Today's Opinions

There is a lot of talk out there about percentages. The wealthiest 1 percent of Americans, the percentage of Americans who pay no federal income tax, the percentage of voters veering left or right on any given day.

Here’s another one. One-half of 1 percent. That’s roughly how much of the U.S. population has been active duty at any time during the past decade, many now included in the overall veteran population, about 13 percent.

Here’s hoping Kentucky shared in the national decline in teen smoking reported recently by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

USA Today attributes an “historic drop in smoking,” not just among teens but across all age groups, to a 62-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax in 2009.

Raising the federal tax to $1.01 a pack has brought in about $30 billion in new revenue to the U.S. treasury.

Meanwhile, some 3 million fewer Americans smoked in 2011 than in 2009, even though the population has increased.

Some Kentucky high school students recently got a better idea of how dangerous it is to text while driving when AT&T brought a simulator to their schools. Students got into a car, put on simulation goggles and attempted to text. Wearing the goggles, the teens saw a virtual road with other drivers and pedestrians.

While texting, the young drivers ran off the road, hit other cars and even killed pedestrians, all in a virtual situation. But the scary truth is the virtual damage and loss of life mirrors reality.