Ebay, Google, and Forum Novelties Censor illegal alien costu

Update 2:00pm Eastern

BREAKING NEWS! Ebay, Google, and Forum Novelties Censor illegal alien costume!

"So much for free markets, free speech, or free political expression in America!" William Gheen, President of ALIPAC.

Contact: Americans for Legal Immigration PAC ALIPAC
www.alipac.us (866) 703-0864

Time line

Sat Oct 17: CNN Reports that a small pro-amnesty and pro-illegal alien group has persuaded Target to remove the illegal alien Halloween costume from its online store.

Illegal Immigrant activists call out 'Illegal Alien' costumes
http://www.alipac.us/article-4604-thread-1-0.html

Sunday Oct 18 (12 Noon EST): ALIPAC Calls for Americans who value freedom of political expression to buy the costume and stand up to censorship!

ALIPAC: Illegal Alien Costumes Are Cool for Halloween!
http://www.alipac.us/article-4605-thread-1-0.html

Sunday Oct 18 (10pm EST) All online sales locations run out of the illegal alien Halloween costume and list item as Out of Stock or Sold Out!

Monday Oct 19 (1am EST) William Gheen, President of ALIPAC lists his ordered illegal alien Halloween costume for sale on Ebay to raise awareness about illegal immigration and to display the free market value of the costume to the American public. Close to 20 bids on the costume quickly take the price up to $116 or three times the retail value!

Monday Oct 19 (11am EST): ALIPAC Sends Out Updated Press Release to over 100,000 American press contacts pointing out that the illegal alien costume has quickly sold out in all venues and is trading for a high price on Ebay

Media Update: Illegal alien costume sells out nationwide
http://www.alipac.us/article-4606-thread-1-0.html


Monday Oct 19 (1pm EST) Google pulls down William Gheen's Google ad for "Pending Review" after a very high response rate to the ad was documented 21 clicks after only 862 impressions creating a high Click Through Rate (CTR) of 2.44%. Google effectively censors the ad from public view.

Monday Oct 19 (1:30pm EST) William Gheen contacts Forum Novelties Inc. - Melville, NY and is informed that the company will not distribute any more of the costumes and that only the mask is available, without the orange jump suit that reads "Illegal Alien"

Monday Oct 19 (2pm EST) William Gheen, President of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC receives the following e-mail notice from Ebay.

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"eBay sent this message to William Gheen (alipacwilliam).
Your registered name is included to show this message originated from eBay. Learn more.

MC036 eBay Listing Removed: Hateful or Discriminatory (336282562)

Dear alipacwilliam (williamg@alipac.us),

You recently listed the following listing:

170396385534 - illegal alien Halloween costume controversial

Unfortunately, we had to remove your listing because the following information violates our policy:

eBay has made the decision to prohibit the listing of the illegal alien costumes as they may be offensive to some members. Please do not relist this item.

We don't allow listings that promote or endorse discrimination against any individuals or groups on eBay.

Learn more about this policy at:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/offensive.html
You may need to take a tutorial. The next time you sell, you may be asked to take the tutorial, if it's required. Once you've completed the tutorial successfully, please review your account status for any other possible concerns. If there are no other issues, you should be able to sell again.

Please note: violation of this or other eBay policies may result in forfeit of eBay fees on canceled listings, limits on account privileges and account suspension.

You can review our list of prohibited and restricted items here:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/items-ov.html

Thanks for your understanding.

Sincerely,
eBay Trust and Safety team

Why eBay may remove your listing:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/questio ... ended.html

H5171"

-------------------------------------------



PLEASE DIRECT YOUR COMPLAINTS TO THE FOLLOWING SOURCES

eBay Inc. Headquarters
Whitman Campus
2065 Hamilton Avenue
San Jose, California 95125
(800) 322-9266
(408) 376-7400

Target
1000 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55403 (Map)
Phone: 612-304-6073
Fax: 612-696-5400
Online Form for Merchandise
http://www.target.com/gp/help/display-c ... ayLink=tsm

FORUM NOVELTIES INC‎
1770 Walt Whitman Rd
Melville, NY‎
(516) 536-4600‎
web@forumnovelties.com

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
Phone: +1 650-253-0000
Fax: +1 650-253-0001

WE ARE SENDING OUT THIS E-MAIL BLAST TO ALL PRESS CONTACTS, SOCIAL MEDIA CONTACTS, and ALIPAC Supporters to weigh your response.


Please post your comments, feedback, or suggestions at this link...
http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-966806.html#966806

I had a feeling this would happen since there were no costumes available in the search engine on ebay when I checked yesterday and now none are appearing today. :(

Get this out to all the media and radio that you can. There are lots of negative books, tapes, shirts, etc. that criticize groups or individuals on Ebay. Those discriminate too. Who is Ebay kidding? What about the shirts that support illegal aliens on Ebay? Isn't that supporting the violation of law?

