New adventure

I have two new things cooking today.

First, my new blog www.podcastzen.com . This is going to feature podcasts that are worth listening to. I have began the process of interviewing podcasters for my own podcast.

Second, I have wanted to do a podcast about airgunning since I started this blog. So there is no time like now.

So be on the lookout for the my adventures coming your way.

Obama's West LA office attack may be politically motivated

ABC7's Sister Station LOS ANGELES -- An attack on a new campaign office for President Barack Obama in West Los Angeles may have been politically motivated. Pellets from a BB gun left marks next to re-election signs and familiar slogans posted at the office, located along the 6700 block of South Centinela Avenue in Westchester. Three front-door windows and a side glass door were smashed. Plywood boards covered up some of the damage Friday. Investigators said they did not find rocks or projectiles at the scene. They believe one or more attackers used BB guns to cause the damage. Detectives believe the attack was politically motivated because no other businesses in the usually low-crime area were targeted. No threats were made before or after the attack. A Democratic official told Eyewitness News there were three staffers and one volunteer in the office at the time the glass broke. No one was injured. It was originally reported that no one was inside the office at the time of the incident. Some employees of the building were near the parking lot when they heard glass breaking just after 7 p.m. Thursday. "It could have been a kid's prank or anything," said Joyce Rankin, who works at a collection agency on the third floor of the building. Rankin was not in her office when the vandals fired the BB pellets and she's relieved nobody was hurt. "They could seriously have hurt someone if it had been something other than a pellet gun or whatever they could have possibly used. To me, it makes no sense. It's just a piece of property," said Rankin. Police do not have a description of the vandals or surveillance video of the crime. The attack comes just days ahead of the president's scheduled visit to Southern California. Obama is expected to arrive in Los Angeles Monday to meet supporters at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, then attend a private event nearby. The money raised is for his 2012 campaign. The president last visited Los Angeles in April also to attend a pair of fundraisers. The Secret Service has been notified of the incident, and FBI officials said they are assisting LAPD with the investigation. If you have any information regarding this incident, you're urged to contact the LAPD at (877) LAPD-24-7 or (877) 527-3247. The Associated Press contributed to this report. (Copyright ©2011 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Teen shot victim with Pellet gun

1 injury, 1 arrest Updated: Monday, 19 Sep 2011, 10:56 PM EDT Published : Monday, 19 Sep 2011, 10:56 PM EDT Vernon, Conn. (WTNH) - On September 11, police were called to West Main Street to look for a wanted person. When they arrived on the scene, they found a blood trail leading to a male victim. The victim had been shot at least three in the face with a Pellet gun. An investigation revealed that the victim was having an argument with Justin Robinson,19, when Robinson shot him with a Pellet gun. On Monday night, police arrested Robinson and charged him with assault with a firearm, carrying a dangerous weapon, unlawful discharge of a firearm, and breach of peace. He is being held on a court set bond of $300,000. The victim was transported to Rockville Hospital. Due to the seriousness of his injuries, he was then transferred to Hartford Hospital. The victim has since been released from the hospital.

New Zealand man Killing Appeal Dismissed

A man jailed for eight years for killing an undercover police officer has had his appeal against his sentence dismissed. Iain Clegg was found guilty of the manslaughter of Sergeant Don Wilkinson, who was shot with a high-powered airgun while carrying out an operation in South Auckland in 2008. A lawyer for Clegg, one of two men convicted over the killing, argued that the eight-year sentence given to his client was excessive. He said Clegg was not directly responsible for Sgt Wilkinson's death and that none of the injuries he inflicted were life-threatening. But the Court of Appeal said a deterrent sentence was plainly called for, because the officer was pursued and brutally attacked. A second man, John Skinner, was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years for Sgt Wilkinson's murder. Copyright © 2011, Radio New Zealand

California airgun Bill Defeated

Columbus, OH --(Ammoland.com)- California’s Senate Bill 798, sponsored by Sen. Kevin De Leon (D- Los Angeles), failed to make it out of the Assembly Committee on Public Safety and it has been defeated. The bill, which would have threatened many sportsmen who use airguns, was changed a number of times throughout California’s legislative session. Originally, the bill would have banned the sale of airguns, including BB and pellet guns used by sportsmen, unless the entire exterior surface of the gun was predominately colored white or bright red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, or purple, or was transparent. Essentially, airguns would have been required to be made to look like “toy” guns. The most recent version of the bill did away with the “toy” coloring requirement for airguns, and instead would have repealed the state’s preemption law that prohibits local ordinances from regulating most airguns, like BB and pellet guns. Repealing this section of law would have opened the door for local municipalities in the state to set their own regulations or bans. “If passed, Senate Bill 798 would have allowed each local government to enact its own set of regulations for airguns,” said Jeremy Rine, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance associate director of state services. “One city could have required airguns to be bright pink while another could have banned them outright. Thankfully, sportsmen can rest a little easier knowing that this ridiculous idea has been put to rest for this session.” About: The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. Visit www.ussportsmen.org.

