"K_h" <KHolmes@SX729.com> wrote in
news:QrCdnU-QgOvG6FXUnZ2dnUVZ_rmdnZ2d@giganews.com: 

Such a civilization would already know about the Earth and would be
capable of sending space probes to Earth.  Furthermore, a civilization
like that could easily automate the long term continuous broadcasting
of multi-frequency signals toward millions of favorable planets,
especially since its space based automatic broadcasting equipment
would have automated self maintenance systems and therefore require
little or no effort to maintain.  Fermi's paradox applies not only to
extraterrestrial life visiting the Earth but also to extraterrestrial
life broadcasting to the Earth.

An old friend of mine uses a great tagline related to this post:

"Amazingly intelligent life must exist in the Universe because it has never 
tried to communicate with us."

--------------------------------------------

I, personally, think life is terminally self-destructing as soon as the 
highest life form discovers how to make weapons the planet cannot recover 
from.  We're very close to the terminus for this planet, here in 2009, and 
will render it uninhabitable quite soon in astronomical time as our 
superstitions and paranoia consume us.