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 …

Investor, Bettor, Golfer: Insider Trading Inquiry Includes Mickelson, Icahn and William T. Walters  —  The divergent lives of a championship golfer, a high-rolling gambler and a billionaire investor have collided in a federal insider trading investigation.  —  Federal authorities are examining …

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 …

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” …

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 …

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.

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.

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.