Just noticed this article.

(quote)

www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-091019c ... 0668.story

chicagotribune.com

Activists blast 'illegal alien' costume

By Leticia Espinosa

Hoy

1:04 PM CDT, October 19, 2009


Several well-known chain stores have halted sales of an "illegal alien" Halloween costume after complaints from immigrant-rights activists.

The costume includes an orange jumpsuit similar to prison garb, with ILLEGAL ALIEN stamped across the chest, a "green card" and a space alien mask.

Activists began complaining Friday when they learned the costume was being sold in stores or on Web sites of retailers including Target, Walgreen's and Amazon. The costume was priced between $27.49 and $39.99.

The costume makes a "mockery of the status of millions of immigrants in need of immigration reform," said Jorge Mujica of Chicago, an activist with the group March 10th Committee.

Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, urged a boycott of stores selling the costume. "When a corporation dehumanizes immigrants, the best thing is to stop buying from it," he said.

After Target heard from activists it apologized and halted sales of the costume. "It was never our intent to offend the consumers with the products we offer," a Target statement said.

Walgreen's spokeswoman Vivika Vergara said the costume was never on sale in its stores and was pulled from its online store. "We received feedback from customers and decided it was best to stop carrying it so it would not be subject to varied interpretation," she said in an e-mail message.

The maker of the costume, Forum Novelties Inc., based in Melville, New York, could not be reached for comment.

Activists also were offended by a revealing "illegal alien" costume for women that included a mini-dress, sleeveless top and handcuffs.

Activist and Radio Arte host Tania Unzueta called the costume " a mockery."

She said anyone who sells the costume doesn't "know a thing about the depression, anguish, pain, frustration and anger that comes from being an undocumented immigrant in the United States."

lespinosa@tribune.com


(quote)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi- ... 0668.story

Jeremiah 29:11

But it's ok to list stuff like this?

http://tinyurl.com/ygwrl8f

http://tinyurl.com/ylzhn26

I find Google, eBay and Novelty Forum Inc to be hypocrites.

Google allows pornographic advertisement not to mention images, even when you search for cartoon characters by name. eBay allows the sale and advertisement of "adult novelties", toys and costumes. Novelty Forum sells erotic costumes and "novelties".

Right... No one finds that offensive and everyone wants their children to find it, while they are surfing the Internet.

Determining what is offensive! FAIL!

Dixie

I think a "restraint of trade" issue could be made here by both W and the creator/distributor of this costume.....and would probably be more effective than talking about rights' violations because.....well...."rights" in this country no longer seem to apply to non-minority groups and/or American citizens.

Dixie mentioned porn, etc. If I recall correctly, efforts to ban that sort of stuff from various venues were blocked using restraint of trade litigation and arguments. Same thing with strip clubs, adult clubs, bars, night clubs, etc.......all inflicted upon communities using the same restraint of trade crap.

It might be worth a try......the special interests find their support from entities quickly disappear when those entities are facing possible litigation and God only knows that there's enough proof of inequitable application of their "policies" concerning what's "offensive" available straight from their own sites. Let's see 'em fight that :wink:

I don't believe that mocking anyone is against the law, in fact, I believe satire is protected speech. I knew a guy in high school who went trick or treating as Jesus Christ, complete with cross. Nothing happened to him. (Fortunately the weather was mild enough to wear a loincloth and bare chest).

Here is another type of illegal alien mask still for sale, I guess it is the jump suit they are having a problem with. :roll:

http://www.halloweenexpress.com/illegal ... 18643.html

What a joke! I hope to see a ton of home made illlegal alien costumes out there this halloween. Thanks to a very small number of hate-mongering crybabies this will be the hottest costume this year.

These people who whine about this costume, I wonder how they feel about the "naughty" nun costumes? How about "redneck" costumes? I don't know about them, but I've never seen an alien from outer space be offended over a silly costume.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

But it's ok to list stuff like this?

http://tinyurl.com/ygwrl8f

http://tinyurl.com/ylzhn26

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Here's another one to add to your list-a drunk mexican costume with outrageous shipping costs:

http://tinyurl.com/yh88ffo

Ebay states the following:

Quote:

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We don't allow listings that promote or endorse discrimination against any individuals or groups on eBay.

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Yet eBay lists over 2,374 listings for the game series, "Grand Theft Auto" in which players attain life points by beating a woman (hooker) to death with a baseball bat.

eBay lists 1,689 listings for various Eminem products, CDs, posters, DVDs, clothing, etc. Among Eminem's misogynist and violent offerings is this song called "Kim" that he wrote about his ex-wife. The lyrics include this nice little ending....

