So the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding is not complete fantasy? They both shake their heads. "Not that far off," says John. "Exaggerated, but not far off."Marilena's mother came to Stirling and stayed for four months to help with Maria. That's the way Greek families are. "Family life seems a bit different here," says Marilena. Behind the bar, Patrik agrees. Albania is not in the EU, so his family cannot get visas, and if he can afford to, he spends £500 twice a year to go back to see them. "But you get brothers and sisters here, one who lives in Stirling and the other in Glasgow, and they don't see each other for six months," he says, clearly baffled.The human instinct to explore, to aim further than home, has always fuelled immigration, but as people get older, they also often experience the homing instinct.

Law pioneer helped HIV-positive clients

Robert Holt, a Denver attorney who was one of the first lawyers in the nation to represent HIV patients as well as people with disabilities in the workplace, died of a heart attack Dec. 16. He was 50.

A memorial is planned at 4 p.m. Saturday. For information on the location, contact holtmemorial@gmail.com.

Holt began representing people with disabilities in the 1980s, before the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, said a former law partner and friend, Larry Smith of Chicago.

Holt and his work were the subject of news stories in several national publications, including the Wall Street Journal and Fortune magazine.

Holt's work also included interstate transactions between Colorado and Texas as well as child-custody cases and family law, said his mother, Rowena Holt , of Lakeland, Fla.

Political background to the CPE protests

We are reposting the following series of articles on the revolt of the French working class in November-December 1995 in the hope that it will help to clarify the political background to the present upheaval in that country. The ongoing revolt by millions of youth and workers is a further response to the effort by the French ruling class to slash or eliminate entirely the social gains made in decades of struggle.

In November-December 1995, the working class revolted against efforts by the right-wing regime of Prime Minister Alain Juppé to “reform” the social security system, just as today the government of Dominique de Villepin is “reforming” France’s labor laws. In 1995 millions of workers, led by the transport workers in particular, rejected the claims made by the government and the media and recognized the maneuver for what it was—an attempt to shift the burden of the social costs on to the back of the working population.

This Week in Pac-10 Softball

The Conference weathered the storm, both literally and figuratively, in the second week of tournament play and most Conference teams are looking for a rainbow in the third week ... STANFORD looks to continue its undefeated start to the regular season behind the phenomenal play in the circle of P Missy Penna, who has only allowed two runs in 44.1 innings pitched ... ARIZONA STATE, fresh off of hosting the Kajikawa Classic, which was marred with storms throughout, hosts the Littlewood Classic in the middle of a stretch of 27 straight home games. The Sun Devils rebounded from their road loss to UNLV in week one to post an 8-0 record in week two ... UCLA took four-of-five at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic last week and now faces a very tough slate at the Palm Springs Classic where it will face four Top-25 teams in three days, including a showdown with No.