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If he wins the Heisman Trophy or not Saturday, Alabama running back and Yulee native Derrick Henry is likely to enter the 2016 NFL Draft. And then the questions will begin.

 Too many carries in college? A product of an elite offensive line? Too big of a target to hit and thus more susceptible to injury? More scheme specific, which would limit the available fits?

 Henry will be a fascinating case study once the Scouting Combine and pre-draft workouts roll around.

 To get an evaluation on Henry, the Times-Union asked Dan Hatman, a former scout for Philadelphia and the New York Giants and Jets and current director of The Scouting Academy, for his analysis.

 Hatman watched four of Henry’s games (last year against Florida and this year against Wisconsin, Mississippi and Auburn) Wednesday and provided his findings.

 Related: Anchor of Alabama football, Heisman Trophy finalist Derrick Henry means even more to Yulee

 Related: Records tell the story of Derrick Henry

 “From what can I see of Derrick and what I’m seeing around the NFL, he’s an individual who’s going to be a little more reliant on scheme and his blocking [than other backs] to be at his most effective,” Hatman said. “If you want him to stop on a dime, make guys miss and create on his own if the blocking breaks down, he’s not your guy.

 “But he’s a fun kid to watch. Alabama blocks well and when he gets into the open field and gets running and gets a head of steam, it’s pretty impressive.”

 Asked what round he would consider drafting Henry, Hatman said not in the top 21/2 to 3 rounds. Several mock drafts have Henry rated higher, some as a late first-round pick.

 “I think in the Nos. 100-150 range — basically the fourth round,” he said. “I’m a little biased because I don’t value running backs highly. There are too many guys who have been drafted in the sixth round or later — or not drafted at all — and been functional.”

 Hatman was asked to break down Henry is several departments.

 ■ Workload. Henry carried only 208 times in his first two college seasons but his junior-year odometer is at 339 entering Alabama’s College Football Playoff semifinal game against Michigan State on Dec. 31.

 By comparison, only 78 times in NFL history has a running back had at least 340 attempts in a season. Hatman said the amount of carries is “absolutely” an issue.

 “You look at what you can get out of his rookie deal — does he have the tread on his tire to give a team 3-4 years?” Hatman said. “There is no doubt evaluators are looking at those snap counts.”

 ■ Running style. Hatman was impressed by Henry’s balance and his ability to avoid the big hit even though he’s a big body (6-foot-3, 242 pounds).

 “The thing that surprised me is he didn’t have as much lateral agility as I thought or hoped,” Hatman said. “But what he has is good balance. And even though he gives a long target for a defender to hit, he takes glancing blows and has subtle moves — not huge jump-cut moves — and he can move 2-3 inches and then, all of a sudden, the hit is glancing and he has the balance to keep moving.

 “Balance is big for a back because you’re going to have a defender on you more often than not within five yards, so the question is at that point, can you stay up after contact and push for more yards? He moves really well.”

 Hatman also said Henry showed good vision and patience.

 “He’s not a bull in a china shop,” he said. “He understands what he’s looking for. When it’s time to be patient and let a puller get through or a blocker seal, he can. Other times, he can hit the hole and hit it [right away]. And if he hits the open field at full speed, you’re not going to bring him down.”

 Slideshow: Derrick Henry's path from local star to Heisman Trophy favorite

 ■ Comparisons. Hatman said Henry reminds him of two current rookies — third-round pick Matt Jones (Florida) of the Washington Redskins and fifth-round pick Karlos Williams (Florida State) of the Buffalo Bills.

 “Those were guys who weren’t graded high by the major draft [experts] last year because they didn’t look pretty like LeSean McCoy with all of the quick moves, lateral agility or explosive elements,” Hatman said. “But when the blocking’s been right this year, they’ve both sprung some explosive runs.”

 ■ Scheme. Hatman said Henry is a better fit for an offense that concentrates on a zone blocking system.

 Hatman said Oakland, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Carolina would fit Henry’s skills, “because they use a wide range of power runs mixed with inside zone, which is the background Derrick has.”

 Hatman said Alabama’s scheme is similar to the Panthers.

 Overall, Hatman said Henry’s draft stock could also be impacted by how many NFL teams will enter the draft feeling they’re set at running back.

 “With the sheer number of running backs taken in the last 2-3 years, not many teams are devoid of talent at that position,” Hatman said. “That could potentially deflate [the draft stock] of this year’s whole pool of running backs.”

 Ryan O’Halloran: (904) 359-4401 ||||| NEW YORK ― Derrick Henry must have heard a lot about his workload lately.

 It's been heavier than any running back in Alabama football history, but he doesn't think it's so crazy. On the day before the 7 p.m. CT Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York, Henry got another question about how many times he's running the ball.

 "People make a big deal about these carries," he said with what sounded like a small degree of frustration. "I mean, I want the ball. I want to play so it's not a big deal to me."

 Henry's 339 carries broke Shaun Alexander's season school record of 302 set in 1999. He's No. 2 on the SEC list, within striking distance of Herschel Walker's 385 recorded in 1981.

 So this isn't exactly common.

 "I mean, it's rare, but I want the ball when I play, and I told coach I want the ball. I want to help the team win," Henry said. "When you have somebody that's the leader of the team, that's something you should respect."

 The burden has been especially heavy in the last few games. Henry took 90 carries combined in wins over Auburn and Florida. The 46 Iron Bowl runs broke Johnny Musso's school record of 42 set way back in 1970.

 http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2015/12/heisman_finalists_give_their_t.html

 Kenyan Drake's Nov. 14 broken arm contributed to Henry's big carry numbers to close the season. It wasn't the plan to start the year as Nick Saban's said a few times he wanted to get more backs involved.

 But it's working pretty well with Henry. It might be enough for him to win the school's second Heisman Trophy on Saturday night.

 Henry's not complaining about the work.

 "Everybody knows that's what Alabama runs, our tradition, we run the ball being physical, trying to wear down the opponent," Henry said. "We can pass the ball too. Jake got better week after week. Like I said, I just want to make plays. I just want them to give me the ball and I'll take it." |||||
What is a summary?

– Derrick Henry has won the Heisman Trophy, becoming just the third running back to take college football's top honor in the past 16 years. The 6-foot-3, 242-pound Henry broke Herschel Walker's Southeastern Conference record with 1,986 yards rushing and matched an SEC mark with 23 touchdowns, leading No. 2 Alabama to the College Football Playoff. Still, one former NFL scout tells Jacksonville.com that Henry's heavy workload in college could drop him into the fourth round if he decides to turn pro. Henry, for his part, is tired of hearing about that line of criticism, reports AL.com. "People make a big deal about these carries," he said. "I mean, I want the ball. I want to play so it's not a big deal to me." Stanford's do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey was the runner-up. Deshaun Watson, quarterback of No. 1 Clemson, finished third. Henry and the Crimson Tide (12-1) play Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.


Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| After years of restoration, the ninth-century Qarawiyyin library in north-eastern Morocco is finally set to reopen – with strict security and a new underground canal system to protect its most prized manuscripts

 World's oldest library reopens in Fez: 'You can hurt us, but you can't hurt the books'

 World's oldest library reopens in Fez: 'You can hurt us, but you can't hurt the books'

 The caretaker stares at the wrought iron door and its four ancient locks with a gleam in his eyes. Outside, the Moroccan sun shines down upon the ornate coloured tiles of Khizanat al-Qarawiyyin, located in the old medina of Fez. This, it is widely believed, is the oldest library in the world – and soon it will be open to the general public again.

 “It was like healing wounds,” says Aziza Chaouni, a Fez native and the architect tasked with restoring the great library.

 The iron door is found along a corridor that once linked the library with the neighbouring Qarawiyyin Mosque – the two centres of learning and cultural life in old Fez. Inside it were kept the most prized tomes in the collection; works of such immense import that each of the four locks had separate keys held with four different individuals, all of whom had to be present for the door to be opened.

 The restored library boasts a new sewerage and underground canal system to drain away the moisture that had threatened to destroy many of its prized manuscripts – plus an elaborate lab to treat, preserve and digitise the oldest texts. The collection of advanced machinery includes digital scanners that identify minuscule holes in the ancient paper rolls, and a preservative machine which treats the manuscripts with a liquid that moistens them enough to prevent cracking.

 A special room with strict security and temperature and humidity controls houses the most ancient works. The most precious is a ninth-century copy of the Qur’an, written in ornate Kufic script on camel skin.

 The must of old books permeates the reading room, and the copies feel fragile and dusty, wearied by years of disuse. Some are wrapped up to prevent them disintegrating in your hands.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest View from the roof of the library, Khizanat al-Qarawiyyin, which was founded in 859. Photograph: Kareem Shaheen

 “The people who work here jealously guard the books,” says one of the caretakers. “You can hurt us, but you cannot hurt the books.”

 The library’s restoration comes at a time when extremists are rampaging the region’s heritage. Across Syria and Iraq, the militants of the Islamic State have carried out cultural atrocities that include ransacking the great library of Mosul, burning thousands of manuscripts, bulldozing ancient Assyrian cities like Nimrud and Hatra in Iraq, blowing up the Temple of Bel in Palmyra and sacking the oasis city’s museum, in addition to destroying tombs and mausoleums of Shia and Christian saints.

 Those troubles seem a world away in Morocco, which managed to remain unscathed by the tumult that has gripped the region and brought down venerable nation states. The king introduced reforms that placated enough of the middle class without devolving too much power to the Islamist-dominated parliament, and peace was largely restored after a series of protests in early 2011.

