Mutational Problem

The author of the following webpage (hereafter referred to as "Plaisted" in reference to the email address given in the first full paragraph on the webpage) has made the argument that the theory of evolution has been falsified because the rate of mutation can not produce the changes we see. The webpage can be found here:The Mutation ProblemPlaisted concludes:

quote:

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The general situation is that rates of mutation high enough to account for the ape-human split would lead to the rapid death of the species. Even rates of mutation often quoted by biologists would do the same. A lower rate of mutation would make the assumed evolution of apes and humans from a common ancestor impossible. If the rate of mutation really is high, then the human race must be very young and on the way to extinction.

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Is Plaisted right?Note to moderators:
I would like to notify Plaisted once this thread is approved, assuming that the listed email is still valid.

I was hoping for a more technical discussion of the claims. For instance:"Equilibrium is defined as the state at which the fraction of the population having harmful mutations is constant. This state should eventually be reached if conditions are more or less unchanging."Obviously, this doesn't apply to the human population. Humans have been moving across the globe into different environments. Also, the human population is not constant nor is there free gene flow between populations. Therefore, the recent history of the human population is anything but "more or less unchanging".

The author does seem to assume that deleterious is synonymous with lethal (or infertile). I think we can all agree that there is a whole range of deleterious effects, from so slight as to not affect reproductive success to spontaneous abortion at an early stage in embryonic development.