[Guthrie]

I finally gave it a try. Went to Pokerstars, clicked deposit, Moneygram, filled in the blanks, they gave me a nice little picture of the filled-out form and sent me an e-mail with all the stuff.

I went to the Moneygram site and looked for nearby stores, found a Walgreens just a few blocks away. Went to Walgreens. No forms to fill out, just a Moneygram phone, and a big sign that says $500 limit. I already signed up for $600 and I want my bonus, so I asked the donk at the photo counter and he said just send two Moneygrams. Yeah, right. I'm not paying $20 instead of $10. So he says pick up the phone and ask Moneygram if they'll raise the limit. Well there's no person on the other end, just a computer, so game over.

On the way home, about a block away, I see a check cashing place with a Moneygram sign under their name, so I pull in. No Moneygram phone, but there's the little forms just like Pokerstars sent me a picture of. So I fill it out and go to the window. They didn't even ask for ID, just took my money and gave me a receipt.

Amazing. The American Taliban has replaced a safe, secure funds transfer service, operated by a major corporation listed on the London Exchange, an endless electronic and paper trail, with money laundering at the same place that ships all that illegal immigrant money back home to Mexico.

America! Is this a great country, or what?