title: Tracy Lawrence

text: "Time Marches On", his fourth album, was released in January 1996. It became his second double-platinum album in 2000. The lead single was "If You Loved Me", a number four entry on the Hot Country Songs charts. Lawrence said of the song that "it’s a typical Tracy Lawrence ballad about love gone wrong", and that he felt that it was one of his strongest singles. Following this song was the album's title track; also written by Braddock, it became Lawrence's longest-lasting number-one single on Hot Country Songs, holding that position for three weeks. It was also nominated by the Country Music Association as Single of the Year. After this song came "Stars over Texas" (which Lawrence co-wrote with Boone) and "Is That a Tear", both peaking at number two. The album's production duties were split, with Don Cook (best known for his work with Brooks & Dunn) handling five tracks, and Lawrence and Anderson on the other five. Brian Wahlert of "Country Standard Time" noted that the tracks produced by Lawrence and Anderson were more traditional country in their sound than the tracks Cook produced, highlighting "Is That a Tear" and "Somewhere Between the Moon and You" as the strongest and most country-sounding cuts. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote that the album was "another crowd-pleasing set of contemporary country. Like his previous albums, the song selection is a hit-or-miss affair, with about half of the songs failing to make much of an impression. The remainder, however, proves why Lawrence is one of the most popular singers in Nashville." In 1996, "Billboard" ranked Lawrence as the tenth most-played radio artist in any genre that year.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Lawrence's fifth studio album, "The Coast Is Clear", was issued in March 1997 and achieved an RIAA gold certification two months later. Like its predecessor, it featured some songs produced by Cook, and others by Lawrence and Anderson. This album's first two singles "Better Man, Better Off" and "How a Cowgirl Says Goodbye" both made top five on Hot Country Songs, but the followups were less successful: the title track became his first single to miss the top 10 when it peaked at number 26, and "While You Sleep" fell outside the top 40. Tom Roland of "The Tennessean" noted that the album had a theme of "attempts to undo what's done", but criticized the sound as "restrained" and "middle-of-the-road". Sarah Rodman of Country Standard Time shared a similar opinion of the production, calling "While You Sleep" the "most emotive and touching song" while also referring to "How a Cowgirl Says Goodbye" as "lively". Atlantic issued a greatest-hits package, "The Best of Tracy Lawrence", in 1998. This disc included thirteen previous singles and the new song "Her Old Stompin' Ground". Three years after its release, this compilation received RIAA gold certification.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: In late 1999, Lawrence returned to the charts with "Lessons Learned". This was the lead single to his 2000 album of the same name, which he and Anderson produced with audio engineer Butch Carr. The song reached number three on the country charts in 2000, and accounted for his highest Hot 100 peak of number 40. The album charted two more singles in "Lonely" and "Unforgiven". Tom Roland gave "Lessons Learned" three out of five stars in a review for "The Tennessean", noting that Lawrence "repeatedly sings of flaws and errors and the challenges in overcoming them." Erlewine wrote of the album in Allmusic that it is "certainly pleasant, yet it tends to fade into the background". Jeffrey B. Remz of Country Standard Time thought that the album maintained a constantly country sound, and had well-witten songs.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: In late 2000, Atlantic Records closed its Nashville division and moved all artists, including Lawrence, to the Nashville branch of parent company Warner Bros. Records. His only release for that label, "Tracy Lawrence", accounted for two low-charting singles in "Life Don't Have to Be So Hard" and "What a Memory". Lawrence and Anderson produced the album and wrote several songs on it, with other contributing writers including Michael White, Casey Beathard, Billy Yates, and frequent collaborator Larry Boone. Both Country Standard Time and Allmusic praised the album for having a more consistent and traditional sound than its predecessors, with the former's Scott Homewood calling it "quite possibly his best album", and the latter's Liana Jonas complimenting the lyrics of both singles along with the "scaled down" production. Allmusic biographer Steve Huey wrote of the album that "Despite some good reviews, it failed to halt his downward commercial momentum." Lawrence also said that he felt that the label did not invest in promotion of the album due to a lack of interest in his musical style and direction. As a result, he began seeking out new producers in an attempt to "reinvent [him]self". He considered Buddy Cannon, Byron Gallimore, and Billy Joe Walker Jr. before choosing to reunite with Stroud. The two began recording for what would have been a second album for Warner Bros. in 2002, but Lawrence was dropped from the label's roster.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: After being dropped from Warner Bros., Lawrence began seeking a new record deal. He had considered RCA Records Nashville, but instead chose DreamWorks Records Nashville, of which Stroud was then the president, and signed a deal with them in October 2003. His first release for the label was "Paint Me a Birmingham", which had been concurrently released by Ken Mellons on an independent label. Lawrence's version overtook Mellons's in terms of airplay, reaching number four on Hot Country Songs and number 42 on the Hot 100 in early 2004. The corresponding album, "Strong", came out in 2004, and it consisted largely of material from the unreleased second project for Warner Bros. Nashville. The album's follow-up singles, "It's All How You Look at It" and "Sawdust on Her Halo", were less successful at country radio. Lawrence noted that he had writer's block when attempting to come up with material for the album, and thus sought outside writers instead of his usual collaborators. He described the title track, about a divorced woman moving on with her life, a "different than anything I've done in the past", while calling "Stones" the "most traditional" song, and noting the presence of "story songs" throughout. He also noted that the album was almost titled "Stones", but was renamed to avoid confusion with his debut album "Sticks and Stones".


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Erlewine wrote in Allmusic that "Strong" "ranks among his smoothest albums, a record dominated by ballads and where up-tempo songs are as polished as the slow ones." Peter Cooper of "The Tennessean" thought that the album had better-written songs than its predecessors, highlighting "Paint Me a Birmingham" and "Sawdust on Her Halo" in particular, but criticizing the application of Auto-Tune to Lawrence's singing voice. Robert Woolridge of Country Standard Time thought that Lawrence's singing was stronger on the ballads such as "Paint Me a Birmingham" as opposed to the more upbeat material, but criticized the "mainstream production".


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Following the closure of DreamWorks Nashville in 2005, Lawrence transferred to Mercury Nashville that same year. There, he released the compilation "", which included fifteen of his previous hits, all of which (except "Paint Me a Birmingham") had to be newly recorded as the label did not own the rights to the original recordings made while he was on Atlantic. Two new tracks were included as well, both of which were released as singles: a cover of Mark Nesler's 1998 single "Used to the Pain", and "If I Don't Make It Back", which was co-witten by Bobby Pinson. Of this compilation, Erlewine wrote, "These new versions are a little more laid-back than the originals, and they're a little slicker too. And while that doesn't necessarily suit Lawrence's voice, which has grown a little thinner over the years, that doesn't make "Then and Now" a bad listen."


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: In 2006, Lawrence started his own record label, Rocky Comfort Records, in partnership with his brother Laney. The first act signed to the label besides Lawrence himself was Chad Brock. Lawrence's first single for the label was "Find Out Who Your Friends Are", which was released in August 2006 from the studio album "For the Love". The song initially lingered below the Top 40 of the Hot Country Songs charts, but following the album's release, it gained in radio interest due to the album containing as a bonus track an alternate version with Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney on guest vocals. Thanks to the success of the alternate version, "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" became a number-one single on that chart in 2007. The song reached that position in its 41st week on the chart, setting a new record at the time for the slowest ascent to the top of the country charts, and the second-slowest on any "Billboard" chart. The re-recorded version received Musical Event of the Year honors at the 2007 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards, Lawrence's first award from that association, along with the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Vocal Event of the Year award. Following this song were "Til I Was a Daddy Too" and "You Can't Hide Redneck". The album's title track was a duet with Brad Arnold of the rock band 3 Doors Down, while the track "Speed of Flight" was the first song in his career that Lawrence wrote entirely by himself. Michael Sudhalter wrote in Country Standard Time that "the music on the 11-track debut matches the label's traditional-sounding name."


