'Gas Out 2000' Update
Dateline: 03/23/00By David Emery
It's been a month since the email manifesto inciting North Americans to boycott gasoline between April 7th and 9th first appeared, and although, I'm sorry to say, the idea hasn't accrued a whit more sense in the interval, there have been a few noteworthy developments. Here's a rundown:
A change of date
According to a new message circulating for the past two weeks, the fuel boycott has been rescheduled to March 24-26 in anticipation of a meeting of OPEC oil ministers on March 27:
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Subject: Fw: Attention..Gas Out Dates Have Changed
March 2, 2000 Oil ministers from Venezuela,Mexico,and Saudia Arabia announced today that oil producing countries should boost crude oil production to bring the price down again, which are the highest prices in nine years! They have come to an agreement to boost output but the details of their meeting will be kept secret until march 27th.... ...The three day "Gas - Out" dates have been changed to March 24, 25, & 26th . Please DO NOT BUY GASOLINE ON THESE DAYS! Please forward this message to everyone that has the old dates in April !!!!!! Let's give them naughty bad Oil Ministers the 'ole..... "up yours" fellas!!!! |
Is this authentic? Are the new dates more valid than the old ones? That's anyone's guess, considering the sources of information available. On the one hand, there's an anonymous email chain letter; on the other, an anonymous email chain letter.
Take your pick.
Or, you can visit the Gas Out Website!
Gas Out Dot Com
Yes, the good news is, there is now a Gas Out Website. The bad news is, if you're looking for good, solid information, www.gasout.com is sure to disappoint. You won't find much there in the way of leadership, either.
On the subject of the proposed date change, the anonymous Webmaster opines: "There has been a rumor going around that the Gas Out dates have been changed. As far as I am concerned this is NOT TRUE."
Sorry, that's as authoritative as it gets.
Like last year's "official" site, GasOut.com was thrown together after the fact by folks who had no evident connection with the original email. The domain name was registered on February 28 – a week or so after the email first appeared – by Innersoft.com, an ISP located in Minden, Louisiana.
Although there's precious little information to be found on the site, there's plenty of space reserved for advertising. "Advertising on GasOut.com is a extraordinary method of getting your site seen," the promo copy reads. "By advertising on this web site, you will put your name in front of tens of thousands of people every day" – that is, as long as you can afford the $500 minimum up front.
It's marvelous to see such selfless dedication to a cause.
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