Robert L. Ranson, Early-Release Felon Charged with Kidnapping, Rape, Torture of a 16 Year Old Girl in South Los Angeles, CA

Non-violent Offender, eh? With these felons, it’s not a matter of if they will escalate, but when!

30 year old Robert L. Ranson, an early release felon, has been charged with the kidnapping, rape and torture of a 16 year old girl in South Los Angeles, California. Ranson was on probation as a “non-violent offender” under California’s prison realignment program when he decided to escalate his crimes. This thug is also a suspect in 3 other recent murders. So much for the non-violent offender.  Ranson had previously served time for two carjackings and an assault with a firearm. Since when is the use if a firearm in a commission of a crime considered non-violent? How nuts are they in California to be releasing a danger like this to the public?

So this is how the liberals in charge in California protect the public? Take the guns away from law-abiding citizens and let felons out of prison early who are far from “non-violent”. BRILLIANT!

Robert L. Ranson, pic – California Department of Corrections

A man on probation as a “non-violent offender” under California’s prison realignment program has been charged with kidnapping, raping, and torturing a 16-year-old girl in South Los Angeles, and detectives suspect he may be connected to three other recent murders.

Robert L. Ranson, 30, was arrested in late March after the girl escaped from a U-Haul van in an alley near Imperial Highway and New Hampshire Ave., according to police and booking records.

The girl was covered in gasoline and said her attacker, later identified as Ranson, had tied her hands and taped her mouth, and was trying to light her on fire when she ran away, naked.

Ranson was tracked by detectives and arrested March 27th. He was booked on a 10-day probation violation, known as a “flash incarceration,” while the case was investigated.

Prosecutors charged Ranson for the teenager’s kidnapping April 3.  An alleged accomplice, Julian Tobar, was charged with robbing the girl.

Pope Francis Easter Address: Called For End to War, Condemned Waste Exacerbating Hunger

Pope Francis’ Easter Address in front of 150,000 people in St. Peter’s Square called for and end to conflicts in Syria, Ukraine and Africa and an end to violence in Iraq, Venezuela, South Sudan and the Central Africa Republic. The Pontiff also denounced the “immense wastefulness” in the world while many go hungry.

Pope Francis, in his Easter address before a huge crowd, on Sunday denounced the “immense wastefulness” in the world while many go hungry and called for an end to conflicts in Syria, Ukraine and Africa.

“We ask you, Lord Jesus, to put an end to all war and every conflict, whether great or small, ancient or recent,” he said in his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message.

Francis, marking the second Easter season of his pontificate, celebrated a Mass to an overflowing crowd of at least 150,000 in St. Peter’s Square and beyond.

He prayed to God to “help us to overcome the scourge of hunger, aggravated by conflicts and by the immense wastefulness for which we are often responsible”.

Celebrating Easter Sunday, Christianity’s most joyous and hopeful day, Pope Francis prayed for peace in Ukraine and Syria and for an end to the terrorist attacks in Nigeria that have targeted so many Christians.

He also recalled those suffering in Africa from an epidemic of deadly Ebola and urged a halt to “brutal terrorist attacks” in parts of Nigeria.

But Francis’ Easter message also stressed that people pay attention to the needy close to home. Reflecting the priorities of his papacy, he said the “good news” of Easter’s joy and hope means “leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those crushed by life’s troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast.”

Easter Truce Broken: Five Dead at Ukraine Checkpoint in Slavyansk

Russia Today reports that five  people were killed in an alleged shooting near Slavyansk, Ukraine on Sunday morning.  Those killed include three protesters and two attackers, who are believed to be from the Right Sector paramilitary.

Five people have been killed in a gunfight in Slavyansk, a city in eastern Ukraine held by anti-government protesters. The fatalities include three protesters and two attackers, who are believed to be from the Right Sector paramilitary.

The deaths came after a night attack on a protester checkpoint on the outskirts of the city. Four cars drove by the checkpoint and opened fire at the local residents manning it, killing two people and seriously injuring several others.