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Later in 2007, Lawrence issued a Christmas album entitled "All Wrapped Up in Christmas", the title track of which peaked at number 57 based on Christmas season airplay. In 2008, both Zona Jones and Michael Scott signed deals with Rocky Comfort. Jones released the album "Prove Me Right" through the label in 2009.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Lawrence made his last Hot Country Songs chart appearance with the single "Up to Him" in early 2009. It is the first single for a studio album entitled "The Rock", a Christian country album which was released in June 2009. It received 3.5 out of 5 from "Country Weekly" magazine, whose review noted that it "emphasizes at all turns the shared imperfections that we all strive to overcome in order to be good people". Allmusic reviewer Todd Sterling thought that Lawrence "sounds as comfortable singing songs about the Lord as he does singing straight country", calling it "a positive collection that will appeal to people of all faiths." Country Standard Time reviewer Jessica Phillips also thought that the lyrics of the album were "positive" and "uplifting", comparing the disc favorably to Randy Travis's gospel albums. The album got a 2009 Grammy Award nomination for Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Due to financial difficulties, Lawrence closed the Rocky Comfort label after "The Rock" and established a second personal label, Lawrence Music Group, in 2011. His first release for this label was "The Singer" that same year. It was initially available solely from his website and digital music distributors, a decision that Lawrence made to test the viability of online distribution instead of physical sales. The album features only acoustic instruments, and includes acoustic re-recordings of "Paint Me a Birmingham" and "Find Out Who Your Friends Are". Of the album, Lawrence said that he included more songs that he had written himself, because he felt that he had become more confident in his own songwriting skills. He also said that the album was "different" due to the increased presence of songs that he had written and the acoustic sound.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Lawrence released the single "Stop, Drop & Roll" to country radio in October 2012. It was the first single from the album "Headlights, Taillights and Radios", released on August 20, 2013. Lawrence funded the album through Kickstarter. Contributing songwriters included Kurt Allison (of Jason Aldean's road band and the production team New Voice Entertainment) and Kip Moore. Erlewine noted that the album was more country pop than Lawrence's existing body of work, but stated that "he sounds comfortable, assured, and quite charming on this enjoyable record." Michael Rampa of Country Standard Time also thought that the album was more country-pop, but praised the lyrics and Lawrence's singing, saying of the content that "Lawrence is both looking back at his two decades-plus career in country music while also taking a significant step toward the future." Lawrence promoted the album through a tour of the same name, which consisted of 28 shows throughout the year 2014, beginning with a concert at the Holmes Theater in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: In 2017, Lawrence released "Good Ole Days", a compilation album which features nine of his hit singles re-recorded as duets with other country singers, including Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Justin Moore, Jason Aldean, and Luke Combs. It also features two original songs: the title track, which features both Brad Arnold and Big & Rich, and the Craig Morgan duet "Finally Home", whose proceeds were donated to Operation Finally Home, an organization that assists in housing for injured soldiers. A second Christmas album, "Frozen in Time", was released in October 2018. The album includes a mix of original compositions and covers of Christmas standards. In May 2019, he announced the August 2019 release of a new studio album titled "Made in America", whose title track is also the lead single. He called the album "possibly the most personal album I have ever released." Lawrence co-wrote most of the album, with other songwriters including Chris Stapleton, Mark Nesler, and Carson Chamberlain.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Lawrence's next project is a three-disc album called "Hindsight 2020". In February 2021, he confirmed that each of the three discs would be released throughout 2021, starting with "Volume 1: Stairway to Heaven Highway to Hell" on April 23. Its first single is the title track, which Lawrence co-wrote with Craig Wiseman. When completed, the three albums will include a mix of original songs and re-recordings of existing songs. The second disc in this project, "Volume 2: Price of Fame", was released in August. Included on it were re-recordings of "I See It Now", "Somebody Paints the Wall", and "If the World Had a Front Porch", and duets with Montgomery Gentry member Eddie Montgomery and Tracy Byrd. The third installment, "Volume 3: Angelina", was released in January 2022. The title track of the project was released as a single that same month; in addition, Lawrence stated that he would be touring in 2022 with Clay Walker, Randall King, and Alexandra Kay.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Lawrence has contributed to multiple collaborative works in his career. The first was George Jones' 1992 single "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair", which featured him as one of several artists performing on the song's final chorus, and received the Country Music Association Vocal Event of the Year for all artists involved. In 1994, Lawrence recorded "Renegades, Rebels, and Rogues" for the soundtrack of the film "Maverick". This song was released to country radio as a single in mid-1994 after "If the Good Die Young" had peaked, and it went on to reach top 10 on Hot Country Songs. The soundtrack also featured him in a multi-artist rendition of "Amazing Grace". Later in the same year, he covered Keith Whitley's late-1989 single "I'm Over You" on "". In May 1996, Lawrence was one of many artists featured on the charity single "Hope: Country Music's Quest for a Cure", whose proceeds were donated to the T.J. Martell foundation for cancer research. The song made an appearance on Hot Country Songs, and received a Grammy Award nomination that year for all artists involved in the category of Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. In 1997, he recorded a cover of The Rolling Stones's "Paint It Black" on the multi-artist tribute album "". Lawrence also began working as a producer for other artists in 1997, including Rich McCready's 1997 album "That Just About Covers It" and the soundtrack to the musical "The Civil War". The latter also featured him singing "I'll Never Pass This Way Again", which was issued as a single in October 1998.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Many of Lawrence's singles featured music videos that received rotation on CMT and the defunct TNN (The Nashville Network). In 1996, his videos were aired on CMT more than those of any other artist. Among his videos were several directed by Marc Ball which linked to each other through a time travel storyline, where Lawrence is transported to a different time period and scenario at the beginning of each video, and appears in clothing appropriate to the time period. The concept started with the video for "If the Good Die Young", and continued for those of "Renegades, Rebels, and Rogues", "I See It Now", "As Any Fool Can See", "Texas Tornado", "If the World Had a Front Porch", "Is That a Tear", "One Step Ahead of the Storm" (an album cut from "The Coast Is Clear"), and "Life Don't Have to Be So Hard".


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Steve Huey wrote of Lawrence's musical style that he was "[o]ne of a number of rock-tinged honky-tonk singers who rose to fame in the early '90s" and "gained a loyal audience for his mix of modern and traditional country sounds". Erlewine described Lawrence's musical style as "polished, modern-day honky-tonk", and said that he "has never been among the most adventurous country singers and of all the post-Garth Brooks new traditionalists; he often avoids honky-tonk grit, even though he has a nice twang in his voice that would work well on rowdier material." In a review of "Sticks and Stones", Alanna Nash noted that Lawrence had a physical and musical resemblance to Alan Jackson. His singing voice has also been described as a "smooth baritone" and a "warm baritone" with "effortless, emotional delivery". Lawrence cites Merle Haggard, Keith Whitley, and George Strait as his primary musical influences.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: In April 1994, Lawrence was charged with reckless endangerment and possession of an unlicensed firearm after confronting and following home two teenagers on a highway in Wilson County, Tennessee. Although he was put on probation for a year, the charges were later cleared.


title: Tracy Lawrence

text: Lawrence has been married three times. His first wife was former rodeo star Frances Weatherford, whom he married in 1993. Weatherford was injured by broken glass and suffered a miscarriage after a gas fireplace explosion, and the two divorced in 1996. In March 1997 he married his second wife, Stephenie "Stacie" Drew, a former member of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Their wedding included over 500 guests, along with performances by Toby Keith, Tracy Byrd, and Kenny Chesney. In October 1997, Lawrence underwent investigation after allegations that he had abused Drew following a concert at Buffalo Bill's hotel and casino in Primm, Nevada. This incident occurred one month after the couple had filed for divorce. Lawrence was convicted of a misdemeanor for battery, and was ordered by Las Vegas courts to donate $500 to a Nevada-based women's shelter. "Billboard" also reported that Atlantic Nashville's president had suspended Lawrence from recording any new material until he agreed to undergo counseling, but he later denied these claims. He married his third wife, Becca, in a secret wedding ceremony just after Christmas 2000. The couple had a child named Skylar the following June. Two years later, they had a second daughter, Mary Keagan.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine whereby a sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution, strictly speaking in modern texts in its own courts. A similar, stronger rule as regards foreign courts is named state immunity.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Sovereign immunity is the original forebear of state immunity based on the classical concept of sovereignty in the sense that a sovereign could not be subjected without his or her approval to the jurisdiction of another. In constitutional monarchies, the sovereign is the historical origin of the authority which creates the courts. Thus the courts had no power to compel the sovereign to be bound by them as they were created by the sovereign for the protection of his or her subjects. This rule was commonly expressed by the popular legal maxim "rex non potest peccare", meaning "the king can do no wrong".


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Immunity from suit means that neither a sovereign/head of state in person nor any "in absentia" or representative form (nor to a lesser extent the state) can be a defendant or subject of court proceedings, nor in most equivalent forums such as under arbitration awards and tribunal awards/damages.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Immunity from enforcement means that even if a person succeeds in any way against their sovereign or state, they and the judgment may find themselves without means of enforcement. Separation of powers or natural justice coupled with a political status other than a totalitarian state dictates there be broad exceptions to immunity such as statutes which expressly bind the state (a prime example being constitutional laws) and judicial review.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: There is no automatic Crown immunity in Australia, and the Australian Constitution does not establish a state of unfettered immunity of the Crown in respect of the states and the Commonwealth. The Constitution of Australia establishes matters on which the states and the Commonwealth legislate independently of each other; in practice this means the states legislate on some things and the Commonwealth legislates on others. In some circumstances, this can create ambiguity as to the applicability of legislation where there is no clearly established Crown immunity. The Australian Constitution does however, in s. 109, declare that, "When a law of a State is inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be invalid." Based on this, depending on the context of application and whether a particular statute infringes on the executive powers of the state or the Commonwealth the Crown may or may not be immune from any particular statute.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Many Acts passed in Australia, both at the state and at the federal level, contain a section declaring whether the Act binds the Crown, and, if so, in what respect:


title: Sovereign immunity

text: While there is no ambiguity about the first aspect of this declaration about binding the Crown with respect to the state in question, there have been several cases about the interpretation of the second aspect extending it to the Crown in its other capacities. Rulings by the High Court of Australia on specific matters of conflict between the application of states laws on Commonwealth agencies have provided the interpretation that the Crown in all of its other capacities includes the Commonwealth, therefore if a state Act contains this text then the Act may bind the Commonwealth, subject to the s. 109 test of inconsistency.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: A landmark case which set a precedent for challenging broad Crown immunity and established tests for the applicability of state laws on the Commonwealth was "Henderson v Defence Housing Authority" in 1997. This case involved the arbitration of a dispute between Mr. Henderson and the Defence Housing Authority (DHA). Mr. Henderson owned a house which the DHA had leased to provide housing to members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Under the NSW "Residential Tenancies Act 1997", Mr. Henderson sought orders from the Residential Tenancies Tribunal to enter the premises for the purposes of conducting inspections. In response, DHA claimed that as a Commonwealth agency the legislation of NSW did not apply to it and further sought writs of prohibition attempting to restrain Mr. Henderson from pursuing the matter further. Up until this point the Commonwealth and its agencies claimed an unfettered immunity from state legislation and had used s. 109 to justify this position, specifically that the NSW Act was in conflict with the Act which created the DHA and s. 109 of the constitution applied. Mr. Henderson took the case to the High Court and a panel of seven justices to arbitrate the matter. By a majority decision of six to one the court ruled that the DHA was bound by the NSW Act on the basis that the NSW Act did not limit, deny or restrict the activities of the DHA but sought to regulate them, an important distinction which was further explained in the rulings of several of the justices. It was ruled that the NSW Act was one of general application and therefore the Crown (in respect of the Commonwealth) could not be immune from it, citing other cases in which the same ruling had been made and that it was contrary to the rule of law. As a result of this case, the Commonwealth cannot claim a broad constitutional immunity from state legislation.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: In practice, three tests have been developed to determine whether a state law applies to the Commonwealth and vice versa:


title: Sovereign immunity

text: If these three tests are satisfied, then the Act binds the Crown in respect of the Commonwealth. In Australia, there is no clear automatic Crown immunity or lack of it; as such there is a rebuttable presumption that the Crown is not bound by a statute, as noted in "Bropho v State of Western Australia". The Crown's immunity may also apply to other parties in certain circumstances, as held in "Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Baxter Healthcare".


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Article 88 of the Constitution of Belgium states: "The King’s person is inviolable; his ministers are accountable."


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Canada inherited the common law version of Crown immunity from British law. However, over time the scope of Crown immunity has been steadily reduced by statute law. As of 1994, section 14 of the "Alberta Interpretation Act" stated, "No enactment is binding on Her Majesty or affects Her Majesty or Her Majesty's rights or prerogatives in any manner, unless the enactment expressly states that it binds Her Majesty." However, in more recent times "All Canadian provinces ... and the federal government (the Crown Liability Act) have now rectified this anomaly by passing legislation which leaves the 'Crown' liable in tort as a normal person would be. Thus, the tort liability of the government is a relatively new development in Canada, statute-based, and is not a fruit of common law."


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Since 1918, it has been held that provincial legislatures cannot bind the federal Crown, as Fitzpatrick CJ noted in "Gauthier v The King":


title: Sovereign immunity

text: It has also been a constitutional convention that the Crown in right of each province is immune from the jurisdiction of the courts in other provinces. However this is now in question.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Lieutenant Governors do not enjoy the same immunity as the Sovereign in matters not relating to the powers of the office. In 2013, the Supreme Court refused to hear the request of former Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Lise Thibault to have charges against her dropped. She was being prosecuted by the Attorney General of Quebec for misappropriation of public funds but invoked royal immunity on the basis that "the Queen can do no wrong". As per convention, the court did not disclose its reasons for not considering the matter. Thibault later petitioned the Court of Quebec for the same motives. Judge St-Cyr again rejected her demand, noting that constitutional law does not grant a lieutenant-governor the same benefits as the Queen and that in her case, royal immunity would only apply to actions involving official state functions, not personal ones. She was eventually found guilty and sentenced to 18 months in jail but was granted conditional release after serving six months.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: China has consistently claimed that a basic principle of international law is for states and their property to have absolute sovereign immunity. China objects to restrictive sovereign immunity. It is held that a state can waive its immunity by voluntarily stating so, but that should a government intervene in a suit (e.g. to make protests), it should not be viewed as waiver of immunity. Chinese state-owned companies considered instrumental to the state have claimed sovereign immunity in lawsuits brought against them in foreign courts before. China's view is that sovereign immunity is a lawful right and interest that their enterprises are entitled to protect. Some examples of Chinese state-owned companies that have claimed sovereign immunity in foreign lawsuits are the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and China National Building Material.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: In 2011, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal ruled that absolute sovereign immunity applies in Hong Kong, as the Court found that Hong Kong, as a Special Administrative Region of China, could not have policies on state immunity that was inconsistent with China. The ruling was an outcome of the "Democratic Republic of the Congo v FG Hemisphere Associates" case in 2011.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: The Democratic Republic of the Congo and its state-owned electricity company Société nationale d'électricité (SNEL) defaulted on payments of a debt owed to an energy company, Energoinvest. During arbitration, Energoinvest was awarded damages against the Congolese government and SNEL. This was reassigned by Energoinvest to FG Hemisphere Associates LLC.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: FG Hemisphere subsequently learned that the Congolese government entered into a separate joint venture with Chinese companies later, in which the Congolese government would be paid US$221 million in mining entry fees. As a result, FG Hemisphere applied to collect these fees in order to enforce the earlier arbitral award. The Congolese government asserted sovereign immunity in the legal proceedings. This was eventually brought to the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, when the Congolese government fought to overturn an earlier Court of Appeal decision which had ruled that:


title: Sovereign immunity

text: The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal ruled 3:2 that the Congolese government had not waived its immunity in the Hong Kong courts, and that as a Special Administrative Region of China, Hong Kong could not have policies on state immunity that were inconsistent with China's. Therefore, the doctrine of sovereign immunity applied in Hong Kong should be absolute, and may be invoked when jurisdiction is sought in the foreign court in relation to an application to enforce a foreign judgment or arbitral award, or when execution is sought against assets in the foreign state. This means that sovereign states are absolutely immune to the jurisdiction in Hong Kong courts, including in commercial claims, unless the state waives its immunity. In order to waive immunity, there must be express, unequivocal submission to the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong courts "in the face of the court". Claimants should establish that the state party has waived their entitlement to immunity at the relevant stage, before proceedings can occur in court.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Accordingly, the monarch cannot be sued in his or her personal capacity. On the other hand, this immunity from lawsuits does not extend to the state as such and article 63 explicitly authorises the courts to judge the executive authority: "The courts of justice shall be empowered to decide any question relating to the scope of the executive's authority; though any person wishing to question such authority shall not, by taking the case to the courts of justice, avoid temporary compliance with orders given by the executive authority." Furthermore, no other member of the royal family can be prosecuted for any crime under Article 25 of the old absolutist constitution Lex Regia (The King's Law), currently still valid, which states: "They shall answer to no magistrate judges, but their first and last Judge shall be the King, or to whom He to that decrees."


title: Sovereign immunity

text: The Holy See, of which the current pope is head (often referred to by metonymy as the Vatican or Vatican City State, a distinct entity), claims sovereign immunity for the pope, supported by many international agreements.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: According to article 11 of the Constitution of Iceland the president can only be held accountable and be prosecuted with the consent of parliament.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: According to Article 361 Constitution of India no legal action in the court of law can be taken against President of India and the governors of states of India as long as that person is holding either office. However, they can be impeached and then sued for their actions.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: In "Byrne v. Ireland", the Irish Supreme Court declared that sovereign immunity had not survived the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, and that accordingly the state could be sued for and held vicariously liable for the acts and omissions of its servants and agents.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: According to the Constitution, the President of the Italian Republic is not accountable, and he is not responsible for any act of his office, unless he has committed high treason or attempted to subvert the Constitution, as stated in Article 90:


title: Sovereign immunity

text: The Italian Penal Code makes it a criminal offence to insult the honor and prestige of the President (Art. 278), and until 2006 it was an offence to publicly give the President responsibility for actions of the Government (Art. 279 – abrogated).


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Article 17 of the Constitution of Japan states: "Every person may sue for redress as provided by law from the State or a public entity, in case he has suffered damage through illegal act of any public official." The was made according to this article. Officials who commit torts themselves are not liable, although the State or a public entity has the right to obtain reimbursement from the officers if there is intent or gross negligence on the part of them. And Administrative Litigation Act enables the people to file lawsuits involving the government of Japan.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: On November 20, 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that it does not have judicial power over the Emperor because he is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people".


title: Sovereign immunity

text: In Malaysia, an amendment to the constitution in 1993 made it possible to bring proceedings against the king or any ruler of a component state in the Special Court. Prior to 1993, rulers, in their personal capacity, were immune from any proceedings brought against them.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Section 308 of the Nigerian constitution of 1999 provides immunity from court proceedings, i.e., proceedings that will compel their attendance in favour of elected executive officers, namely the President and his vice and the governors of the states and the deputies. This immunity extends to acts done in their official capacities so that they are not responsible for acts done on behalf of the state. However, this immunity does not extend to acts done in abuse of the powers of their office of which they are liable upon the expiration of their tenure. It is important to note that the judiciary has absolute immunity for actions decisions taken in their official capacity.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Article 5 of the Constitution of Norway states: "The King's person is sacred; he cannot be censured or accused. The responsibility


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Accordingly, the monarch cannot be prosecuted or sued in his or her personal capacity, but this immunity does not extend to the state as such. Neither does immunity extend to the monarch in his capacity as an owner or stakeholder in real property, or as an employer, provided that the suit does not allege personal responsibility for the monarch.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Article XVI, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution currently in force states: "The State may not be sued without its consent."