Quote:

---

HAHA, gotcha! Go ahead, yell
Here I'll scream with you,
AHH SOMEBODY HELP.
Don't you get it b*tch?
No one can hear you, now shut the F up and get what's coming to you.
You were supposed to love me.
Now bleed b*tch, bleed!
BLEED B*TCH BLEED!
BLEED!

---

As a woman, I am highly and grossly offended by both of these examples of eBay's willingness to exploit women just to make a buck.

It's fine to allow the sale of items which promote violence and murder against half the world's population, but eBay is afraid of offending illegal aliens and their apologist supporters with the offering of a joke costume?

Unbelievable.

I refuse to ever shop at Target again and I will encourage others to not shop there again. I will no longer use Ebay as a site to buy or sell. And as for the costume......let's see.

Jumpsuit died orange
Stencil and paint for the words "illegal alien"
Cardboard painted green with the words "green card" painted on it and then laminated and attached to the suit.
Alien mask

I think we have this covered. I know alot of people that can throw a costume like this together. Are they going to come and arrest us for wearing it? Give me a break. These bleeding hearts are more than I can stand anymore!!!! :twisted:

Quote:

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We don't allow listings that promote or endorse discrimination against any individuals or groups on eBay.

---

So eBay believes in space aliens and don't endorse individuals and groups who are discriminating against them.

Strange corporate policy.

Dixie

This is too funny ! Of course e-bray and goggle never stopped to think how popular this costume will be now !!

I was gonna go as a Border Patrol Officer then I thought of Jose Compean & Ignacio Ramos..... well I don't want to get arrested for no good reason !

Then this illegal alien costume idea popped up it is PERFECT I sure as heck won't have to worry about being arrested. :idea:

The BIG picture is this - Why the hell is anyone who is an American worried about insulting millions of people who are willfully breaking the law by being in our country. Of course just being here starts a long list of how illegals have hyjacked the U.S.A. and our way of life. Aside from that - The biggest problem facing ALIPAC and those of us who support its efforts is political correctness. Who could have imagined that it would ever be wrong to stand up against crime out of control and that you could be labeled a racist by just believing in Americans. Who ever thought that if you are a public servant displaying the flag of the United States of America that you could be suspended for displaying offensive material.

Several posts make great points about the very offensive material being sold on Ebay - from sex toys to sexual performance enhancement drugs. Its all about money which leaves me even more confused. It is proven that at least for illegal Mexicans, they spend their money on the bare necessities and wire the rest out of country. Illegal Mexicans are not spending their tax free paychecks at our nations retailers. I will never understand why corporate America caters to them in such a degrading way to the rest of the free world. Some retailers who have walked that road no longer exist. I would like to see Target on that list.

Its ok to have the costume of a Nun, Anti-Christ, murderer, even a member of the KKK - but an illegal alien is just too much for America to take ?? I wonder how many people political and non-political just have a guilty conscience about what we have allowed on our shores and how many know that they cannot go anywhere. The Democrates have no prayer of re-election without them. Politics and money - and at ANY cost.

Agree, mlretail. It has turned into anything goes, unless you make too much noise--and only for the profit margin, no matter how many American citizens end up suffering. Greed is good, said the movie Gordon Gecko character, referring to the Go-Go 80s stock market. Unfortunately, greed is better than ever these days, but unfortunately it has now been colored by being PC on behalf of persons that have no right to be in this country, many of whom are using every social service with no payment ever forthcoming.

Amazon.com removed the listing for the "Alien Adult Costume" within the last couple of hours. Although the costume was supposedly sold out earlier in the day, amazon in the end didn't just state that it was "sold out" or "currently unavailable" as they typically do -- amazon completely deleted the web page so that now all that appears is a message stating "We're sorry. The Web address you entered is not a functioning page on our site" should you happen to find an old link pointing to the page that once displayed the costume. Amazon's product search no longer includes the costume in the returned product list either.

People were using the customer review section to debate the the illegal alien issue. From what I could tell, it looked like the controversy was started by an initial onslaught of pro-illegal supporters with typical comments (thinly disguised as reviews) about "no person is illegal", xenophobic, racist, bigotry, etc. I wrote a reply to one of these, but then there was no place to post it after I got it written. Anyway, it seems that the pro-costume reviews were being rated about 70 to 4 "helpful" (meaning in reality positive, I think) before amazon went into their protect the illegals mode and deleted the page.

A couple of years ago, at the urging of the HSUS I sent an e-mail to amazon objecting to them selling material that promoted and encouraged animal fighting which is illegal in most -- if not all states. The only thing I received in response was a canned reply stating that amazon's business practice was to make products available that their customers wanted to buy and that they would not stop selling the material. Although, their business practices may be inconsistent when it comes to providing customers with what they want; at least it is consistent in amazon putting itself and select lawbreakers above the law.

