Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years  —  WASHINGTON — The lone American prisoner of war from the Afghan conflict, captured by insurgents nearly five years ago, has been released to American forces in exchange for five Taliban prisoners held at the Guantánamo Bay …

Are Reform Conservatives Serious?  —  After Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide victory in 1964 and during the rush of progressive legislation that followed, Republicans decided they needed to respond with some proposals of their own.  It was the high tide of Great Society liberalism …

FBI, SEC probe trading of Carl Icahn, Billy Walters and Phil Mickelson  —  Federal investigators are pursuing an insider-trading probe into whether golfer Phil Mickelson and Las Vegas sports bettor William “Billy” Walters traded on nonpublic information from Carl Icahn.

Mr. Shinseki Takes the Fall  —  The resignation of Secretary Eric Shinseki from the Veterans Affairs Department was probably unavoidable, under the principle that a leader should accept full responsibility for a great scandal.  But the department's problem was not Mr. Shinseki.  It has been broken for years.

Laverne Cox Is Not a Woman  —  The world is abuzz with news that actor Laverne Cox has become the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine.  If I understand the current state of the ever-shifting ethic and rhetoric of transgenderism, that is not quite true …

War Nerd: What's happening in Eastern Ukraine is very simple, rational, and straightforward … What's happening in Eastern Ukraine is very simple, rational, and straightforward.  —  Russia has what it wanted—Crimea, a Russian-majority peninsula with better beaches than the rest of Russia put together …

Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan: Why we're committing $120 million to Bay Area schools  —  Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan for the Bay Area News Group  —  Helping improve the quality of public education in this country is something we both really care about.

Ban lifted on Medicare coverage for sex change surgery  —  The Obama administration on Friday ended a 33-year ban on Medicare coverage for gender reassignment surgery — a major victory for transgender rights and a decision that is likely to put pressure on more insurers to provide coverage for such services.

Hillary Clinton's Legacy at State Dept.: A Hawk With Clipped Wings  —  As secretary of state, Clinton was more hawkish than the White House, and at key moments was ineffectual at swinging policy her way.

Chuck Hagel: China territorial claims destabilize region  —  SINGAPORE — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned an international security conference Saturday that the U.S. “will not look the other way” when nations such as China try to restrict navigation or ignore international rules and standards.

Scalia's Genius and His Curse  —  When our sensibilities were fed from different sources, it used to be said that, with spring, “the voice of the turtledove has been heard in the land.”  But in these recent weeks the landscape has been filled with the sounds of “disinvitations” …