Free Republic

You don't often hear about protests in Cuba, despite the hellish conditions of that socialist dictatorship, but I suspect that's going to change, and maybe pretty fast. Alberto de la Cruz at Babalu blog reports that protests are breaking out on the communist island dictatorship in the wake of Venezuela's popular fight for freedom: Video from Cuba shows hundreds of Cubans marching on the streets of Havana this Saturday in protest of the communist Castro dictatorship. This rare show of massive dissent in Cuba comes on the eve of the Castro regime’s sham referendum vote to ratify a new communist constitution....

A day after a magazine quoted him as saying abortion was "an individual choice," GOP Chairman Michael Steele may soon be toast. A leading conservative called Steele's remarks in the magazine "cavalier and flippant," underscoring the new chairman's precarious position with party regulars concerned about his off-the-cuff style and penchant for miscues. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee called the remarks "very troubling" and said in a blog posting, "despite his clarification today the party stands to lose many of its members and a great deal of its support in the trenches of grass-roots politics. For Chairman Steele to even infer...

Detroit, Jan. 26 (CWNews.com) - Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, a Detroit auxiliary and an outspoken proponent of liberal causes, has hinted that he may refuse to submit his resignation, as required by Church law, when he reaches his 75th birthday. Bishop Gumbleton, who turns 75 today (January 26), told the Toledo Blade that he was reluctant to submit his resignation. He complained that the Vatican response to resignations is "so arbitrary-- some of them they ignore, but if you are the least bit progressive, they accept it immediately."