Bob, WONDERFUL, WELL WRITTEN, FACTUAL POSTS!!!!!!  Refreshing!!!!!!!
 
Bob, here's a suggestion: there are so many people here who have NOT studied
even the basics of evolution (though someone without background would not
always recogize that from the length of some of the "related" posts and
"terminology" (MIS)used).  Could you, PLEASE suggest some intro texts for
such folks?  I am not in a situation where I know what's currently being
used as intros out there.  Know that Futuma has a new text either out or
soon out but not if it's on the right level for folks with no background or
with some ground-in misinterpretations, and don't know if the old stand-bys
by people like Raup, Eldridge, etc.  are being used any longer.  What are
Evolution 101 students using these days?
 
Having people get this stuff so wrong leads to some very real problems.  One
is that it might be taken as flame-baiting, or "Shaking the ferret tree to
see which nuts fall out" as one flame-baiter once called it.  Another is
that some people might not know better and might use such things in ways
which cause harm for ferrets.  The third is that the people involved are not
stupid people -- just ones who could make very valuable contributions if
they had enough info to speak in an informed fashion -- but when gems are
dropped they can easily be lost in the dross, so good ideas risk being
missed because they are mixed in with things which make absolutely no sense.
 
Hoping for days when all the evolution or "evolution" posts make sense, and
recalling so-called "Social-Darwinism" and all the problems caused by those
people assuming they knew what they were talking about, I remain,  Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 2384]