Cats

Cats are better to own than dogs because cats need less maintenance, they are cheaper care for, and they have longer life expectancies.

Maintenance
THE ULTIMATE CAT BOOK

Taylor, David. The Ultimate Cat Book. 1st ed. 1 vol. Hong Kong: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1989. 14-149. Print.

• "A complete lack of conventional exercise, combined with gross overfeeding by doting humans eventually produces obesity, but this generally does not bring with it the ill-health and curtailed life one would expect in dogs and their owners" (p. 15)
• "cats stay in trim without having to spend any time working out in a gymnasium or jogging around the park." (p. 15)

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/06/peteconomics.asp

•  The APPMA estimates the average cost of surgical care for a pet to be about $574 for a dog and $337 for a cat

http://www.suite101.com/content/cat-statistics-a179052
Copley, Jennifer. "Cat Statistics." Suite101.com. Suite101.com, 11 Dec 2009. Web. 15 Nov 2010. <http://www.suite101.com/content/cat-statistics-a179052>.

• The average American cat owner has 2.3 cats, compared to 1.7 dogs for dog owners, according to the Humane Society of the United States

http://www.suite101.com/content/which-make-better-pets-cats-or-dogs-a181361

• Many people who find cats and dogs equally appealing may choose cats over dogs simply because they don’t have time to walk a dog every day, can’t afford to pay the higher food and veterinary costs that dogs require, or live in small apartments that are not conducive to dog ownership

http://www.healthypet.com/PetCare/PetCareArticle.aspx?art_key=58f74978-ba5f-475f-ba93-b944cd5fcbcf

• Some dogs will do fine with a two-block walk, while others can go two miles. A good rule of thumb is that the shorter the dog’s legs, the less distance he can go

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-13/health/cat.dog.personality_1_cat-people-dog-neuroticism?_s=PM:HEALTH

•  "You think, 'of course, agreeableness and extraversion -- dogs are companionable, they hang out, they like to be with you, they like your company, whereas cats like it for as long as they want it, and then they're off."(psychologist Sam Gosling at the University of Texas at Austin )

http://dogs.about.com/od/grooming/tp/5-Basics-of-Dog-Grooming.htm

Stregowski, Jenna. "Top Five Dog Grooming Basics." About.com. The New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://dogs.about.com/od/grooming/tp/5-Basics-of-Dog-Grooming.htm>.

• Long-haired dogs usually require daily brushing to prevent matting and tangling of hair.
• Medium-haired dogs may be prone to matting and tangles and should be brushed at least weekly.
• Short-haired dogs can typically go up to a month in-between brushing
• Dogs with continuously growing hair, such as the Poodle or Shih Tzu, typically need their hair cut every 2-4 weeks
• Most dogs should be bathed monthly

THE ULTIMATE CAT BOOK

• "The feline memory is well developed, and most domestic cats learn such useful knacks as tapping on window panes to gain entrance, opening a door by jumping for the latch, finding their way home or coming to the call of a familiar voice" (p. 24)
• "Taking cats for walks on leads isn't as easy as taking dogs." (p. 149)

CATS, CAT BREEDS, AND CAT CARE

Edwards, Alan, and Trevor Turner. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Cats, Cat Breeds, & Cat Care. 5th ed. China: Anness Publishing Ltd, 2004. 19-101. Print.

• "Unlike dogs, domestic cats do not vary greatly in size"(p. 19)
• "Living-space restrictions do not generally present a problem as cats are very adaptable."(p. 19)
• "The cat is well equipped to groom itself: tongue, teeth, paws, and claws are all pressed into service"(p. 72)

Cost
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/06/peteconomics.asp
McWhinney, James. "The Economics of Pet Ownership." Investopedia. Investopedia ULC, 2010. Web. 16 Nov 2010. <http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/06/peteconomics.asp

• More than half of all Americans are pet owners U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographic Sourcebook.
• The ten-year average cost for owning a cat is $9,190, and for a dog is $15,710
• The APPMA(American Pet Products Manufacturers Association) that, in total, Americans spent $43.2 billion on their pets in 2008
•  Feeding a cat can cost as little as $4 per week, but feeding a large dog can cost upwards of $25 per week

http://www.costhelper.com/cost/pets/buy-cat.html

"Buying a Cat Cost." Cost Helper. CostHelper.com, Oct 2007. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://www.costhelper.com/cost/pets/buy-cat.html>.

