We all know how the Bushies "Support the Troops". Here's an example of what they mean. Like I used to say in the Corps... "My country is behind me all the way... I've felt it there many times."
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Help the troops? This company had an odd way
January 9, 2005 Lynn O'Shaughnessy San Diego Union Tribune
I've got to confess that I was initially puzzled when I started seeing magnetic ribbons on vehicles urging people to support our troops. If magnets are necessary to remind people to support our courageous soldiers, maybe we also need magnets in favor of polio vaccine and pedestrian crossings.
But my opinion of these little magnets began to change when I learned about the curious activities of First Command Financial Planning, a company in Fort Worth, Texas, that for 46 years has helped military families save for their futures. At least that's what the company claims on its Web site.
Just so you'll know how patriotic it is, First Command has decorated its home page with a striking photograph of a T-45C Goshawk screaming down the runway of the USS Harry S. Truman.
But wrapping itself in the flag – you'll find those on First Command's Web site, too – didn't keep the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the NASD from uncovering some pretty loathsome practices.
As it turns out, First Command has been promoting a rather strange way of supporting the troops. Through its sales network of ex-military officers, First Command has for years encouraged mostly commissioned and non-commissioned officers to sink money into a stunningly expensive form of mutual fund investing that long ago disappeared in the civilian world.
After hearing about the firm's so-called systematic investment plans, this was my reaction: Would I rather invest in First Command or deposit my money in a paper shredder?
Whole article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050109/news_1b9lynn.html
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