Check out these recent articles from around the web:

For A Closing Act, Obama Has A Bold Plan To Transform Child Care by Jonathan Cohn: “President Barack Obama has taken on some pretty ambitious projects, from overhauling health care to slowing global warming. As he comes to the end of his time in office, he’s trying for one more — although very few people in Washington seem to have noticed, and the most important steps will probably take place after he’s left the White House. Obama’s goal is to transform government policies for early childhood.”

Church agencies give displaced Iraqis fuel, heaters for winter by Dale Gavlak: “Colorful blankets, shiny metal heaters and canisters of kerosene provided by Catholic Relief Services and Caritas filled a parking lot for collection by their new owners — Yezidis displaced by Islamic State militants in search of badly needed provisions to combat the cold.”

Communion of Saints and Sinners by Leonard DeLorenzo: “This is because the divine that touches the human in the church seeks to transform the human into what it is meant to become: a communion of charity. The point of the church is not to gather people together to feed them individually for the sake of their separate spiritual journeys. The point of the church is to bond people together in the love of God so that they become what they receive.”

Heroes and Bystanders by Nicholas Kristof: “But, to me, the lesson of history is that the best way to honor past victims of atrocities is to stand up to slaughter today. The most respectful way to honor Jewish, Armenian or Rwandan victims of genocide is not with a ceremony or a day, but with efforts to reduce mass atrocities currently underway.”

Stop Sticking Up For The Saudi Dictator by David Keyes: “A king who banned criticism, jailed opponents, tortured dissidents, killed ‘witches,’ and lashed liberals is not worthy of praise from Western democratic leaders.”

I interviewed Bashar al-Assad about Syria’s civil war. He’s still too delusional to end it. by Jonathan Tepperman: “But for all his talk about comity and shared interests, Assad — once you cut through his obfuscation, dodges and appeals to reason — made it very clear that he’s ready to concede absolutely nothing to bring the sides together. At the end of the day, the tyrant can imagine but one way for the conflict to end. All his enemies, in the region and in the West, must capitulate and concede the merits of his own twisted arguments. Until then, he’ll keep on killing.”

The Feminist Case Against Abortion by Serrin Foster: “We should start by addressing the needs of women—for family housing, child care, maternity coverage, for the ability to telecommute to school or work, to job-share, to make a living wage and to find practical resources. As pro-life employers and educators, we must examine our own policies and practices in our own communities, workplaces, colleges and universities. With woman-centered problem solving, we can set the example for the nation and the world. We must ramp up efforts to systemically address the unmet needs of struggling parents, birthparents and victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.”

The abortion stranglehold: The misadventures of Tim Ryan by Kristen Day: “The truth is you cannot get funding from national Democratic spigots unless you pass the pro-choice litmus test. Tim Ryan, former champion of pro-life and common ground initiatives, former Advisory Board member of Democrats for Life of America (DFLA), offers the latest evidence.”

Boko Haram is just as vicious. Why does the Islamic State get all the headlines? by Charlotte Lytton: “The African Islamists of Boko Haram are just as deadly as their Middle Eastern counterparts. And few Americans are paying attention.”