According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the first use of alcohol typically begins at age 12.

According to Teenage Research Unlimited, 51 percent of 13-15 year olds say they will be faced with making a decision regarding alcohol in the next three months.

It is critical that parents and other trusted adults initiate conversations with kids about underage drinking well in advance of the first time they are faced with a decision regarding alcohol.

The good news is that parents are the leading influence on kids' decision not to drink alcohol.

According to the American Heart Association, the prevalence of hypertension in African Americans in the United States is among the highest in the world.

If we finally chose as a country to take responsibility for the wars that we believe we must engage in, and rather than borrow money to exercise that authority to go to war, we actually pay for these wars, that would save us over a trillion dollars, because that's what we have spent in Iraq and Afghanistan - all through borrowed money.