Free Republic

First they lost their television show. Now the Benham brothers say they are losing their business. SunTrust Banks is cutting ties with would-be reality stars David and Jason Benham after liberal activists attacked them for their conservative views on abortion and gay marriage, The Daily Caller has learned. In a statement provided first to TheDC on Friday, the Benham brothers confirmed that SunTrust Banks has pulled all of its listed properties with the Benham brothers’ bank-owned property business, which includes several franchisees across four states.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki says he welcomes a White House review of his beleaguered department if it can help ensure veterans have access to timely, quality health care. Shinseki was to go before a Senate committee Thursday to address allegations of treatment delays and preventable deaths at a Phoenix veterans hospital.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Casey Kasem was located in Washington state on Wednesday, three days after a Los Angeles judge expressed concerns about the ailing radio host's whereabouts and safety amid a dispute between his wife and children from another marriage. Kasem's condition was not immediately known, although his children rejoiced after days of uncertainty and said in a statement that locating their father was the first step in bringing him back to the Los Angeles area.

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — A Muslim-by-birth Sudanese woman who married a Christian man was sentenced to death Thursday after she refused to recant her Christian faith, her lawyer said. Meriam Ibrahim, whose father was Muslim but her mother was an Orthodox Christian from Ethiopia, was convicted of "apostasy" on Sunday and given four days to repent and escape death, lawyer Al-Shareef Ali al-Shareef Mohammed said.

Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev say FBI agents violated their client’s rights by questioning him after he asked for a lawyer 10 times from his hospital bed. The L.A. Times reports the 20-year-old suspect was in pain, according to defense attorneys who also said authorities had determined there was no lingering threat to public safety went they interrogated him in April 2013.

Carney says the U.S. team would include military and law enforcement personnel capable of sharing with the Nigerians expertise in intelligence, investigations, hostage negotiating and victim assistance.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has tentatively decided to suspend Clippers owner Donald Sterling INDEFINITELY and impose a multi-million-dollar fine -- but Sterling will NOT be forced to sell the team -- sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ Sports.

KABUL, Afghanistan – Five NATO troops died in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, the U.S.-led military coalition said. The coalition said in a statement it was investigating the circumstances of the crash but gave no other information. The nationalities of those killed were not released, citing its policy that home countries should identify their casualtie

(CNSNews.com) - Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy made his offensive remarks about blacks and slavery on Saturday, but it took four days for his remarks to finally appear in the New York Times. According to the April 24 New York Times article, Bundy promised to continue holding a daily news conference, even after his standoff with federal agents ended: "[O]n Saturday, it drew one reporter and one photographer, so Mr. Bundy used the time to officiate at what was in effect a town meeting with supporters, discussing, in a long, loping discourse, the prevalence of abortion, the abuses of welfare and...

“In fact, the propaganda bullhorn that is the state sponsored Russia Today program has been deployed to promote — actually, Russia Today network, has deployed to promote President Putin’s fantasy about what is playing out on the ground,” he said. “They almost spend full time devoted to this effort, to propagandize and distort what is happening or not happening in Ukraine.”

A subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs released a scathing report on Thursday that effectively confirmed many of the ethical allegations that have trailed Charles Edwards ever since he resigned his post in December as acting DHS inspector general. The report determined that he "jeopardized the independence" of his office by socializing with senior DHS officials and had reports "altered or delayed" to accommodate the department he was supposed to oversee. The report also included, though did not confirm, allegations that Edwards' office sat on information about the 2012 Secret Service prostitution scandal that could...

President Obama said Thursday that new sanctions targeting Russia are "teed up" in the wake of a fresh warning by the Russian foreign minister that attacks on Russian citizens or interests in Ukraine would bring a firm response.

The Justice Department moved Wednesday to significantly expand the number of people eligible for clemency, issuing new guidelines allowing certain prisoners who already have served at least 10 years behind bars to apply for release. The initiative is part of a broader Obama administration effort to ease sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. Deputy Attorney General James Cole outlined the changes, which include six separate criteria inmates must meet to be eligible, on Wednesday morning. Among the requirements is that inmates must have served at least 10 years of their federal sentence and not have a "significant criminal history." They must...

It also follows a reorganization of Western-backed fighters aimed at creating a more effective military force and increasing protection for Christian and other religious minorities—something of particular importance to Washington. This shift is seen as a test of whether the U.S. can find a trustworthy rebel partner able to keep sophisticated weapons out of the hands of extremists, Saudi and Syrian opposition figures said. The U.S. has long feared that if it does supply advanced arms, the weapons will wind up with radical groups—some tied to al Qaeda—which have set up bases in opposition-held territory.

President Obama put on his silliest face Thursday for a woman snapping a smartphone photo of him at the White House.

“I learned (that filmmaking) was a much longer process than what I originally imagined,” Clinton told Variety in her first sit-down interview about the documentary, alongside its director, Linda G. Mills, and its two stars. “I’m not sure what I had originally imagined, but I would not have put my money on it being a two-year process.”

Climate change’s latest casualty appears to be fish — or more specifically, fish brains — as researchers say the carbon dioxide that’s being absorbed into the ocean is causing the scaly creatures to lose their survival instincts. In other words, the fish are losing their minds, The Daily Mail reported. The acid from atmospheric carbon dioxide seeps into sea waters, dissolves and ultimately lowers the pH balance, researchers said. The acidic waters then hamper the fishes’ sensory systems, so they’re not able to distinguish between smells any longer, the scientists went on.

The two paroled sex offenders who authorities in Southern California believe raped and killed four women allegedly wore GPS trackers while committing their crimes, and investigators believe there may be more victims. Anaheim police Chief Raul Quezada said Monday that Franc Cano, 27, and Steven Dean Gordon, 45, were wearing ankle tracking bracelets when the women were assaulted and killed last fall and earlier this year. The chief added that data from the devices "was one of the investigative tools we used to put the case together." Authorities at the news conference did not explain how Cano and Gordon allegedly...

The Internal Revenue Service plans to rewrite proposed regulations limiting the political activities of the same type of tax-exempt groups the agency was accused of targeting after backlash from GOP lawmakers and politically active nonprofit groups. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told USA Today on Monday that the agency will likely "re-propose a redefined rule and ask for more public comment." He expects the process will take "until the end of the year and beyond" to complete. Koskinen said the revised rule will take into account criticism from conservative groups concerned the regulations will put free speech rights at risk. Some...

Police arrested a Utah woman Sunday after discovering seven dead babies in her former home. Investigators believe that Meagan Huntsman, 39, who lived in the Pleasant Grove home until 2011, gave birth to the babies before killing them at various times between 1996 and 2006. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that police were called to the house Saturday by Huntsman's ex-husband, who had discovered the body of a newborn infant who appeared to be at full term. Police obtained a search warrant for the house and discovered the bodies of six more babies packed in boxes in the garage. Police...