You won’t believe this. On eBay, under the topic “space shuttle” and on the 10th page, some creeps are offering tiles from the Columbia!! F*%?#ng ghouls. I hope they rot.
N, shaking my head
I thought I remembered reading yesterday that e-bay pulled all such items off. Yes, there were MORE. Hard to believe, I know.
Carol
Well, we can take comfort in knowing that, if they ARE artifacts from Columbia, those sellers are in a world of hurt. Those pieces are federal property, and the government has already announced that they will take legal action, if necessary, to retrieve them.
It never fails to amaze me how some people will take any opportunity to profit from a tragedy 
On a more positive note, we were idly watching TV in a lounge last night while waiting to be seated for dinner. Scrolling across the screen under whatever was playing was the message that “Star Wars” had been scheduled for that time period, but the station had decided that it might be painful for some to watch in light of the shuttle disaster, so it would be rescheduled for a later date. I thought that showed an amazing amount of tact for a TV station!
Redwolf
[ This Message was edited by: Redwolf on 2003-02-03 14:44 ]
Props to that TV station for showing a sense of proportion, Redwolf! It appears to me that grasping opportunism and self-entitlement are so much the fashion of the day, that probity itself seems almost shocking by contrast.
N, cynical today
I just wish that TV station hadn’t shown a Carol Lombard documentary instead.
That’s very weird–the ebay sale.
Yes, I heard on the radio that sellers doing that were to be fined up to $250,000 with jail time as well.
What is truly in a grey area - and I saw this at 9/11 too - are sellers who put related memorabilia on auction before the tragedy and end up with insane prices for their pieces.
Case in point - this auction for a $5 Columbia memorabilia coin, which began with an opening bid of $10 on January 25 and ended 12 hours after the accident:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3003546952&category=546
There was no malicious intent from the seller - just selling off some interesting trinkets. But look at the](http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=3003546952%22%3Ethe) bid history…people went insane.
What amazes me are the number of people who bid against themselves.
Does eBay have a course on ‘how to out bid yourself in three easy lessons’ ??
They weren’t bidding against themselves - they were trying to exceed a higher bid made by an earlier bidder. The time stamps tell the chronological order - the names are listed in order of amount bid, not time of bid.
Oh, well…I suppose the religious fascination with relics isn’t so far removed from the desire for any other memorabilia; all of this is would involve a lot of discussion, semantics and history and it would still stink to high heaven for MY nose.
Then again, I ain’t so lily-white myself…
Rant, rant, rant.
N, trying to keep my ghoulish figure
Here’s a CNN article on the situation.
It is a federal offense to remove debris from an aircraft accident, because it could inhibit the investigation. Add that to the fact that Columbia is government property and people have already been warned not to touch or move anything, and there’s definitely a strong case to prosecute anyone who has actual pieces of the shuttle. It’s likely, as this article says, that many of these are hoaxes, but for those that aren’t, I hope eBay turns 'em over to the Feds…trying to profit off such a tragedy is heinous.
Redwolf
I would assume that there is an underground market for every possible kind of sick or macabre service or merchandise. I suppose you have to be into that sort of thing to know why; on second thoughts, I doubt whether those who are into them really know why. What is puzzling to me about these auctions is that they are so public.