Palaver noted with curiosity that when President Kibaki and Prime minister Raila Odinga walked out of Harambee House last week to address the nation together with ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Attorney General Amos Wako was visible on camera all through.

Could he have chosen the vantage position when the three were speaking to show the world he could be down but not out? Only problem was absence of his trademark smile.

Shop owners should be scared. Very scared of American, Japanese, British, German and French shoppers, that is according to a firm called Checkpoint Systems. A survey has shown that shoplifting has surged to record levels in the UK, fuelled by the economic downturn. They even came up with a Global Retail Theft Barometer to analyse data from a survey of crime in 41 countries.

Still on this troubled Government Legal Advisor, if the Americans, EU and Canada won’t touch him, why can’t he just tell them the world is big and his choices of travel are not limited. He could add interesting destinations like China, India and the Middle East. He could also pick up visas for Vanuatu, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. But how does Wako plan to remain in office drafting international agreements when he is a pariah to the states that matter and won’t be there for the signing?

Coca Cola is blazing the trail on survival in hard economic times. Decades ago it fought with Pepsi Cola until both discovered their bigger enemy was coffee. But seems the company later discovered one more competitor; water.

A few years ago, Coca Cola came up with Dasani bottled water, followed Minute Maid packaged juice and this year, Chaywa Coffee.

To stay ahead of the pack, the new Coca Cola hot beverage comes in six blends: Espresso, Black Coffee, White Coffee, Cappuccino, Chocochino and Hot Chocolate.

And finally...

One of the most memorable gaffes in a presidential speech came from George Bush Snr of the United States. This is what he said about himself and his predecessor: "For seven and-a- half years I’ve worked alongside President Reagan. We’ve had triumphs. Made some mistakes. We’ve had some sex... uh... setbacks."

—palaver@standardmedia.co.ke