 In 2012, the ministry of culture, which manages the Qarawiyyin library and university, asked Chaouni to assess the library, and she was pleasantly surprised when her architecture firm was awarded the contract, in a field traditionally seen as a man’s province.

 The Qarawiyyin library was also founded by a woman. In the ninth century, Fatima al-Fihri, the daughter of a wealthy merchant from Tunisia’s Kairouan, arrived in Fez and began laying the groundwork for a complex that would include the library, the Qarawiyyin Mosque, and Qarawiyyin University, the oldest higher education institution in the world – with alumni including the Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, the great Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun, and the Andalusian diplomat Leo Africanus.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ornate tile work in Fez, Morocco’s cultural capital. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

 From the library’s roof, the old city of Fez stretches out into the distance; its narrow streets crowded with life. Residents are animated despite fasting in the beating heat of Ramadan, shoppers haggle for leather goods crafted in the ancient tannery, and blacksmiths and copper artisans sweat in the shade of their workshops. Through the winding alleys the odour of treated leather mixes with the call to prayer. It is as though time has stood still.

 Craftsmen say it is harder to make a living these days, with the prices of raw materials rising and the lure of cheap, mass-produced wares drawing away customers; but still they toil day after day, far from the lush boulevards of the more modern downtown Fez.

 I hope that the people from Fez will use the space like a second home Aziza Chaouni

 The restoration of the library fits into this pattern – Aziza Chaouni recalls stories of how her great-grandfather travelled on a mule from his ancestral village in Morocco to study at Qarawiyyin University in the 19th century.

 “One of his homes was the library,” she says. “It has this magical aura.”

 Growing up in Fez, Chaouni would often visit her great-uncle’s workshop at the coppersmiths’ quarter just a stone’s throw away from the library, and would be confronted by its immense closed door at the entrance, and wonder what lay beyond. Once she was in charge of restoring it, she wanted to do more than just fix the broken tiles.

 “It has to continue to live,” she says. “I hope it will open soon, and the public will come and enjoy seeing the manuscripts for the first time. But I also hope that the people from Fez will use the space like a second home. The library’s value is not simply to preserve it for tourists, but that it is functioning.”

 Engineers worked to determine the structural integrity of the library, restoring some of the woodwork but all the while trying to preserve as much of it as possible. They were helped by the fact that France had undertaken a significant restoration project in the 1940s with the aim of allowing non-Muslims access to the library. They also installed a new chandelier in the reading room, a high-ceiling hall with polished wooden desks and chairs, and intricate reliefs on its columns.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest In 2012 Canadian-Moroccan architect Aziza Chaouni started work on the restoration project. Photograph: Kareem Shaheen

 The library is expected to be reopened for visitors later this year after an initial target of summer 2016, and then September, slipped by. No definite date has been set, but the architects remain confident it will happen before 2017. As a sign of the authorities’ investment in the restoration, King Mohammad VI inspected the work in June, and the monarch is expected to inaugurate the reopening.

 The renovation is at the forefront of the plan to restore Fez to its status as a spiritual and cultural capital, which it was for centuries, until Rabat became the centre of political life when Morocco was still a French protectorate. Many of the city’s thinkers and intellectuals left Fez, condemning it to a future as a provincial city, but fortunately preventing the gentrification of the old medina, which maintains its earthy quality to this day.

 Now renovations are taking place in other quarters of the city. Sufi and music festivals have also injected with fresh blood, as young people rediscover the medina throughout the year. Plans are being made for an exhibition that would showcase the most prized collections in the library.

 An insider's guide to Fez: Ceramics, courtyards and Macbook decals Read more

 But for Chaouni, the sustainable architecture philosophy also means the library cannot be a relic of ages past, but a breathing part of the city, much like the old medina is still an inhabited living organism.

 It is a philosophy she takes to heart. Chaouni also drafted a plan to restore the river in Fez, which was once known as the river of jewels, but was gradually drenched in waste from the local tannery and sewage from the surrounding residences, and then partially covered with concrete and trash. The river is slowly coming to life now.

 “I would like my kids to be able to see this heritage,” she says, recalling how in her childhood she could scarcely see inside the walled-off complex.

 “The medina of Fez has the largest pedestrian network, the largest number of historic buildings inside, and I think as a model, as a living city, it’s not just a city for tourists,” she adds. “It is still transforming and adjusting, and as a pedestrian city it’s a great model for sustainability.”

 Follow Guardian Cities on Twitter and Facebook to join the discussion ||||| Profile: Khizanat al-Qarawiyyin, the oldest library in the world, set to re-open after multimillion-pound restoration

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 Will fin breid, barley-bree an paintit room. Whan MacLean meets wi's friens in Springburn. Aa thae roses an geeans will turn tae blume. An a black laud frae yont Nyanga. Dings the fell gallows o the burghers doun.

 Black an white ane-til-ither mairriet. Mak the vile barracks o thair maisters bare. Sae come aa ye at hame wi freedom. Never heed whit the houdies croak for Doom. In yer hous aa the bairns o Aidam.

 Tak the road an seek ither loanins. Wi thair ill-ploys tae sport an play. Nae mair will our bonnie callants. Merch tae war whan our braggarts crousely craw. Nor wee weans frae pitheid an clachan. Murn the ships sailin doun the Broomielaw. Broken faimilies in launs we've hairriet. Will curse 'Scotlan the Brave' nae mair, nae mair.

 Roch the win i the clear day's dawin. Blaws the clouds heilster-gowdie owre the bay. But thair's mair nor a roch win blawin. Thro the Great Glen o the warl the day. It's a thocht that wad gar our rottans. Aa thae rogues that gang gallus fresh an gay.

 WHAT’S THE STORY?

 DEVOUT and well educated, Fatima al-Fihri was struck by tragedy when she lost her father, husband and brother in quick succession.

 Their deaths left her a rich woman, however, and she vowed to spend her inheritance on a mosque and centre for knowledge that would benefit her community.

 The result was the multi-million pound restoration of Khizanat al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, the oldest library in the world, which is due to reopen later this year.

 Inside the building, which was founded in 859, are priceless manuscripts including a ninth-century copy of the Koran with its elaborate Kufic script written on camel skin. Other texts date back as far as the seventh century and include the words of some of the most renowned Islamic thinkers but were at risk because of the uncontrolled humidity of the building and its general neglect.

 The library is located in a complex containing the Qarawiyyin Mosque and the Qarawiyyin University, the oldest in the world. Its alumni include the great Muslim economist and historian Ibn Khaldun who studied there in the 14th century, mystic poet and philosopher Ibn Al-‘Arabi who attended in the 12th century, the Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides and Andalusian diplomat Leo Africanus, a 16th-century author and traveller.

 The library was of key importance to the students at the university which in turn played a leading role in the exchange of knowledge between Islam and the rest of the world in medieval times.

 WHAT IS ITS VALUE?

 ARCHES, courtyards with fountains and ornate interiors made the library a beautiful place but it was in urgent need of restoration.

 Fittingly, the project was awarded to female architect Aziza Chaouni who grew up in Fez and whose great-grandfather journeyed by mule from rural Morocco to study at the university in the 19th century.

 “One of his homes was the library,” she said. “It has this magical aura.”

 However, although her great-uncle was a coppersmith whose workshop was near the library, Chaouni did not set foot inside the building until asked to restore it in 2012.

 As architecture is traditionally a male preserve in Morocco, she was initially surprised to be asked but has embraced the project with enthusiasm.

 “It has to continue to live,” she said. “I hope it will open soon, and the public will come and enjoy seeing the manuscripts for the first time. But I also hope that the people from Fez will use the space like a second home. The library’s value is not simply to preserve it for tourists, but that it is functioning.”

 HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT?

 HER team was faced with an uphill task – quite literally as the library had been expanded at various times with each interconnected structure built on a different part of a steep hill.

 “Throughout the years, the library underwent many rehabilitations, but it still suffered from major structural problems, a lack of insulation, and infrastructural deficiencies like a blocked drainage system, broken tiles, cracked wood beams, exposed electric wires, and so on,” said Chaouni.

 The library was also full of surprises.

 “One of the startling aspects about restoring a building this old is that you never know what’s behind a wall. You could scrape it and find a painting, take out the painting and find a door – and so on. We discovered some unexpected things, especially underground, such as a centuries-old sewage system.”

 The team also had to bring the library up to date with modern technology aimed at preserving the manuscripts that encapsulate centuries of knowledge in subjects from astronomy to theology, grammar and law.

 “I didn’t want the building to become an embalmed cadaver,” said Chaouni. “There has to be a fine balance between keeping the original spaces, addressing the needs of current users, including students, researchers and visitors, and integrating new sustainable technologies – solar panels, water collection for garden irrigation, and so on.”

 The team also took great care in restoring the original courtyard fountains as a nod to the Unesco world heritage status of Fez’s medina.

 WHY IS IT SO VITAL?

 THE project is seen as being of national importance for Morocco and King Mohammed VI is expected to attend the official reopening this autumn.

 According to Abdullah al-Henda, who is part of the restoration team, the library is more than just a building.

 “It was a bridge of knowledge of researchers, between Africa and between the Middle East and Europe,” he said.

 It created a place for Muslims and non-Muslims to exchange ideas and in the 10th century, Pope Sylvester II, a keen scholar, was one of many who sought out the building.

 Around 4,000 manuscripts are contained in the library including an original copy of Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah.

 “We have to preserve the library,” said Henda. “We have to restore it because it’s our identity. It’s our archives. It’s our memory.”

