Okay, so now you get the picture. I am not incredibly comfortable with our overdependence on others for solutions, and frankly, some have me worried. Two articles appeared on the same day in my local paper and their juxtaposition made me think. The first talks about a new cloning method being tested in Scotland where researchers have succeeded in cloning genetically identical sheep. They said this "could open the door to mass production of gene-altered animals with desirable traits." Desirable to whom--the sheep or us? My uneasiness increased as I read the next article concerning a report from Danish researchers where genetically altered plants have passed on their herbicide resistant genes onto nearby weeds. As we alter and try to control nature, we can never be sure of the outcome of our actions. Those sci-fi flicks we think are so impossible could someday be true. It wasn't too long ago people were laughing at those same movies with their crazy ideas of man walking on the moon. The answers aren't easy. It's not an all or nothing approach. We are all responsible for the problems and are all responsible for the answers. I think back to the flooding on the Mississippi River a few years back. We built dikes, dams, levees, trying to control that powerful river using the best information science and technology could provide. For years that was good enough, until the river decided to show its true strength. In the aftermath, many of the best solutions have included technology and people together taking responsible and together solutions. Isn't that the way it should be?