The domestic cat[1][2] (Felis catus[2] or Felis silvestriscatus[4]) is a small, usually furry, domesticated, and carnivorousmammal. It is often called the housecat when kept as an indoorpet,[6] or simply the cat when there is no need to distinguish itfrom other felids and felines. Cats are valued by humans forcompanionship and their ability to hunt vermin and household pests.Cats are similar in anatomy to the other felids, with strong,flexible bodies, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws, and teethadapted to killing small prey. Cat senses fit a crepuscular andpredatory ecological niche. Cats can hear sounds too faint or toohigh in frequency for human ears, such as those made by mice andother small game. They can see in near darkness. Like most othermammals, cats have poorer color vision and a better sense of smellthan humans. Despite being solitary hunters, cats are a socialspecies, and cat communication includes the use of a variety ofvocalizations (meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling andgrunting) as well as cat pheromones and types of cat-specific bodylanguage.[7] Cats have a rapid breeding rate. Under controlledbreeding, they can be bred and shown as registered pedigree pets, ahobby known as cat fancy. Failure to control the breeding of petcats by spaying and neutering, and the abandonment of formerhousehold pets, has resulted in large numbers of feral catsworldwide, with a population of up to 60 million of these animalsin the United States alone, requiring population control.[8] Sincecats were cult animals in ancient Egypt, they were commonlybelieved to have been domesticated there,[9] but there may havebeen instances of domestication as early as the Neolithic.[10] Agenetic study in 2007 revealed that domestic cats are descendedfrom African wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica) c. 8000 BCE, in theMiddle East.[9][11] According to Scientific American, cats are themost popular pet in the world, and are now found almost every placewhere people live.[12]

The Papillon (from the French word for butterfly, pronounced:[papiˈjɔ̃]), also called the Continental Toy Spaniel, is a breed ofdog of the Spaniel type. One of the oldest of the toy spaniels, itderives its name from its characteristic butterfly-like look of thelong and fringed hair on the ears. A papillon with dropped ears iscalled a Phalène (French for moth). The small head is slightlyrounded between the ears with a well defined stop. The muzzle issomewhat short, thin tapering to the nose. The dark, medium sized,round eyes have thin black rims, often extending at the junction ofthe eyelids towards the ears. The large ears can either be erect ordropped with rounded tips. The teeth meet in a scissors bite. Thelong tail is set high carried over the body, and covered with long,fine hair. Dewclaws are sometimes removed. The straight, long,fine, single coat has extra frill on the chest, ears, back of thelegs and the tail. Coat color is white with patches of any color. Amask of a color other than white covers both ears and eyes fromback to front.

The Mid-Autumn Festival (traditional Chinese: 中秋節; simplifiedChinese: 中秋节; pinyin: zhōngqiū jié; Vietnamese: Tết Trung Thu) is apopular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese and Vietnamesepeople.[1][2] The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighthmonth in the Chinese calendar, during a full moon, which is inSeptember or early October in the Gregorian calendar, close to theautumnal equinox.[1] The Government of the People's Republic ofChina listed the festival as an "intangible cultural heritage" in2006, and it was made a Chinese public holiday in 2008.[1] It isalso a public holiday in Taiwan. Among the Vietnamese, it isconsidered the second most important holiday tradition.[3] The dayfollowing Mid-Autumn Festival is a public holiday in Hong Kong andMacau (the festival day itself is not a holiday in Hong Kong andMacau, the logic is that most celebrations are held at night).