 The library is part of a plan to restore the city as a cultural and spiritual capital, a status it lost as Rabat became the focus of Moroccan political life when the country was a French protectorate.

 Other parts of Fez are being renovated and Chaouni is promoting the clean-up of the river, once called the River of Jewels, which has lost its sparkle due to pollution and dumping.

 “The medina of Fez has the largest pedestrian network, the largest number of historic buildings inside, and I think as a model, as a living city, it’s not just a city for tourists,” she said. “It is still transforming and adjusting, and as a pedestrian city it’s a great model for sustainability.”

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What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– What is believed to be the world's oldest library is set to reopen to the public in the coming months, and the architect behind its restoration can't wait to share its "magical aura," the Guardian reports. “One of the startling aspects about restoring a building this old is that you never know what’s behind a wall," Aziza Chaouni tells the National. "You could scrape it and find a painting, take out the painting and find a door." One such door at Morocco's Khizanat al-Qarawiyyin library—founded in 859—is made of iron and has four locks, the keys for which were held by four separate people. The ancient library was committed to protecting its most valuable works. That spirit of protection continues on in the restoration of Khizanat al-Qarawiyyin. Chaouni and her team have added underground canals and temperature controls to keep unwanted moisture from the ancient texts, some of which date back to the 600s. They've also added a machine to keep the works just moist enough to prevent cracking. Of the 4,000 or so books the restoration is protecting, the most valuable is a copy of the Koran written on camel skin from the ninth century, Bustle reports. The library is scheduled to reopen by 2017—five years after the restoration project began. Chaouni hopes it will be embraced by the people "like a second home." (Researchers made a "fantastically exciting" Koran discovery at a library last year.)


While higher doses of psychedelic drugs such as LSD and psilocybin cause trippy visual hallucinations, lower doses may not cause the same impairments, anecdotal reports suggest.

 Editor's Note: This article was updated at 5:15 p.m. E.T.

 For Martijn Schirp, it's a way to make an ordinary day just a little bit better.

 A former poker player and recent graduate in interdisciplinary science in Amsterdam, Schirp has been experimenting with a new way to take psychedelic drugs: Called microdosing, it involves routinely taking a small fraction of a normal dose of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or magic mushrooms (the latter is legal to purchase in coffeeshops in Amsterdam but not the former).

 Microdosing has gained a cult following amongst a small group of hallucinogen enthusiasts like Schirp, who now writes at HighExistence.com. Proponents report improvements in perception, mood and focus, minus the trippy tangerine trees and marmalade skies normally associated with psychedelics.

 Schirp said he prefers to microdose when he's immersed in creative or contemplative activities, such as writing, painting, meditating or doing yoga.

 "It's like the coffee to wake up the mind-body connection. When I notice it is working, depending on the dosage, time seems to be slowing down a bit, everything seems covered with a layer of extra significance," Schirp told Live Science in an email.

 Given his positive experiences with higher doses of psychedelics, "microdosing offered a way to get a taste of this without [the experience] completely overwhelming me," Schirp said. [Trippy Tales: The History of 8 Hallucinogens]

 But while the effects Schirp and others describe are plausible from a physiological perspective, microdosing is uncharted territory, said Matt Johnson, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, who has studied the behavioral effects of psychedelic drugs. Scientists have yet to run a clinical trial to assess the effects (or lack thereof) of microdosing. Johnson added that taking a smaller dose of a psychedelic is safer than taking a large dose, but the way people tend to do it — regularly taking small doses every several days — could have long-term side effects.

 Just a little bit

 The idea of taking small doses of psychedelics has been around for a while. The inventor of LSD, Albert Hofmann, was known to microdose in his old age and told a friend that microdosing was an under-researched area. But microdosing gained greater visibility when James Fadiman, a psychologist and researcher at Sofia University in Palo Alto, California, described it in his book "The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide" (Park Street Press, 2011).

 Since then, Fadiman has received about 50 anecdotal reports from microdosers around the world. Most report positive, barely perceptible shifts while microdosing, Fadiman said. [Images: Scientists Analyze Drawings by an Acid-Tripping Artist]

 "What people say is that whatever they're doing, they seem to be doing it a little better," Fadiman told Live Science. "They're a little kinder, a little bit nicer with their kids."

 People with creative jobs report improved focus and an ability to enter the state of flow more easily. Some report a desire to eat healthier or start meditating, Fadiman said.

 "It's like they tend to live a little better," Fadiman said.

 Still others report taking the teeny doses of psychedelics for psychiatric conditions, said Brad Burge, the director of marketing and communications at Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in Santa Cruz, California, where scientists study the effect of psychedelics on medical conditions such as PTSD.

 "I've heard anecdotally of people using it for depression, seasonal affective disorder, anxiety, OCD [obsessive compulsive disorder]," Burge told Live Science. "With microdoses, the point would be to create subtle changes in people's psychopharmacology or experience, in much the same way as most traditional pharmaceuticals are used now."

 Plausible mechanism, no evidence

 The effects people report with microdoses of LSD, psilocybin, DMT or other "classic" psychedelics aren't completely implausible, Johnson said. All of these drugs work by activating a particular receptor in the brain known as the serotonin 5HT-2A receptor. This receptor fuels the release of the "feel-good" brain chemical, serotonin, which creates a domino effect in the brain that leads to many other brain changes.

 At high doses, these drugs temporarily, but radically, reshape brain networks; for instance, one study found that magic mushrooms create a hyperconnected brain. But antidepressants like Prozac also target serotonin receptors, so it's possible that a low, constant dose of a psychedelic might work in a similar manner, Johnson said. [11 Odd Facts About Magic Mushrooms]

 Still, there's absolutely no evidence to suggest microdosing works as people claim it does, Johnson said. The effects described are so subtle — on par with having the caffeine in a cup of coffee — that they "fall within that category of barely perceptible, and it's right in the range where people can so easily fool themselves," Johnson told Live Science. That means microdosing is particularly susceptible to the placebo effect, in which people taking a sugar pill who believe they're taking a drug report perceptible effects, he said.

 To prove that microdosing has an effect, psychedelics researchers would need to do a double-blind study, in which neither the people administering the drug nor the recipients know whether a particular participant is getting a microdose of a psychedelic or something inert, like a little sugar dissolved in water, Johnson said. Some groups of people are allegedly doing these trials — but because LSD is illegal, and is only approved for research use in a few small trials in a few locations, all of these people are off the grid and not publicizing their efforts, Fadiman said.

 Unknown side effects

 What's more, microdosing could have side effects, Johnson said. The few microscopic grains of LSD — just 10 micrograms — typically used to microdose are too tiny to measure even on a professional laboratory scale, Johnson said. To get around this, people who microdose typically take a blotter paper laced with one hit of LSD, soak it in water and then drink some of the water. But since LSD is an illegal substance procured on the black market, there's really no way to know exactly what you're getting, Johnson said.

 Even in the lab, with carefully measured doses of drugs administered in a controlled environment, Johnson has found substantial variation in the way that people react to the same dose. Combined, those two uncertainties mean people may not be able to reliably microdose, he said.

 "Someone might be expecting a kind of sparkly day, just a really productive day at work — and next thing you know, they're grasping hold to their office chair wondering why the world is dissolving," Johnson said.

 Schirp, for instance, has occasionally had negative microdosing experiences.

 "At times, the experience was still too overwhelming to be productive — I just wanted to lay down or take a walk," Schirp said.

 Beyond that possible experience, the long-term risks of the drug are unknown. The risk of taking a single, tiny dose of LSD or psilocybin is going to be smaller than the risk of taking one big hit, Johnson said. But even the most dedicated psychonauts don't typically trip daily or even weekly, Johnson said. By contrast, people who are microdosing report using the drugs every three or four days, he said.

 Such frequent use could have unknown, long-term side effects, he said.

 "You're tinkering with the system that is involved with depressive systems, but in unexplored ways," Johnson said.

 Editor's Note: This article was updated to correct the spelling of Martijn Schirp's name.

 Follow Tia Ghose on Twitterand Google+. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science. ||||| Some researchers say outlawing drugs like marijuana and ecstasy hinders research into their medicinal properties.

 Restricting the use of psychoactive drugs in research represents the most serious case of scientific censorship since the Catholic Church banned the works of Copernicus and Galileo, some scientists say.

 In a paper published online today (June 12) in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience, a group of researchers argues that drug laws enacted in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s have hindered vital research into the drugs' functions and therapeutic uses.

 The laws were designed to prevent drug use and drug harm, but they failed to do that, said paper co-author David Nutt, a psychopharmacologist at Imperial College, London. "The unintended consequence is they've really impeded research and development," Nutt told LiveScience. [Trippy Tales: The History of 8 Hallucinogens]

 Nutt and his colleagues focused on three classes of drugs restricted by national laws and international conventions: cannabis (marijuana), MDMA (ecstasy) and psychedelics. Three United Nations treaties from 1961, 1971 and 1988 put a legal system in place for controlling the use of these psychoactive drugs, both for recreational or research purposes.

 Prior to these restrictions, studies investigating these drugs had demonstrated important therapeutic uses, the authors argue. Marijuana has long been used medicinally and can be used to relieve pain and muscle spasms in people with AIDS and multiple sclerosis, for example. Ecstasy has been found to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder and help couples improve communication in their relationships. And LSD, or acid, has been used to treat alcoholism, Nutt said.

