Talisman Energy Inc. has finally bitten the bullet and shed its controversial oil investment in Sudan, making a determined bunch of human rights activists and church groups extremely happy. "We have here an extraordinary example of grassroots activism forcing a Fortune 500 company to withdraw from an extremely lucrative venture, because that venture is immoral," Eric Reeves, an English professor at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and a tireless opponent of Talisman's Sudanese activities, told The Globe and Mail last week.