• Adopting a cat can cost between $50-$100
• Purchasing a pet quality purebred kitten from a breeder usually costs between $300 and $1,200
• Purchasing a breeding quality kitten from a breeder usually costs between $500 and $1,000 or more,

http://dogs.about.com/cs/rescue/a/aa031503b.htm
Mifflin, Krista. "The Price of a Purebred Puppy." About.com. The New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 17 Nov 2010. <http://dogs.about.com/cs/rescue/a/aa031503b.htm>.

• 
  

  The price of a purebread puppy depends on if you are buying a "show or working quality" puppy, or a "companion only" puppy.
• Puppies sold on a spay/neuter contract usually average around $800.00 in price.
• Puppies sold for working or competing can be as high priced as $1500.00.

http://www.aspca.org/adoption/pet-care-costs.html

"Pet Care Costs." ASPCA.org. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 2010. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://www.aspca.org/adoption/pet-care-costs.html>.

• The average annual cost of insurance for a medium dog is $225, while a cat's is $175

Life Expectancy
http://www.petfoodinstitute.org/Index.cfm?Page=USCatandDogPopulation

"Pet Dog and Cat Population." Pet Food Institute. Pet Food Institute, 2009. Web. 17 Nov 2010. <http://www.petfoodinstitute.org/Index.cfm?Page=USCatandDogPopulation>.

• In 2009, the cat population was estimated to be 82, 455, 000, while that of the dog's was only 64, 687,000

http://www.pethealth101.com/Senior_pets/senior_life_expectancy.shtml

"Dog Life Expectancy & Cat Life Expectancy (Pets)." Pet Health 101. Pet Health 101, n.d. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://www.pethealth101.com/Senior_pets/senior_life_expectancy.shtml>.

• A cat's life expectancy is from 10-14 years, while a dog's is 10-12
• The maximum life expectancy for a dog is 24 years, while a cat's is 30+
•  Cats can continue to breed even in their senior years. Twenty-year old cats have reared kittens.
• The average domestic cat lives 14 years

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/06/peteconomics.asp

• More than half of all Americans are pet owners U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographic Sourcebook.

CATS, CAT BREEDS, AND CAT CARE

• Most cats live for about 14-16 years and a few may reach 20 years.

Project-Essay 2

The Success of Revolutions

In times of social, political, and economical turmoil, I've noticed that citizens have bonded together through history to change the status quo by means of a revolution. As supporters of a revolution begin fighting for change, it seems like their methods used to reach that goal often decide whether the revolution will be violent or peaceful. Whether causing the deaths of over fifty-two million people in a worldwide war, or leading harmless protests in the streets of East Germany, peaceful and violent revolutions use extremely different approaches to achieve their goals (History). While violent revolutions may seem temporarily successful, I often believe that peaceful revolutions are more successful in the areas of developing a positive image of the rebellion, gaining widespread popular support, and eventually creating lasting changes. 

A key characteristic of a successful revolution is that the revolution must have a large amount of popular support. In October of 1989, the Peaceful Revolution occurred in East Germany when demonstrations with over 300,000 participants were held in the streets of Leipzig to peacefully protest the restricted travel from the country (Curry). Consider that next time we go insane when our flights are briefly delayed at an airport. Within two weeks of the demonstrations, the Berlin Wall was exuberantly torn down, and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Politburo resigned (Discover). Unlike East Germany’s Peaceful Revolution, the Ku Klux Klan’s attempt to revolutionize society in the United States failed because of the lack of support by the general public. Originating after the American Civil War, the Klan’s violence eventually escalated to the bombing and lynching of groups of African Americans in order to violently demonstrate the Ku Klux Klan’s belief in white supremacy (JRank). Culminating with the conviction of the Klan’s state leader for Indiana, David Curtis Stephenson, for murder, the American public quickly condemned the revolutionaries. Although the Americans in the past reacted much more mildly than the American public would have today, citizens were appalled, so they helped demolish the Klan and its revolution (Simkin).