 Aside from medicinal uses, Nutt and colleagues say psychedelic drugs can play a role in probing the nature of consciousness, because they induce changes in the conscious state. The drugs activate a receptor in the brain called 5HT-2A, which is most prevalent in the brain's outer layer, or cortex, in areas involved in sensation and emotion.

 "We cannot understand the brain if we're not studying drugs," Nutt said.

 The restrictions were designed to protect against the drugs' perceived dangers, but these dangers are overstated, and are often less severe than those from alcohol, Nutt and his colleagues write. The regulations make it almost impossible to conduct the research necessary to challenge these perceptions, Nutt said.

 Because of the illegal status of these drugs, finding funding to study them can be very challenging. What's more, the drugs are not easy to obtain — standard chemical manufacturers don't produce them, and the cost for custom synthesis is prohibitively high. For example, the researchers, in their paper, cite a company in Boston that produces psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, at a cost of $12,000 per gram (0.04 oz).

 Nutt is one of the few scientists doing research on these psychedelic drugs, and his findings have "opened up a whole new way of how the brain works," he said.

 From a scientific standpoint, research on psychedelic drugs was deemed important before the drugs were banned in the early 1960s. Robert F. Kennedy once questioned the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), saying, "if [clinical LSD projects] were worthwhile six months ago, why aren't they worthwhile now?" Still, the bans went ahead.

 The restrictions aren't absolute, however. Seventeen U.S. states have legalized marijuana for medicinal use, and in Colorado and Washington, marijuana is now legal for personal use. Still, researchers face many hurdles in obtaining and working with marijuana and other drugs.

 "It's time for scientists to stand up and change things," Nutt said.

 Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitterand Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on Live Science. ||||| Lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, is a stigmatized non-addictive psychedelic drug substance with "unfair" laws that prevent us from doing more research on potential health benefits, says a new YouTube video by PsychedSubstance.

 Our country has been stalling research on the substance dating back to the 1960s, when it was outlawed. This was during a period where drug use rose among young, middle-class Americans. The link between crime and drug use became apparent, and a war on drugs ensued. But now a bit of research is finally beginning to surface, highlighting the drug’s benefits, such as treatment for anxiety, treatment for addiction, and an increase in creative thinking. With more research and, as the video states, “an open mind,” the substance can make a comeback to people across the world.

 The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that more than 1.1 million people, aged 12 or older, have tried hallucinogens at least once in their lifetime.

 The psychedelic drug was first synthesized and ingested by Albert Hoffman in 1938 from ergot, a grain fungus that grows on rye. LSD can also be synthesized from common garden flowers like Morning Glory and Hawaiian Baby Woodrose. The seeds contain over 10 different types of ergoline alkaloids, most notably ergine, which is also called LSA (d-lysergic acid amide). LSD works by mimicking serotonin in the brain, and takes priority over any bodily serotonin sending messages to the body. This process is why scientists believe that people see hallucinations when on the drug.

 That being said, since LSD is non-toxic, no one has ever gotten close to the amount where the drug could be lethal. There are reports of people using over 400 doses of LSD and surviving. Aside from that, our bodies grow incredibly tolerant to the drug. According to the video, if you were to take the same dose of the drug three days in a row, the third day that dosage would have little to no effect. What makes LSD the most dangerous is by buying the substance on the street, where it has been mixed with other dangerous substances. Many famous people like Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, and Francis Crick, the man who discovered the DNA helix, credit their success to LSD.

 "Something tells me there is a treasure trove of knowledge to be gained by this substance, but only time will tell," PsychedSubstance says in the video. ||||| Context: In his amazing book Zero to One: Notes on Startups, Peter Thiel mentions that he *always* asks this question in job interviews.

 I think it’s a great question and am curious to hear anyone and everyone’s answers. : ] |||||

Write a summary.

– Some users of LSD like taking tiny amounts of the hallucinogenic drug—often by drinking acid-laced water—to experience subtle benefits like increased focus, creativity, or friendliness toward people, LiveScience reports. "It's like the coffee to wake up the mind-body connection," says former poker player Martijn Schirp, who now writes for HighExistence.com. "When I notice it is working, depending on the dosage, time seems to be slowing down a bit, everything seems covered with a layer of extra significance." Schirp says he embraced the practice, called "microdosing," because it gave him a chance "to get a taste of this without [the experience] completely overwhelming me." But any possible long-term risks are unknown because, as Medical Daily notes, LSD remains an illegal drug that's rarely tested. "The unintended consequence is they've really impeded research and development," a psychopharmacologist told LiveScience a couple of years ago. "We cannot understand the brain if we're not studying drugs." According to one psychologist, LSD does mimic antidepressants like Prozac by freeing up the brain's "feel-good" chemical, serotonin, so microdosing may work as advertised. It's been around for years, too: LSD inventor Albert Hofmann microdosed in his old age, and the practice is described in James Fadiman's 2011 book The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide. Yet even Schirp admits it's not always positive: "At times, the experience was still too overwhelming to be productive—I just wanted to lay down or take a walk," he says. (Recent studies on psychedelic drugs downplay the risk of psychosis and note possible anti-depressant effects.)


Write an article based on this summary:

– Two Valentine's Day extremes, with a law-enforcement theme: The dedicated: An Arizona inmate scaled a 12-foot fence, crawled through razor wire, and climbed yet another wire-topped fence to escape from jail and visit his girl yesterday, reports the Arizona Republic. Joseph Dekenipp, 40, made it to the Gallopin' Goose saloon—10 miles from the Pinal County Adult Detention Center—and did indeed reunite with his girlfriend. Trouble is, police got there soon after she did and hauled Dekenipp back to jail, where he faces vehicle theft charges. The not-so-dedicated: The sheriff in Oconee County, Georgia, caused quite a buzz when he declared that Valentine's Day was canceled because of the region's weather, reports Fox News. Men "are exempt from having to run out and buy lottery scratchers and Hershey bars from the corner stores until February 18, 2014, due to ice, snow, freezing rain," wrote Scott Berry. The jokey post drew attention from around the world, as seen on the department's Facebook page.

Deputy Sheriff Patrick Rohrer was shot and killed, and his partner seriously wounded, as they transported a prisoner to the Wyandotte County Correction and Court Services Building, at 800 7th Street, at approximately 11:15 am.

 odmp.org ||||| A Georgia sheriff has taken to Facebook to declare that the men in his town are getting a free pass on Valentine’s Day this year due to the bad weather.

 Sheriff Scott Berry in Oconee County announced he was canceling the holiday after an ice storm slammed Georgia on Wednesday.

 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT

 “The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office announces that Valentine’s Day has been CANCELLED from a line North of I-16 to the Georgia/Tennessee border,” the post says. “Men who live in the designated ‘NO VALENTINES DAY ZONE’ are exempt from having to run out and buy lottery scratchers and Hershey bars from the corner stores until February 18, 2014, due to ice, snow, freezing rain.”

 Berry told Fox News’ Jenna Lee Friday he decided to do so after he noticed how many stores were closed after the storm.

 Berry’s Chief Deputy Lee Weems said when Berry told him his plan he wasn’t surprised because he is used to Berry’s “hijinks,” but he was surprised how much attention it has received.

 Berry said that even though the weather in Georgia was better Friday, men still should get a pass until Tuesday so they can play catch up.

 “We’ve got to give these guys a chance,” he said.

 Weems said the sheriff’s department will not actually enforce the ban by physically stopping someone from purchasing Valentine’s Day items.

 In fact, Berry said he is not following his own decree.

 “I may have written the proclamation but I am not stupid enough to go by it,” he said. “Yes, Valentine’s Day’s covered at my house.”

 Berry’s Facebook post was shared more than 1,500 times. However, it has angered some in other states, including a man who called the sheriff's office Friday from a Michigan area code to protest the decision.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report |||||


Article:

Finally, an authentic scandal: incompetence and deception at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Given what we know so far, more heads need to roll — and a criminal investigation should be launched.

 Republicans have accused the Obama administration of so many faux scandals that it’s hard to recognize the real thing. Yes, the Internal Revenue Service seems to have given extra scrutiny to conservative organizations, but it gave extra scrutiny to liberal groups, too. Yes, Operation “Fast and Furious” was a mistake, but it wasn’t some kind of sinister plot. No, it doesn’t matter whether the evil people who took four American lives in Benghazi , Libya, are called terrorists, militants or simply killers.

 Eugene Robinson writes a twice-a-week column on politics and culture, contributes to the PostPartisan blog, and hosts a weekly online chat with readers. In a three-decade career at The Post, Robinson has been city hall reporter, city editor, foreign correspondent in Buenos Aires and London, foreign editor, and assistant managing editor in charge of the paper’s Style section. View Archive

 The VA situation, however, looks more serious day by day. If VA hospitals really are falsifying records to disguise lengthy waiting times — and if veterans are dying as a consequence — then President Obama needs to bring in new management to fix the problems and fast.

 White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, speaking Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” described Obama as “madder than hell” about the VA scandal. By now, we should all be used to the fact that Obama is never what you would call demonstrative with his anger, at least publicly. No frothing, no foaming, no gnashing of teeth. I take McDonough at his word that the president is royally steamed.

 We also should be used to the fact that Obama is extremely loyal to the members of his team. Despite the disastrous launch of the HealthCare.gov Web site, the president declined to dismiss Kathleen Sebelius as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, allowing her eventually to leave on her own terms.

