Cats are known for being fiercely independent. It's like they have Britney Spears' "Stronger" playing in their furry little heads on repeat. This cat doesn't need you to pet it, hell no! It will pet it's damn self. 

You go, kitty!

Aerie, the loungewear and swimsuit brand from American Eagle, has used un-retouched images for their "Aerie Real" campaign for the last few years. So far their ads have featured celebrities like Emma Roberts, and people who are the same size as Emma Roberts. One of Aerie's latest models, however, is representing a larger percentage of female bodies.

This is Barbie Ferreira:

She's a 19-year-old model.

She regularly speaks on social media about body image: 

And, according to People, she's the first "plus-size" Aerie model.

"I am unapologetically myself," she says in the promo video. Aerie has received a lot of love for this move, which should've already happened.

Hopefully Aerie doesn't just pat themselves on the back for hiring Ferreira and then regress to their previous standards, and hopefully those cute bathing suits won’t leave wearers with strange tan lines.

Kim Kardashian updated her blog Tuesday with a post about breastfeeding, because when people think of Kim Kardashian, the first word they think of is "mommy." She does have two kids now, North West and new baby Saint West. Not that it's shocking that a Kardashian would breastfeed, but it definitely seems a bit off-brand. Shouldn't they hire designer wet nurses, like the aristocracy of old?

Kim shared some tidbits about what it's like breastfeeding with an older child who is used to a lot of attention hovering nearby. Not surprisingly, she puts North to work:

I'm about 2 months into breastfeeding and I'm not gonna lie—it can be time-consuming. For some reason, North hates when I feed the baby, and she lays on my lap so Saint can't be right in front of me to eat, LOL! I've started to include her: Sometimes I will pump and have her feed him the bottle. That totally worked! She loved helping me, as opposed to my attention being off of her, and now she is my little helper.

Kim also shares her opinion on breastfeeding in public, as all celebrity women are called upon to do these days:

Now that I'm a mom, I'm not that shocked, especially if you have a few kids and can't leave to breastfeed one kid in the bathroom while leaving the others at the table. But I still personally wouldn't do it, unless it was an emergency situation and I was fully covered. I would however breastfeed in front of my girlfriends. I think it's such a natural experience and I'm not shy about that. I know so many people get backlash for posting breastfeeding pics, but I don't mind them!

Now you'll never be able to look at Kim Kardashian's breasts again without connecting them to nourishing babies, even though this is the only other post she has on Instagram that references breastfeeding in any way:

Last year, British filmmaker Charlie Lynelaunched a Kickstarter with the aim of protesting censorship in British film. Prior to a film's release in British cinemas, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) must watch and rule on a film, and the BBFC has the power to censor and ban films.

Lyne decided to work within the system for his punishing protest. He raised £5,936 to submit a movie for BBFC consideration.

His movie, which Mashable says the BBFC watched on January 25 and 26, is titled Paint Drying. Paint Drying is 10 hours and seven minutes of paint drying. 

The BBFC viewers survived the film and swiftly gave their rating. 

It received a "Universal" rating because Paint Drying has "no material likely to harm or offend." Somehow this movie was not banned for destroying a viewer's sanity. 

A BBFC spokesperson told Mashable, "Examiners are required to watch a very wide variety of content every day, so this didn't phase them." It's hard to believe that this movie did not bore its viewers in a way they never thought imaginable. 

Bill Marler is a lawyer that represents cases for foodborne illnesses, and based on his experience, there are some foods he refuses to eat. He listed the foods in an article on his blog last week. Thankfully, chocolate is not on the list. But there are a few items on there that will enrage foodies, health nuts, and fans of gastro pub fare.

In his career, Marler has won more than $600 million for clients that have been victims of food poisoning, and he's heading a new lawsuit against Chipotle. As such, he's quite familiar with the foods most susceptible to contamination. 

Here are the six foods Bill Marler never eats.

1. Rare meat.

The most common culprit here is a rare steak or burger. According to Marler, meat should be cooked to 160 degrees throughout to kill bacteria that could cause salmonella or E. coli. Accordingly, this also means ignoring the recommendations of chefs and waiters at steak houses.