While the support behind a revolution is key in the movement growth, the image that the revolution adopts is just as important in ensuring its success. By participating in sit-ins, practicing civil disobedience, and marching down the streets of Washington D.C., brave civil rights leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., used peace to promote justice for African Americans (Civil). With sympathy from the rest of the nation, the peaceful, yet widely persecuted, Civil Rights movement was able to achieve its goals with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Brunner). Instead of creating a positive image for a cause, some revolutions, such as the Nazi’s attempt to create a lasting Third Reich, created terrible portrayals that helped bring about their demise. Believing that the Aryan race was the most dominant of all races and that all German speaking people should be united, Adolf Hitler forcefully attacked European nations in a quest to eliminate inferior races (ThinkQuest). Through its slaughter of Jewish people and brutish invasions of surrounding nations, the Third Reich created such a negative image for itself that countries around the world bonded together to crush the violent revolution (History). By building a positive image and portrayal of a revolution, I feel that societies often sympathize with the movement and work for its success rather than if a revolution appears harsh and forceful.

Along with gaining a positive image and popular support, peaceful revolutions are more successful than violent revolutions because they have lasting changes as a result of their occurrence. When the Catholic Church was engaging in corruption in the early sixteenth century, Martin Luther started a revolution by publicly stating the flaws of the Church in his Ninety-Five Theses. Through his belief in salvation for all who believed in God, Luther peacefully helped establish lasting change and lay the foundation for the rise of new religions such as Calvinism (Smith). Thanks to Martin Luther, people today all over the world are able to choose their own religion depending on their beliefs and values. Contrary to the enduring change brought about by the Protestant Reformation, there were few lasting changes in the United States stemming from the American Civil War. Leading to over 620,000 deaths, the Civil War was more violent than anyone expected, and the Confederates gained almost nothing as a result of their aggressiveness (Davis). I can only see the success of the Confederates’ violent revolution as minimal, if at all, because they were unable to maintain separate states and keep the use of slaves legal through the use of force.

When a revolution is started, I have to take certain factors into account in order to consider the revolution as being successful. In a revolution, the decision on whether or not the participants will act violently often determines the fate of the rebellion and its success. Violence shapes the opinions of the outside world, and it either creates a positive or negative portrayal of the revolution. When factoring violence and aggression into the picture, I believe that peaceful revolutions are more successful than violent ones in creating a positive image, gaining popular support, and establishing lasting changes.   

                                   

Works Cited

Brunner, Borgra, and Haney, Elissa. “Civil Rights Timeline.” Infoplease (2007). Web. 30 Sep. 2010. http: //www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline. html

“Civil Disobedience.” The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.© 1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease © . 2000-2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. 30 Sep. 2010

Curry, Andrew. “We are the People.” Spiegel Online International (9 Oct. 2009). Web. 1 Oct. 2010. http: //www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,654137,00. html

Davis, Burke. “The Price in Blood! Casualties of the Civil War.” Home of the American Civil War            (11 Jun. 2004). Web. 2 Oct. 2010. http: //www.civilwarhome.com/casualties. htm

Discover Germany. “From Peaceful Revolution to German Unity.” Discover Germany. Web. 1 Oct. 2010. http: //www.discover-germany.diplo.de /Vertretung /entdeckdeutchland/en/04_ Politik/20_Jahre_Einheit/Unity_timeline_en. html

History Place. “World War II in Europe.” The History Place (1996). Web. 2 Oct. 2010. http: //ww w.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time. htm        

Jrank. “D.C. Stephenson Trial: 1925." Jrank (2010). Web. 1 Oct. 2010. http: //law.jrank.org/pages/ 2863/D-C-Stephenson-Trial-1925. html

Simkin, John. “USA History: Civil Rights 1860-1980.” Sparticus Educational (2 Oct. 2010). Web. 29 Sep. 2010. http: //www.sparticus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAkkk. htm

Smith, Adam. “Protestant Reformation Timeline.” SocyBerty (30 Jan. 2010). Web. 30 Sep. 2010. h ttp: //socyberty.com/history/protestant-reformation-timeline/

ThinkQuest. “World War II: The Homefront.” ThinkQuest (1998). Web. 2 Oct. 2010. http: //librar y.thinkquest.org/15511/data/encyclopedia/hitleradolf. htm

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Transmissions

What is the difference between an automatic and a manual transmission?
Why do automatic transmissions cost more?
Which transmission is safer to operate?
Is one transmission preferred over another?

Automobiles with a manual transmission are safer, more efficient, and cheaper to buy and maintain than vehicles with automatic transmissions.

Safety
Efficiency
Costs