How telling that the day after our country celebrated our independence I end up making a flippant post about how the US government is helping to fund “extreme sports facilities” in El Salvador in hopes of combating violence amongst disaffected youth. As if Extreme!™ Democracy wasn’t enough (see Iraq). The News Blaze has an article titled Extreme Sports Offer Salvadoran Youth Refuge from Violence – United States provides extreme sports facilities to Salvadoran youth center. This popular rejection of violence is what the founders of Fundacion Salvador del Mundo (FUSALMO) hoped to see when they created a recreational facility for the youth of Soyapango in 2003… …In 2006, with a grant from the U.S. government, FUSALMO expanded its facilities to include extreme sports: bicycle motocross (BMX), skateboarding and break dancing. Break dancing and skateboarding? Sounds like 1987, not 2007. I guess skateboarding heals all wounds. I’m sure a few American-made prefab ramps will make up for the fact that the USA backed a bloody dictator for all those years. I can’t think of a better way to say “I’m sorry for the death squads and you know, those 30,000 executions. Let’s put this unpleasantness behind us with some method airs…

Happy Fourth of July. If you love your country, you’ll blow something up.

Dreamland is building two more skateparks in the Portland area right now. Holly Farm is a small skatespot in Southwest Portland. I had kind of written it off as something that was going to be for neighborhood kids but it is looking gnarly. That wall behind the spine looks six foot tall and the front pocket looks about eight. They are planning a KGW banks treatment around the outside. Meanwhile, two miles down the road, Tigard is also in progress. It is not as far along but it’s bigger.

Troy Sliter sent in some pictures from a recent road trip he took to New Mexico. I’ve never skated there, have you? I like the look of that ditch, that’s for sure.

Outside Magazine? At first I thought this was going to be some real news, Tony Hawk coming out of the closet as the first highly successful openly gay skateboarder would certainly be news. Yeah I know there are other openly gay skateboarders out there, but nobody at Tony’s level. Turns out I was thinking of Out Magazine. Outside Online has an interview with both Tony Hawk and Shaun White, comparing career moves and their relationship as mentor and.. mentee? Err.. One of the best quotes: HAWK: Someone came to me once and wanted to do a signature Hawk cologne. I was like, “Of what? Sweaty pads? Am I wringing out my pads into a little perfume bottle?” WHITE: I’ve been sent like 20 movie scripts. And the first lines are always “What up, brah?” Nope, nope, nope. It’s a good interview that shows a bit of the human side of these two larger than life personalities. At four pages long, this interview is still way too short. I wish they had made a longer version available instead of just mirroring the print edition, which is what I’m assuming they did. we like to poke fun of some of (well most,…

John Aguilar sent in more construction pics of phase two of the Bellingham Washington skatepark. Here’s the links to his two previous pics.

Source: Asscciated Press (07-03) 08:48 PDT LITTLE ROCK, (AP) — A police officer who appeared to choke a skateboarder and put two others in a headlock in a video posted online used appropriate force when making his arrests, an internal police investigation found. The Hot Springs Police Department Internal Affairs Board found the use of force was within the police department’s policy on non-deadly force and recommended “no changes to this policy.” The decision was released Monday. Officer Joey Williams confronted a situation that “would have overwhelmed any single officer” when he stopped those breaking a Hot Springs city ordinance by skateboarding on a downtown sidewalk June 21, the report said. However, Williams was faulted for leaving a handcuffed suspect unattended while chasing another youth in the resort town’s historic Bathhouse Row. Williams has been on administrative leave since the video hit YouTube on June 25. Police said he would return to active duty Thursday in the city’s downtown. “I think it was fair,” City Manager Kent Myers said. Witnesses “consistently supported the actions of the officer and his efforts to control the situation.” Video from a business’ security cameras shows 10 skateboarders rolling down the city sidewalk at a…