The Great "Gas Out" Urban Legend and other "Talking Points" of Mass Media

Since the latest incarnation of the Great Gas Out chain mail made mainstream news a few months back, I thought I'd search for the source.

I know I've seen it come and go for years now, but the earliest mention I found is April 30, 1999.

From www.urbanlegends.com...

It's time we did something about the price of gasoline in America! We are all sick and tired of high prices when there are literally millions of gallons in storage.

Know what I found out? If there was just ONE day when no one purchased any gasoline, prices would drop drastically.

The so-called oil cartel has decided to slow production by some 2 million barrels per day to drive up the price. I have decided to see how many Americans we can get to NOT BUY ANY GASOLINE on one particular day!

Let's have a GAS OUT! Do not buy any gasoline on APRIL 30, 1999,,!!!!! Buy on Thursday before, or Saturday after. Do not buy any gasoline on FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1999.

Wanna help? Send this message to everyone you know. Ask them to do the same. All we need is a few million to participate in order to make a difference. Let me know how many you will send out. We CAN make a difference.

As many are quick to point out, you actually CAN'T make a difference unless you give up buying gas altogether. But that's beside the point.

I saw this discussed on both CNN and Fox (and here) not too long ago with the latest 2004 fake date in place.

More proof the Internet has assisted in the eradication of all novelty in the world, speeding us on our way to Timewave Zero 2012.

Remember! Don't sniff strangers perfume, watch out for needles in the ball pit and don't fall for Kerry's hidden agenda to outlaw guns.

I've come to realize all media "talking points" are nothing more than urban legends being spammed at us too. They're true because they're repeated. And all media is lazy, so they just throw crap at the wall until something sticks then cite themselves as circular logic proof they're right.

Jon Stewart did a great montage last week of all the scripted "impromtu" interviews with people calling Kerry "the most liberal Senator in the US" on que. The left does talking points it too, of course, but what is it other than spam disguised as news? Is it even supportable?

Sure it is. Matt Drudge "proved" Kerry's liberalness "with a composite liberal score of 96.5 -- far ahead of such Democrat stalwarts as Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton."

Wow. 96.5 huh? That's pretty liberal. It really puts it all in perspective. :shk: