Results of a new Food for the Hungry study conducted among Bolivian mothers suggest that holding the belief that God wants all children to live influences mothers to provide better nutrition for their children.

According to a release from Food for the Hungry, the study, completed in April 2013, shows that Bolivian mothers who believe that God wants all children to live are 15 times more likely to parent a well-nourished child.

"I would say that it's important to know what you believe and to realize that those beliefs can have a profound impact on what you do and not just how you treat others but what happens in your own life," said Dr. Tom Davis, Food for the Hungry's chief program officer, in an interview with The Christian Post on Wednesday. more >>

The New York City Health Department is promoting a new smartphone app, "Teens in NYC – Protection," created to battle teen pregnancy. One video featured in the mobile app addresses bisexuality and birth control.

The department claims that it is responsible for declining teen pregnancy in recent years and hopes that the new app will help continue this trend. The New York City Health Department recently announced that its efforts over the last decade have led to a 5 percent decline in teen pregnancies in one year, hitting a new low by falling 30 percent over the last decade. The new app was created to provide teens with more accessible information to locate free, confidential reproductive health services.

Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said in a press statement that, "Not having sex is the surest way to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. But for teens who are having sex, it is important to use birth control and condoms to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. The Teens in NYC mobile app provides information in ways that are familiar to teens so they can [get] access to these services." more >>

Adoption agencies receiving funding from the government that deny prospective foster and adoptive families the right to a child based on sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status could face penalties under a new federal bill being pushed by a group of U.S. lawmakers and gay activists.

The Every Child Deserves a Family Act which proposes to cut funding from any government dependent agency that rejects a prospective foster or adoptive family based on sexual orientation, gender identity and marital status was reintroduced in Washington last Tuesday. The bill is being sponsored by Democrats Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida is also behind it.

"This bill highlights why discrimination in any form is unreasonable in a civilized society. You do the math," said Lewis last Tuesday. "Our society has the chance to eradicate the foster care adoption problem entirely, if we pass this bill. The persistence of discriminatory policy robs us of that opportunity." more >>

Congressman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) introduced the Taxpayer Nondiscrimination & Protection Act of 2013 on Tuesday that would amend Title 18 of the U.S. Code, making it a crime for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to discriminate against anyone (individual or group) based on their constitutionally protected rights of political speech and expression. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced similar legislation on Wednesday.

"Americans of all political beliefs have been rightly outraged by the revelation of the IRS' efforts to target certain political organizations," said Turner in a statement. "The fact that this could occur with little to no corrective action against those who seek to silence their fellow citizens is unacceptable. That's why I'm taking immediate action and introducing this bill."

IRS employees are already prohibited from discriminating against individuals and groups based on protected speech, but this bill would increase the penalty IRS employees could receive. If signed into law, employees, would face a fine of up to $5,000, five years in prison, or both. more >>

The national news media haven't discovered it, but the issue that is bringing out hundreds of citizens who never before attended political meetings is Common Core (CC). More precisely, it is the attempt of Barack Obama's Department of Education to force all states and schools to adopt specified national education standards for each grade level that will dictate what all kids learn and don't learn.

Common Core means federal control of school curriculum, i.e., control by Obama administration left-wing bureaucrats. Federal control will replace all curriculum decisions by state and local school boards, state legislatures, parents and even Congress because Obama bypassed Congress by using $4 billion of Stimulus money to promote Common Core.

Its not only public schools that must obey the fed's dictates. Common Core will control the curriculum of charter schools, private schools, religious schools, Catholic schools and homeschooling. more >>

It's cap-and-gown time for graduates and advice flies at them from every quarter. For many of these young people in transition, it's the first time they "get" the important connection between economics and their lives. Why? Many will soon pay their way, pay taxes, and live on a budget for the first time.

The problem is that the good advice graduates typically get isn't good enough. Budget? Of course. Save? Of course. Avoid debt? Yes. How to manage your finances, however, should be the final step in the process, not the first. What today's graduates need to hear first is why financial things work the way they do and what they want that financial knowledge to help them accomplish. Then, and only then, can they determine how to accomplish their goals.

Understanding Why more >>