  At the largest angular scales the presence of a number of unexpected features
has been confirmed by the latest measurements of the cosmic microwave
background (CMB). Among them are the anomalous alignment of the quadrupole and
octopole with each other as well as the stubborn lack of angular correlation on
scales >60deg. We search for correlations between these two phenomena and
demonstrate their absence. A Monte Carlo likelihood analysis confirms previous
studies and shows that the joint likelihood of both anomalies is incompatible
with the best-fit Lambda Cold Dark Matter model at >99.95% C.L. At the same
time, a presumed special axis (the `Axis of Evil') identified on the microwave
sky demands additional contributions to multipole power on top of the
primordial standard inflationary ones. We find that the notion of a preferred
axis in the CMB is misleading and inconsistent with three-year data from the
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). Rather the data require a
preferred plane, whereupon the axis is just the normal direction to that plane.
Rotational symmetry within that plane is inconsistent with the observations and
is ruled out at high confidence.