 1 of 12 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Will 2014 be the year of progressives? View Photos Post columnists E.J. Dionne and Katrina vanden Heuvel explain why the left should look forward to this year. Caption Post columnists E.J. Dionne and Katrina vanden Heuvel explain why the left should look forward to this year. For progressives, a positive year ahead “The reemergence of a Democratic left will be one of the major stories of 2014,” says Post columnist E.J. Dionne . “The widespread predictions that 2014 will witness only more of the same,” adds fellow columnist Katrina vanden Heuvel , “ignore the growing reality that, outside the Beltway, people are beginning to stir and change is in the air.” Jose Luis Magana/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.

 I don’t see how he can take a similar path, however, with Gen. Eric K. Shinseki at the VA. Sebelius at least made it clear that she understood the magnitude of the problem her department faced. Shinseki thus far has failed to telegraph comprehension, much less inspire confidence.

 “Any allegation, any adverse incident like this makes me mad as hell,” Shinseki told the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee last week. I doubt there has ever been a four-star general who didn’t know how to get angry, but Shinseki’s ire had to be drawn out of him. If he was seething inside, he hid it well.

 Perhaps that’s unfair; perhaps he should be evaluated only on his performance at work, not on whether he emotes before the television cameras. “This is not a job,” he said at the hearing. “I’m here to accomplish a mission I think [veterans] critically deserve and need, and I can tell you over the past five years we’ve done a lot to make things better.”

 The all-too-obvious rejoinder is: Not enough.

 The allegation that VA officials in Phoenix cooked the books to cover up the fact that veterans had to suffer unacceptably long waiting times before they received care — and that 40 veterans died while enduring such delays — is shocking in isolation. But if reports are true that there may have been similar practices in Albuquerque and perhaps in other cities, the problems begin to look systemic.

 Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said there is “solid evidence” of “a pattern, apparently, of manipulating lists, gaming the system . . . which is not just an impropriety or misconduct, it is potentially a criminal act.”

 The VA’s Office of Inspector General is on the case, Shinseki told senators. But I agree with Blumenthal’s assessment that it’s time to bring in some outside help, such as the FBI, and that the investigation needs to ascertain not just whether rules were broken but whether crimes were committed.

 Shinseki inherited an agency ill-equipped to cope with the tsunamis that were about to overwhelm it: the return of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan and the rapidly growing medical needs of Vietnam veterans now entering their later years.

 It is important to keep the VA scandal in context. Conservatives who crow that this shows government cannot competently provide health care are wrong. VA hospitals see more than 200,000 veterans a day and rank among the highest in the nation in customer satisfaction, according to surveys.

 At issue is how long veterans have to wait before they can receive that care — and whether employees are lying about those waiting times, with the result that people are dying.

 The solemn promises we make to our veterans cannot be broken. There’s no need for histrionics from President Obama. But he does need to clean house.

 Read more from Eugene Robinson’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A. ||||| VA Scandal

 Democrats can dismiss Benghazi and the IRS as pseudo-scandals, maybe, but 40 veterans have died, and where has Obama been? Totally absent.

 Up to now, President Obama and congressional Democrats had thought “so-called” scandals involving Benghazi, the IRS, and Operation Fast and Furious were largely behind them. Nothing to see, just Republican witch hunts designed to embarrass the president and perhaps land blows against Hillary Clinton. But recent revelations about shoddy care at Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities across the country have brought bipartisan condemnation from Capitol Hill that should worry a commander in chief whose reaction to the brewing tempest has been muted at best.

 What is most surprising about the present controversy surrounding the substandard treatment at the VA, in which at least 40 veterans lost their lives while awaiting treatment, is that House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL) had alerted the president to trouble nearly a year ago. In a letter dated May 21, 2013, Miller began:

 Dear Mr. President: I am writing to bring to your attention an alarming pattern of serious and significant patient care issues at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs) across the country. Recent events at the Atlanta, Georgia, VAMC provide a perfect illustration of the management failures, deceptions, and lack of accountability permeating VA’s healthcare system…I believe your direct involvement and leadership is required.

 A year on from Chairman Miller’s letter, the revelations of substandard care, neglect, and waste seem to have magnified, rather than been reduced. For a president who seems to have endless amounts of time to talk about the miseries of those living on the minimum wage, Obama’s seeming indifference to the severity of the problems faced by our returning veterans seeking care at VA facilities is shocking.

 Late last week, CNN’s Jake Tapper grilled White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on the lackluster attempts by the administration to address mismanagement issues—if not criminally negligent behavior—at the VA. What I found revealing about the interview is the exchange where Tapper questions whether Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is up to the task at hand given that Miller warned the president a year ago about serious allegations of misconduct at the agency:

 Jake Tapper: How many stories like this, how many letters like this, how many dead veterans do you need before someone asks the question within the White House maybe this guy isn’t the best steward of these veterans?

 Denis McDonough: The question, Jake, is are we doing everything we can every day to get the veterans the care and opportunities that they…

 Jake Tapper: … But you’re not, this letter was sent a year ago and you guys ignored it.

 Thus far, President Obama and his team have regarded the scandalous treatment of veterans seeking care from the government over which they preside as a political hiccup rather than an indefensible breakdown in competent management that has led to the deaths of at least 40 veterans. Late last week, McDonough assured us that Obama is “madder than hell” about the VA fiasco.

 Please. We’ve seen the president show genuine flashes of anger toward the GOP in general, the Supreme Court following rulings he disagrees with, and anyone else who has the temerity to disagree with him on anything. In the present case Obama has largely been silent, absent, and behind closed doors—content to let Secretary Shinseki and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney bear the brunt of the growing storm in the media.

 What is most shocking to me about the VA tempest is that it repeats a pattern of conduct we’ve seen from the president and his administration. Obama ran for president and asked Americans to hire him for another term based on his leadership skills, temperament, and ability to produce results. Instead, we’ve seen the president and his team evade responsibility (and with a tiresome frequency) for areas in which they are directly responsible, parse words in an attempt to mislead, and otherwise duck long enough for the political storm of the moment to pass over for sunnier days ahead.

 Not this time. Americans of all political persuasions stand in solidarity behind those brave men and women who don the uniform to defend us from those who seek to harm our country and our allies. My Daily Beast colleague Jacob Siegel exclusively revealed that the VA facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico is only the latest hospital to keep secret waiting lists—and to destroy documents revealing criminal misconduct. |||||
What is a summary?

– Columnists on both the right and left are fuming about reports of secret Veterans Affairs hospital delays said to have resulted in 40 deaths. Both Ron Christie and Eugene Robinson note that while issues like Benghazi and IRS targeting may have been "witch hunts," this is a genuine scandal, and President Obama needs to take action. Writing at the Daily Beast, Christie points to a year-old letter from the House VA committee chair warning Obama of the problem. If the president is "madder than hell" over the crisis, as his chief of staff says he is, then why aren't we seeing that anger? Robinson, writing in the Washington Post, believes the president is privately angry—after all, he rarely shows anger publicly. But Robinson also believes that "more heads need to roll—and a criminal investigation should be launched." Obama may be a loyal boss, but VA head Gen. Eric Shinseki hasn't even shown real "comprehension" of the issue, and it may be time for him to go. Meanwhile, officials need "outside help, such as the FBI," to take a look at the situation and determine "not just whether rules were broken, but whether crimes were committed." Click for Robinson's full piece; Christie's is here.


Here is a news article: President Trump said for the first time Wednesday that he is open to a path to citizenship for some younger undocumented immigrants known as "dreamers" in an immigration deal being negotiated by Congress, a potential breakthrough in the stalled talks.

 In an impromptu discussion with reporters, Trump emphasized that his support of a citizenship path for about 690,000 immigrants would be contingent on securing $25 billion for a wall on the southwest border with Mexico and $5 billion for additional border upgrades. The president also is expected to continue his push to curb legal immigration as part of a deal.

 But his remarks signaled what could prove to be a major shift for a president who ran a campaign with a hard line on immigration and last week rejected a bipartisan Senate proposal that included citizenship.

 White House aides said the president would release a complete "framework" on Monday. The aides said that plan probably would grant immediate provisional legal status to those immigrants covered by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that he terminated in the fall. That group would then be eligible to pursue full citizenship over 10 to 12 years.

 "We’re going to morph into it," Trump said of citizenship. "It’s going to happen — over a period of 10 to 12 years. If somebody's done a great job and worked hard, it keeps the incentive to do a great job. ... I think it's a nice thing to have the incentive, after a period of years, of being able to become a citizen."

 Lawmakers face a Feb. 8 deadline for a must-pass spending bill to keep the government open, but Democrats and some Republicans have said they will not support a long-term deal that does not address the future of the DACA program. The impasse over immigration led to a brief, partial government shutdown this week before lawmakers agreed Monday to a three-week funding extension.

 Congress members have expressed exasperation that Trump has not clearly articulated his demands and vacillated over the past several weeks, at times signaling he was open to a deal but then reversing himself after speaking with aides or immigration hard-liners. A senior White House official said the framework would give lawmakers a clearer set of guidelines to help break the impasse.

 "This president is committed to fixing this damn problem," a senior administration official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, told reporters at a background briefing. "What we were hearing constantly from [Capitol] Hill is ... 'Look, I’m not going to put my neck out and support something unless I know the president will sign it.'"

 Yet Trump has reneged on previous statements about the dreamers, who have lived in the country illegally since they were children. Their moniker comes from the DREAM Act, bipartisan legislation first proposed in 2001 that would provide citizenship to the group under certain conditions. It has never passed Congress.

