Posted 2:53 PM by Blah blah

Another politician looks silly: Teenagers squirt French Prime Minister's face with tomato ketchup (Ananova). Oh boy...next time, sir, you need to open your mouth wider.

How Does AOL Fit in the Grand Plan Now? (NY Times): "As Richard Parsons, a renowned corporate diplomat, prepares to take over as AOL Time Warner's chief executive next month, forging that consensus is his most important challenge, and a vital one for the company, the world's largest media conglomerate. America Online's slowing growth over the last year and its failure to meet Wall Street expectations have been a drag on the company's shares. And the absence of a unified vision of America Online's future of just how the Internet can work with old media like movies to deliver vast new profits, as promised is raising questions anew about the wisdom of the merger that created the company two years ago, at the peak of the Internet bubble.

While Mr. Case, the company's chairman, Mr. Parsons and Mr. Pittman, the recently returned chief of America Online and the recently designated chief operating officer of AOL Time Warner, are not at one another's throats, they are also not yet agreed on a strategic and tactical plan for the Internet service. Mr. Case, the technology futurist, tends to see the future of America Online in new digital services and gadgets, while Mr. Pittman, the consummate marketer, hopes to build America Online as an advertising vehicle while milking older technologies like traditional Internet access as long as possible."