2. Raw oysters.

Marler says he has seen more foodborne illnesses linked to shellfish in the past five years than in the two preceding decades. Warmer waters contain more microbial growth, which ends up in the raw oysters, and then in humans at the top of the food chain.

3. Raw sprouts.

There have been 30 outbreaks related to raw sprouts since the mid-’90s, though Marler will eat sprouts if they've been cooked. He just made enemies with all raw food bars.

4. Unpasteurized juices and milk.

Bad news for those that drink straight from a cow or squeeze an orange directly into their mouths.

5. Pre-washed or pre-cut fruits and vegetables.

Marler avoids these "like the plague." So next time you see a friend reaching for a prepackaged salad, simply point out that an expert equates that product with the black death that routed much of Europe in the 14th century.

6. Raw or undercooked eggs. 

Several egg favorites at brunch now mean you could be rolling the dice with safety. This also means that Marler does not eat raw cookie dough during sleepovers.

There is a T-Rex out there having snowball fights with neighborhood kids, which was predicted by evolutionary scientists at Someecards when a similar T-Rex shoveled snow during last week's blizzard that rocked much of the eastern United States. The dinosaurs are learning and adapting quickly, and they will soon master other winter activities once thought to only be performed by humans.

It's only a matter of time before there are dinosaurs riding snowmobiles, ice skating, and enjoying hot chocolate after long days of playing in the snow. Be careful out there.

Rob Lowe's most recent on-screen government official was Chris Traeger on Parks And Recreation, but for fans of the West Wing, he will always be White House speechwriter Sam Seaborn—a character Lowe cited when taking to Twitter to criticize Sen. Bernie Sanders' rhetoric. Lowe's time as the wordsmith for Martin Sheen's Democratic President from New Hampshire, Jeb Bartlett, was easily the most significant role Lowe has had in Democratic politics since that time in 1988 when he made a sex tape of a threesome he had with a 16-year-old girl on the night of the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta while he was campaigning for Michael Dukakis in real life.

Anyway, here was Lowe's somewhat surprising return to real-world politics on Twitter last night:

There's been no response to Lowe's very-apropos-for-a-celeb-on-social-media diatribe from Aaron Sorkin or Bernie Sanders yet, although one thing is for certain: everyone's Presidential candidates would be better with Sam Seaborn punching up their drafts. In fact, everyone in general probably would. Even celebrity Twitter accounts.

Related: Rob Lowe got in a bizarre Twitter fight with a writer.

Usually, Internet trolls are the absolute worst, but every so often a troll like this Seinfeld obsessive comes along who's a hero to us all. One such person, known only by the moniker "Feeling Foolish," punked popular advice columnist "Ask Amy" with this Seinfeld plotline.

The question reads:

Dear Amy: I recently ran into a famous local sports figure at my gym.

I didn’t want to bother him, but much to my surprise he approached me. Turns out he knew me from my profession. He asked if I wanted to go out for coffee, and we exchanged numbers. A few days later we had coffee, and I thought it was pretty cool that he considered us friends.

Then everything changed. He told me he was interested in taking out a woman we ran into. She is my ex-girlfriend and we’ve remained good friends. He asked me a couple of times if I wouldn’t mind if he asked her out. I reluctantly said no. I made plans with him, and then after talking to my ex I found out that he ditched our plans to go out with her.

The next day he called me and asked if I could help him move some furniture. I barely know the guy, next thing he will be asking me to drive him to the airport. Two friends of mine warned me not to trust this guy. What’s the deal — am I being too rash or should I dump the guy as a friend? — Feeling Foolish

If you're a Seinfeld superfan, you might recognize this as the plot of 'The Boyfriend,' an iconic episode starring former Mets player Keith Hernandez. Amy, however, didn't catch on, and gave this wise reply to Jerry"Mr. Foolish."

Dear Foolish: The good news here is that you won’t have to dump the guy as a friend because he is not a friend. He’s an opportunist who just keeps asking you for stuff. I suspect that when you turn down his generous offer to let you move furniture for him, you’ll likely never hear from him again.

