I was listening to the BBC this morning, a discussion of the great biofuel paradox: the more corn that goes into making ethanol for our supersized energy appetites, the less there is for food and animal feed, and, consequently, the higher the food prices across the board, not just nationally, but globally. 

The battle lines are drawn, as they put it, between the 800 million car-owners who crave a cheap and plentiful fuel source, and the 200 billion of the world's poor scraping just to get by.

The story that followed the discussion was how to get by in the world's poorest country, Sierra Leone, on less than a dollar a day, which is about what most people there live on, apparently.

The funny thing about this piece is that they didn't budget for transportation.  After buying some staples, the correspondent and his host come to the realization that if they buy any more food they won't have money to get home. 

"Oh, I'd forgotten about that," the reporter chuckles.

Then the lightbulb goes off in his head: "We'll have to walk back, then."

"That's right," replies his host, "if you were in this situation you'd rather walk, because you really can't spend your money on taxis." 

Really?  You mean you can't afford a taxi on a dollar a day? 

Imagine that.  If you can.