STATE HOUSE — For more than five hours Thursday a small group of immigrant rights activists camped outside Speaker Robert DeLeo's office, saying they wanted a meeting with the top House Democrat whose influence they believe is blocking a bill they support.
At an event at Suffolk University, DeLeo told the News Service that he could not say whether he opposes or backs the bill, which would prevent local police departments from arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants based solely on their immigration status.
When my son, Thomas, was a boy, he enjoyed playing in a neighborhood swimming pool with Pool Noodles. These are simple devices: brightly colored polyethylene shaped into cylinders about three feet long and about three inches in diameter. Being brightly colored, they're easy to see. Being polyethylene, they're highly buoyant in water. And being brightly colored and highly buoyant, Pool Noodles are fun for children in swimming pools and a source of comfort for parents whose children play with them.
One day, while I was watching Thomas grab one of these Noodles, it struck me that these toys did not exist when I was a boy in the 1960s. Pool Noodles weren't invented until the 1980s. And, even then, it took a while for retailers to assume the risk of offering them for sale. It is probably not surprising that Wal-Mart led the way.