“They approached with their high beam headlamps on. Our man went to them and asked not to blind us, show IDs and open the trunk for inspection. Then an assault rifle got stuck out of the window and he was gunned down,” an eyewitness, Vladimir, told RT.

He added some of the people trying to flee the attackers were shot in their backs. One gunshot victim died later in hospital from a head wound, local medics confirmed. Two others are undergoing treatment.

The checkpoint was in the control of 26 civilians armed with bats. Their lack of firearms was due to a so-called “Easter truce” announced by both the Kiev authorities and the protest leaders to de-escalate tension.

VIDEO – RT, pic screen grab: click on pic to watch video

Happy Easter 2014 from Scared Monkeys: HE IS RISEN …

Scared Monkeys with all a joyous and blessed Easter.

Please remember today while spending time with family, participating in Easter egg hunts, opening Easter baskets and having Easter dinner … the reason for the season. He has risen, he has truly risen. The are given the promise of eternal hope. As  John 3:16 states,  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” However, never forget that Without the Crucifixion, there would have been no Resurrection. A Resurrection that represents eternal rebirth.

King’s College Choir – Jesus Christ is risen today

Mark 16: 5-7

“As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.  ”Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ”

Michael W Smith – Above All

Crucified, laid behind a stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

Obama Administration Delays Once Again Final Decision on Keystone XL Pipeline … Play Politics Over Jobs for Americans

Barack Obama has made promises to Americans that jobs is his number one priority, but has done everything but …

The Obama administrations has once again kicked the can of American jobs down the road in place of playing politics.  Team Obama has once again delayed the decision on the XL Keystone pipeline on Good Friday and Easter weekend.  The decision now will most likely not be made until after the November midterm elections. How convenient. This is just another attempt to humor the far left and the environmental wackos to get their campaign dollars and votes. The Weekly Standard makes a valid and important point, “if the administration wanted the pipeline built, construction would have long since been underway … Witness the numerous executive fiats regarding the implementation of Obamacare.”

The Obama administration further delayed its decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project on Friday, with no conclusion now likely until after the U.S. mid-term elections in November.

President Barack Obama has said he will have the final say on whether to allow the pipeline connecting Canada’s oil sands region to Texas refiners, and several government agencies had been given until May to weigh in. This had raised expectations of a final decision by mid-year.

But the State Department said on Friday it was extending that agency comment period, citing a need to wait until the Nebraska Supreme Court settles a dispute over what path the $5.4 billion TransCanada Corp project should take.

“That pipeline route is central to the environmental analysis for the project and if there are changes to the route it could have implications,” a senior State Department official told reporters.

UPDATE I: Keystone non-decision keeps some Democrats on the hot seat.

Politically, it seems like a great idea, since kicking Keystone down the road — probably long past November — is better than an outright rejection for vulnerable oil-state Democrats, whose voters love the proposed project. And it keeps environmentalists at bay, boosting hopes that President Barack Obama might still swing their way.

But the non-decision decision also makes life a little harder for several groups of Democratic senators and Senate candidates fighting for their lives.

Some, like Colorado Sen. Mark Udall, have yet to take a firm stance on the Alberta-to-Texas oil pipeline — and the State Department’s announcement Friday that it’s extending its review of the project removes the possibility that Obama could resolve the issue one way or another next month.

Meanwhile, pro-Keystone Democrats like Senate energy Chairwoman Mary Landrieu will face heightened pressure to take actions to match their rhetoric.

UPDATE II: Vulnerable Senate Democrat  Mary Landrieu, D-LA Speaks Out Against Keystone XL Pipeline delay.

Responded Landrieu, the newly installed chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee: “Today’s decision by the Administration amounts to nothing short of an indefinite delay of the Keystone Pipeline. This decision is irresponsible, unnecessary and unacceptable. By making it clear that they will not move the process forward until there is a resolution in a lawsuit in Nebraska, the administration is sending a signal that the small minority who oppose the pipeline can tie up the process in court forever. There are 42,000 jobs, $20 billion in economic activity and North America’s energy security at stake.” Landrieu said she plans to use her chairmanship of the Senate Energy Committee to try and move the project forward.