The gray wolf or grey wolf (Canis lupus) is a species of canidnative to the wilderness and remote areas of North America,Eurasia, and North Africa. It is the largest member of its family,with males averaging 43–45 kg (95–99 lb), and females 36–38.5 kg(79–85 lb).[3] It is similar in general appearance and proportionsto a German shepherd,[4] or sled dog, but has a larger head,narrower chest, longer legs, straighter tail and bigger paws.[5]Its winter fur is long and bushy, and predominantly a mottled grayin colour, although nearly pure white, red, or brown to black alsooccur.[4] Within the genus Canis, the gray wolf represents a morespecialised and progressive form than its smaller cousins (thecoyote and golden jackal), as demonstrated by its morphologicaladaptations to hunting large prey, its more gregarious nature[6]and its highly advanced expressive behavior.[7][8] It is a socialanimal, travelling in nuclear families consisting of a mated pair,accompanied by the pair's adult offspring.[9] The gray wolf istypically an apex predator throughout its range, with only humansand tigers[10][11][12][13] posing a serious threat to it. It feedsprimarily on large ungulates, though it also eats smaller animals,livestock, carrion, and garbage.[14] The gray wolf is one of theworld's most well researched animals, with probably more bookswritten about it than any other wildlife species.[15] It has a longhistory of association with humans, having been despised and huntedin most agricultural communities due to its attacks on livestock,while conversely being respected by some Native Americantribes.[14] It is the sole ancestor of the dog, which was firstdomesticated in the Middle East.[16] Although the fear of wolves isprevalent in many human societies, the majority of recorded attackson people have been attributed to animals suffering from rabies.Non-rabid wolves have attacked and killed people, mainly children,but this is unusual, as wolves are relatively few, live away frompeople, and have been taught to fear humans by hunters andshepherds.[17] Hunting and trapping has reduced the species' rangeto about one third[clarify], though its still relatively widespreadrange and stable population means that the species is notthreatened at a global level, and is therefore classified by theIUCN as Least Concern.[1]

In 1996 Yamaha introduced the Royal Starmotorcycle.[1] This motorcycle uses the basic power package fromthe Yamaha Venture Royale.Other machines using variations of this engine include the RoyalStar Venture, the Royal Star Tour Deluxe, and the V-Max.The Yamaha Royal Star was the first Star Motorcycle Yamahaintroduced. It is a traditional cruiser design, styled after theIndian Motorcycles. A little bit of that Indian flavor remains inthe later Royal Star Venture, and the Royal Star Tour Deluxe.Standard and Tour Classic versions were initially made. TheStandard model had four mufflers and no windscreen or sidebags,though they were available as accessories. The Tour Classic hadfour mufflers, a windscreen, and soft sidebags. In 1997 aTourdeluxe version was introduced. The Tourdeluxe had two mufflers,a windscreen, and hard sidebags.On the Tour Classic and the Tourdeluxe the seat height is 28.5 in(720 mm), the wheelbase is 66.7 in (1,690 mm), with a wet weight of765 lb (347 kg). The Standard model was a little lighter and theseat was a little lower.The drive package on the Royal Star includes a liquid-cooled 1,294cc (79.0 cu in) (referred to as 1,300 cc) V4 engine. It has fourvalves per cylinder, overhead camshafts, and shim over bucketvalves. The five speed overdrive transmission is part of the enginecase and both the engine and transmission share oil. The driveshaft and final drive assembly are built into the left side of thedouble sided swing arm. Swing arm motion is damped by a monoshockmounted horizontally under the center rear of the frame, forward ofthe rear wheel. The clutch is of the wet plate design and ishydraulically activated by the left hand lever. The brake systemuses two disk brakes on the front and one disk on the right rear.All calipers are of four piston design.

A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptionsfollowing dinner. In some parts of England, the wedding cake isserved at a wedding breakfast, on the morning following theceremony. In modern Western culture, the cake is usually on displayand served to guests at the reception. Traditionally, wedding cakeswere made to bring good luck to all guests and the couple. Modernlyhowever, they are more of a centerpiece to the wedding and are notalways even served to the guests. Some cakes are built with only asingle edible tier for the bride and groom to share. Wedding cakescan certainly range in size, from a small cake that feeds tenpeople, to a very large cake that will feed hundreds, all dependingon the wedding. Modern pastry chefs and cake designers use variousingredients and tools to create a cake that will reflect thepersonalities of the couple. Marzipan, fondant, gum paste,buttercream, and chocolate are among some of the more popularingredients used. Along with ranging in size and components, cakesrange in price. Cakes are usually priced on a per-person, orper-slice, basis.[1] Prices usually range from a few dollars to afew hundred dollars per-person or slice, depending on the pastrychef hired to make the cake. Wedding cakes and cake decorating ingeneral have become a certain pop culture symbol in westernsociety; many TV shows like Cake Boss or Amazing Wedding Cakes havebecome very common and are trending in today’s popular culture.

