I've found a solution to both my questions (pluralization and getting rid of the minus numbers in all locales) that I think is pretty good, so I'll explain it in detail here and hopefully someone will find it useful.
I am also going through this tutorial and found this post and while I like the css you added to make this look uniform (which I have taken to use as my own :)) I think your solution for this is over-complicated. For me it was simply two changes: the js script and adding the script to my view.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.