Wow, that's a lot of links. I haven't followed all of them yet, but I will as soon as I get some time. I'm ripping through the BBS in "quick" mode this morning and don't have a lot of time to reply, but let me respond quickly to one or two small points.

Do you agree there are functions and mechanisms built into the process of evolution that *allow* external influence and direction of the outcome of evolution?

Although I understand what you're trying to say, you're using metaphorical words such as "built into" that don't apply to evolution (it wasn't built). I agree that external environmental factors can influence the development of a species, that's the definition of evolution.

It's as if each living creature is networked to each other.

Only indirectly, in the sense that each living creature on this planet affects its environment, and that the environment affect the evolution of all species.

Speculation aside, one of the fundamental tenets that allows evolution to operate is the random walk.

But evolution isn't random at all. Assuming that randomness is the root cause of evolution is missing the point.

Somebody engineered a strain of e coli that is incapable of digesting sugar by damaging the b-galactosidase mechanism. They then introduced a strain of normal e coli into the dish, and within minutes, the normal e coli transmited data to the damaged e coli

Very interesting! Of course, this was with observed mechanisms, not through the external mind control of an unseen entity. I will try to read up more on this experiment. Fascinating.

The speculation is that such transmission functions form the basis of the concept of evolutionary leaps and the explanation of why missing links exist. (The archeological record shows that evolution occurs all at once, across the entire species).

Sorry, you can't start pulling out those old chestnuts when they've already been argued to death. I could get into a complete discusison about the fossil record, missing links, punctuated equilibrium, etc., but I'd just be re-hashing a bunch of old arguments. Suffice it to say that I don't subscribe to the idea that evolutionary leaps happen in a single, or even a few, generations. Nor do I think that any major trait can be naturally transmitted among higher life forms by DNA-carrying bacteria. I don't think I'm going to inhale the fallout from my neighbor's sneeze and my eyes will miraculously change color (and the color of my children's eyes). The observed evolutionary changes to which your refer were not caused by the kind of DNA programming you cited in the e.coli experiment. There are plenty more mundane explanations for those.