It's not a cold, it's RSV!

My little brother, Nathan is in the hospital right now, sick with RSV, which stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
RSV is an infection of the lungs, and is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants under one year old.
People with RSV display symtoms similar to the common cold, so RSV is sometimes misdiagnosed, or not detected. RSV is spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes on another person. RSV is more common in infants, but older children and adults can get it too. RSV is more severe in premature infants, or people with compromised immune systems.
RSV can cause damage to the immune system or the lungs if it is left untreated. RSV is highly contagious. Only 0.5% to 2% of people with RSV are hospitalized. Well, I guess my little brother is one of those people!

A Great Leader...

This world has seen many great leaders, such as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill, among others. But the greatest leader of all was Jesus. He was scorned, mocked, and spat upon, and He could easily have just given up and gone back up to heaven to live with God, but Jesus stayed on earth till His death. Not to mention, He also led His disciples, convincing them when they didn't believe in Him. Jesus had more patience than all of us combined. He had to convince people that He was the Messiah. Not an easy task! He was also compassionate, healing the sick, and caring for children. Jesus was courageous, learning about His death before it happened. I would freak! Jesus also socialized with people that society mocked. Such as tax collectors, and the sick and lame. Jesus set a good example for all who saw Him, He influenced many, and had tons of followers, yet He died the death of a criminal.

Jesus led His disciples on the Sea of Galilee, when they were doubting Him, and at the feeding of the 5,000 when again, His disciples doubted His abilities. These stories are found in Matthew 14.

In my opinion, being a leader is much harder than people make it out to be. A leader has to make split-second decisions, (something I am NOT good at!) and while being a leader is not about being popular, he or she should try to stay on good terms with everyone. Really not an easy task! A leader has to stay calm under pressure, because how he or she acts influences everyone else. A leader is often blamed when things go wrong, even if it isn't their fault. Look at Jesus, toward the end of His life on earth, He was blamed for many things that were not His fault. He was hated by the Jews, and was accused for blasphemy.

I am reading a Christian series called Left Behind: The Kids. It is about the end times, and the series begins with the Rapture, you know, when all the Christians are taken away to Heaven? Well, it follows four kids, three of which have had Christian families and backgrounds, but they themselves never became Christians. Later in the series, there are two evangelists sent by God, and they are blamed when God sends plagues to get peoples attention. I also read this book about Christian Brother Yun, and how he was persecuted by the government of China for twenty years because he led the house churches that the government so despised. Sorry if I'm writing too much! Just tell me if I went overboard!

Letters from the Franks! Read all about it!!

Some letters have been found that may shed light light on the family of Anne Frank.
The letters, sent from Anne's father, Otto, to friends and family, document his efforts to try to get his family out of Holland.
The letters say that Otto had tried to get Edith, (his wife) Anne, Margot, (Anne's sister) and his mother-in-law out of Holland before January 1943. Unfortunately, it didn't work. The Nazi police caught them, and they were sent off to concentration camps across Europe. Anne had left her diary in the annex where her family was hiding, hoping that she would come back.
She never did, but Otto Frank came back and published Anne's diary as a book. It has sold over forty million copies!
Otto Frank was the only Frank who made it out of the concentration camps alive. Anne died of typhus at age fifteen at Bergen-Belsen, a Polish camp. Otto died in 1980, but not before establishing the Anne Frank Foundation, which has turned the secret annex into a museum.

The letters were actually found over a year ago, but YIVO, the Jewish research center in New York where the letters are being held, was afraid to let it be known, fearing legal battles. They will finally be revealed to the public on Febuary 14th, 2007.
The letters themselves were written between April 30th, 1941, and December 11th, 1941.

Here is the news website,

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070125/ap_on_re_us/otto_frank_letters

YIVO's website,

http://www.yivo.org/

and the Anne Frank Foundation website.

http://www.annefrank.ch/

At a loss for words (or topics) to write about...

