FINAL EXIT

1.      Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teenager uses the phrase "It's not fair" 86 times a day.

2.             The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as your school does. This may come as a shock.

3.             Sorry, but you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone, either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a designer label.

4.             If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

5.             Flipping burgers is not beneath dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity.

6.             It's not your parents’ fault if you mess up. You're responsible! This is the flip side of "It's my life" and "You're not my boss."

7.             Before you were born your parents were not boring. They got that way paying your bills and listening to you.

8.             Life is not divided into semesters. And you don't get summers off. Not even spring break. You are expected to show up every day for eight hours; and you don't get a new life every 10 weeks.

9.             Smoking does not make you look cool. Watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20.

10.         Your school may be "outcome-based," but life is not. In some schools, you're given as many times as you want to get the answer right. Standards are set low enough so everyone can meet them. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life—as you will find out.

This and  similar cons like the Nigerian 419 fraud and eBay ones are a real pain. More recently, we've had fake emails disguised as Maybank advice to " verify your account."  Well, that's the power of the internet for you.

Here's information excerpted from Paypal's site:

PayPal will never ask you to enter your password or financial information in an email or send such information in an email. You should only share information about your account once you have logged in to https://www.paypal.com/ directly from your browser.

 Remember: A legitimate vendor will never ask you to enter your password or financial information in an email.

While other kids were mugging away in arid classrooms homeschoolers had themselves an adventure of sorts at the Lentang Recreational Forest off Karak Highway. It was a nice and breezy day and we had the river all to ourselves. That would have been impossible if it were the weekend where day trippers and gawkers would have put paid our little experiment. A ranger did stop by to ask what we were doing seeing the amount of bamboo trunks we hauled up to the riverbank.

The object of the excursion was a raft-building expedition that was part of the group’s project. Nothing fancy you know, just get the bamboo raft to float, and that’s it, they told me. Taking care of the project logistics was part of their project as well, and I thought they pretty much acquitted themselves. Lots of bamboo, lots of tools, lots of bread and dogs - marshmallow even!- way too much food too, lots of spunk. The kids were supposed to do all the work  but some of us couldn’t help but lend a hand, or more than just a hand. - You know moms and dads. Me, I put on my best imitation of the invisible man.  Nevertheless we all had a really good time. Now, the kids will have to figure out if they did
 good…

At first I didn’t know what to make of it – a Hasidic Jew rapping in a reggae-flavoured album? Well, it appears Matisyahu (aka Matthew Miller) is not your regular one-trick novelty, he’s for real. I mean he is a real Hasid and he actually appears on stage in traditional garb and yarmulke. It's not so odd when you know the rastafarians sing about Zion (Ethiopia!)  and Jah (Yahweh!) all de time except that's all twisted to orthodox Jews . His lyrics do come across as a little juvenile; he doesn’t stay on pitch now and then, and he tries too hard to put on a Bob Marley accent.  But he’s all right and there is an infectious beat all through, so you have to wish him well. I also thought the lyrics to the title song Youth was neat. Pretty thoughtful too.

Some of them come now
Some of the running
Some of them looking for fun
Some of them looking for away out of confusion
Some of them don't know where to be
Some of them don't know where to go
Some of them trust their instincts
That somethings missing from the show
Some don't fit society
Their insides are crying low
Some of them teachers squashed the flame
'fore it had a chance to grow
Some of them embers still glow
Them charcoal hushed and low
Some of them come with hunger supressed
Not fed them feel the death blow, yo

[CHORUS:]
Young man control in your hand
Slam your fist on the table
And make your demand
Take a stand
Fan a fire for the flame of the youth
Got the freedom to choose
You better make the right move
Young man, the power's in your hand
Slam your fist on the table and make your demand
You better make the right move
"youth is the engine of the world"

Storm the halls of vanity
Focus your energy
Into a laser beam
Streaming shattered light
Unites to pierce between the seams
And it seems
The world open peering
The children see
Rapid fire for your mind
Half a truth is just a lie
They rub me the wrong way
They say their way or fall behind
Seventeen disconnect left out
The concept as to why
There's a spiritual emptiness
So the youth them get vexed
Skip class and get wrecked
Feel with beer and cigarettes
To fill the hole in their chest!