Brush up on your Seinfeld so you don't end up like Amy:

In England, a head teacher (that's British for "principal") sent children home from school on Tuesday with a note asking parents to stop wearing pajamas and slippers as they drop their kids off at school. Apparently, school principals are getting so power-mad enforcing dress codes for children that they've now moved onto their parents.

The note has since been deleted from Facebook, but here's a transcript:

Dear Parent/Carer,

I have noticed that there has been an increasing tendency for parents to escort children to and from school while still wearing their pyjamas and, on occasion, even slippers. Could I please ask that when you are escorting your children, you take the time to dress appropriately in day wear that is suitable for the weather conditions? While this may seem to some to be a minor point, I am sure you will agree that it is important for us to all set our children a good example about what is appropriate and acceptable in all aspects of life, not only from the point of view of their safety and general well-being but also as preparation for their own adult life. Thank you for your cooperation in helping to raise our children's aspirations.

Note that "pyjamas" is how British people say "pajamas" and "thank you for your cooperation in helping to raise our children's aspirations" is how British people say "go f*ck yourselves, you sick slobs."

Most parents, surprisingly, have been supportive of the letter. "Scruffs, can't be doing with doleys picking up there 16 kids after finishing watching Jezza all day," one Brit commented on Facebook. Because, among other things, this story really shows that British English is practically a different language. 

This video of sailors making a disastrous attempt to drop anchor dates back at least to November, but it's pretty fair to say that this was probably one of the single worst workdays anyone on the planet has had in the past few months that didn't involve any actual tragedies. Although it's not clear what this large ship was carrying, it does have a really heavy anchor attached to a gigantic chain and winch. Viewers are claiming the panicked shouting indicates it's a Greek ship—which is certainly possible since Greece has the 8th-largest merchant fleet in the world.

In any case, this video has two important lessons for you: 1) when operating a crank that releases a giant anchor, remember, "righty tighty, lefty loosey." 2) Unless you broke a steel chain thicker than a man's leg and dropped a multi-ton anchor into the ocean today, don't beat yourself up too bad about your job performance.

Oh yeah, and 3) giant winches can catch fire if you screw up badly enough.

The Tanuki is a "Japanese raccoon dog," and the Internet is currently freaking out about the discovery that a certain @chibi_nori on Twitter has a tanuki and is posting adorable photos of it. Chibi_nori creatively calls his tanuki "Tanuki" or "Tanu." He found the abandoned Tanu back in June, took it in, and regularly posts adorable photos of the cutie. 

According to Atlas Obscura, the tanuki has played the role of trickster in Japanese mythology for thousands of years. It's also known for having giant testicles, which is perhaps why chibi_nori was so careful about modesty in the image above. (If you're interested in a bit of possibly NSFW history, check out this 1881 woodblock print of a tanuki threatening men by brandishing nuts twice its size.)

Chibi_nori's tanuki isn't about giant balls, though, at least in the photos he posts. Tanuki the tanuki is all about being adorable:

Tanuki the tanuki became Internet-famous after photos of him hanging out near a heater during went viral during a snowstorm:

You might also recognize the tanuki because it was the inspiration for the raccoon-styled Tanooki Suit in Super Mario Bros. 3, as seen in the gameplay video below. Chibi_nori doesn't say whether his Tanuki is effective in beating Bowser, but he certainly would be if the goal was to kill Bowser with cuteness. 

If you haven't paid attention to Donald Trump in a few days, congrats. But strap yourself in, because Donald Trump just announced that he's backing out of Thursday's Fox News debate because Megyn Kelly will be there—after he held a Twitter poll on whether he should do it and then Fox made fun of him. Yeah. All that just happened, much of it today (except his feud with Kelly, which dates back to August). Let's go back to early this afternoon, when Donald Trump posted a Twitter poll and an Instagram video asking his followers/supporters whether he should participate in the Fox News debate and whether the "very biased" Megyn Kelly could possibly be fair:

At press time, The Donald's poll is heavily in favor of doing the debate, although it's unclear where that stood when he finally decided to pull out. It's a decision that may have been influenced by the surprisingly sarcastic and funny way in which Fox News chose to stand by their anchor in a statement to Mediaite:

We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president — a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.

