I read about the gasoline shortage in your June journal and want to say, "Join the crowd" in regard to gasoline prices. But first, an aside. Today's newspaper has an Associated Press story from Adeje, Nigeria, that says "The confirmed death toll from a fiery explosion at a gasoline pipeline in the Niger Delta jumpoted to 200 on Friday, pushed up by the discovery of more bodies and the deaths of badly burned villagers. The toll could rise higher still. Many of the injured, including those with serious burns, are in hiding, fearful of arrest in connection with Monday's blast. ... The pipeline near the villages of Adeje and Oviri-Court had been vandalized before it caught fire. Most of the victims were impoverished villagers, including many children, who were scooping up gasoline from the pipe when it exploded. Pipeline sabotage is common in Nigeria, and the penalty in the past has ranged from prosecution to being shot on site by police."
You wrote about not being able to judge because you aren't poor like the people who don't appreciate you and steal from you. When there is no power even by gasoline-fueled lamplight, or when vehicles can't driven, I guess things like theft seem justifiable to some. Maybe to feed children or stay alive?
I believe it was last August that I returned from a trip jubilant because I had bought gas for 83.9 cents per gallon. Plain unleaded gasoline was $1.56/gallon last night in Raleigh, North Carolina. In Chicago it's more than $2.50 per gallon. I'm sure taxi drivers there are suffering, fares are rising and people are walking more. The problem, whatever its cause, extends further than Benin.
Aren't my messages interesting?