with people from Camp Edwards.

[ ... ]

On Oct. 5, the Herald observed a virtual parade of evacuees from a bus stop in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Falmouth to nearby liquor stores. Some emerged and openly swilled from brown-bagged containers, while others poured booze into jugs or plastic cups and casually sipped drinks at the Wal-Mart bus stop.