I emailed Nonian a couple of articles, but I did not find much on her specific issue. Abduction of southern Sudanese youths and enslavement by Northern militias, yes. Mistreatment of Darfuri people by militias with the knowledge and tacit approval of the Northern government, yes, including before things got really bad in 2003. But not forcible recruitment of Darfuri peoples into the Sudanese national army to fight the Southern rebels. Doesn't mean it didn't happen; I just couldn't find anyone talking about it (in scholarly poli sci or anthro literature.)

Thanks for looking - I think what you sent me will be helpful.

Just sent another, with the money quote: "Bearing in mind that majority of the foot soldiers and the lower-ranking officers in the Sudanese army are ethnically from Darfur and Kordofan or from other marginalised parts of the country."

Can I just take a moment to say how damned proud I am of the work you`re doing, Nonian? `Cause I am.

I was substituting for a special ed. aid today, so I was floating around to a lot of different classes just to help kids if they needed it. I always sort of freak out when I see math on my schedule, as I can hardly ever actually help, but during my free period I went to math.com and learned everything about the subject (multiplying and dividing fractions! Which I'm sure I could do when I was 12 but not so much now) and as silly as it may be I am immensely proud of myself.

The bonus question of the day was 15 12/25 ÷ 10 16/65 and it took me about ten minutes and entire sheet of paper but I totally got the right answer. Good day! This actually has me inspired to give math another go. I mean, I realize this is math aimed at people literally half my age, but I've always had such a mental blockage with it before I'm really happy!

Fractions still make me queasy.

Can we not move onto decimals? Why do we need fractions again? Ixnay!

-- Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay sentenced to at least three years in prison in money-laundering case, judge rules.

I have no idea why we need fractions, honestly. I'm just insanely excited that I understand how to add/subtract/multiply/divide them, even if it is completely non-applicable to my everyday life. Knowledge makes me happy!

Good for you, zuisa!

Why would anyone want to limit themselves to decimal representations when fractions are so useful and clear? Bewildering.