Actually, my first impression of this particular costume was that it was poking fun at those opposed to illegal immigration because it played into the "Illegal alien? Where do you think these people come from? Mars?" mentality that I've ofter heard from the illegal promotion crowd. I think the illegal crowd either over-reacted or was just looking for yet another way to ram it all down our throats. Regardless, it saddens and infuriates me that Americans are so easily and foolishly giving up their essential traditional values --even freedom of expression -- to placate the PC mongers.

Right, BlueHills. The costume is great as a political snark. Aliens--sure from Russia, Latin America or Tasmania, or probably the space aliens were upset by all of it are protesting, as the costume sure looks like a space alien showing a recently-purchased greed card (a very big one).
If this is not the prime example of how our most successful companies don't want to upset the apple cart for all the riches they can get from space aliens, I am not sure what could be more silly and absurd.

E-Bay is worried about offending illegal invaders, but freely sells a CD that promotes the "uprising of Aztlan":

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-sealed-Aztlan-U ... 1c04420c54

Here's a description of the CD:

http://www.smartartpress.com/products/a ... olonize-cd

According to E-Bay's stated policy, they need to quit selling this item, in order to avoid offending a group. That's because this CD discriminates against Americans. That's a pretty large group.

If these venues are going to be fair, then they need to ban all such items for all sellers. Thanks for the links in the thread so that I could point out the hypocrisy on ebay and report all the others as offensive, as well, including the AUG CD.

Has everybody seen this? I found it through the Chi Trib link to Chicanisima. Someone posted it in the comments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ci1Q0T7kUY

Kind of shoots a hole in all their 'racist' claims.
Wonder if Lou Dobbs is aware of it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sunlandbob

E-Bay is worried about offending illegal invaders, but freely sells a CD that promotes the "uprising of Aztlan":

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-sealed-Aztlan-U ... 1c04420c54

Here's a description of the CD:

http://www.smartartpress.com/products/a ... olonize-cd

According to E-Bay's stated policy, they need to quit selling this item, in order to avoid offending a group. That's because this CD discriminates against Americans. That's a pretty large group.

---

That's really annoying! William should bring this up in any interviews.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ratbstard

Has everybody seen this? I found it through the Chi Trib link to Chicanisima. Someone posted it in the comments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ci1Q0T7kUY

Kind of shoots a hole in all their 'racist' claims.
Wonder if Lou Dobbs is aware of it.

---

Ratbstard, now that really is racist! I don't think I've ever seen a more offensive video! I could only make it half way through before I stopped it. This from a guy who loves SouthPark and toilet humor!

The Illegal Alien costume is nothing by comparison.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChiWatcher2

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ratbstard

Has everybody seen this? I found it through the Chi Trib link to Chicanisima. Someone posted it in the comments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ci1Q0T7kUY

Kind of shoots a hole in all their 'racist' claims.
Wonder if Lou Dobbs is aware of it.

---

Ratbstard, now that really is racist! I don't think I've ever seen a more offensive video! I could only make it half way through before I stopped it. This from a guy who loves SouthPark and toilet humor!

The Illegal Alien costume is nothing by comparison.

---

I made this comment on the video: "This video is offensive." Guess the user who posted the video didn't agree because my comment went poof. I also flagged the video. ;) Everyone else should do the same so it gets removed.

I disagree Mayday, it is something we can point to when they play the 'race card'. I hope someone who knows how can copy it and repost it so our comments would be allowed. I tried posting to it but was blocked. Hmm wonder why?

I could only hope that the illegal aliens get so offended that they pack up their bags and leave my country.

I could care less if illegal aliens are offended because they brought it on themselves. Trust me, if they weren't here, they wouldn't be talked about at all. They wouldn't be in the headlines, they wouldn't be discussed by me, politicians, law enforcement officers... and they sure as hell wouldn't be any humorous Halloween costumes about them.

Dixie

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dixie

I could only hope that the illegal aliens get so offended that they pack up their bags and leave my country.

I could care less if illegal aliens are offended because they brought it on themselves. Trust me, if they weren't here, they wouldn't be talked about at all. They wouldn't be in the headlines, they wouldn't be discussed by me, politicians, law enforcement officers... and they sure as hell wouldn't be any humorous Halloween costumes about them.

Dixie

---

Absolutely, they are criminals and should not be catered to in any way!

I have two thoughts on this.

First, the chicanos have absolutely no sense of humor at all. This is the wrong battle to fight if they're concerned about a poor image being made of illegal aliens from south of the border.

Second, I'm wondering how much of the media hype was created by the likes of Ebay, Target and/or the manufacturer of the costume simply to boost sales.