It appears to me that many people try to quote the Constitution, but have never read any part of it.

In Article VII, this Constitution was ratified by the representatives of the 12 states as follows, “the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven.”

It’s no secret that Lake Ozark has had its share of challenges and dysfunction. Council meetings and elections in the town have regularly made for interesting reading. Discord is more the rule than the exception when it comes to leadership at Lake Ozark. It’s also no secret that the town has financial challenges. With little sales tax revenue and development to benefit financially from, this prime piece of lake real estate struggles to make ends meet.

But that could change in the very near future when the new Horseshoe Bend Parkway extension is completed. Improvements to State Route MM and adjacent roads should drive more people through Lake Ozark. In theory, the extension and road improvements will open up the town for more business development, greater traffic through the area and, thus, more tax revenue to the city. Yes, business could be booming in a few years for Lake Ozark — potentially putting the town on solid financial ground for the first time in a long time.

It’s a rare opportunity and one that, hopefully, Lake Ozark will be ready for.

World Cup fans rejoice — vuvuzela is now a recognized word.
It, along with about 2,000 other words, was part of the latest additions to the Oxford Dictionary of English (not to be confused with the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Other words to make the cut include staycation, chillax, turducken, bromance and frenemy.

Wait, what?

Admittedly, some of these words are part of my “under age 30” vocabulary. It has become helpful and not for my parents, who have no idea what I’m saying, yet also use me as a translator.

Thus, it’s time for a vocabulary lesson. (By the way, I’m paraphrasing these definitions.)

A few thoughts as summer starts to wind down, and we head into the last weekend before all the schools at the lake have started...

Finally the United States is withdrawing the last of our combat troops from Iraq. Everyone seems pleased, the entire country is proud of our soldiers. Soldiers seem to be happy to be coming home and families all across the country are breathing a giant sigh of relief knowing their loved ones are out of there.

But what about all of the families that lost their loved ones? What about all the soldiers who were maimed and disabled for life? What about the estimated 100,000 Iraqi civilians who lost their lives?

What about the 4,000 young American lives forfeited in Iraq while serving their country?

I must always catch myself before ever saying, "I'm old," or anything of the like. Fact is, I'm not old, but there are times when something happens, and the general thought can be applied to others who may be more entitled to utter the phrase.

The most recent case of this was from this past weekend. The oldest of my "little cousins" — those who are the children of my first cousins — moved to college. It wasn't that long ago that I was a college freshman. It is still crisp enough in my memory that I don't think the experience is relatively different. It's just the thought of the next generation of the family going to college. It makes me feel... old.

It has been nearly a year since the governor announced that he would conduct a “sweeping enforcement initiative aimed at improving water quality at the Lake of the Ozarks.”
It was an initiative spurred on by the revelation that the lake had very high E. coli levels after a period of unusually heavy rainfall around Memorial Day 2009. Compounding the issue: The Department of Natural Resources did not release the results immediately — creating the perception that the governor’s office was involved in a cover-up.

So, let’s talk politics.

As a disclaimer first, I’ve been out of the trenches for more than three years. Even though Lake Media did a masterful job of introducing candidates to the public the last few weeks, I embarrassingly have not kept up with the nuances of the candidates.

Yes, I voted.

The most significant message that came from Tuesday’s primary election was the overwhelming nose-thumbing of ObamaCare when voters approved Prop C. Spin it how you’d like, but it was a referendum on the unpopularity of the Health Care Reform Act, or whatever it’s called. Pundits who claim to know more than I say it was a knee to the groin of President Obama.

So be it.

I have not been a driver for very long — I'll admit that. There are people in this world who have been driving longer than I've been alive. My car and I have a love-hate relationship. I've owned it for eight of the 12 years of its life. I've put 66,000 of the 111,000 miles on the odometer. I take the best care of it I can, and it takes me from place-to-place the best it can.

Unfortunately, I can only take care of my car as well as those around me will let me. See, I've never considered my car to be "worthy" enough to deem it necessary to take up two parking spots. No, I have a social car. A car that others feel the need to encounter a few times over.

One of the things you can count on when a newspaper publishes endorsements during an election is that people (if not many people) will disagree with them. Such was the case when the Lake Sun decided to endorse candidates for the first time in a very long time.
When the endorsements hit the streets, we had newspaper racks sell out and our website had many more views than normal. It stimulated phone calls to the office and comments on the web. In short, people seemed to want to know what our opinion was.
But that doesn’t mean they paid them any heed.
After the election results came in and about half the candidates we picked won, you could make an argument that voters either disregarded our opinion, voted the opposite way or gave little to no emphasis on our picks.  But that’s the way it is with endorsements. It seems like everyone is interested in them, but no one can prove that they make an impact on the election.
That’s not just this newspaper — studies have been unable to conclusively show endorsements make a difference.
So why did we bother?

