The IMF just produced a good overview of long-term fiscal issues in the US. Although it skims over the importance of the free flow of capital and labor across our borders, it does quickly explain the major liabilities facing us in the future. If you can vote in the US, this is a must read.

I finished up my annual report for 2003; in short, financial goals went well, but personal goals didn't (still no intelligent, caring, cute girl). For next year, my financial goals increased but the personal goals... well, this just implies that for those goals, I'm still stuck in 2003.

New Risk Observations:

When playing 6-players and you're last in turn, don't place your pieces for confrontation. I was out in three rounds. Hooboy. ;)
It's very easy to consume a boatload of calories while doing nothing playing Risk. ;)

Since I lost quickly in Risk, Shana and I talked. Last weekend, we had talked about millenarianism (go undergrad thesis) and Biblical exegesis. She was looking for a good overview of various Christian eschatological doctrines, but I didn't know of any (this turned into a mini-complaint session about the lack of ecumenical comparisons and debate over modern doctrines). This week, she popped the big question of what I believe. I wasn't ready for it, so I boggled the answer for a while, basically answering that I was an atheist. A much better answer would have been along the lines of:

Since God's existence is not empirically provable one way or another, one has to choose. I choose the world without God because if I can't live in a world where God routinely blows up lives and doesn't explain why he had to blow up the lives of those parents, families, and friends.

Regardless, I still put a hefty premium on Faith. It doesn't matter where it comes from, but it is a major psychological advantage in life. No Faith means No Hope, and that's an unfun lifestyle.