Random Notes, Dec. 14 2004

harper's weekly review is out:

French police planted plastic explosives in a random dark-blue suitcase at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris as a security exercise, then failed to monitor the bag as a conveyor belt rolled it to one of 90 planes with an international destination. A police spokesman expressed the hope that whoever finds the explosives will return them to authorities.
[...]
A survey found that about half of Britons have never heard of Auschwitz
[...]
A report found that a federally funded program to promote abstinence in schools has been teaching students...[a] story of a knight who rejects a princess when she becomes too opinionated about how best to slay a dragon. The parable concludes: "Occasional suggestions and assistance may be alright, but too much of it may lessen a man's confidence or even turn him away from his princess."

also, connotea, the social bookmark manager for academics, is officially out.