Meet Jason Park. He's from the Eastside of Oahu. He's Korean. And my goodness is he good at riding a skateboard. A couple months back, Jason released the second clip below of himself at his local park, which was followed by a bit of internet acclaim for his insanely technical skating.

Just recently, he released this new clip. His shoe-kick-flip has got to be the most non-functional-yet-incredibly-brilliant tricks since the darkslide.

Jason has yet to make a national name for himself. But that might be changing shortly as he's landed himself among the finalists in the Berrics' YoUnited Nations 3 contest.

It's no secret that skateboarders and law enforcement don't exactly see eye-to-eye. Skaters often feel singled out by the authorities, and recent news from the Los Angeles City Council meeting may reinforce that outlook.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to seek a speed limit for skateboarders and penalize them for failing to follow a range of traffic rules, from stopping at stop signs to yielding to pedestrians."

To be fair, these rules were proposed in response to the death of two skateboarders in the past year. The city council is hoping to bring a stop to "bombing" hills, the term skaters use for going downhill at high speeds, by enforcing a speed limit of 25-mph.

If Councilman Joe Buscaino has his way, skateboarders will be facing penalties such as harsh fines, traffic citations, and even the impounding of their skateboards.

"We're looking at having the officers impound the skateboards after the citation is given so that the parents can go to the police station and recover the skateboard," Buscaino said.

As you can imagine, the skateboard community is left feeling singled out, as there is no enforced speed limit for cyclists in Los Angeles. Skate shop owner Mike Horelick voiced his doubts about the enforced speed limit, stating, "Skateboarders can't tell exactly how fast they're going. If you're driving, you look at the speedometer. But if you're a skateboarder, you're looking at the road in front of you."

Photo courtesy of the LA Times-Allen J. Schaben

Mountain Dew is attempting to make its presence felt in skateboarding by stacking its team with talented young skaters alongside legends like Paul Rodriguez.

The team recently released their first full team edit, filming their weekend at some of Southern California's legendary skate spots.

X Games' formal quest for global domination is now underway. Okay, maybe they don't want to take over the world, but their plans for expanding X Games to three more cities across the globe were announced today. Starting in 2013, X Games will be expanding to six events. Joining Los Angeles, Aspen, and Tignes will be Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, Barcelona, Spain, and Munich, Germany.



X Games organizers conducted an intense bidding process, ultimately selecting the three new cities, for a total of two winter events (Aspen and Tignes) and four summer events (Los Angeles, Foz do Iguacu, Barcelona, and Munich).

John Skipper, President of ESPN, commented, "We are bringing significant focus to this expansion because we believe in the universal appeal of these sports and competitors and want to share the X Games experience with fans around the world."

The biggest surprise from the announcement may actually be which city was not chosen. Whistler, though rumored by many to be a prime destination for Winter X Games, was not added to the lineup. Mixed reactions from some of the winter athletes have begun pouring in on Twitter:

Kelly Clark:
Whistler was the rumor. Turns out it's not happening yet, but maybe in the future.

Mike Riddle
Bummed that @xgames didn't add another winter stop at @WhistlerBlckcmb #GlobalXGames

Spencer O'Brien
Bummed @XGames expanded summer and not winter. Come on guys!

Roz Groenewoud: Very surprised #GlobalXgames isn't expanding to @WhistlerBlckcmb in 2013. Canadian X-Games would have been awesome but I still love @wssf!

Click here for details about the new host cities and more reactions on the expansion.

X Games 2013 Schedule
Jan. 24-27: Aspen, Colo.
March 20-22: Tignes, France
April 18-21: Foz do Iguacu, Brazil
May 9-12: Barcelona, Spain
June 27-30: Munich, Germany
Aug. 1-4: Los Angeles

We can all learn a lesson about perseverance and determination from 25-year-old skateboarder Oscar Loreto Jr. He was born with a congenital birth defect and as a result he is without a left foot, left hand, and four fingers on his right hand.

Oscar speaks openly about his mindset and challenges when skateboarding, "Throughout my whole life, whatever negative thought I had, I've always tried to convert it and make it a positive to motivate me...I think I've learned tricks as every other skater but there's definitely some minor tweaks I have to do because of the prosthetic."

Oscar's journey into skateboarding is documented in Rise Above, an inspiring new series on the RIDEChannel, showcasing athletes in action sports who have overcome major setbacks including disabilities, addictions, and more to persevere in life.