title: Sovereign immunity

text: The Spanish monarch is personally immune from prosecution for acts committed by government ministers in the King's name, according to Title II, Section 56, Subsection 3 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: At the time of the June 2014 abdication of King Juan Carlos the Spanish constitution did not state whether an abdicated monarch retains his legal immunity, but the government was planning to make changes to allow this. Legislation has been passed, although unlike his previous immunity, the new legislation does not completely shield the former sovereign. Juan Carlos must answer to the supreme court, in a similar type of protection afforded to many high-ranking civil servants and politicians in Spain. The legislation stipulates that all outstanding legal matters relating to the former king be suspended and passed "immediately" to the supreme court.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: By the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the President of Sri Lanka has sovereign immunity (during the period of office).


title: Sovereign immunity

text: who is Head of State cannot be prosecuted for his or her actions. Nor can a Regent be prosecuted for his or her actions as Head of State." This only concerns the King as a private person, since he does not appoint the government, nor do any public officials act in his name. It does not concern other members of the Royal Family, except in such cases as they are exercising the office of Regent when the King is unable to serve. It is a disputed matter among Swedish constitutional lawyers whether the article also implies that the King is immune against lawsuits in civil cases, which do not involve prosecution.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: In Singapore, state immunities are codified in the State Immunity Act of 1979, which closely resembles the United Kingdom's State Immunity Act 1978. Singapore's State Immunity Act has phrases identical to that of Section 9 of United Kingdom's State Immunity Act, and does not allow a foreign state, which has agreed to submit a dispute to arbitration, to claim jurisdictional immunity in judicial proceedings relating to the agreed arbitration, i.e. "where a State has agreed in writing to submit a dispute which has arisen, or may arise, to arbitration, the state is not immune as respects proceedings in the courts in Singapore which relate to the arbitration".


title: Sovereign immunity

text: The President of Singapore does to a certain extent have sovereign immunity subjected to clause 22k(4).


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Historically, the general rule in the United Kingdom has been that the Crown has never been liable to be prosecuted or proceeded against in either criminal or civil cases. The only means by which civil proceedings could be brought were:


title: Sovereign immunity

text: The position was drastically altered by the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 which made the Crown (when acting as the government) liable as of right in proceedings where it was previously only liable by virtue of a grant of a fiat. With limited exceptions, this had the effect of allowing proceedings for tort and contract to be brought against the Crown. Proceedings to bring writs of mandamus and prohibition were always available against ministers, because their actions derive from the royal prerogative.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Criminal proceedings are still prohibited from being brought against His Majesty's Government unless expressly permitted by the Crown Proceedings Act.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: As the Crown Proceedings Act only affected the law in respect of acts carried on by or on behalf of the British government, the monarch remains personally immune from criminal and civil actions. However, civil proceedings can, in theory, still be brought using the two original mechanisms outlined above – by petition of right or by suit against the Attorney General for a declaration.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: The monarch is immune from arrest in all cases; members of the royal household are immune from arrest in civil proceedings. No arrest can be made "in the monarch's presence", or within the "verges" of a royal palace. When a royal palace is used as a residence (regardless of whether the monarch is actually living there at the time), judicial processes cannot be executed within that palace.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: The monarch's goods cannot be taken under a writ of execution, nor can distress be levied on land in their possession. Chattels owned by the Crown, but present on another's land, cannot be taken in execution or for distress. The Crown is not subject to foreclosure.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: As of 2022, there were more than 160 laws granting express immunity to the monarch or their property in some respects. For instance, employees of the monarchy cannot pursue anti-discrimination complaints such as those under the Equality Act 2010. The monarchy is exempt from numerous other workers' rights, health and safety, or pensions laws. Government employees such as environmental inspectors are banned from entering the monarch's property without their permission. The monarch is also exempt from numerous taxes, although Queen Elizabeth II did pay some taxes voluntarily. Some of the odder exceptions for the monarch are included in laws against private persons setting off nuclear explosions, or regulating the sale of alcohol after midnight.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: In United States law, state, federal and tribal governments generally enjoy immunity from lawsuits. Local governments typically enjoy immunity from some forms of suit, particularly in tort.


title: Sovereign immunity

text: The federal government of the United States has sovereign immunity and may not be sued anywhere in the United States unless it has waived its immunity or consented to suit. The United States has waived sovereign immunity to a limited extent, mainly through the Federal Tort Claims Act, which waives the immunity if a tortious act of a federal employee causes damage, and the Tucker Act, which waives the immunity over claims arising out of contracts to which the federal government is a party. The United States as a sovereign is immune from suit unless it unequivocally consents to being sued. The United States Supreme Court in "Price v. United States" observed: "It is an axiom of our jurisprudence. The government is not liable to suit unless it consents thereto, and its liability in suit cannot be extended beyond the plain language of the statute authorizing it." "Price v. United States", 174 U.S. 373, 375-76 (1899).


title: Sovereign immunity

text: In "Hans v. Louisiana" (1890), the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Eleventh Amendment (1795) re-affirms that states possess sovereign immunity and are therefore generally immune from being sued in federal court without their consent. In later cases, the Supreme Court has strengthened state sovereign immunity considerably. In "Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak" (1991), the court explained that


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Writing for the Court in "Alden", Justice Anthony Kennedy argued that in view of this, and given the limited nature of congressional power delegated by the original unamended Constitution, the court could not "conclude that the specific Article I powers delegated to Congress necessarily include, by virtue of the Necessary and Proper Clause or otherwise, the incidental authority to subject the States to private suits as a means of achieving objectives otherwise within the scope of the enumerated powers".


title: Sovereign immunity

text: However, a "consequence of [the] Court's recognition of preratification sovereignty as the source of immunity from suit is that "only" States and "arms of the State" possess immunity from suits authorized by federal law". "Northern Insurance Company of New York v. Chatham County" (2006, emphasis added). Thus, cities and municipalities lack sovereign immunity, "Jinks v. Richland County" (2003), and counties are not generally considered to have sovereign immunity, even when they "exercise a 'slice of state power. "Lake Country Estates, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency" (1979). Nor are school districts, per "Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle" (1977).


title: Sovereign immunity

text: Additionally, Congress can abrogate state sovereign immunity when it acts pursuant to powers delegated to it by any amendments ratified after the Eleventh Amendment. The abrogation doctrine, established by the Supreme Court in "Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer" (1976), is most often implicated in cases that involve Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which explicitly allows Congress to enforce its guarantees on the states.


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: Linnaean name also has two meanings: depending on the context, it may either refer to a formal name given by Linnaeus (personally), such as "Giraffa camelopardalis" Linnaeus, 1758, or a formal name in the accepted nomenclature (as opposed to a modernistic clade name).


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: In his "Imperium Naturae", Linnaeus established three kingdoms, namely "Regnum Animale", "Regnum Vegetabile" and "Regnum Lapideum". This approach, the Animal, Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms, survives today in the popular mind, notably in the form of the parlour game question: "Is it animal, vegetable or mineral?". The work of Linnaeus had a huge impact on science; it was indispensable as a foundation for biological nomenclature, now regulated by the nomenclature codes. Two of his works, the first edition of the "Species Plantarum" (1753) for plants and the tenth edition of the "Systema Naturae" (1758), are accepted as part of the starting points of nomenclature; his binomials (names for species) and generic names take priority over those of others. However, the impact he had on science was not because of the value of his taxonomy.


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: Linnaeus' kingdoms were in turn divided into "classes", and they, in turn, into "orders", "genera" (singular: "genus"), and "species" (singular: "species"), with an additional rank lower than species, though these do not precisely correspond to the use of these terms in modern taxonomy.


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: His classes and orders of plants, according to his "Systema Sexuale", were never intended to represent natural groups (as opposed to his "ordines naturales" in his "Philosophia Botanica") but only for use in identification. They were used for that purpose well into the nineteenth century. Within each class were several orders. This system is based on the number and arrangement of male (stamens) and female (pistils) organs.


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: The Linnaean classes for plants, in the Sexual System, were (page numbers refer to "Species plantarum"):


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: The classes based on the number of stamens were then subdivided by the number of pistils, e.g. "Hexandria monogynia" with six stamens and one pistil. Index to genera p. 1201


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: Only in the Animal Kingdom is the higher taxonomy of Linnaeus still more or less recognizable and some of these names are still in use, but usually not quite for the same groups. He divided the Animal Kingdom into six classes, in the tenth edition, of 1758, these were:


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: His taxonomy of minerals has long since dropped from use. In the tenth edition, 1758, of the "Systema Naturae", the Linnaean classes were:


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: This rank-based method of classifying living organisms was originally popularized by (and much later named for) Linnaeus, although it has changed considerably since his time. The greatest innovation of Linnaeus, and still the most important aspect of this system, is the general use of binomial nomenclature, the combination of a genus name and a second term, which together uniquely identify each species of organism within a kingdom. For example, the human species is uniquely identified within the animal kingdom by the name "Homo sapiens". No other species of animal can have this same binomen (the technical term for a binomial in the case of animals). Prior to Linnaean taxonomy, animals were classified according to their mode of movement.


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: Linnaeus's use of binomial nomenclature was anticipated by the theory of definition used in Scholasticism. Scholastic logicians and philosophers of nature defined the species human, for example, as "Animal rationalis", where "animal" was considered a genus and "rationalis" (Latin for "rational") the characteristic distinguishing humans from all other animals. Treating "animal" as the immediate genus of the species human, horse, etc. is of little practical use to the biological taxonomist, however. Accordingly, Linnaeus's classification treats "animal" as a class including many genera (subordinated to the animal "kingdom" via intermediary classes such as "orders"), and treats "homo" as the genus of a species "Homo sapiens", with "sapiens" (Latin for "knowing" or "understanding") playing a differentiating role analogous to that played, in the Scholastic system, by "rationalis" (the word "homo", Latin for "human being", was used by the Scholastics to denote a species, not a genus).