This week's issue of Focus marks two months of pilfering office products from the storeroom in the Osage Beach office of Lake Media (and various unused desks) as I muddle through getting re-established in the newspaper world with Lake Media.

I’ve been asked by fellow employees and others in the community if I’m happy at my new job. Well, the answer is always “relative to what?” Few seem to appreciate my sometimes-warped sense of humor.

Of course I’m happy. I have a job.

Like any newbie fresh into a new job, there are challenges. Take for example the day I came upon the toilet needing some special attention.

Now, let me tell you. Any walls of purity and innocence come crashing down when you have to ask the female person nearby where the plunger is kept.

I didn’t cause the problem (really), but I fixed it.

The Congress is considering letting the “Bush Tax Cuts” expire, raising the maximum income tax to more than 39 percent. One of the many excuses given is that is would “cost” too much not to do so. Demagogues and their slavishly ignorant followers point the loss of social programs that might benefit some difficult-to-justify public service of a limited group of recipients. Historically, tax relief has created improved economic growth that benefits the majority of, if not all, the citizens of any jurisdiction.

Walking through Mike Craig’s warehouse full of restored cars recently brought back a flood of memories from my teenage years of GTOs, Barracudas, Chevelles and Corvettes.

Visiting with Greg Carlos, Jim Dunham and Joey Myers for a recent feature story about their drag racing in the Pinks All Out race also stirred teenage recollections of hot cars on hot summer nights back in the old hometown.

I never owned any of those fine machines, mind you, but some of my friends did. On weekend nights after scooping the loop down the three-block-long main street, we’d often head out to a flat stretch of Highway 333 east of town. Before the hills of southwest Iowa reconfigured the asphalt, there was a flat quarter-mile stretch of highway long enough for head-to-head racing.

On Aug. 3, all eyes in the nation will turn toward Missouri, as voters in the Show-Me State become the first anywhere to cast a ballot concerning the federal health care plan foisted upon them. A “yes” vote on Proposition C — the Health Care Freedom Act — will tell the nation that Missourians have looked at this expensive, ill-conceived and unhealthy measure and reject it.

How to save money when taking the family to "the fair" — according to my dad.

1. Pack a lunch, complete with about 500 ice packs, leave it in the car and cross your fingers that it stays edible. That takes care of the food.

2. Listen for radio promotions so that you know which bumper sticker will provide free parking.

3. Scope out the schedule, and take the kids the time and day that rides are free.

4. Change the preceding week’s grocery shopping to the one that provides free admission tickets with a grocery purchase.

5. Take advantage of the zoo membership purchased earlier in the year, and spend the rest of the day there when the free ride period is over.

6. Go home, making sure to take the “rollercoaster road” route home and offer that as an “extra ride” to the kids, hopefully deterring them from the McDonald’s that inconveniently resides two blocks from the house.

No one comes to the Lake of The Ozarks to be hassled or harassed by overzealous local police officers. Locals do not live at the lake to be caught up in police nets meant to catch a few out-of-towners misbehaving. When there is a legitimate crime or a serious accident, we want the police to respond, and we want them to respond quickly. But these incessant roadblocks that tie up traffic, inconvenience a majority of folks on vacation and produce ill will among tourists/locals alike should stop. When the police inconvenience 135 motorists and net two DUI/DWI arrests, this is not pro-active police work but simply the misuse of time, money and manpower.

If you had to pick the single most important virtue of the good ole US of A, what would it be? What does our nation stand for, more than anything else? Remember the line from the “Star Spangled Banner?”

At the risk of being exorcised, I admit I’m not a golfer. Please don’t misinterpret those comments. I certainly am not opposed to the game. In fact, I became somewhat of a follower when Tiger “The Adulterer” Woods was at his peak.

When he got caught with his pants down, my interest waned. Guess you’d call me a fair-weather fan.

In this land of more than a dozen quality golf courses, I’m often asked if I golf. No thank you.
I have golfed. I understand the concept. After seeing some duffers whack away at a tee shot, I’d probably fit right in. It’s just not my thing. I don’t line dance, either. Doesn’t mean I’m opposed to it.

For just a few days next week, we should shift our attention to the youth of Miller County who will take center stage. AquaPalooza at Dog Days on Jeffries Road in Osage Beach starting at noon this Saturday, and my friend and local business owner (Anderson Decorative Finishes) stroked a double eagle (two under par for you non-golfers) at Lake Valley Country Club Friday afternoon. Good job, Kevin!

A few days ago, my wife and I were discussing the tragic story of the 12-year-old Miller County boy who allegedly shot and killed his mother and his stepfather in their home.
Our son, Seth, walked into the kitchen in the middle of our conversation and asked us who was shot? I had to tell him that a boy was suspected of killing his parents. He looked at me as if I was nuts and asked, “why would anyone do that?”