If that quote upset Donald Trump, he made a steadfast decision to let everyone know by tweeting out an angry link to that article.

Nevertheless, Trump was still just flirting with leaving the debate at this point, and roughly 20 minutes later, Fox News tweeted out the debate lineup, complete with its frontrunner blonde centerpiece:

Less than half an hour later, the New York Times reported, Trump announced his withdrawal at a press conference in Iowa, calling his decision not to participate "irrevocable." Mr. Trump further elaborated on his decision to not let a journalist he dislikes talk to him, saying "It’s time that somebody plays grownup," right after he said, "Let’s see how much money Fox is going to make on the debate without me." As irrevocable as Mr. Trump says this decision is, it's certainly possible that he thought Fox would budge on having Megyn Kelly host the debate. After all, just last night Trump (re)tweeted:

However, when Mediaite contacted Fox again later, Roger Ailes, Fox News's CEO, replied with another statement praising Kelly and promising she would be on the stage. Kelly initially angered Trump in August by asking him about his comments regarding women, in particular by giving Carly Fiorina the opportunity to respond to his cracks about her face. Trump responded with Twitter rants and something he insists wasn't a period joke.

One thing is for sure if Trump's not at the debate, though: he'll probably be yelling at her on Twitter. Oh, and congrats to Rand Paul, who gets to be in the debate again.

Martin O'Malley is running to be the Democratic nominee for President, but at this point, many people think he's just third-wheeling the Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders debates. Tuesday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel took to the streets to test just how unrecognizable this generic straight white male candidate really is.

The most baffling is the guy who thought O'Malley was Kevin James. That would be the weight loss feat of the century.

Mark Zuckerberg returned from his two month paternity leave yesterday. But before he did, he asked his 49 million followers what he should wear on his first day back in the office to cover his impossibly hairy chest. Turns out Mark Zuckerberg is a cartoon character.

Y'know, like Doug Funnie...

...Robin

Or SpongeBob.

Although Zuckerberg is richer and more eternal than a cartoon, he too wears the same, casual outfit all day everyday. Obviously being the boss, a man, and a billionaire affords him that luxury. Three cheers for the Zuck!

Last Thursday, LynnMarie Rink and her nine-year-old son James were shopping at an Apple Store in Nashville, when James, who has special needs, ran into a glass wall. No long-term harm was done to either the child or the glass, but all the customers in the store gasped at the noise and turned to look, and Rink was understandably shaken up and stressed out. That is, until Andrew Wall, an employee at the store, came over to where mother and son were sitting on the floor and went out of his way to help.

Rink was so grateful that she later took to Facebook to post a thank you to the employee and the store. Her letter, which has over 1 million page views and 20,000 shares, explains how important the iPad is as a learning tool to James, who was born with Down syndrome and also has autism. 

Dear Apple Store, Green Hills,

I’m writing to let you know how great your employee (pictured in this photo) was to me and my son, James, yesterday when we came to the store to buy a new iPad.

When James was about three-years-old we bought him his first iPad. It turned out to be more than a device to watch videos. It became a way to help James communicate.

Because James was born with Down Syndrome, and at six-years-old was diagnosed with Autism, we use his iPad everyday as a learning tool. Sadly, even with a life-proof cover, after seven years of use, James’ first iPad was no longer working. We had replaced the screen several times and it just kept breaking. It was obviously time for a new one!

I had lunch with a dear friend, who noticed the ‘state’ of my iPhone 5. I told her that it was covered in snot, and limping along, not because of me, but because of James. (My phone became the replacement to his iPad.)

To make a long story a bit shorter, that friend happens to be on the board of a charitable organization, Fiona Rose Murphey Foundation Trail Ride, who graciously offered to provide James with a much needed new iPad.

On Thursday, James and I made our way to the Apple Store in Green Hills. While looking at the iPads James must have seen something that sparked his interest in the mall, and he took off running full speed out the door. The problem was he wasn’t at the door, but at the clear glass wall. He slammed into the wall full force which knocked him over. The entire store gasped as they heard the sound of James’ head hitting the glass and then the floor.