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: A strength of Linnaean taxonomy is that it can be used to organize the different kinds of living organisms, simply and practically. Every species can be given a unique (and, one hopes, stable) name, as compared with common names that are often neither unique nor consistent from place to place and language to language. This uniqueness and stability are, of course, a result of the acceptance by working systematists (biologists specializing in taxonomy), not merely of the binomial names themselves, but of the rules governing the use of these names, which are laid down in formal nomenclature codes.


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: Species can be placed in a ranked hierarchy, starting with either "domains" or "kingdoms". Domains are divided into kingdoms. Kingdoms are divided into "phyla" (singular: "phylum") — for animals; the term "division", used for plants and fungi, is equivalent to the rank of phylum (and the current International Code of Botanical Nomenclature allows the use of either term). Phyla (or divisions) are divided into "classes", and they, in turn, into "orders", "families", "genera" (singular: "genus"), and "species" (singular: "species"). There are ranks below species: in zoology, "subspecies" (but see "form" or "morph"); in botany, "variety" (varietas) and "form" (forma), etc.


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: Groups of organisms at any of these ranks are called "taxa" (singular: "taxon") or "taxonomic groups".


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: The Linnaean system has proven robust and it remains the only extant working classification system at present that enjoys universal scientific acceptance. However, although the number of ranks is unlimited, in practice any classification becomes more cumbersome the more ranks are added. Among the later subdivisions that have arisen are such entities as phyla, families, and tribes, as well as any number of ranks with prefixes (superfamilies, subfamilies, etc.). The use of newer taxonomic tools such as cladistics and phylogenetic nomenclature has led to a different way of looking at evolution (expressed in many nested clades) and this sometimes leads to a desire for more ranks. An example of such complexity is the scheme for mammals proposed by McKenna and Bell.


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: Over time, understanding of the relationships between living things has changed. Linnaeus could only base his scheme on the structural similarities of the different organisms. The greatest change was the widespread acceptance of evolution as the mechanism of biological diversity and species formation, following the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species". It then became generally understood that classifications ought to reflect the phylogeny of organisms, their descent by evolution. This led to evolutionary taxonomy, where the various extant and extinct are linked together to construct a phylogeny. This is largely what is meant by the term 'Linnaean taxonomy' when used in a modern context.


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: In cladistics, originating in the work of Willi Hennig, 1950 onwards, each taxon is grouped so as to include the common ancestor of the group's members (and thus to avoid phylogeny). Such taxa may be either monophyletic (including all descendants) such as genus "Homo", or paraphyletic (excluding some descendants), such as genus "Australopithecus".


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: Originally, Linnaeus established three kingdoms in his scheme, namely for Plants, Animals and an additional group for minerals, which has long since been abandoned. Since then, various life forms have been moved into three new kingdoms: Monera, for prokaryotes (i.e., bacteria); Protista, for protozoans and most algae; and Fungi. This five kingdom scheme is still far from the phylogenetic ideal and has largely been supplanted in modern taxonomic work by a division into three domains: Bacteria and Archaea, which contain the prokaryotes, and Eukaryota, comprising the remaining forms. These arrangements should not be seen as definitive. They are based on the genomes of the organisms; as knowledge on this increases, classifications will change.


title: Linnaean taxonomy

text: Representing presumptive evolutionary relationships within the framework of Linnaean taxonomy is sometimes seen as problematic, especially given the wide acceptance of cladistic methodology and numerous molecular phylogenies that have challenged long-accepted classifications. Therefore, some systematists have proposed a PhyloCode to replace it.


title: The Dead Weather

text: The Dead Weather is an American rock supergroup, formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2009. Composed of Alison Mosshart (of The Kills and Discount), Jack White (of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (of The Raconteurs, The Greenhornes and City and Colour), The Dead Weather debuted at the opening of Third Man Records' Nashville headquarters on March 11, 2009. The band performed live for the first time at the event, immediately before releasing their debut single "Hang You from the Heavens."


title: The Dead Weather

text: The band's second studio album, "Sea of Cowards", was released first in Ireland on May 7, 2010, then on May 10 and 11 in the United Kingdom and the United States, respectively. "Dodge and Burn", their third studio album, was released in September 2015.


title: The Dead Weather

text: When The Raconteurs were performing in Memphis, Tennessee, Jack White lost his voice and the band asked Alison Mosshart of The Kills with whom they were touring to fill in on some songs. She sang lead vocals on "Steady as She Goes" and "Salute Your Solution". White later asked her if she would record a song with him and Jack Lawrence. They met Dean Fertita at the studio and they ended up performing more than one song that night.


title: The Dead Weather

text: Ultimately they decided to form a band with Mosshart as their lead singer, Lawrence on bass, Fertita on guitar and keyboard and White on drums. White claims he wanted to play the drums in the band, having rediscovered drumming after playing on a kit on "Another Way to Die" with Alicia Keys. He had played drums as a child, and for Goober & the Peas before forming the White Stripes. White said he felt that playing lead guitar in another band would be too redundant and saw it as an opportunity to do something different.


title: The Dead Weather

text: In January 2009, Mosshart, Fertita, Lawrence and White got together for an impromptu jam at White's Third Man studio. The session was followed by two and a half weeks of song writing and recording, during which The Dead Weather formed. "Things just started to happen," said White. "We didn't have a direction. We just went a song a day, two songs a day, whatever we could do and recorded them on the fly... There was no time to think about what it was. It just "was"."


title: The Dead Weather

text: The Dead Weather's debut album, "Horehound", was released on July 14, 2009 in North America, and July 13 in Europe. It entered the U.S. "Billboard" 200 Album Charts at No. 6 and the UK Album Charts at No. 14. Three tracks from "Horehound" ("No Hassle Night", "Hang You from the Heavens", and "Treat Me Like Your Mother") were made available as downloadable content for the "Rock Band" video game series on the same day as the North American release.


title: The Dead Weather

text: Jack White co-directed a short documentary about The Dead Weather called "Full Flash Blank". It contains exclusive interviews of the band members and performances of "60 Feet Tall", "I Cut Like A Buffalo", and "Treat Me Like Your Mother". "Full Flash Blank" aired on Channel 4 straight after the showing of "Later... with Jools Holland" which featured The Dead Weather performing their first three singles.


title: The Dead Weather

text: On October 16, 2009, Mosshart confirmed that a second album was "halfway done". White later announced that the first single from the new album would be called "Die by the Drop", for which he would sing lead vocals. He commented that it was "bluesier and heavier than we ever thought we could be".


title: The Dead Weather

text: "Sea of Cowards" was first released on May 7, 2010, in Ireland, and then released on May 10 and 11 in the U.S. and the U.K. respectively. The album peaked at number five on the "Billboard" 200, and was placed at number eleven on "Rolling Stone"'s thirty greatest albums of 2010 list.


title: The Dead Weather

text: In October 2013, Third Man Records announced the forthcoming release of a limited edition 7-inch vinyl record containing two newly recorded Dead Weather songs. "Open Up (That's Enough)" and its B-side, "Rough Detective," were released exclusively in this format through the label's record subscription service, The Vault. These two tracks were the first pair of songs to be released in vinyl-only physical form through The Vault. "Buzzkill(er)" and "It's Just Too Bad" were released in similar fashion on November 4, 2014. These four songs and eight others would make up the band's third studio album, "Dodge and Burn". The songs were recorded from approximately July 2014 to July 2015 when members of the band had the available time or inspiration to record. The third single in advance of the album, "I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)," was made available for download on August 21, 2015. It was released on 7-inch vinyl, backed with "Cop and Go," through The Vault in September 2015.


title: The Dead Weather

text: Both Alison Mosshart and Jack White are heavily influenced by Captain Beefheart and have made several tributes to him in a few songs, similarly to how they covered Beefheart songs in their previous bands. The Dead Weather usually open their acts with an intro of "Sure Nuff 'N' Yes I Do". On the track "Hustle and Cuss", the first line Mosshart sings is "knock on the door and the door knocks back", a reference to the Beefheart song "The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back".


title: The Dead Weather

text: Other influences come from the range of artists that Mosshart listened to when she was growing up. Her own frontwomanship is the result of watching videos of Janis Joplin and Patti Smith.


The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is an Indian autonomous scientific society, operating under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.