 During his campaign, Trump promised to end DACA, which offered two-year work permits to undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, on his first day in office. But after he was sworn in last year, Trump did not act, instead assuring dreamers that he would work out a deal to protect them. After Texas and several other states threatened to sue the Trump administration over the program, Trump announced in September he would terminate DACA but granted lawmakers six months to work out a solution before the bulk of work permits begin to expire March 5.

 During the discussion with reporters, Trump joked to Chief of Staff John F. Kelly that he hoped to have a deal by the time he got back from a two-day trip to Davos, Switzerland, for an economic forum. Kelly, who initially was scheduled to travel with the White House delegation, will remain in Washington to keep negotiating with Congress on immigration.

 White House officials said Trump's proposal for citizenship would be limited to the 690,000 who were enrolled in DACA when he terminated the program. However, Democrats and some Republicans have pushed to extend legal protections to a far larger group of dreamers – up to 1.7 million under the latest version of the DREAM Act.

 Many of those who were eligible for DACA never applied, which immigrant rights advocates attributed to fears of registering with the government and costs associated with applying. White House officials said it would be left to Congress to negotiate over expanding protections beyond the DACA recipients. In all, there are an estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country unlawfully.

 [In debate on ‘dreamers,’ an unresolved question: How many should benefit?]

 Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who drafted the bipartisan immigration plan along with Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) that Trump rejected last week, welcomed Trump's statement Wednesday as a sign of "presidential leadership on immigration."

 “President Trump’s support for a pathway to citizenship will help us get strong border security measures as we work to modernize a broken immigration system," Graham said in a statement. "With this strong statement by President Trump, I have never felt better about our chances of finding a solution on immigration."

 Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), an immigration hawk whom Trump has consulted during the negotiations, said on Twitter that a path to citizenship for dreamers "must be done responsibly, guaranteeing a secure & lawful border & ending chain migration, to mitigate the negative side effects of codifying DACA."

 Democrats said they had not been consulted about what the White House plans to release on Monday, according to senior aides.

 The White House announcement on immigration came as 35 senators gathered late Wednesday to figure out how the chamber will proceed on its immigration debate. Meeting in the hearing room for the Senate Armed Services Committee, the group of Democrats and Republicans asked Sens. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and Durbin to serve as a clearinghouse and sort out the parameters and timetable for the debate. Both senators are the deputy leaders of their respective parties and sit on a judiciary subcommittee on immigration policy.

 Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), who co-chaired meetings before and during the three-day government shutdown in an attempt to end the impasse, will continue hosting meetings on the subject in the coming days, according to Graham.

 “We have created a process for input. The goal is to create an output that’s good for America,” Graham said in an earlier statement.

 Earlier Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the new White House immigration plan “represents a compromise that members of both parties can support. We encourage the Senate to bring it to the floor.”

 Late last year, the administration sent a long list of immigration principles that lacked specifics. Trump said during a meeting with a large group of lawmakers at the White House two weeks ago that he would sign whatever plan Congress sent him.

 A bipartisan group in the Senate led by Durbin and Graham presented a proposal to Trump last week that attempted to address his concerns. It included $1.6 billion for a wall and offered a path to citizenship for dreamers. Trump has rejected that plan. The president also rejected a last-minute offer from Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who reportedly offered $25 billion for border security and the wall.

 On Tuesday, Schumer confirmed that he had pulled his proposal on Sunday during the shutdown. "We're going to have to start on a new basis, and the wall offer's off the table," he told reporters.

 The announcement came as Schumer is facing backlash from some Democrats and immigrant rights groups for how he has handled negotiations with Trump.

 [Schumer has rescinded offer to Trump on border wall funding]

 If the lawmakers fail to agree on a spending plan by Feb. 8, the government could shut down again.

 “We've taken into account all of the conversations that we've had, both at the presidential and the staff level, and tried to incorporate that into what we think addresses all of the different things that we've heard from the various stakeholders throughout the last several months,” Sanders said.

 “After decades of inaction by Congress, it's time we work together to solve this issue once and for all,” she added. “The American people deserve no less.”

 Ed O'Keefe contributed to this report. ||||| Questions such as how much money for the wall is enough, how strict the limits on relatives should be and what new powers to provide could all become items for lawmakers to trade in an eventual compromise. In addition, a major question is how many Dreamers to cover. Depending on how a bill is written, the number could run from about 700,000 who are currently protected from deportation to some 2 million. ||||| President Trump Donald John TrumpEx-CIA chief Brennan compares Trump to Bernie Madoff Timeline: The controversies of Scott Pruitt Warren: Trump should have fired Pruitt ‘28 scandals ago’ MORE on Wednesday said he is open to offering young immigrants a pathway to citizenship over 10-12 years, as long as he gets billions of dollars to pay for a border wall and other security measures.

 Under his forthcoming immigration plan, which will be released Monday, Trump told reporters that protections for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program would "morph into" citizenship over that period.

 “We’re going to morph into it. It’s going to happen, at some point in the future, over a period of 10 to 12 years," he said.

 A senior administration official later clarified that citizenship is a "discussion point" in the plan and that young immigrants would have to meet certain conditions in order to gain it.

 The official added the offer only applies to the nearly 690,000 immigrants who benefit from the Obama-era DACA program that Trump cancelled last fall. Those people are allowed to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation.

 In exchange, Trump is seeking $25 billion to build his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, in addition to $5 billion in other border security measures.

 Trump also wants to limit family-based immigration and end or overhaul the diversity visa lottery, the White House said earlier Wednesday.

 The president sought to reassure DACA recipients, whose fate has been left in limbo by his decision to scrap the program.

 "Tell them not to worry about it," Trump said. "We're going to solve the problem. Now, it's up to the Democrats, but they should not be concerned."

 Trump suggested he might extend the March 5 deadline when DACA expires if a deal is not reached before then, saying “I certainly have the right to do that, if I want.”

 Trump made the comments during an impromptu question-and-answer session with reporters, who were meeting with other administration officials in the West Wing.

 The president quipped that he wants a deal when he returns from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, over the weekend.

 White House chief of staff John Kelly John Francis KellyMORE is scrapping plans to travel to Switzerland to stay back and work on immigration.

 The comments are Trump’s clearest to date on what he wants in an immigration deal, and come amid complaints from Democrats and Republicans that Trump has been unclear in his demands.

 The trade-off floated by Trump — wall funding in exchange for DACA protections — sounds similar to the deal that Sen. Charles Schumer Charles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerPelosi slams Trump's 'despicable attacks' on Waters at rally Trump bashes 'liberal Democrat Jon Tester' in Montana: He says one thing and does another Election Countdown: Calls to abolish ICE test Dem candidates | First round of House GOP 'Young Guns' | How Tester is handling Trump's Montana visit | Dem candidate won't back Schumer as leader | Super PACs ramp up Missouri ad buys MORE (D-N.Y.) offered him last week, before the three-day government shutdown.

 Schumer portrayed the $25 billion offer of wall funding as a major concession, but on Tuesday declared that money is now "off the table."

 The White House is expected to release an immigration “framework” early next week in a effort to jump-start stalled immigration talks on Capitol Hill.

 Lawmakers have until Feb. 8 to pass a government funding bill, but Democrats have said they might not support it unless DACA is addressed.

 Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has been working to reach a bipartisan deal on immigration, hailed Trump's remarks as a breakthrough.

 “This statement represents presidential leadership on immigration that will allow us to solve a difficult problem. I truly appreciate President Trump making it clear that he supports a path to citizenship for DACA recipients. This will greatly help the Senate efforts to craft a proposal which President Trump can sign into law.

 "With this strong statement by President Trump, I have never felt better about our chances of finding a solution on immigration."

 The White House, however, has repeatedly ruled out a bipartisan proposal co-authored by Graham as unacceptable to the president.

 - This story was updated at 7:13 p.m. |||||
A summary of this is?

– President Trump says he wants Congress to have a deal on immigration and the border ready by the time he returns from the Davos forum in Switzerland—and he says he is open to the deal including a path for citizenship for DACA recipients. "We're going to morph into it," Trump said of citizenship for the Dreamers on Wednesday, per the Washington Post. "It’s going to happen—over a period of 10 to 12 years. If somebody's done a great job and worked hard, it keeps the incentive to do a great job," he said. "I think it's a nice thing to have the incentive, after a period of years, of being able to become a citizen." Trump stressed, however, that the deal for roughly 700,000 Dreamers would depend on securing $25 billion to build a border wall and $5 billion for other immigration-related spending. He said reporters could tell Dreamers they had "nothing to worry about." The proposal Trump outlined sounds similar to one that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said was "off the table" after the shutdown ended, the Hill notes. GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has been pushing for a bipartisan deal—and using the hashtag #TrumpDreamers—called Trump's remarks a "breakthrough." "I truly appreciate President Trump making it clear that he supports a path to citizenship for DACA recipients," said Graham, whose own proposals have been called "unacceptable" by the White House. Advocates for restricting immigration say they could support a pathway to citizenship, depending on how many people it applies to and whether it is combined with other measures to limit immigration, the Los Angeles Times reports.


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 Update: U.S. District Judge John Ross denied a request by a parent in the Ladue School District for a Temporary Restraining Order that would allow their child to play soccer on the high school Junior Varsity team.

 ST. LOUIS, MO — The mother of a Ladue High School student took her case to the federal courthouse after her son, called John Doe in legal documents, did not make the varsity soccer team and was not allowed to play on the J.V. team.

 The woman’s attorney said the issue is age and sex discrimination. Friday morning Ladue school officials said if a junior does not make the varsity team, the boy cannot play again on the junior varsity team. The school said this is to allow lower grade students a chance to develop their skills so that they will be prepared to try out for varsity.

