Alien Life
I've never ruled out alien life, but I lean toward the scoffing mode. This book review raises some interesting points on behalf of the E.T. searchers. "Modern man evolved as a species 100,000 years ago but began broadcasting his existence (in the form of radio communications intended for domestic consumption but which might also be picked up by aliens) less than 100 years ago. If mankind were, this week, to receive a reply from extraterrestrials that had tuned in to the earliest broadcasts, they must be living less than 50 light-years from Earth. That is a tiny pocket in the universe. No surprise, then, that so far nothing has been heard." * * * * * Another very interesting point from that same review: "Of course, there is the possibility that intelligent, scientifically minded alien species do evolve quite readily on extrasolar planets. This would be ominous for humanity, and is what makes the silence eerie. The lack of contact would suggest that intelligent life and technological civilisations may be inherently unstable, and destroy themselves before they can signal their existence to one another." * * * * * Frugality corner: How to make your car last longer. Ten tips. * * * * * I've been pleased with my restraint lately. I haven't been "hitting the gold button" nearly as often I used to. But when I saw this piece in Forbes, I just had to link/excerpt it, especially this comment that captures my viewpoint perfectly: "An Oxford-trained historian, Kaplan believes that the last 40 years, when gold was not the world's reserve currency, were an aberration and that gold will revert to the top store of value as it was for 5,000 years. He means it: Kaplan's family office, Tigris Financial Group, manages close to $2 billion in gold assets." * * * * * I'm not a big Ayn Rand fan, but this is welcomed news: "Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is a hot seller once again. It is No. 189 on Amazon."
