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Pastimes : All Clowns Must Be Destroyed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (30252)	5/1/2000 8:40:00 AM
From: Cynic 2005	Respond to of 42523

abcnews.go.com From Wire Reports S A N F R A N C I S C O, Calif., May 1 ? Is it really Elian?s raft? Whatever it is, it?s for sale on eBay ? with a top bid now at $10 million. The ?100% Genuine Raft Used by Elian!!!? drew more than 100 bids by this morning, up to $10 million from an opening bid of $20. The seller claims he bought it from the government and it was still in a warehouse, but it would be available June 1. A picture showed a tubeless tire attached to a 9-by-5 slab of plywood covered with straw. ?I figured dump it while it?s hot. It?s in the news every day,? said the Mount Laurel, N.J., man selling the raft whose eBay screen name is ?digitalcollectibles.? He asked that his real name not be used. But Is it Real? U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Roger Krass in Miami said Friday he did not know what happened to Elian?s inner tube, but said he ?doubts seriously? that it would be possible to purchase such a thing at a government auction. He said most rafts used by illegal immigrants are destroyed. The weathered raft isn?t the only Elian memorabilia available on eBay ? a page from a coloring book and a jar of air said to contain aromas from Little Havana were other examples of the Elian Gonzalez-related curios available on eBay, where items for auction are often one part quick buck and another part social commentary. The page from a child?s coloring book titled ?Lunch For A Squirrel? shows a smiling squirrel in a baseball cap staring at a pile of acorns on a picnic blanket. If indeed colored by 6-year-old Elian, he stayed within the lines, used various shades of brown for the squirrel?s fur and decided on blue and red for the cap?s stripes. Bids for the drawing reached $202.50 Friday. The jar of air is touted as containing smells from Elian?s neighborhood including ?essences of cigars, tear gas, burning tires, humidified by the tears of 1000?s of onlookers.? The ?Little Havana air? comes sealed in a Mason jar according to its seller Don Dudley of Tarzana, Calif. ?I?ve got a butane torch and some tire rubber and like our old high school chemistry experiments,? Dudley told The Associated Press Friday. ?I?ll just flame up some tires and cigars and wave the jar around. What the heck? Why not? It?s eBay.? ?I Touched Elian? Another person who claims to have ?touched? Elian is selling an envelope: ?So if you want to touch me thru my fingerprints on an envelope, then this is for you,? the user writes. ?Act now, before I have to wash my hands!? San Jose, Calif.-based eBay has often become a clearinghouse for the American consciousness with many items for sale and their accompanying commentary stemming from recent high-profile news stories. ?It?s a very vibrant community on eBay. When interesting news stories break if there are applicable items relating to the story, they tend to appear and they can be quite humorous at times,? said eBay spokesman Henry Gomez. But eBay has its share of prank items as well ? someone keeps posted Elian Gonzalez himself as an item up for bid, with users playing along and bidding for the boy until staff catch on and remove the listing in question. ?Bids? for the boy also enter multimillion-dollar territory before the item itself is de-listed, leaving one to wonder: even if the raft is legit, are the bids for real? The ongoing saga has captivated the nation as Elian?s Miami relatives fight against his father Juan Miguel Gonzalez. Elian was removed from the relative?s house in a pre-dawn raid on April 22, five months after he was rescued at sea. His mother was killed during the trip from Cuba to the United States. The Associated Press contributed to this report.