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The Land of the Free punishes or imprisons more of its citizens than any other nation. This collection of testimonials from criminal offenders, family members, and experts on America's criminal justice system puts a human face on the millions of Americans subjugated by the US Government's 40 year, one trillion dollar social catastrophe: The War on Drugs; a failed policy underscored by fear, politics, racial prejudice and intolerance in a public atmosphere of out of sight, out of mind. The United States has only 5% of the world's population, yet a full 25% of the world's prisoners. At 2.5 million, the US has more prisoners than even China does with five times the population of the United States. 8 million Americans (1 in every 31) languish under some form of state monitoring known as correctional supervision. On top of that, the security and livelihood of over 13 million more has been forever altered by a felony conviction. The American use of punishment is so pervasive, and so disproportionate, that even the conservative magazine The Economist declared in 2010, never in the civilized world have so many been locked up for so little. The project will unfold over a two year period, beginning with the release of this feature-length documentary and then continuing on with the release of short films and complete interviews from each of the 100 participants in the project, meant to represent the 1 in 100 Americans that are currently sitting behind bars.

A simple textile art installation succeeds in illustrating the emotional and parabolic ethos that Ar. Emmanuelle Moureaux shares with Tokyo City; so much so that she plans to take the '100 Colours' series to different cities across the world. Check it out

Tokyo-based French architect, artist, and designer, Emmanuelle Moureaux creates her first interactive public sculpture in #Tokyo designing 'hope' for a bright future via her continuing installation series '100 shades of 100 colours'. Check it out here…

Human rights organizations, as well as political and social ones, are condemning what they are calling a new form of inhumane exploitation in the United States, where they say a prison population of up to 2 million - mostly Black and Hispanic - are working for various industries for a pittance. For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. They don't have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time. All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don't like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation cells. There are approximately 2 million inmates in state, federal and private prisons throughout the country. According to California Prison Focus, "no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens." The figures show that the United States has locked up more people than any other country: a half million more than China, which has a population five times greater than the U.S. Statistics reveal that the United States holds 25% of the world's prison population, but only 5% of the world's people. From less than 300,000 inmates in 1972, the jail population grew to 2 million by the year 2000. In 1990 it was one million. Ten years ago there were only five private prisons in the country, with a population of 2,000 inmates; now, there are 100, with 62,000 inmates. It is expected that by the coming decade, the number will hit 360,000, according to reports. What has happened over the last 10 years? Why are there so many prisoners?

Right now, according to a number of studies, we are losing about $100 billion every year because corporate America and the very wealthy are stashing their money in tax havens like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. We should be aware that in 2009, ExxonMobil made $19 billion in profits and not only did the company not pay anything in taxes, it got a $106 million refund from the IRS. We should also be aware that since 1997, we have almost tripled funding for the military. So if we are serious about reducing the deficit, those are things we need to look at-not at Social Security, not programs everyday Americans need.

Organized religion will all but vanish eventually from nine Western-style democracies, a team of mathematicians predict in a new paper based on census data stretching back 100 years.

"Where you eat matters as much as what you eat…" Vino Veritas, a 100% Spanish Eco-Gastrobar in Oslo, Norway lives up to this quote by offering a slice of Spanish Andalusia to its patrons, both in terms of food/beverages it serves and the ambience it presents. Check it out here...

Amsterdam-based design agency Tjep. envisions a cleaner yacht industry with the introduction of EAU, a concept electric luxury yacht with 100% electric propulsion and a modern aesthetic that will appeal to leisure boaters. Check it out here…

India Art n Design (dot)com in conversation with Carlos Arnaiz Architects on their people-centric, culturally sensitive design of sacred spaces. Check out the ideologies that have led to the amazing architecture of contemporary churches like 100-Walls Church and La Salle Church among others…

Emmanuelle Moureaux's 'Forest of Numbers' was installed with the help of 300 volunteers to celebrate the recently concluded 10th anniversary of the National Art Centre in Tokyo. Whilst the numbers grounded the experience, the colours made it emotive! Check it out here and leave us your comments.