To Seattle, Los Angeles, then back to Seattle

I was in eastern Washington heading west on my way to visit my Grandma in the Seattle area on Aug. 28th when I received a phone call from my mom saying Grandma passed away that morning. My mom and I were meeting in Seattle at my sister's house where we all were going to celebrate Grandma's 98th birthday. We had to plan her funeral instead. The arrangements took us on a plane ride to Los Angeles for the service and burial. Upon returning to Seattle, we cleaned grandma's apt. then on Monday Sept. 11th I headed south to the Portland area to visit my friend Marlene.
While in Los Angeles I attended a Labor Day Rally (to protest Illegal Immigration) sponsored by IWW, UTLA, CNA, SEIU, Teamsters, the EAA, Radical Women, ANSWER-LA, the International Socialist Organization, and the Peace and Freedom Party. I was accompanied by eleven Patriotic Americans who were members of SOS (Save Our State) and various Minutemen organizations. Our small number of 12 made quite an impression on the 2,000 or so pro Illegal Immigration advocates. The Los Angeles Police had to escort us out of the park “for our own safety” because our signs, such as I.C.E. WHERE ARE YOU? , Unite America - Not an Illegal Foreign Workforce, Unions Embracing Illegals Are Selling Out Their Members and Support HR 4437, upset our opposition. We attracted numerous newspaper and local TV news crews who shoved cameras and microphones in our faces. We attempted to explain our position that unions are pandering to ILLEGAL ALIENS to boost their enrollment, which lowers wages for American citizens, etc, etc.

Here’s one newspaper article on the day’s events:
Wilmington Says No to Minuteman Invasionby Leslie Radford Monday, Sep. 04, 2006 at 4:18 PM leslie@radiojustice.net A handful of minutemen attempted to invade and disrupt the annual Union Labor Day picnic but are led out by union workers and police.
WILMINGTON, CA, 4 September 2006--Apparently without respect for unions or workers, a handful of minutemen attempted to invade and disrupt the annual Union Labor Day picnic and festival at Banning Park today. At about 12:15, about a dozen minutemen with signs managed to get about a hundred feet into the park before they were confronted by a couple of hundred union members. Coincidentally, as they approached, the SEIU speaker was talking about the "most vulnerable" workers, those who work for less than minimum wage without union protection. As the words "cazamigrantes" and "minutemen" spread through the park and the crowd grew, the police and union workers intervened to move the minutemen out of the park. By 12:30, the minutemen had re-assembled across the street and protested unnoticed for the rest of the rally celebration.
The family fiesta, with classic cars and classic rock, speakers, and booths for IWW, UTLA, CNA, SEIU, Teamsters, and today's heros, the EAA, continued without incident. They were joined by numerous organizations supporting the workers' struggle, including Radical Women, ANSWER-LA, the International Socialist Organization, and the Peace and Freedom Party.