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Sunday Roundup: A Big Week for the Personal AND Political

While Rick Santorum was dropping out of the GOP political race for personal reasons, and Hilary Rosen was making personal attacks on Anne Romney for political reasons, AOL/HuffingtonPost office politics became big personal news (at least for those of us working here): Microsoft agreed to buy $1.06 billion worth of AOL patents. (Yes, Dr. Evil, that'sdollars -- or $999,440,106.20 CDN).I can't claim any insider information as to what this means to AOL/Huffpost in general, or AOL/Huffpost Canada in specific. At minimum, I'm hoping for a new stapler.
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While Rick Santorum was dropping out of the GOP political race for personal reasons, and Hilary Rosen was making personal attacks on Anne Romney for political reasons, AOL/HuffingtonPost office politics became big personal news (at least for those of us working here): Microsoft agreed to buy $1.06 billion worth of AOL patents. (Yes, Dr. Evil, that's one. billion. dollars -- or $999,440,106.20 CDN).

I can't claim any insider information as to what this means to AOL/Huffpost in general, or AOL/Huffpost Canada in specific. At minimum, I'm hoping for a new stapler. In the wake of the sale, AOL supremo, Tim Armstrong, was kind enough to visit our northern branch plant, and to take questions from the team:

While all that excitement was taking place, there were deaths to be observed in the entertainment industry this week: Fashion Television met its designer maker , after 27 years of being an international brand for fashion and design commentary; host Jeanne Beker is sure to go on to a successful afterlife. As always with an ending comes a new beginning: the Desperate Housewives franchise was birthed in Vancouver. Huffpost's Chris Jancelewicz wondered if this new bevy of Botox-ed beauties would fit the mold:

RHOV" are so far from the typical Vancouverite that it might as well take place in Los Angeles. (Interestingly, two of the five housewives are actually American, but are now Canadian citizens.) Each of them, whether the fortune is self-made or not, has access to serious cash, and they have no qualms about showing it off. So how does this show fare against its older American cousins

?

Maybe they should move to Vancouver, where our own Rachel Mendelsohn reported in her continuing "Mind the Gap" series that income inequality in that city was less polarized than in other Canadian urban centres. You can check out our slideshow here as to which cities are experiencing the fastest "ghettoization."

In Blogtown, we hit big heights this week with huge hits on numerous contributors' posts, among them: Jennifer Wheatley Wolf's powerful post about finding the courage to bring her rapist to justice, and Blog Editor Angelina Chapin's retort to the controversy over a photo showing a burka-clad woman holding up a bra. Readers weighed in on the latest debate in our "Change My Mind" series: Did Bubba Watson embarrass the male sex by blubbering after winning the PGA Masters 2012 tournament? Go see the arguments for yourself, and decide.

Animal lovers who have not been following contributor Douglas Anthony Cooper's devastating and disturbing expose on PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) can catch up with it here: Doug's recent installment compared Nathan Winograd's "No Kill" animal rescue movement to the shocking, documented policy of PETA's that has led to the unnecessary slaughter of thousands of adoptable puppies and kittens.

And with the spring, as surely as daffodils and tulips, come the announcements of multiple literary prizes. In the next few weeks, Huffpost readers will be able to read exclusive excerpts from finalists on the Donner Canada Foundation's Prize for Best Public Policy Book as well as those competing for Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, given out by the Writer's Trust.

Also stay tuned for our exclusive five-part serial, starting tomorrow, of Noah Richler's superb new book, What We Talk About When We Talk About War.

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