CDAC was created in November 1987, initially as the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing Technology (C-DACT). In 1988, the US Government refused to sell India a Cray supercomputer due to concerns about India using it to develop nuclear weapons. In response, India started development of its own supercomputer and C-DAC was created as part of this programme.


title: Centre for Development of Advanced Computing

text: Dr Vijay Bhatkar was hired as the director of C-DAC. The project was given an initial run of three years and an initial funding of 30,00,00,000, the cost of a Cray supercomputer.


text: A prototype computer was benchmarked at the 1990 Zurich Super-computing Show. It demonstrated that India had the second most powerful, publicly demonstrated, supercomputer in the world after the United States.


text: The final result of the effort was the PARAM 8000, released in 1991. It is considered to be India's first supercomputer.


text: The National Centre for Software Technology, Electronic Research and Development Center and CEDTI were merged into C-DAC in 2003.


text: Originally established to research and assemble High Performance Computers, the research of C-DAC now includes:


text: C-DAC provides several courses in the field of advanced computing and software development. Among these are the HPC certification course- "C-DAC Certified HPC Professional Certification Programme (CCHPCP)". C-DAC organises advanced computing diploma programs through the Advanced Computing Training School (ACTS) located all over India. The PG Diploma courses include


text: C-DAC has also established Centres of Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) abroad under the Ministry of External Affairs' s development partnership projects.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: A Madea Family Funeral is a 2019 American comedy film written, directed, and produced by Tyler Perry. It is the eleventh installment of the "Madea" cinematic universe, and stars Perry in several roles, including as the titular character, as well as Cassi Davis and Patrice Lovely. The plot follows Madea and her friends as they must set up an unexpected funeral during a family get-together in Maxine, Georgia.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: The film was released in the United States on March 1, 2019. The film received generally negative reviews from critics but grossed over $75 million worldwide. This is the last film from Tyler Perry to be released by Lionsgate, with Paramount Pictures and Netflix taking over distribution of future Perry films via his deal with ViacomCBS. Though "A Madea Family Funeral" was originally intended to be the final film in the series, a sequel titled "A Madea Homecoming" was released in 2022.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: In Maxine, Georgia, A.J. (Courtney Burrell), Jesse (Rome Flynn), and Sylvia (Ciera Payton) are planning a surprise party to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of their parents Vianne (Jen Harper) and Anthony (Derek Morgan) with the assistance of A.J.'s wife, Carol (KJ Smith). Madea (Tyler Perry), Joe (Tyler Perry), Brian (Tyler Perry), Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis), and Hattie (Patrice Lovely) travel to the backwoods of Georgia for the anniversary party. Also in attendance for the anniversary party is Madea and Joe's brother Heathrow (Tyler Perry). On the way, they deal with a manic, rude police officer (Joel Rush) which they are surprised when he acts nice all of a sudden.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: At last, they get to their hotel—and catch Anthony in a sex act with Renee (Quin Walters), Vianne's best friend, while A.J. is in the next room with Jesse's fiancée Gia (Aeriél Miranda). Anthony suffers a heart attack from sex with Renee, and Brian tries to resuscitate him, after which he is rushed to the hospital. Anthony's family is informed of the incident and meets up with Brian's group. As Vianne praises Brian for trying his best to resuscitate Anthony, a doctor (Selena Anduze) informs the entire group that Anthony is dead.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: A.J. and Madea's group keep the exact cause of death a secret from the rest of the family. Renee and A.J. blackmail each other to keep their secrets hidden and A.J. blames Renee for his father's affair and death. But Renee responds saying "I'm not the one [to be played with]."


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: Vianne asks Madea to plan Anthony's funeral and says she wants to have it in two days, which makes everyone suspicious. The undertaker (Aryeh-Or) at the funeral gives Madea, Bam, and Hattie a creepy vibe as he informs them that Anthony died smiling and that the casket can't close because of Anthony's erection. At the funeral, presided over by Madea, non-family members are made to sit on one side of the room, but the area is filled with numerous mistresses from Anthony's, visibly upsetting Vianne. The service lasts for hours until the casket abruptly opens (for the aforementioned reason) causing everyone to leave in a panic.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: At the repast, a drunk A.J. reveals Anthony and Renee's affair. Renee then exposes A.J.'s affair with Gia as she gets kicked out of the house. This makes a heartbroken Carol to decide to leave him. A.J. and Jesse fight and Vianne tearfully reveals that she knows that Anthony has been unfaithful for years. Despite this, she only stayed with him to protect her family, and is choosing to live for herself from now on. When A.J. scolds her for being weak, she retaliates by saying he's just a boy and spiteful to others, forcing him to own up to what his actions and what they did to those around.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: In the morning, Madea gets A.J. to apologize and try reconciling with Carol. Despite forgiving A.J., Carol refuses to stay with him claiming she wants to live freely. Vianne happily wishes the family luck as she leaves for Las Vegas with Roy (Mike Tyson), revealing that she was also having an affair while noting that Roy should've been their father. Madea, Bam, Hattie, and Carol then take their leave, so that A.J., Sylvia, and Jesse can sort out their issues.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: Filming took place at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta for one week in March 2017 before filming Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, given that this film was released two years after that film. In this movie Tyler Perry plays a new character named Heathrow, Madea and Joe's brother, a Vietnam War veteran.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: The film was released in theatres in the United States on March 1, 2019 by Lionsgate, after it was originally scheduled for release in the fall of 2018.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: "A Madea Family Funeral" has grossed $73.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $74.8 million, against a production budget of $20 million.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: In the United States and Canada, "A Madea Family Funeral" was released alongside "Greta", and was projected to gross $18–20million from 2,442 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $1.1 million from Thursday night previews, a record for the "Madea" films, as well as one of the highest of Perry's career. It went on to debut to $27.1 million, finishing second at the box office behind holdover "" and marking the third-best opening of the series. In its second weekend the film dropped 53% to $12.5 million, finishing third behind newcomer "Captain Marvel" and "How to Train Your Dragon", and then made $8.1 million in its third weekend, finishing fifth.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "A lackluster conclusion to Tyler Perry's long-running franchise, "A Madea Family Funeral" proves saying goodbye can be painful for all the wrong reasons." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a 4 out of 5 stars and a 67% "definite recommend".


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: For "The A.V. Club", Ignatiy Vishnevetsky rated the film D+, summing up the film franchise by writing, "The films are inane, sloppy, tone-deaf, moralizing, and have no sense of quality control, but there’s nothing quite like them."


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: Common Sense Media gave the film a 3 out of 5 star rating, saying "Madea says goodbye in winning but dirty slapstick comedy"; the website recommended it for ages 13+.


title: A Madea Family Funeral

text: <nowiki>*</nowiki> - Perry was nominated twice for Worst Supporting Actor, one each for his roles as Joe and Uncle Heathrow, respectively.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), also known as gamma-seminoprotein or kallikrein-3 (KLK3), P-30 antigen, is a glycoprotein enzyme encoded in humans by the "KLK3" gene. PSA is a member of the kallikrein-related peptidase family and is secreted by the epithelial cells of the prostate gland.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: PSA is produced for the ejaculate, where it liquefies semen in the seminal coagulum and allows sperm to swim freely. It is also believed to be instrumental in dissolving cervical mucus, allowing the entry of sperm into the uterus.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: PSA is present in small quantities in the serum of men with healthy prostates, but is often elevated in the presence of prostate cancer or other prostate disorders. PSA is not uniquely an indicator of prostate cancer, but may also detect prostatitis or benign prostatic hyperplasia.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Clinical practice guidelines for prostate cancer screening vary and are controversial, in part due to uncertainty as to whether the benefits of screening ultimately outweigh the risks of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the PSA test for annual screening of prostate cancer in men of age 50 and older. The patient is required to be informed of the risks and benefits of PSA testing prior to performing the test.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service does not mandate, nor advise for PSA test, but allows patients to decide based on their doctor's advice. The National Health Service does not offer general PSA screening, for similar reasons.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: PSA levels between 4 and 10ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter) are considered to be suspicious and consideration should be given to confirming the abnormal PSA with a repeat test. If indicated, prostate biopsy is performed to obtain a tissue sample for histopathological analysis.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: While PSA testing may help 1 in 1,000 avoid death due to prostate cancer, 4 to 5 in 1,000 would die from prostate cancer after 10 years even with screening. This means that PSA screening may reduce mortality from prostate cancer by up to 25%. Expected harms include anxiety for 100 – 120 receiving false positives, biopsy pain, and other complications from biopsy for false positive tests.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Use of PSA screening tests is also controversial due to questionable test accuracy. The screening can present abnormal results even when a man does not have cancer (known as a false-positive result), or normal results even when a man does have cancer (known as a false-negative result). False-positive test results can cause confusion and anxiety in men, and can lead to unnecessary prostate biopsies, a procedure which causes risk of pain, infection, and hemorrhage. False-negative results can give men a false sense of security even though they may actually have cancer.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Of those found to have prostate cancer, overtreatment is common because most cases of prostate cancer are not expected to cause any symptoms due to low rate of growth of the prostate tumor. Therefore, many will experience the side effects of treatment, such as for every 1000 men screened, 29 will experience erectile dysfunction, 18 will develop urinary incontinence, two will have serious cardiovascular events, one will develop pulmonary embolus or deep venous thrombosis, and one perioperative death. Since the expected harms relative to risk of death are perceived by patients as minimal, men found to have prostate cancer usually (up to 90% of cases) elect to receive treatment.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Men with prostate cancer may be characterized as low-, intermediate-, or high-risk for having/developing metastatic disease or dying of prostate cancer. PSA level is one of three variables on which the risk-stratification is based; the others are the grade of prostate cancer (Gleason grading system) and the stage of cancer based on physical examination and imaging studies. D'Amico Criteria for each risk category are as follows:


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Given the relative simplicity of the 1998 D'Amico criteria (above), other predictive models of risk stratification based on mathematical probability constructs exist or have been proposed to allow for better matching of treatment decisions with disease features.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Studies are being conducted into the incorporation of multiparametric MRI imaging results into nomograms that rely on PSA, Gleason grade and tumor stage.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: PSA levels are monitored periodically (e.g., every 6–36 months) after treatment for prostate cancer – more frequently in patients with high-risk disease, less frequently in patients with lower-risk disease. If surgical therapy (i.e., radical prostatectomy) is successful at removing all prostate tissue (and prostate cancer), PSA becomes undetectable within a few weeks. A subsequent rise in PSA level above 0.2ng/mL L is generally regarded as evidence of recurrent prostate cancer after a radical prostatectomy; less commonly, it may simply indicate residual benign prostate tissue.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Following radiation therapy of any type for prostate cancer, some PSA levels might be detected, even when the treatment ultimately proves to be successful. This makes it more difficult to interpret the relationship between PSA levels and recurrence/persistence of prostate cancer after radiation therapy. PSA levels may continue to decrease for several years after radiation therapy. The lowest level is referred to as the PSA nadir. A subsequent increase in PSA levels by 2.0ng/mL above the nadir is the currently accepted definition of prostate cancer recurrence after radiation therapy.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: If recurrent prostate cancer is detected by a rise in PSA levels after curative treatment, it is referred to as a "biochemical recurrence". The likelihood of developing recurrent prostate cancer after curative treatment is related to the pre-operative variables described in the preceding section (PSA level and grade/stage of cancer). Low-risk cancers are the least likely to recur, but they are also the least likely to have required treatment in the first place.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: PSA is produced in the epithelial cells of the prostate, and can be demonstrated in biopsy samples or other histological specimens using immunohistochemistry. Disruption of this epithelium, for example in inflammation or benign prostatic hyperplasia, may lead to some diffusion of the antigen into the tissue around the epithelium, and is the cause of elevated blood levels of PSA in these conditions.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: More significantly, PSA remains present in prostate cells after they become malignant. Prostate cancer cells generally have variable or weak staining for PSA, due to the disruption of their normal functioning. Thus, individual prostate cancer cells produce less PSA than healthy cells; the raised serum levels in prostate cancer patients is due to the greatly increased number of such cells, not their individual activity. However, in most cases of prostate cancer, the cells remain positive for the antigen, which can therefore be used to identify metastasis. Since some high-grade prostate cancers may be entirely negative for PSA, however, histological analysis to identify such cases usually uses PSA in combination with other antibodies, such as PSAP and CD57.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: PSA was first identified by researchers attempting to find a substance in seminal fluid that would aid in the investigation of rape cases. PSA is now used to indicate the presence of semen in forensic serology. The semen of adult males has PSA levels far in excess of those found in other tissues; therefore, a high level of PSA found in a sample is an indicator that semen may be present. Because PSA is a biomarker that is expressed independently of spermatozoa, it remains useful in identifying semen from vasectomized and azoospermic males.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: PSA can also be found at low levels in other body fluids, such as urine and breast milk, thus setting a high minimum threshold of interpretation to rule out false positive results and conclusively state that semen is present. While traditional tests such as crossover electrophoresis have a sufficiently low sensitivity to detect only seminal PSA, newer diagnostics tests developed from clinical prostate cancer screening methods have lowered the threshold of detection down to 4ng/mL. This level of antigen has been shown to be present in the peripheral blood of males with prostate cancer, and rarely in female urine samples and breast milk.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: No studies have been performed to assess the PSA levels in the tissues and secretions of pre-pubescent children. Therefore, the presence of PSA from a high sensitivity (4ng/mL) test cannot conclusively identify the presence of semen, so care must be taken with the interpretation of such results.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: The physiological function of KLK3 is the dissolution of the coagulum, the sperm entrapping gel composed of semenogelins and fibronectin. Its proteolytic action is effective in liquefying the coagulum so that the sperm can be liberated. The activity of PSA is well regulated. In the prostate, it is present as an inactive pro-form which is activated through the action of KLK2, another kallikrein-related peptidase. In the prostate, zinc ion concentrations are ten times higher than in other bodily fluids. Zinc ions have a strong inhibitory effect on the activity of PSA and on that of KLK2, so that PSA is totally inactive.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Further regulation is achieved through pH variations. Although its activity is increased by higher pH, the inhibitory effect of zinc also increases. The pH of semen is slightly alkaline and the concentrations of zinc are high. On ejaculation, semen is exposed to the acidic pH of the vagina, due to the presence of lactic acid. In fertile couples, the final vaginal pH after coitus approaches the 6-7 levels, which coincides well with reduced zinc inhibition of PSA. At these pH levels, the reduced PSA activity is countered by a decrease in zinc inhibition. Thus, the coagulum is slowly liquefied, releasing the sperm in a well-regulated manner.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA, also known as kallikrein III, seminin, semenogelase, γ-seminoprotein and P-30 antigen) is a 34-kD glycoprotein produced almost exclusively by the prostate gland. It is a serine protease () enzyme, the gene of which is located on the 19th chromosome (19q13) in humans.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: The discovery of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is beset with controversy; as PSA is present in prostatic tissue and semen, it was independently discovered and given different names, thus adding to the controversy.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Flocks was the first to experiment with antigens in the prostate and 10 years later Ablin reported the presence of precipitation antigens in the prostate.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: In 1971, Mitsuwo Hara characterized a unique protein in the semen fluid, gamma-seminoprotein. Li and Beling, in 1973, isolated a protein, E1, from human semen in an attempt to find a novel method to achieve fertility control.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: In 1978, Sensabaugh identified semen-specific protein p30, but proved that it was similar to E1 protein, and that prostate was the source. In 1979, Wang purified a tissue-specific antigen from the prostate ('prostate antigen').


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: PSA was first measured quantitatively in the blood by Papsidero in 1980, and Stamey carried out the initial work on the clinical use of PSA as a marker of prostate cancer.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: PSA is normally present in the blood at very low levels. The reference range of less than 4ng/mL for the first commercial PSA test, the Hybritech Tandem-R PSA test released in February 1986, was based on a study that found 99% of 472 apparently healthy men had a total PSA level below 4ng/mL.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Increased levels of PSA may suggest the presence of prostate cancer. However, prostate cancer can also be present in the complete absence of an elevated PSA level, in which case the test result would be a false negative.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Obesity has been reported to reduce serum PSA levels. Delayed early detection may partially explain worse outcomes in obese men with early prostate cancer. After treatment, higher BMI also correlates to higher risk of recurrence.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: PSA levels can be also increased by prostatitis, irritation, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and recent ejaculation, producing a false positive result. Digital rectal examination (DRE) has been shown in several studies to produce an increase in PSA. However, the effect is clinically insignificant, since DRE causes the most substantial increases in patients with PSA levels already elevated over 4.0ng/mL.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: The "normal" reference ranges for prostate-specific antigen increase with age, as do the usual ranges in cancer, as per table below.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Despite earlier findings, recent research suggests that the rate of increase of PSA (e.g. >0.35ng/mL/yr, the 'PSA velocity') is not a more specific marker for prostate cancer than the serum level of PSA.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: However, the PSA rate of rise may have value in prostate cancer prognosis. Men with prostate cancer whose PSA level increased by more than 2.0ng per milliliter during the year before the diagnosis of prostate cancer have a higher risk of death from prostate cancer despite undergoing radical prostatectomy. PSA velocity (PSAV) was found in a 2008 study to be more useful than the PSA doubling time (PSA DT) to help identify those men with life-threatening disease before start of treatment.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Men who are known to be at risk for prostate cancer, and who decide to plot their PSA values as a function of time (i.e., years), may choose to use a semi-log plot. An exponential growth in PSA values appears as a straight line on a semi-log plot, so that a new PSA value significantly above the straight line signals a "switch" to a new and significantly higher growth rate, i.e., a higher PSA velocity.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Most PSA in the blood is bound to serum proteins. A small amount is not protein-bound and is called 'free PSA'. In men with prostate cancer, the ratio of free (unbound) PSA to total PSA is decreased. The risk of cancer increases if the free to total ratio is less than 25%. (See graph at right.) The lower the ratio is, the greater the probability of prostate cancer. Measuring the ratio of free to total PSA appears to be particularly promising for eliminating unnecessary biopsies in men with PSA levels between 4 and 10ng/mL. However, both total and free PSA increase immediately after ejaculation, returning slowly to baseline levels within 24 hours.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: The PSA test in 1994 failed to differentiate between prostate cancer and benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and the commercial assay kits for PSA did not provide correct PSA values. Thus with the introduction of the ratio of free-to-total PSA, the reliability of the test has improved. Measuring the activity of the enzyme could add to the ratio of free-to-total PSA and further improve the diagnostic value of test. Proteolytically active PSA has been shown to have an anti-angiogenic effect and certain inactive subforms may be associated with prostate cancer, as shown by MAb 5D3D11, an antibody able to detect forms abundantly represented in sera from cancer patients.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: PSA exists in serum in the free (unbound) form and in a complex with alpha 1-antichymotrypsin; research has been conducted to see if measurements of complexed PSA are more specific and sensitive biomarkers for prostate cancer than other approaches.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: It is now clear that the term prostate-specific antigen is a misnomer: it is an antigen but is not specific to the prostate. Although present in large amounts in prostatic tissue and semen, it has been detected in other body fluids and tissues.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: In women, PSA is found in female ejaculate at concentrations roughly equal to that found in male semen. Other than semen and female ejaculate, the greatest concentrations of PSA in biological fluids are detected in breast milk and amniotic fluid. Low concentrations of PSA have been identified in the urethral glands, endometrium, normal breast tissue and salivary gland tissue. PSA also is found in the serum of women with breast, lung, or uterine cancer and in some patients with renal cancer.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Tissue samples can be stained for the presence of PSA in order to determine the origin of malignant cells that have metastasized.