A firearm is a portable gun, being a barreled weapon that launchesone or more projectiles often defined by the action of anexplosive.[1][2][3] The first firearms in the world were inventedin 13th century China when the man portable fire lance (a bamboo ormetal tube that could shoot ignited gunpowder) was combined withprojectiles such as scrap metal, broken porcelain, ordarts/arrows.[4] The technology gradually spread through the restof East Asia, South Asia, Middle East and then into Europe. Inolder firearms, the propellant was typically black powder, butmodern firearms use smokeless powder or other propellants. Mostmodern firearms (with the notable exception of smoothbore firearms)have rifled barrels to impart spin to the projectile for improvedflight stability. Modern firearms are typically described by theirbore diameter (75mm) or calibre (7.62mm) or gauge (12 ga.), thetype of action employed (muzzle, breech, lever, bolt, revolver,semi-automatic, or automatic) together with the usual means ofdeportment (hand-held or mechanical mounting). They may be furtherdistinguished by reference to the type of barrel used (rifled) andthe barrel length (19 inch), the design's primary intended target(anti-aircraft), or the commonly accepted name for a particularvariation (Gatling gun). Firearms may sometimes be referred to assmall arms when they are intended primarily for use by militaryforces if they can be carried by a single individual. Firearms areaimed visually at their targets by hand using either iron sights oroptical sights. The accurate range of pistols is generally limitedto 50 metres (55 yd), while most rifles are accurate to 500 metres(550 yd) using iron sights, or longer ranges using optical sights.(Firearm rounds may be dangerous or lethal well beyond theiraccurate range; minimum distance for safety is much greater thanspecified range.) Some purpose-built sniper rifles are accurate toranges of more than 2,000 metres (2,200 yd). A successful sniperattack has been made from slightly more than 1.75 mi (2.82 km). Themanufacture of firearms is a large industry. According to theNational Shooting Sports Foundation (N.S.S.F.), a trade associationfor the US firearms industry, all economic activity from firearmmanufacturing, distribution, and other ancillary activities totaledUS$27.8 billion in 2010 in the United States.[5]

Buddhism is a religion indigenous to the Indian subcontinent thatencompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largelybased on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who iscommonly known as the Buddha, meaning "the awakened one". TheBuddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indiansubcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.[1] Heis recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacherwho shared his insights to help sentient beings end their suffering(dukkha) through the elimination of ignorance (avidyā) by way ofunderstanding and the seeing of dependent origination(pratītyasamutpāda) and the elimination of craving (taṇhā), andthus the attainment of the cessation of all suffering, known as thesublime state of nirvāņa.[2] Two major branches of Buddhism aregenerally recognized: Theravada ("The School of the Elders") andMahayana ("The Great Vehicle"). Theravada has a widespreadfollowing in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos,Thailand, Myanmar etc.). Mahayana is found throughout East Asia(China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan etc.) and includesthe traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, TibetanBuddhism, Shingon, and Tiantai (Tendai). In some classifications,Vajrayana—practiced mainly in Tibet and Mongolia, and adjacentparts of China and Russia—is recognized as a third branch, whileothers classify it as a part of Mahayana. While Buddhism remainsmost popular within Asia, both branches are now found throughoutthe world. Estimates of Buddhists worldwide vary significantlydepending on the way Buddhist adherence is defined. Conservativeestimates are between 350 and 750 million.[3][4][5] Higherestimates are between 1.2 and 1.7 billion.[6][7][8] It is alsorecognized as one of the fastest growing religions in theworld.[9][10][11][12] Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature ofthe path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of variousteachings and scriptures, and especially their respectivepractices.[13] The foundations of Buddhist tradition and practiceare the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings), andthe Sangha (the community). Taking "refuge in the triple gem" hastraditionally been a declaration and commitment to being on theBuddhist path, and in general distinguishes a Buddhist from anon-Buddhist.[14] Other practices may include following ethicalprecepts; support of the monastic community; renouncingconventional living and becoming a monastic; the development ofmindfulness and practice of meditation; cultivation of higherwisdom and discernment; study of scriptures; devotional practices;ceremonies; and in the Mahayana tradition, invocation of buddhasand bodhisattvas.