8-metre section of wall rotates for art, causes terrible draught. A snip at £450,000. // Repairing brickwork with Lego. // Jeff Koons’ topiary puppy. // Robot wildlife. I like the owl. // Robotic legs help paralysed walk. // Wrapping asteroids in space. (h/t, The Thin Man.) // How to get rid of things. Stains, smells, mental problems. // Market research for panhandlers. (h/t, Clazy.) // Signs from the Tokyo metro. (h/t, Coudal.) // Sixties’ Batman, rendered in typography. // Build your own Batmobile. // Al Dente. A short film about eating children. // Augmenting video with photographs. // The Touch of Evil opening. (h/t, Anna.) // Bathing suits of the 1900s. // What the Olympic diver saw. // Turntime. // Steve Reich: Sextet, 5th movement. // User interfaces of note. (h/t, Things.) // More musical toys. // And, via The Thin Man, it’s Ms Julie London.

Oliver Kamm casts an eye over diarist and anti-war campaigner Tony Benn.

According to Benn, there are “five questions we should ask any powerful person: ‘What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you use it? To whom are you accountable? How do we get rid of you?’”

This is what he in fact asked Saddam Hussein, a powerful person whom he interviewed shortly before the Iraq War:

“I have 10 grandchildren and in my family there is English, Scottish, American, French, Irish, Jewish, Indian, Muslim blood, and for me politics is about their future, their survival. And I wonder whether you could say something yourself directly through this interview to the peace movement of the world that might help to advance the cause they have in mind?”

The five questions didn’t come up. Presumably Saddam was too powerful to be troubled with them.

More. 

Busy today, but two items caught my eye:

You’d think the media would delve into this relationship a little. If John McCain kicked off his political career at the house of, say, a bomber of abortion clinics, you probably would have heard about it by now.

And, 

What fascinates me is how light the baggage is when one travels from violent radicalism to liberalism. Chicago activist Sam Ackerman told Politico’s reporter that Ayers “is one of my heroes in life.” Cass Sunstein, a first-rank liberal intellectual, said, “I feel very uncomfortable with their past, but neither of them is thought of as horrible types now – so far as most of us know, they are legitimate members of the community.” Why, exactly, can Ayers and Dohrn be seen as “legitimate members of the community”? How is it that they get prestigious university jobs when even the whisper of neocon tendencies is toxic in academia?

Related: The youthful indiscretions of Peter Tatchell.

Update and video at Hot Air.

The Royal College of Art recently unveiled some eye-catching car designs. The concept below, by Paul Howse, is rather fetching, if perhaps a tad impractical. I mean, for one thing, where does the shopping go?

More. Related: Vintage Wheels, Smart Car Monster Truck.

Slightly indecent pulpy goodness. // Slow-motion lightning. // The art of jumping on eggs. From Nationwide, 1974. // Meat cake. Because it can be done. // Name that disease. Family fun. // Looks like human flesh, tastes like bread. Video. // Should boys be circumcised? A debate ensues. // Precision lasers and plausible deniability. // Falcon 1 launch and separation video. Private space travel inches closer. // 2081. The bliss of equality. // A children’s primer of Communism. (h/t, The Thin Man.) // The Ladybird Book of the Policeman. (h/t, Chastity Darling.) // The Umbuster. It’s an umbrella, it’s a knuckle duster. It requires a weapons license. // Black patent faux leather pillow. For the discerning fetishist. (h/t, Coudal.) // Handmade. A short film, plot unclear. // The Jose Vasconcelos Library, Mexico City. // Equipment for handling molten steel. // Audi Symphony. // There’s a monkey on the loose. // And, via The Thin Man, it’s Washboard Sam.