The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, has fascinated me each and everyday. The first event that impressed me was the woman's downhill moguls. At first I never heard of "moguls", but it is pretty easy to figure out. The mogul race is when you ski down a hill and turn around mounds of snow, and perform tricks off ramps. The scoring is based on how well you turn, your time, and a trick score. Hannah Kearney won the gold from the USA, and I was glad because she was by far my favorite mogul skier. Another event I wanted to see was the speed skating with Apolo Anton Ohno and J.R. Celski. I have never seen or even heard of speed skating until this Olympics. The was was very thrilling. Apolo was in fourth during the final lap until a terrible pass by the Koreans which knocked them over, and out of the race. Korea took the gold, Ohno took the silver, and Celski got the Bronze. It was the craziest race I have ever seen in my life.
The next event I couldn't wait to see was Lindsey Jacobellis in The Woman's Downhill Snowboard Cross. The snowboard cross is just a race to the finish on a snowboard. I was excited to see Jacobellis, compete again in the downhill cross after the 2006 Olympics in Torino where she fell down on the last jump and lost the gold medal and received the silver. Jacobellis made it through the preliminary rounds, but during the medal she went off coarse after the first jump. I was devastated to see that Lindsey came in 5th but was excited that Canada's Maelle Ricker took home the gold.
Speaking of gold, in Men's Figure Skating United States, Evan Lysacek, took home the gold after spectacular performance. He beat the Russia's, Yevgeny Plyushchenko, who was expected to win after his short program. Plyushcenko was Torino's gold medalist destroying the competition with a 10 point lead! That is amazing considering he only lost by 1 point this time around.
Lastly, I saw the Women’s Downhill Skiing with Linsdey Vonn. I heard she was amazing, but I had to see it for myself. She was the last to go,and I knew she had a bruised shin going into the race, so I was very nervous for her sake. It was a wonderful run, and she dominated the competition and took the gold, and the silver medalist was also from USA, Julia Mancuso. In conclusion, I can’t wait for even more Olympic activity this week.

When I was 10 I was at the Spree, a type of amusement park full of exotic rides and attractions. I and was about to face my fear, and ride the fireball. The Fireball is a massive ride where you go at least 200ft in the air, and come back down pushing back the skin on your face like you see astronauts faces when their in the spinning machine. Three people have died on this ride, but I was sure to ride it, and it would be a great feat for me. The day was June 27, 2005, and I was with my family. It was a scorching hot day in Michigan, at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit. We rode some other rides such as White Water which is a water roller coaster with a 100ft drop and a massive splash at the end. The Fireball was at the end of the amusement park hidden behind giant Weeping Willow trees. You could feel the intense breeze as it rushed down from the cloudless blue skies. At last we arrived at the Fireball. The sight of this ride made you feel tiny inside, but nevertheless I had to go on.
I went on with my older sister Jaclyn, she had been on the ride many times before, but I was always too scared… until now. I walked on to the metal platform that led to the ride. I felt a chill going down my spine as I was about to be seat on the cold, hard, plastic seats. I knew I was about to regret it, but I couldn’t let fear get to me. I remember a saying my grandma always say, “You only live once, so you better live it well.” At that moment that was exactly what I was doing. The carnival employee started the ride. The Fireball swung low to the ground at first, then higher and higher until it reached the sky. At that point I thought I was going to die, my short life flashed before me and I recalled all the memories that meant the most to me but... I didn’t. I survived! The ride came to a stop at the ground, and I got off, except I fell. I fell on the cheese grate like ground. Nothing happened to me at first, but as I walked back to my family my knee started bleed, a lot. All of the sudden I couldn't see. I cried in a panic and realized I cut my forehead, and the blood covered my eye.
My family was in a panic and so was I. My father picked me up and rushed me to the medical personnel.Father quickly handed me over to the medics, like a football. They stopped the blood, and cleaned my knee and the blood away from my eyes. I learned something that day, never again will I ride the Fireball.

The U.S. needs to follow through with devastating sanctions on Iran. America can stop Iran with these new sanctions, such as increasing the cost to conduct business in Iran. We can use this sanction to make businesses leave Iran, and causing their economy to plummet. This would devastate the nation, and would cause them to be stopped in making nuclear weapons due to a lack of funding. Benjamin Netanyahu said that “Iran was racing forward to produce a nuclear weapon,” and “This means not moderate sanctions, or watered-down sanctions,” he said. “This means crippling sanctions and these sanctions must be applied right now.” That is exactly what increasing the cost to conduct business in Iran would do…cripple them severely.
Another way the world can stop Iran by using sanctions is by sanctioning the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which are in control of the nuclear facilities. If China and Russia, the main suppliers to Iran, would sanction the guards then, the guards could not control the facilities and an outer power would be able to buy it out. The country that would buy it out would be a stable country such as the U.S. or France. A brilliant strategy that would only work with the help of China an Russia. The U.S., China, Russia, and France need to attack Iran with powerful sanctions.