The Penal Colony, a new exhibit by visual artist Dinh Q. Le, highlights the injustices and hidden aspects of war and the secrets behind prison walls. Inspired by the recent events involving the United States Military Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the installation is divided into two sets of media.

Videos shot in the notorious political prison on Con Dao island off the coast of Vietnam highlight the horrific conditions where anti-French and anti-U.S. activits from the southeast Asian nation were sent to be tortured and live in “tiger cages” during the Vietnam War.

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Is America ready for a Guantanamo comedy in its movie theaters? New Line Cinema and the producers of “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” seem to think so. John Cho and Kal Penn are back on the big screen to reprise their beloved roles of Harold & Kumar, but this time the triviality of an epic quest for White Castle has been replaced with a romp where they get mistakenly thrown into the United States Military’s most infamous prison. Expect stoner humor, bodily function jokes and plenty of sexual insecurity but this time around the setting is considerably more politically charged than the New Jersey suburbs of their quest for diminutive, yet strangely addictive late night hamburgers.

Critic Peter Canavese of Groucho Reviews incitefully sums it up as:

“…a latter-day Abbott and Costello flick, where the monster they encounter isn’t Frankenstein, but the Bush Administration.”

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out our most popular articles of the week on a variety of subjects, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan Surfaces 120 Years Later

Hallelujah For American Idol, Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen

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Nicole:

Google Gives Free Voicemail to San Francisco Homeless

Gabriel Garcia Marquez Turnes 80

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Giulia:

Patrick Swayze’s Cancer Battle

Koby Bryant’s PSA for ASR

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Gina:

Reese’s Empowering Bracelet

“Chop Shop” - Dreams In a Place of Despair

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Kerry:

Bamboo Laptop: Will Apple Be Green with Envy?

The Explosive Truth About Twinkies

Gabriel García Márquez, renowned Latin American author, Nobel Prize laureate, and master of literary magical realism, turned 80 years old yesterday. Born in Colombia in 1928, García Márquez first won international acclaim with his book, One Hundred Years of Solitude, a defining classic work of twentieth century literature. García Márquez is no stranger to controversy, inspired by the choice to incorporate strong political themes into his novels. He has used his literary noteriety and personal funds to champion a variety of revolutionary political and social causes in Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Angola, and Argentina. He also helped to found HABEAS, an organization seeking to correct the abuses of Latin American dictatorships and to free the political prisoners of these regimes.

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