Headlines from June 5, 2012

Bribery would be less of a problem if it wasn’t also a solid investment. The economic case for bribery.
Complete our 2012 Reader Survey, and you could win a TMN Prize Pack. #tmn
Happiness is statistically abnormal, consists of a discrete cluster of symptoms, is associated with a range of cognitive abnormalities.
Pretexting, baiting, and other social engineering techniques scammers use to exploit “bugs in the human hardware.”
I would say the cultivation of silence is indispensable to being human. A fascinating interview with Trappist monks.
On the science of flavor, and why raw tomatoes are so fiercely hated.
Jeff Koons stops by East Harlem elementary, talks balloon animals with second graders.
In the run-up to the Olympics, UK Home Office undertakes most extensive security vetting process since WWII.
It feels like the accumulated reward for years and years of work. Amanda Palmer raises $1.2 million through Kickstarter for her new album.
No one is happy with the current creative economy, and fans will support people who dare to challenge it. via
The current NBA playoffs provide riveting basketball—some meditations on the finer moments.
From 2008, Pasha Malla’s ode to Kevin Garnett and friends, and why pro ball is the best ball of all. #tmn
Venus to pass in front of the sun tonight—catch it tonight or wait until 2117 to see it again.
Beginning at 5:45 p.m. ET, view a live stream of the transit of Venus here. #space
Western journalists, including Pulitzer-winning Peter Arnett, on what it’s like to move to China to teach journalism.
Notes on the under-researched phenomenon that is drunk speech.
Roundtable with the creators of Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Deadwood (aka The Milch Man) on the art of current TV. #longreads
Previews of TV shows to see this summer.
Everyone hates the “contorted mass of entrails” that is the London Olympic symbol.
Brief tick-tock with climbers Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold as they free-climbed Yosemite’s three biggest grade VI walls in a day.
At the French Open as in today’s greater tennis world, the men stick to form, the women go free-for-all.
Novelist Nic Brown covers new American tennis hopefuls in “The Tennis Handsomes.” #tmn
1983 Voice essay remains among the saddest and best things written about jazz writing.
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Are they proud to be airline chefs, I wonder? Rainn Wilson assesses in-flight magazines.
Mitt Romney writes erotic fiction about himself.