Rescued and adopted cat shot with airgun

The eight-year-old rescue named Arty had been outside for just half an hour before his devastated owner discovered the wound left by the pellet, which had ripped through his right shoulder and narrowly missed his lungs. Arty, who was adopted from the RSPCA last year, was rushed to the vets to have the shot removed and is making a good recovery at home. Animal welfare investigators from the charity, along with the police, are now appealing for information to the shooting to help them track down who carried out the “concerning” attack. RSPCA inspector Ben Kirby is leading the charity’s investigation. He said: “Arty was very lucky that the pellet did not cause more damage and we are very concerned that someone is taking pot shots at animals in the area. “It is absolutely vital that if anyone saw anything suspicious or knows of anyone shooting at animals in the area that they come forward with information. People cannot be allowed to get away with causing such awful injuries.” A number of pigeons were also reported to have been found dead in suspicious circumstances around the Warren Court area where Arty was shot. ● Anyone with information about the attack, which happened between 7am and 7.30am on Friday, September 2, should call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.

Airgun shooting at Pope Mass

ERFURT, Germany – Facing discontent within his German flock, Pope Benedict XVI met with victims of clerical sex abuse as he called for Roman Catholics in the former communist East to rediscover their faith. The pontiff celebrated Mass with some 30,000 people early Saturday, unhindered by an incident on the edge of the security zone in which a man fired an air gun at a security guard about an hour before the service, Vatican and local officials said. Benedict's spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said there was "no worry" in the papal entourage over the incident, and the pontiff was not informed about it before the Mass. "It didn't seem particularly urgent," he told reporters on the pope's plane after the Mass. Police said the alleged shooter had been arrested and that there were no injuries. In his sermon, the pope acknowledged that the collapse of communism in the former East Germany more than 20 years ago has allowed the church to function freely, but questioned whether that change has brought any increase in faith. "Are not the deep roots of faith and Christian life to be sought in something very different from social freedom?" the pope said. "It was actually amid the hardships of pressure from without that many committed Catholics remained faithful to Christ and to the church." Benedict's four-day state visit comes as Germany's church has been losing thousands of followers amid revelations that hundreds of children and young people were abused by clergy and church employees. On Friday night, he took a step to placate some of the anger by meeting for half an hour with two women and three men from parishes across Germany who were among the abused. The Vatican said the pope expressed "deep compassion and regret" at the suffering of those who were abused and assured them the Church is seeking "effective measures to protect children." German church leaders acknowledge the scandal has cost them badly needed trust among the roughly 24 million German Catholics. "I appreciate that he (the pope) is facing the problem, and that he is meeting these people," said Klaus Militzer, 68, from Erfurt, who was among an expected 30,000 pilgrims streaming into the cobbled square beneath the city's main cathedral early Saturday. "He can't undo it, that's not possible, but I think it is good that he is asking for forgiveness and sending a signal." Benedict has been accused by victims groups and their lawyers of being part of a systematic cover-up by the church hierarchy for pedophile priests in his earlier roles as an archbishop in Germany and later at the helm of the Vatican morals office. Survivors groups were quick to denounce the pope's meeting with German victims as an empty gesture. They maintain the church has not done enough to prosecute offending priests and prevent future cases of abuse. Germany's Bishops Conference has set up a telephone hotline to counsel victims and help them to take legal steps against offending priests when possible. Catholic leaders had warned ahead of Benedict's visit that there was no quick solution, but they hoped the pontiff could help heal wounds left by the scandal. "I think it's certainly an important issue, but it's not the most important thing about a pope's visit," Monika Graner, a pilgrim from Wuerzburg, said of the sex abuse scandal. Following the Mass in Erfurt, the pontiff traveled to the southwestern city of Freiburg, the final stop on this visit. About 25,000 people who lined the pope's route cheered and waved as he drove from the airport to visit the downtown cathedral. Protests have also accompanied Benedict's German tour, although numbers have been smaller than expected. Some 9,000 people turned out in Berlin to denounce the Vatican views on homosexuality, contraception and other issues. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/09/24/man-shoots-security-guard-with-air-rifle-ahead-popes-german-mass/#ixzz1YsnyLb00