Link Collection

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (Pres. George W. Bush's strongest ally in the Iraq invasion) says that he would have found a justification to invade Iraq even if there had been no evidence of Saddam having WMD:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/12/tony-blair-iraq-chilcot-inquiry

Plastic grocery bags that currently end up being thrown away could end up being recycled to make lithium-ion batteries:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18269-plastic-bags-recycled-into-nanotubes.html

It turns out that the odd tilt of Uranus' spin might be due to a massive moon that Uranus had before that has disappeared now. This could explain by Uranus' 27 known moons are not tilted while Uranus' spin is tilted differently than all other planets in our solar system:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18239-large-moon-of-uranus-may-explain-odd-tilt.html

The genetic make-up of some children means that the standard vaccines might not protect them, but the discovery of gene variants could enable the creating of personalized shots to vaccinate them:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427373.500-personalised-vaccines-could-protect-all-children.html

One in 8 Americans now relies on food stamps, including 1 in 4 children! 1/3 of the children in Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee receive food aid and 46% of the children in the Bronx receive food aid:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/us/29foodstamps.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all

As a sashimi lover, it is really sad to read that the bluefin tuna is near extinction:
http://www.theweek.com/article/index/103657/A_world_without_tuna

Illinois poisoned a canal to try to kill the Asian carp because the electric barrier that normally restrains the carp had to be shut down for maintenance. This ended up costing $3 million and was expected to kill 100 tons of fish...including just *1* carp!
http://www.physorg.com/news178952297.html

Police chief in Ohio was convicted of 3 felonies because of his role in the break-in of the home of a woman who was carrying twin girls for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. Apparently the plan was to take items related to the pregnancy and the surrogacy and sell them to celebrity photographers:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/23/barry-carpenter-guilty-po_n_368281.html