Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, authors of Superfreakonomics, cast themselves as iconoclastic contrarians. But in many ways, their book is actually pretty conventional.

Brace yourself for the most stomach-turning story in a long time: on Friday, a 15-year-old girl was brutally gang-raped after a homecoming dance in a suburb of San Francisco, while as many as 15 teenage boys stood around, doing nothing.

ABC News online has just posted a 7-point story about how women can protect themselves from "surprise attacks". Included: Tips we knew about (scream, carry a whistle on your keychain); tips we didn't (use your car antenna or windshield wiper as a weapon); and one REALLY helpful blanket suggestion (be "conscious of…