title: Prostate-specific antigen

text: Prostate-specific antigen interacts with and activates the vascular endothelial growth factors VEGF-C and VEGF-D, which are involved in tumor angiogenesis and in the lymphatic metastasis of tumors.


title: Mexican Train

text: Mexican Train is a game played with dominoes. The object of the game is for a player to play all the tiles from his or her hand onto one or more chains, or trains, emanating from a central hub or "station". The game's most popular name comes from a special optional train that belongs to all players. However, the game can be played without the "Mexican train"; such variants are generally called "private trains" or "domino trains". It is related to the game Chicken Foot.


title: Mexican Train

text: A double-twelve set of dominoes is marketed as the standard for Mexican Train, and accommodates up to eight players. Other sets are commonly used as well. The following alternate sets are common, depending on the number of people playing:


title: Mexican Train

text: Many sets of dominoes include a station and special train-shaped tokens for markers, and packaged games with a central "station" and custom tokens are available. However, the station piece is not strictly needed, and anything from coins to poker chips to even pieces of candy or slips of paper can be used as markers.


title: Mexican Train

text: The object of all trains games is to be the first player to place all of their dominoes. Dominoes may be placed onto the player's train, onto the Mexican train if available, or on the trains of other players under special circumstances. The middle tile counts as the start of a player's multiple tile train.


title: Mexican Train

text: At the start of each round, the dominoes are placed face-side down, shuffled, and drawn by players to form their hands. Using the double-nine set,


title: Mexican Train

text: With a standard double-twelve set the double twelve is placed in the station. In each successive round the next lower double is used until all doubles are used. The double-blank is the final round.


title: Mexican Train

text: Play continues to the left. Each person lays one legally placed domino per turn, or two if the player's first domino is a double. If they are unable to, they must draw a domino from the boneyard. If they are able to lay that domino, they must do so immediately. Otherwise, their turn is over and play continues to the left, each player trying to place all their dominoes by playing matching dominoes one at a time, end to end.


title: Mexican Train

text: A train can be as long as the players can make it; it ends only when all dominoes that could match its endpoint have already been played. As a result, trains can become quite long, especially with an extended domino set. It is acceptable to "bend" the train 90° or 180° to keep the train on the playing surface, as long as it does not interfere with the endpoints of other trains.


title: Mexican Train

text: All trains begin the game as "public", and all players may play on them. When a player plays a domino on their train it then becomes "private." When a player draws a domino and is unable to play it, they must mark their train as "public" by placing a marker on their train. If a player is deemed to have made a strategic error the highest score of that round is added to theirs.


title: Mexican Train

text: Players have the option, whether they can play on their own train or not, of playing a domino on any train currently marked "public." When a player with a "public" train adds a domino to it, it becomes "private" again and may not be played on except by the train's owner.


title: Mexican Train

text: The Mexican train is an additional train that anyone may play on during their turn. They can start the train by playing a domino matching the engine (i.e. the double played at the beginning of the round) or add to the train.


title: Mexican Train

text: When a double is played, it is placed perpendicular to the train. Subsequently, adding a domino to the double is called "finishing", "satisfying the double" or "covering the double."


title: Mexican Train

text: The player that plays the double has to cover the double or their train becomes public and someone else has to cover the double before normal play can resume.


title: Mexican Train

text: If a double remains unfinished after it has been played, the train becomes a "public" train. No other train can be added to by any player until someone "finishes the double". Play passes to the next player who can legally play on this train (if the train is theirs, or if they can legally play on "public" trains). If they cannot "finish the double", they must draw a domino, and if they cannot play it on the double, their own train becomes "public". Single and double blanks are considered wilds. Mexican train dominoes can end on a double.


title: Mexican Train

text: At the end of each round, the player going out receives 0 points, while all other players receive the sum of all pips (dots) on their dominoes. The person with the fewest points after all thirteen rounds have been played is the winner. In the case of a tie, the person with the most 0-point rounds is the winner. (If this is still a tie, the person with the lowest round total other than 0 is the winner).


title: Mexican Train

text: With four, six or eight players, the game can be played in teams of two, with partners sitting opposite each other. Rules are identical except that a player's train and their partner's train are considered one and the same (they will usually extend from opposite sides of the station), and thus a player can play on their own end or their partner's, and neither end becomes public until neither partner can play a tile. Scoring is also handled in pairs, with the player who went out scoring zero for their team (even though their partner will have dominoes remaining) and other teams summing their scores for a team score.


title: Mexican Train

text: There are a number of other versions of the rules for Mexican Train, varying the number of dominoes drawn by each player, the rules for playing doubles, or the number of tiles that can be played during one turn. For example:


title: Mexican Train

text: After the starting double has been placed, turns are ignored, and each player focuses on making their own train as long as possible. Once everyone has made as long of a train as they can, play reverts to turns, using the rules listed above. This speeds up the game, but eliminates some of the strategies of playing doubles.


title: Mexican Train

text: Similar to the fast game variation listed above, instead of simultaneously, each person takes turns playing as many dominoes on their train as possible. Any player that is unable to play on their first turn draws a domino, and may then begin their first turn or pass. When a player who has passed finally starts their train, they may play as many dominoes as they can string together. After starting their train, players are only permitted to play one domino at a time as usual, unless playing a double. This version allows a player to save their "first turn" string of dominoes for when they have a chance, instead of being stuck with all dominoes from the beginning.


title: Mexican Train

text: Once a double has been satisfied, players may continue to branch off of the double in two more directions, meaning the double will have a matching endpoint on all four sides. Often, players like to angle these branches at a 45-degree angle to accommodate for more room. This variant gives players more choice and speeds up the game.


title: Mexican Train

text: A player who can play on their own train may also play one tile on each subsequent public train in clockwise order. Each public train must be played on in order to continue in this manner, and only one tile per train may be played (unless a double must be finished). Once a player cannot play on the next public train, or has looped around to their own train, their turn ends. While playing on each public train, the player may choose to play on the Mexican train or skip it when he comes to it, making the placement of the train somewhat strategical. This version makes for a much faster game.


title: Mexican Train

text: "Mexican Train" is a name typically used only in the United States. It is believed Mexican Train Dominoes is a variation on a Chinese game called Pai gow, which means "make nine". Chinese laborers brought the game to Latin America once they began working in sugar fields in the mid to late 1800s. Cubans and other Latin American players adopted the game to use dominoes and called it "Domino Cubano". It later arrived in the United States around the 1860s once Cuban laborers began working on U.S. railroads. Americans began referring to the game as "Mexican Train Dominoes" because of its growing popularity among Cuban, Mexican, and other Latin American laborers brought to the United States.


title: Smetana (dairy product)

text: Smetana (or "smotana") is a type of sour cream from Central and Eastern Europe. It is a dairy product produced by souring heavy cream. It is similar to "crème fraîche" (28% fat), but nowadays mainly sold with 9% to 42% milkfat content depending on the country. Its cooking properties are different from "crème fraîche" and the lighter sour creams sold in the US, which contain 12 to 16% butterfat. It is widely used in cooking and baking.


title: Smetana (dairy product)

text: Smetana is also used in other central Central and Eastern European cuisines in appetizers, main courses, soups and desserts. For example, it may be blended with soups, vegetable salads, cole slaw, and meat dishes. It is served with dumplings ("pelmeni", "pierogi", "varenyky"), or with pancakes ("bliny", "palacsinta", "naleśniki", "oladyi", "syrniki"). It is also used as a filling in savoury pancakes. Smetana can be blended to a Liptauer-like cheese spread with quark or cottage cheeses, onions, paprika and other spices, and eaten with bread. Smetana is often used in cooking, as it is high enough in fat not to curdle at higher temperatures. It is used in the preparation of meat stews, such as beef Stroganoff, vegetable stews, casseroles, or other dishes that require a long cooking time in the oven. Smetana does not melt in the oven. Hungarian cooks use it as an ingredient in sauces such as "paprikas", and in recipes such as "palacsinta" (crepes) filled with ham or minced meat ("hortobágyi palacsinta"). (Similar usages are common in Eastern European Jewish cuisines, save that smetana is not used with meat dishes due to traditional Jewish dietary restrictions on mixing dairy products with meat.)


title: Smetana (dairy product)

text: The current trend toward reduced fat content is believed to have resulted in an inferior product. To imitate Hungarian-style cooking and the use of smetana (called "tejföl" in Hungarian), Hungarian cookbooks recommend using Western sour cream mixed with heavy whipping cream (38–40% milkfat). Unlike sour cream mixed with whipping cream, smetana is not a homogenized product.


title: Smetana (dairy product)

text: In Central European countries, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, smetana may refer to sweet cream or soured cream. It should contain at least 10% fat. Smetana that has at least 30% fat is called "smetana ke šlehání" (whipping cream) and is used for the production of "šlehačka" (whipped cream).


title: Smetana (dairy product)

text: In Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian cuisines, sour cream is often added to borscht and other soups, and is used as a salad dressing and as a condiment for dumplings, such as "varenyky" and "pelmeni". In Polish cuisine smetana can be added to the traditional "pierogi" dumplings. It is also used in gravies served with Bohemian (Czech) cuisine, such as marinated beef svíčková. In Slovak cuisine, smotana (cognate of smetana) is often incorporated into Bryndzové halušky and Pierogi.