Although we love to view the world in absolutes, things are seldom black and white. Heroes have skeletons in their closets and assholes secretly donate money to the ASPCA commercials with Sarah Mclachlan. Okay, maybe not.
But the point is that the world is a complex place, full of moral ambiguity, double standards and mixed feelings.
So we have taken the task upon ourselves to bring back the epic binary of “good” versus “bad,” “right” versus “wrong,” and “virtuous versus “evil.”
We humbly present to you: Asshole and Hero of the week.
Asshole(s): ISIS
A video has surfaced of terrorist group Islamic State beheading another U.S. journalist, Steven Sotloff. Sotloff, 31, was being held hostage by the militants and appeared in the video that showed fellow journalist James Foley being killed.
Sotloff’s mother appealed to IS leader Abu Baakr al-Baghdadi to save her son’s life after Foley’s death was reported.
The authenticity of the video has not been established yet. In it, a masked man calls the beheading of Sotloff, dressed in an orange jumpsuit in the video, a retaliation for U.S. air strikes. The man then threatens to kill another Western hostage.
Whether the video is real or not, ISIS has been ruthless in sacrificing the lives of innocent Americans in the name of revenge and terrorism.
Hero(s): Scientists in Scotland
Colorado is growing dank marijuana, Africa is growing failed crops, our collegiate hangovers are growing meaner and scientists at the Medical Research Council centre for regenerative medicine at the University of Edinburgh are growing whole organs.
A group of cells developed into a functional thymus (a specialized organ of the immune system where your T-cells get rowdy and fight infection) inside of an animal. Although the thymus is a simple organ (compared to your brain, for example), this discovery could potentially open doors to alternatives to organ transplantation.
Though it is years away from human testing, the real world application of this research is exciting. A child born with a defunct thymus or an elderly person whose shrinking thymus is weakening his/her immune system could benefit from a homegrown organ.
One small step for thymus, one giant leap for organ-kind.
Featured photo courtesy of: Aboutrc
