I was just talking to one of my friends about this today.

One reason creativity is declining is that middle-class children are put into such rigid, structured environments from the time they’re born – Baby Einstein, “Mommy & Me” gym classes, baby swimming classes, toddler soccer, dance classes, martial arts, T-ball… you name it. Some kids don’t even get a moment to breathe, let alone create.

I didn’t do any of that crap. Okay, (one season of T-ball and soccer for each kid, and then nada.) One time this other mother was pushing me, pretty much implying it was maternal malpractice that my kids didn’t play organized sports and that they would suffer for it. I sniped back: “I guess maybe the kids who aren’t that smart need a lot of extra stimulation.” (Mea culpa. That was mean.)

But as I’ve said before, my kids had no “insert battery, turn on and watch” toys. They had stuff to build with: Erector sets, Lincoln logs, blocks, Legos. They had crayons, clay and paints — and lots of paper. Oh, and music, too. They seem to have turned out smart enough — they tested out with 150-plus IQs.

You don’t actually need to have all that stuff, although it probably helps. But I remember sitting in the dirt for hours, making imaginary cities out of mud, stones, sticks and bottle caps. It was huge fun for me, and the most important thing my mom did was to leave me alone. She didn’t say, “Susie, get out of that dirt and wash your hands!” She didn’t decide I should be doing something else, she gave me the time I needed to imagine. But then, she wasn’t making plans to get her five-year-old into Harvard, either.

What about you? Were you a creative child? Do you still have those dreams? Do you support them by making time for creativity?

Bookmark It

Well, whattaya know!

The Obama administration will allow tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to expire on schedule, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday, setting up a clash with Republicans and a small but vocal group of Democrats who want to delay the looming tax increases.

Mr. Geithner said the White House would allow taxes on top earners to increase in 2011 as part of an effort to bring down the U.S. budget deficit. He said the White House plans to extend expiring tax cuts for middle- and lower-income Americans, and expects to undertake a broader revision of the tax code next year.

“We believe it is appropriate to let those tax cuts that go to the most fortunate expire,” Mr. Geithner said at a breakfast with reporters.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the Obama administration will allow tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to expire despite calls from a small group of Democrats to delay tax increases. Kelly Evans talks to John McKinnon in Washington.

His comments came as a number of Democrats, among them North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, have begun agreeing with Republicans and some economists who want to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for all earners, including couples earning above $250,000 and individuals earning above $200,000. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, added his voice on Thursday, saying through a spokesman that he was “concerned about the impact of allowing the tax cuts to expire during our fragile economic recovery.”

Bookmark It

Dan Choi booted from the military under DADT.

Bookmark It

This wasn’t a “glitch,” because that implies it happened inadvertently. On that specific question, they changed the answering order in such a way that made people answer in a way they didn’t mean to. Gee, I wonder why? David Dayen:

When America Speaks, the organization bankrolled by deficit scold Pete Peterson, held its series of meetings last month, the results basically showed that the public favored progressive options to lower the deficit and stabilize the budget. But a couple anomalous results were included in there, allowing America Speaks to say that Americans preferred balanced solutions. A review of the data shows that a technical error led America Speaks to initially promote that a majority of their participants favored raising the Social Security eligibility age, when in actuality a far smaller minority approved of that solution.

The original press release from America Speaks said that the option to raise the age for receiving full Social Security benefits to 69 was “preferred” by participants in the town hall meetings. In particular, America Speaks said that 52% of their attendees endorsed raising the retirement age to 69 in order to close the long-term actuarial imbalance in the program. People voted using keypads to identify their opinions on dozens of options for closing the budget gap.

But their final report, Our Budget Our Economy, you can see that the numbers have shifted. Whereas 52% endorsed the retirement age increase initially, now the numbers on Page 16 show that only 39% endorsed it.

America Speaks has explained this discrepancy by identifying a technical glitch in the software that they used to count up the responses. They claim that on certain questions, participants hit the button multiple times, and that all of them counted, increasing the perceived support. Despite dozens of issues, this affected only a mere five questions, including the increase of the retirement age. And the widest discrepancy came with that question, from a simple majority to a clear minority. This tracks with the independent, nonpartisan, scientific polling on the subject.

It’s interesting that the retirement age increase was the one policy prescription that had inaccurate results. Because that’s precisely the policy that politicians on both sides of the aisle, from John Boehner to Steny Hoyer, have forwarded as a possible solution to Social Security’s “problem.” Whether this was a coincidental mis-tabulation or not, the support in DC for this age increase, which represents a benefit cut of up to 20%, tracks with the supposed “support” at the America Speaks meetings, now seen to be inaccurate.

Bookmark It

More Harry (yes, I do know Fred Neil wrote it):

Bookmark It

Thanks to reader K, I realized today I’ve been sadly remiss in not posting more Harry Nilsson:

Bookmark It

H/t Somegirl. Laurie Anderson on Letterman:

Bookmark It

I guess I’m just a hillbilly at heart, because I love this song. Iris DeMent and John Prine:

Bookmark It

The Box Tops:

Bookmark It

Now they want to punish you for NOT running up any late fees!

“The only true deadbeat customer is someone who has a card and never uses it,” said Curtis Arnold, who runs the credit comparison site CardRatings.com. “Just having good credit alone in today’s market is not enough for that customer to be profitable.”

Bookmark It