Seattle Bubble Forum Archive

Speaking of euros. This caught my eye today.

There is something quite alarming on the recently released "Blue Magic" music video.

The song, by the wildly successful rap artist and businessman Jay-Z, is on an album of songs accompanying/inspired by the Ridley Scott movie "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crow.

But it wasn't sex, drugs, violence or explicit language that shocked my conscience.

It was the Euros.

The Jay-Z video flashed large stacks of €500 Euros.

When I start seeing rap stars flashing euros instead of U.S. dollars, I know our economy is in trouble.

Why would you want to get euros? As an investment? I don't think hard currency would be the best way to do that, but I could be wrong.

If you are sending money overseas, use Paypal, unless you are sending huge amounts, in which case a wire transfer or WU is a better option, albeit with large fees attached to it.

If you are traveling overseas, the only sane solution is to take an ATM card and simply withdraw money from a foreign ATM. Most banks will charge you no fees whatsoever, and the current exchange rate applies. It's really odd to withdraw money using an ATM in, say, Turkey, and paying nothing for the privilege, whereas using an ATM in the US that belongs to a different bank than your own will cost you $1.50 or more in service charges.

This strategy has worked for me all over Europe.

Hey, at least they seemed to know what euros are... back in San Antonio if it isn't pesos, they haven't heard of it.