I ran to him and tried to comfort him. James has a very high tolerance for pain, so his tears and ‘fat lip’ were brief. Mine however were not. As I hugged him sitting on the floor your employee came over and sat down next to me. He asked if he was okay and if there was anything he could do. I think it was at this point that he realized James had special needs.

'I think we’re gonna be okay,' I said. 'But it looks like he’s gonna have quite a goose egg on his forehead.' Your employee asked, 'What can I do for you?' (I wanted to ask for a margarita or a donut but I was pretty sure they didn’t have any of those in that secret back room.) I said, 'Well, we actually came here today to buy an iPad which was donated to James, but if we’re going to proceed would you be willing to sell it to us and set it up… down here on the floor?'

And so he did. Your awesome employee sat with James on the floor of the store and set up the new iPad. There are no words to accurately describe how grateful I am that he took the time to ‘meet us right where we were.’ He didn’t have to sit down on the floor with us. He could have easily waited for us to stand. Could have easily waited for us to come back another day. But he hung out with us in the midst of our pain. He even got a fist bump from James, and I snapped this photo.

Life is a learning journey. And I walked away from this experience with the reminder to always meet people where they are at. It's so easy to be so focused on our own mission or plan (or sale) that we fail to see what people really need. I long to be better at this. I long to not be so self-absorbed that I never miss an opportunity to love exactly like someone needs in the moment.

Thank you to Apple Store, your employee, and the Fiona Rose Murphey Foundation Charitable Trust for being a part of our never-dull lives.

In the emotion of the day I can’t remember his name, but I’m hoping someone will see this and get this “Thank you” to him! (Until the snow clears and I can get there myself! Which in Nashville could be weeks! ha)

P.S. And a big thank you to Apple for making products that are changing the lives of special needs kids!"

Wall, who graduated from Belmont University with a degree in psychology, wrote to Rink: “I began working at Apple in hopes of having fulfilling moments like this. My hopes are to work within the realm of youth counseling. Thanks again for making my day!”

Before he was Vin Diesel, Fast and the Furious actor, he was Vin Diesel, fast and furious Street Sharks toy salesman. Now, a video of his sales technique has surfaced to prove he always had the Diesel charm.

Back in 1994, a twenty-something Diesel was using his raw strength and fierce masculinity to sell sharks as buff as himself at a toy fair. Complete with a leather vest, Diesel was adept at making his shark gang defeat toy trolls as viciously as he defeats Instagram trolls today.

If you don't remember Street Sharks, then you must not have been ten years old between 1994 and 1995, when the sorta-beloved animated series was on the air. Here's the intro to send you into a mid-90s nostalgia spiral:

Even Vin Diesel couldn't make them seem as cool as the Ninja Turtles.

On Tuesday evening, Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson dropped his own diss track in response to rapper B.o.B., who yesterday dissed Tyson in a song about his belief that the Earth is flat. The gloves are off: this is now a full-blown rap battle and Twitter feud.

B.o.B. believes that the earth is flat, and that there is a conspiracy to cover up the truth. In his track "Flatline," he rapped, "Neil Tyson needs to loosen up his vest, they'll probably write that man one hell of a check."

Tyson dropped his response diss track, "Flat to Fact," with the help of his nephew, Steve Tyson. Steve is a rapper, which is highly convenient when a scientist needs to hastily jump into a rap battle. He responded to the diss directly, rapping, "very important that I clear this up: you say that Neil's vest is what he needs to loosen up? The ignorance you're spinning helps to keep people enslaved, I mean mentally." Damn.

Tyson also rapped responses to some of the conspiracy theories that trouble B.o.B., using one of his album titles to declare that "all those strange clouds must be messing with your brain." Here's the full version of Tyson's diss track:

B.o.B. has not yet responded to the escalating rap battle, but he has briefly moved on from his thoughts about the planet to remind everyone about dangerous conspiracies regarding clones and humanoid robots:

Hopefully there will be more diss tracks dropped regarding the size and shape of the Earth. Until then, Tyson should watch his back, especially for any "synthetic robotoids" that B.o.B. may send to do his dirty work.