Articles written by Tom Koecke - Page 3

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About me - Tom Koecke

With thirty years experience in consumer finance, having raised two daughters as a single father, and trying desperately to get through my second childhood, I bring two things to the table when I write: an overload of experience, and a sense of humor!

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Religion & Spirituality > Self-Healing The key ingredients for grasping a second chance in life: 40 of 282
Everyone has some sort of plan for his or her life. Some people follow childhood dreams they never abandon, other people seek opportunities as they arise, and still others will retain jobs with little career opportunity. Even those who have nothing, do not work, and do not seek work, have the plan in life to do the least nee... More..
Politics, News & Issues > US News Humor: Daily news (11/20/07): 1 of 6
Welcome to Helium Daily News for November 20, 2007. According to numbers recently compiled, the FBI is reporting an increase of 8% in hate crimes during 2006. This news has Congressional leaders promising to form committees to study the findings of the report. The White House issued a statement urging Americans to stop hatin... More..
Politics, News & Issues > US News Humor: Daily news (11/30/07): 1 of 6
President Bush chastised Congress for not appropriating $200 billion in emergency funding to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan before breaking for Christmas vacation. He warned lawmakers to not leave Washington until the appropriation has passed. The house approved a $50 billion emergency funding bill that calls for t... More..
Sciences > Sciences (Other) Visualizing infinity: 4 of 23
"This is some kind of joke," I thought to myself as I approached the check-in counter at the Infinity Hotel because it seemed that was the only part of it that existed. If it weren't real, though, surely I would have seen disgruntled people leaving, but the seemingly endless line had just kept moving. I approached the man be... More..
Education > Education (Other) Should public school teachers get merit pay?: 4 of 23
I have heard it said, "teachers are glorified babysitters." I fully agree with that statement. We give them our babies, they sit them, and we should hope they earn our glory. Teachers, and especially the best teachers, make tremendous personal sacrifice to sit our babies; is that not worthy of our glory? We should, however, ... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Personal Morals & Values Honesty is the best policy: 8 of 44
It is a shame that words change so much in meaning over time that we do not recognize that which we recite from rote, and which has such a nice marketing ring to it, without knowing what we are saying. In a world in which 'hot' means 'cool,' and both really mean 'popular,' there is probably not much thought given to the corr... More..
Creative Writing > Reflections Reflections: Imagination: 4 of 21
When my youngest daughter was eight, I took her to the East Side Boys and Girls Club to sign up for a second and third grade basketball team. The Director told me a lot of kids had signed up, and asked me to come out of retirement from coaching little league so I could build on the 15 wins I compiled coaching softball for fi... More..
Sports & Recreation > Basketball (Other) The complexities of basketball franchises demanding local governments build stadiums: Seattle's NBA Supersonics and WNBA Storm: 1 of 5
With David Stern's stern and stoic face announcing the twenty-eight to two decision by NBA owners to allow the Seattle Sonics to move to Oklahoma City pending the result of legal action scheduled for June 16th. The only question in that case is whether the Sonics move next year, or in 2011. The NBA does not regard Key Arena ... More..
Arts & Humanities > Political Philosophy The problems with Communism: 7 of 30
If there ever were a true utopia, communism would be the economic system. All people would be equal. Each person would contribute to their ability, and each person's needs would be met. Excess would be shared as community wealth. In reality, if all the wealth were split equally today, tomorrow there would be rich people and ... More..
Arts & Humanities > Meaning of Life The true meaning of success: 17 of 70
The true meaning of success may seem complex. However, the concept of success is really quite simple: success is the progressive realization of worthy dreams, goals, and objectives. One never truly arrives at a destination called success, but rather is either successful or not successful at achieving goals and reaching objec... More..