 The mother of a Ladue junior who did not make the varsity cut does not think that’s fair. She believes her son, who already played on the J.V soccer team, is good enough to play again on the same team.

 The coach sent the family an email that said their son was on the bubble when it came to picking varsity team members. He wrote the boy has holes in his technical ability and game decision making.

 The family appealed the coach’s ruling to the superintendent who decided the family’s complaint was unsubstantiated.

 The mother’s suit claims her son is the victim of age and gender discrimination because she says the rules are different for the girls’ soccer team.

 In the courtroom testimony from the coach indicated the seven juniors cut from the varsity team were not good enough to play with on the J.V. team. He said the reason he said nice things about John Doe was to build his self-esteem and not punch him in the gut after being cut from the varsity team.

 The lawyer for John Doe also introduced documents that he said show players performance ratings given by coaches show that John Doe is better than some of the boys who made varsity.

 Also in courtroom testimony, it was revealed that Ladue does not have a policy keeping juniors from playing J.V. sports. It depends on how many kids go out for a certain sport and how many spots are on the team. The coach said this applied to both girls and boys team.

 The judge did not decide today if John Doe will be put on the junior varsity team as his mother wants. The judge plans to decide on Monday.

 The lawyer for John Doe said the boy wanted to take this case to the federal courthouse, that he wants to play soccer.

 Update: U.S. District Judge John Ross denied a request by a parent in the Ladue School District for a Temporary Restraining Order that would allow their child to play soccer on the high school Junior Varsity team. ||||| Close Get email notifications on Kim Bell daily!

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– After her 16-year-old son failed to make the varsity soccer team, a disappointed mother went a step or two further than most parents might. She filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that the teen is a victim of age and gender discrimination, Fox 2 reports. The family says the rules at Missouri's Ladue High School state that if a junior doesn't make it onto the varsity team, he can't play again on the junior varsity team; that way, students in lower grades can use the JV team to develop the skills they need to try out for varsity. The family wants the boy placed on the JV team, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. They first appealed the coach's decision to district administrators and the superintendent, both of whom sided with the coach; they then complained to the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, but ultimately sued because the office had no power to force the school to place the boy on a team. The boy reportedly wanted to take the case to federal court. The family's lawsuit claims that the girls' soccer team does allow juniors to play on JV, which is where the sex discrimination comes in. "There are many schools across the country that have this policy that you either make varsity as a junior or you're out of the program," says the boy's stepfather, who is also one of the lawyers handling the case. "If someone said 'Cut all the blacks,' that would be illegal. And it's illegal for age too." He adds that per stats and rankings, the boy should have made varsity. But the coach testified in court that the only reason he said positive things about the boy's skills was to build up his self-esteem rather than making him feel worse after he had already failed to make the team, and he also testified that the school doesn't actually have a policy preventing juniors from playing on JV teams. He said it depends how many spots there are on the team and how many kids want to play. The judge is set to decide Monday.


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PHOTOS: NOAA unveils 1st stunning images from GOES-16 satellite

 By Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather staff writer February 08, 2017, 4:43:00 PM EST

 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released the first high-resolution images that were sent from its newly-launched GOES-16, formerly GOES-R, satellite on Monday.

 GOES-16 was launched Nov. 19 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Called a "game changer" by NOAA, the $1.2 billion satellite will help revolutionize weather forecasting in many ways, including sending back data faster and generating images in higher resolution that will lead to more accurate forecasts.

 The photos provides by GOES-16 have an image resolution four times greater than the existing GOES satellites.

 More accurate forecasts will allow forecasters to give more advanced warnings when dealing with severe weather or tropical systems.

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 "These images come from the most sophisticated technology ever flown in space to predict severe weather on Earth," said Stephen Volz, director of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service. "The fantastically rich images provide us with our first glimpse of the impact GOES-16 will have on developing life-saving forecasts.”

 Situated in orbit about 23,000 miles above Earth, GOES-16 can provide a full image of Earth every 15 minutes and one of the continental U.S. every five minutes.

 NOAA unveils 1st high-resolution images from GOES-16 satellite The first images from NOAA's GOES-16 satellite were taken on Jan. 15 and released to the public on Monday, Jan. 23. In the above photo, the moon Earth are visible. ice storm This image shows an expansivethat caused damage and fatalities across the U.S. on Jan. 15. Dust moving off the coast of Africa is seen in the far right of this image. Florida and some of the clear blue waters of the Caribbean can be identified in this photo. GOES-16 is able to photograph the entire Western Hemisphere. This image shows Argentina with storms in the northeastern part of the country and mountain wave clouds in the southwest.

 Clouds are seen moving into the west coast of the U.S. and the Baja Peninsula in Mexico in this image.

 This image shows a storm moving into the Northeast which would eventually bring wet and wintry weather to the region on Jan. 16-17.

 GOES-16 captured this clear view of Mexico and Central America. Toward the coast of southern Mexico, the satellite was able to pinpoint the location of a fire and its smoke.

 On Feb. 7, GOES-16 captured a tornado outbreak over Louisiana. The satellite used its Advanced Baseline Imager to capture the high-resolution images with vivid detail.

 Report a Typo ||||| GOES-16 and GOES-13 Earth Photo Comparison from Jan 15, 2017.

 Jan 15, 2017

 With five-times greater coverage, four-times the spatial resolution, and three-times the spectral channels than earlier generations of GOES-16's Advanced Baseline Imager can provide more detailed imagery and multi-task in ways that previous GOES imagers could not. For proof of that, consider the following image comparing full-disk images captured by two NOAA satellites -- GOES-16 and GOES-13 -- at the same time on the same day: 1:07 p.m. EST on January 15, 2017.

 On the left is a color-composite full-disk image from NOAA's newest geostationary weather satellite GOES-16 (located at 89.5 degrees West longitude), which was created by combining data from the ABI's 16 spectral channels. By comparison, the imager aboard GOES-13 has just five spectral channels, and their data cannot be combined to produce color composites with this "true color" effect without the inclusion of additional data sets.

 In addition to offering more channels, the ABI can provide a full disk image of the Earth every 15 minutes, one of the continental U.S. every five minutes, and has the ability to target regional areas where severe weather, hurricanes, wildfires, volcanic eruptions or other high-impact environmental phenomena are occurring as often as every 30 seconds. ||||| Since the GOES-16 satellite lifted off from Cape Canaveral on November 19, scientists, meteorologists and ordinary weather enthusiasts have anxiously waited for the first photos from NOAA’s newest weather satellite, GOES-16, formerly GOES-R.

 The release of the first images today is the latest step in a new age of weather satellites. It will be like high-definition from the heavens.

 The pictures from its Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument, built by Harris Corporation, show a full-disc view of the Western Hemisphere in high detail — at four times the image resolution of existing GOES spacecraft. The higher resolution will allow forecasters to pinpoint the location of severe weather with greater accuracy. GOES-16 can provide a full image of Earth every 15 minutes and one of the continental U.S. every five minutes, and scans the Earth at five times the speed of NOAA’s current GOES imagers.

 NOAA’s GOES-16, situated in geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above Earth, will boost the nation’s weather observation network and NOAA’s prediction capabilities, leading to more accurate and timely forecasts, watches and warnings.

 “This is such an exciting day for NOAA! One of our GOES-16 scientists compared this to seeing a newborn baby’s first pictures — it’s that exciting for us,” said Stephen Volz Ph.D. director of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service. “These images come from the most sophisticated technology ever flown in space to predict severe weather on Earth. The fantastically rich images provide us with our first glimpse of the impact GOES-16 will have on developing life-saving forecasts.”

 In May, NOAA will announce the planned location for GOES-16. By November 2017, GOES-16 will be operational as either GOES-East or GOES-West. Once operational, NOAA will use the satellite’s six new instruments to generate new or improved meteorological, solar, and space weather products.

 Second satellite in GOES series already in development

 Following on the heels of GOES-R will be, GOES-S, the second of four spacecraft in the series. GOES-S is undergoing environmental testing at Lockheed Martin’s Corporation facility in Littleton, Colorado, where it was built. A full set of environmental, mechanical and electromagnetic testing will take about one year to complete. The GOES-S satellite will be moved into the other operational position as GOES-17 immediately after launch and initial checkout of the satellite, approximately nine months after GOES-16.

 Additional information:

 Learn more about the GOES series of satellites

 GOES-16 Image gallery ||||| Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. |||||

– GOES-16, the fancy new satellite developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is sending its first photos back to Earth since it lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 19, and the high-res results are causing astronomers and meteorologists to squeal with delight. One developer compared it to seeing a newborn baby's first pics—"it's that exciting for us," NOAA reports. Space.com calls the super high-res images "jaw-dropping," while NASA reports that the first images, from 22,300 miles up, catch details including dust blowing off the coast of Africa, shallow waters in the Caribbean, and mountain wave clouds in Argentina. (See a gallery here.) The hope is that viewing our own planet and the atmosphere around it in such detail ("high definition from the heavens," per NOAA) will provide data for more accurate weather forecasts that could save lives. AccuWeather reports that the "stunning" images boast resolution that is four times greater than the capability of the best current satellites. NOAA says the second (GOES-S) in a series of four sophisticated satellites is undergoing a year of testing at Lockheed Martin’s Corporation facility in Littleton, Colo., and NASA reports that it is expected to launch in 2018. GOES-16 captures a full image of Earth every 15 minutes and one of the continental US every five minutes, and it can scan five times faster than current GOES imagers. (Here's how NASA scouts asteroids.)


