S: Is for seeing the good

Millard Fuller, the Habitat for Humanity founder who died late Monday at age 74, once stated that a person needs about 500 square feet of living space. Meaning, the average American family of four needs about 2,000 square feet of house. The fact that American home sizes have more than doubled since the 1950s, and that the average U.S. home today is just under 2,500 square feet, was evidence to Fuller that the American dream had become distorted and destructive. He said as much last September 11, when he gave his analysis of the nation's housing market crisis. "We have confused, as a society, wants and needs, and a lot of people have raised up their wants way above their needs and way above their abilities to support all those wants." "What we have got to do is get back to the basics in difficult economic times like this and explain to people that you will not wither up and die if you don't have that wide-screen TV.""God's oder of things holds no place for hoarding and greed," he wrote. "There are sufficient resources in the world for the needs of everybody, but not enough for the greed of even a significant minority."Fuller made and spent a lot of money. At one point he owned 2,000 acres and was worth $1 million. But as his business prospered, his personal life suffered. Fuller gave up his business and wealth and developed a non-profit housing ministry for the poor, which in 1976 became Habitat for Humanity International. Habitat, relies on volunteer labor and donated or subsidized materials (often provided by church groups) to build modest, affordable houses for low-income families. Habitat groups have built more than 300,000 houses around the world. Habitat is the most successful continuous community service project in the history of the United States.

There is a statement that says it takes one person to make a difference. Milton Fuller was one of those people and that is a F.A.C.T.

T: Is for trouble in the cabinet

One has to admire Tom Daschle stepping down because of taxes owed. Nancy Killefer, who was appointed chief performance officer and deputy OMB director, has also withdrawn because of non-payment of taxes. Isn't it time for Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to do the same? Geithner never answered the question put to him by senators Kyl and Bunning: Would he have paid his back taxes if he were not nominated to run the Treasury? His issue has never been resolved. He will never have the full trust of the country, but does he care? Daschle spoke out and said that he would not have been able to lead a reform of the nation’s health-care system “with the full faith of Congress and the American people.” Geithner will not be able to lead a reform of the nation’s financial system either. 31 no votes were cast against his nomination, the largest nay vote for this post. He still has a tremendous ethical problem. President Obama has made much of the need for a new era of responsibility and ethics. Obama is right. It is a matter of honesty. No one is irreplaceable.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has $5.9 million in debts left over from her unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign.
This amount includes both $12 million owed to vendors and the $13.2 million she loaned her campaign from personal funds.
Clinton's campaign was unable to repay that personal loan by the time the Democratic National Convention convened, the deadline mandated by the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. As of January 21st, Clinton became subject to a federal law known as the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from personally soliciting or accepting political contributions. So Clinton has her mother, Dorothy Rodham, sending out the last of a series of e-mail fundraising pitches asking for donations to help her daughter took. The Hatch Act does allow others to continue to raising funds on Clinton's behalf, though without her direct involvement. And what about all that money in Dubai, why has nobody ask this question.

I want to have faith in our new President. I voted for him but these selections leave room for doubt and that is a F.A.C.T.

C: Is for re-cycled Coffee

Anyone who writes knows that you can go broke with the cost of printing out your work. Those ink cartridge's are expensive and you feel so guilty for those printed papers that go to waste. For those wishing to save money, seeking to "go green" or those just wishing to try something different, RTI now offers a printer that uses coffee instead of ink. In addition to recycling your grounds, the printer also uses good old fashioned elbow grease to move the grounds cartridge back and forth, saving power. "Hosted by Core77 and Inhabitat, this year's Greener Gadgets Design Competition resulted in this amazing item. Jeon Hwan Ju's RITI printer works by replacing environmentally un-friendly inkjet cartridges with the dregs from your daily coffee. Simply place used grounds in the ink case, insert a piece of paper, and move the ink case left and right to print text." " We focused on the ink cartridge since it is one of the problems when using a printer: it's often difficult to replace, costly to refill, and can stain your hands if mishandled." Using coffee or tea dregs as ink saves the cost buying ink, the burden of wasted things, and users' work. Furthermore, since the user moves the ink case in order to make a print, the device doesn't need electricity. Of course, you can smell a whisper of coffee or tea incense from the paper printed by RITI.

This is one of the coolest items soon to be on the market and that is a F.A.C.T.

A: Is for art lost then found

With all the films out this year about the holocaust, my guess is a new one is in the making after what has been happening at the MoMA and the Guggenheim. Two paintings, which both date from the early 1900s, were sold to the Jewish art dealer Justin Thannhauser in 1934 or 1935. Thannhauser fled Germany and spent much of the war in Switzerland. He kept "Le Moulin de la Galette" until 1963, when he gave it to the Guggenheim museum. He sold "Boy Leading a Horse" to former MoMA chairman William Paley in 1936. Paley gave it to MoMA in 1964, according to the museum's Web site. Julius H. Schoep, alleged that his family was forced by the Nazis to part with them. Before his death, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy took steps that his heir Julius H. Schoeps said were intended to protect his estate and art collection. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was Schoeps' great-uncle. U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff concluded last week that the family of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who died in 1935, had produced enough evidence that the paintings had been sold under Nazi duress for the case to go to trial. The museums had denied that the paintings were obtained under duress, boasting in a letter to Rakoff two weeks ago that they looked forward to a trial. Rakoff said the heirs insisted that the museums should have known they had acquired the paintings under suspicious circumstances. Gregory Joseph, a lawyer for the museums, said the museums had offered to settle the case in August but a deal had been unlikely until the judge's ruling last week. He said settlement discussions resumed promptly after the opinion was released. In an unusual reprimand, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff strongly urged both sides to release terms of the settlement saying the heirs invoked "the weight of history on their behalf," and it would be "extraordinarily unfortunate that the public would be left without knowing what the truth is." And these are the F.A.C.T.S.

F: Is for our national pasttime...Football

Super Bowl Sunday is a religion in the hearts of most men and in some women in America. This year was no exception as the Steelers won for an unprecedented 6 wins. The SUper Bowl is also known just as much for it's performers and commercial. This year had a couple of hits and a lot of misses. Jennifer Hudson in her first public appearance since the tragic murders of her mother, brother and nephew in October, Oscar winner and "American Idol" Jennifer Hudson gave a stunning performance of the national anthem before the Super Bowl. Her emotional rendition showed why she is such a great singer. There is something about that song, when sung at its best that it turns into a heartbreaking tung at our tear ducts and Ms Hudson did just that. Hudson gave a performance for the ages, easily hitting the song's notoriously tricky melody and nailing a pair of long notes at the end that sent shivers through the TV. Pouring her heart into the music on the year's largest TV stage, Hudson instantly set a new standard. Before Hudson took the stage, Faith Hill performed "America the Beautiful" accompanied by a gospel choir. Stretching the tempo out to give the song a more soulful, gospel feel, the country star wowed the crowd as the choir rose to crescendo behind her. Amping up the good spirits, the crew of the US Airways flight 1549, which made a safe emergency landing in New York's Hudson River last month, came out for a moment in the spotlight. Half time included The E Street Band headlined by Bruce Springsteen, I have to tell you this I do not get. It was like listening to a bad cover band in a bar somewhere. If anything say recession this did. Best commercial was Sobelieve. If you missed this the animation alone is worth checking it out on U-Tube.

Well another year has passed for football fans and that is a F.A.C.T.