Well, let's see. What to write about today...
I couldn't find anything interesting in the news. (unless you call someone falling in a lake news...)
The only really big news around here IS THAT THE COLTS MADE IT TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!! GO COLTS!!!!!
This is the first time they've made since when? Let's just see how far they get...
Peyton Manning hurt his hand a few days ago. I hope he'll be fine in time for the game against the Bears.

My dad's birthday is today! Say Happy Birthday, everybody!!
Well, how was everyone else's day? I've been sick the last few days, so mine have been rather, oh, how do you put it? Boring, and kind of monotonous. Even hazy. I blame it on my headaches.

Sea Turtles' vacation

Some thirty or so sea turtles from Texas are getting a break basking under heat lamps this winter.
An arctic blast caused the water in the Gulf of Mexico to plummet eighteen degrees!
The cold-blooded turtles were comatose when volunteers scooped them out of the water and brought them to the University of Texas marine labratory, and Sea Turtle Inc., a rescue center, where they were put under lamps until they revived. The turtles are now being held in sixty-eight degree water while they recuperate.

The water dropped to the mid-thirties last Monday, and warmed up only to the fiftys by Thursday.
By then, it was too late. The turtles' systems shut down, and they started washing up on shore.
The volunteers named each of the turtles. One turtle lost one of its flippers as a result of a predator taking advantage of the turtles' lethargy.

Here is the site address,

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070119/ap_on_re_us/sea_turtles

Winter=FUN!

This is a poem that I wrote about winter.

Winter Wonderland
By Parker

It's winter, and it's freezing out there,
But's let's go outside, it's cold, but we don't care!
Let's build a snow fort, maybe some snowmen,
Then we'll have a snowball fight, throw snowballs again and again!
After that, rush inside and wrap that last gift,
Because Christmas will be here before you know it!

Now it's Christmas time, and snow's on the ground,
Around the blazing fire we'll all gather around.
Drinking hot chocolate, we'll read a Christmas story,
of Jesus's birth, Oh glory of glories!
Of angels proclaiming his birth up above,
Of Him sleeping soundly like a dove.

Then in the dark, under cover of night,
Santa will come, his footsteps so light.
He'll leave presents under the tree,
And, Oh! How happy we'll be!
Then we'll look out the window and notice the snow, created by God's hand,
And we'll have to appreciate this winter wonderland.

News from United Arab Emirates

My mom wants me to write about a current event in my blog, so here it goes!

Wow! The world's tallest building is going to be completed by 2009! Towering over the rest of the buildings in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Burj Dubai skyscraper (with it's over three thousand laborers) completed construction of it's one hundredth floor on January 16th! When finished, the Dubai tower will be over 2, 600 feet high! The tower was designed by American architect Adrian Smith. The construction division of South Korean electronics manufacturer, Samsung, is building the tower. The tower is progressing at an amazing rate, the workers finishing one story every three days! Plans have been made for the tower to include an indoor mall, an amusement park complex, and private apartments and offices. Italian fashion designer, Giorgio Armani, has co-developed the Armani Hotel. I'm sure it will be very expensive to stay in!


Here is the news website.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/dubai_tallest_skyscraper

A typical day in my house...

This is my first time blogging. This sounds really fun! My mom, and sister both have blogs on this website. (My mom's blog address is susanginn.blogspot.com, and my sister's is oliviaginn.blogspot.com)
About myself; I love video games, (Like most boys do!) animals in general, (though especially dogs and birds) chess, drawing pictures, playing games on the computer, and reading books. Oh! and did I mention video games?
I have two pet birds, (a parakeet and a cockatiel) a dog,( a pug mix) and two fish.
I also have two sisters, one brother, (soon to be two) and two foster brothers. as you can probably tell, my house is far from quiet. Sometimes, we have babies screaming, radio or television blaring, birds chirping, and a dog barking all at one time!
We've grown used to it, but I doubt most people could live with it for long!
Well, wish me luck as a new blogger!