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A reliable predictor for the Oscars gives two top awards to Ben Affleck's Iran hostage crisis film.

 Ben Affleck accepts the Best Director Award for 'Argo' at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards, held at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo: Kevin Winter, Getty Images) Story Highlights Ben Affleck starts off with a joke and thanks 'academy'

 Jennifer Lawrence wins in two actress categories

 Daniel Day-Lewis is best actor winner

 SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Ben Affleck may have been snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday morning when Oscar nominations were announced, but things were looking up Thursday night when he took home the Critics' Choice award for best director for Argo.

 "I would like to thank the academy... I'm kidding, I'm kidding. This is the one that counts," said a grinning Affleck upon accepting the award.

 Making his night even better: Argo -- which did receive a best picture Oscar nomination -- took home the Critics' Choice award for best picture.

 The Critics' Choice Awards, always a reliable predictor for the Academy Awards, collided right into them on Thursday, with an especially early round of Oscar nominations taking place at the crack of dawn.

 The result? A host of extra-happy stars walking the Critics' Choice red carpet with an Oscar glow, like Jessica Chastain, Daniel Day-Lewis, Anne Hathaway, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones and Jennifer Lawrence.

 "Talk to me in a month, but right now I'm raring to go," said Lawrence, who nabbed a best actress Oscar nomination, in high spirits on the red carpet. Lawrence went on to win the Critics' Choice award for both best actress in an action movie (The Hunger Games) and later best comedic actress (Silver Linings Playbook). "Seriously, I love critics," said Lawrence upon accepting her second award of the evening. She was one of a few stars who had such a successful year, they were double-teaming it.

 New dad Matthew McConaughey was nominated for best supporting actor for Magic Mike, but was also there to support his indie comedy, Bernie.

 McConaughey says there's something to be learned from the critics. "A couple of years ago I went through and had some help with my assistants. I said, 'Let's gather up every bad review that's ever been written about me.' And it was a thick book!" said McConaughey. "But it turned out to be at first hard to read, but then all of a sudden it became really funny. And I started to find some very constructive criticism in there."

 WINNERS: The full list from the Critics' Choice Awards

 This year, the 18th annual Critics' Choice Awards was hosted by Sam Rubin, and found a new physical home, at the Barker Hangar in chilly Santa Monica, as well as a new televised one, with a switch from VH1 to the CW.

 The awards, chosen by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, did raise the question: Does this crop of stars cop to reading their own reviews?

 "I wish I could say I didn't," said Les Miserables actor Eddie Remayne. But when it comes to theater reviews, "they do tend to affect how I keep performing...but on film you're more distanced from it, it's out of your hands."

 "I do read my reviews," said director and Zero Dark Thirty actor Mark Duplass on the red carpet before the show. "I would love to be a big man and not need the validation, but I do. If it's good, I keep reading, and if it's bad, I stop." The reviews, however, don't influence his choices. "People tell me to stop using my shaky cameras, and I've been doing it for years."

 Best actress nominee Marion Cotillard stays away from reading her reviews. "I'm much harder with myself than any critic," she said. "Trust me."

 Naomi Watts, who said she was "wearing lots of good makeup" to keep her from looking tired after the early morning, tries to avoid reviews -- but sometimes it's inevitable. "Your agent or manager or publicist usually sends you some reviews, but they're usually the good ones," she said.

 The Avengers writer Joss Whedon said he's selective when it comes to checking out what the critics have to say. "I don't read them all. Some of my friends call and say, 'Don't read this review or that review,' but I do think they're useful. Usually I can tell when they're just being mean or they're just pissing on the genre."

 A genre that might one day include a movie based on the Black Widow, played in Avengers by Scarlett Johansson. "I'm for it. I want her to get a movie. I pitch it (all the time)." He said it's timely, especially after female protagonists have begun to dominate the box office, a la Hunger Games. "I think conversations are very different than they were last April. Prior to that the only references were Elektra and Catwoman."

 Speaking of strong females, Hathaway took home one of the night's first awards: best supporting actress for her turn as Fantine in Les Miserables -- but did the people behind the statuettes make a mistake? "Thank you," said Hathaway upon accepting her award. "This is a bittersweet moment for me. I have this award but you spelled my name wrong. It is with an "e." ... Sorry. Don't mean to be gauche." A name spelling or not, it was the perfect cap to a day that began with an Oscar nomination for the 30-year-old actress. Co-star Redmayne said he had been in touch with his Les Mis co-stars Hathaway and Hugh Jackman, who snagged an Oscar nom for best actor. "I've been e-mailing with Annie and Hugh (Jackman) all day. We're on cloud nine. Their nominations were well-deserved. Hugh was such a great leader."

 Judd Apatow, whose latest film, This is 40, was up for three awards, including best comedy. He took home the humbly named Louis XIII Genius Award, presented by Rebel Wilson. During his acceptance speech, Apatow thanked his wife, Leslie Mann, and said he's "a genius only if for figuring out how to get such a beautiful, brilliant woman to marry me."

 Chastain won the Critics Choice for best actress for her role in Zero Dark Thirty. "Wow," said Chastain. "This is the first time I've ever talked to one of these things, and it's awesome." Chastain, who also received an Oscar nomination for the role, said on the red carpet that she was "really disappointed" that her Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow didn't receive a nomination for best director. "It's bittersweet for me, because I'm so excited to be nominated," said Chastain, who found out about her nomination on a flight from New York with Bigelow. "But this actually goes to show what an amazing person she is, because she's the one who came over and told me (I'd been nominated) and congratulated me. And when I found out, I said, 'Oh my gosh, you didn't get nominated.' I was shocked. And she kept bringing it back to me, 'No, no, no...let's celebrate you.' She's amazing."

 Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor for his starring role in Lincoln, which received 12 Oscar nominations on Thursday. "It means a lot to me," said Day-Lewis. "This has been one of the greatest unforeseen privileges of my life, doing this work."

 The serious tone of his acceptance speech switched gears when he commented on all of the tuxedos in the porta-potties. "Maybe you could do the final category, if there is one, in there," joked Day-Lewis. "Because it really would be wonderful television."

 Lawrence's Silver Linings Playbook co-star Bradley Cooper took home the award for best actor in a comedy. It was a role in which he also received an Oscar nomination. "It feels very fresh," Cooper told reporters on the red carpet. He was watching when the nominations were announced. "I thought I was going to get up and take my dog to the beach and go for a run and come back. And whatever happens, happens. And leave my phone in the truck. But that's not how it went down," he said, chuckling. "I got up, and waited and then watched the television. Woke my mom up, and my dog, and waited to watch it."

 Capping off the evening for Cooper and Lawrence was Silver Linings Playbook taking home the award for best comedy movie. But even earlier in the night, before the movie had even won, Lawrence was grateful: "Having the entire movie, just having everyone recognized, and everyone here, it makes it so much better."

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/10k4vIK ||||| Molly Sims arrives at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) (Associated Press)

 Judd Apatow poses backstage with the Critics' Choice Louis XIII Genius Award at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo... (Associated Press)

 Stefan Arndt accepts the award for best foreign language film for "Amour" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo... (Associated Press)

 Jacki Weaver poses backstage with the award for best comedy movie for "Silver Linings Playbook" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa... (Associated Press)

 Daniel Day-Lewis accepts the award for best actor for "Lincoln" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Matt... (Associated Press)

 Daniel Day-Lewis accepts the award for best actor for "Lincoln" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Matt... (Associated Press)

 Jessica Chastain accepts the award for best actress for "Zero Dark Thirty" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo... (Associated Press)

 Jessica Chastain poses backstage with the award for best actress for "Zero Dark Thirty" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica,... (Associated Press)

 Jessica Chastain accepts the award for best actress for "Zero Dark Thirty" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo... (Associated Press)

 Stefan Arndt accepts the award for best foreign language film for "Amour" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo... (Associated Press)

 Rich Moore accepts the award for best animated feature for "Wreck-It Ralph" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo... (Associated Press)

 Jessica Chastain poses backstage with the award for best actress for "Zero Dark Thirty" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica,... (Associated Press)

 Grant Heslov accepts the award for best picture for "Argo" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP) (Associated Press)

 David O. Russell accepts the award for best comedy movie for "Silver Linings Playbook" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica,... (Associated Press)

 Anne Hathaway is seen backstage after accepting the award for best supporting actress for "Les Miserables" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013,... (Associated Press)

 Melissa Leo, right, presents the award for best actor to Daniel Day-Lewis at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo... (Associated Press)

 Joseph Gordon-Levitt presents the award for best actress at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP) (Associated Press)

 Joseph Gordon-Levitt presents the award for best actress at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP) (Associated Press)

 Jacki Weaver poses backstage with the award for best comedy movie for "Silver Linings Playbook" at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa... (Associated Press)

 Molly Sims arrives at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) (Associated Press)

 Molly Sims arrives at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Barker Hangar on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) (Associated Press) |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– The Critics' Choice Awards are generally a good barometer for the Oscars, which makes Ben Affleck's night a bittersweet one. He took home honors for best director and best film last night for Argo, hours after failing to even get nominated in the directors' category for an Academy Award. "I would like to thank the academy," he said upon winning. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. This is the one that counts." Winners in the big categories, from USA Today and AP: Best film: Argo Best director: Ben Affleck (Argo) Best actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) Best actress: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) Supporting actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master) Supporting actress: Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables) Original screenplay: Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained) Click for the full list of winners.