Free Republic

Cuba's late Marxist revolutionary, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, is experiencing something of a revival these days. His fiery-eyed visage and rock-star good looks, immortalized in an iconic snapshot by photographer Alberto Korda in 1961, seem to epitomize the youthful idealism of revolution, rebellion and free-spiritedness.

There's something about that man in the photo, the Cuban revolutionary with the serious eyes, scruffy beard and dark beret. Ernesto "Che" Guevara is adored. He is loathed. Dead for nearly 40 years, he is everywhere — as much a cultural icon as James Dean or Marilyn Monroe, perhaps even more so among a new generation of admirers who've helped turn a devout Marxist into a capitalist commodity. ADVERTISEMENT Of all the pop culture images that surround us, it is Guevara's face — immortalized in the photograph taken by Alberto "Korda" Diaz Gutierrez — that often stares at us, from...

THE US today branded "unfortunate" China's adoption of a law giving its military the legal basis to attack Taiwan if the island moves towards independence. "We view the adoption of the anti-secession law as unfortunate. It does not serve the purpose of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. At the same time, he restated US support for the "one China" policy and warned that Washington "does not support Taiwan independence." "We oppose any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo. We don't want to see any unilateral attempts that would increase tensions...