SEX, BOMBS & BURGERS

Funny stuff coming out of Detroit: three people have been charged with an illegal scheme involving the swapping of food stamps for some decidedly not-essential items: booze, Viagra and porn.

Prosecutors have filed fraud charges against employees of Jefferson's Liquor Palace - a fine establishment from the sounds of it - for running a racket, according to the Chicago Tribune. The scheme worked like so: food-stamp recipients took their cards into the store, where they were swiped in exchange for large amounts of cash. The store was then reimbursed by the Department of Agriculture, as per how the food-stamp system works.

But as part of a sting operation, authorities' confidential informants found that the store would provide food-stamp customers with good other than cash: Viagra, booze, painkillers and, of course, porn DVDs. The store is now closed but prosecutors say it racked up more than $130,000 over two years using this scheme.

It's no secret that Detroit was one of the hardest hit U.S. cities (remember the stories earlier this year about how people couldn't give houses away?), but this takes the cake!