This is an extract from a news item on the Kurzweil web site two days ago (July 20, 2015).

[Click on the text to expand.]

My contest entry is as follows.

Dear Humble and Enlightened Being Who are Probably Figments of the Imagination of Dr. Hawking:

Should you actually exist, I hope that you will realize that the search is being made by an arrogant Billionaire and several arrogant Academics who put their own egos and needs for fame ahead of the billions of people on our planet who do not have enough food, water, or healthcare.

Should you receive their cell call, I suspect your response might be, “WTF did you waste $100M on a phone call to us when you could have used it to feed starving children on your own planet?”

Alternately, if you would like to save money on the return call, sending back “WTF” as your message would probably suffice and convey the full meaning.

George Huba

PS. This new initiative may be because our planet does provide effective education, ethical training, and mental health services to its inhabitants.

If I win I will donate the prize to an effective non-profit organization that will lobby billionaires to spend their money wisely to benefit the poor of our planet. If the rich donate more money than is needed to end planetary deprivation, then perhaps we could consider using the remaining funds for long-distance cell-telescope calls to beings who probably are not at home.