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Director Rob Reiner Plays Not My Job

Credit Nathan Strange / AP

By editor

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 1:08 pm

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Rob Reiner is an accomplished writer, director and actor. He's directed more than 20 movies, including some undeniable classics: A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride and of course, the movie that many will quote until they're old and gray, This Is Spinal Tap.

Reiner has said Stand by Me is his proudest accomplishment. To celebrate that film, we're going to ask him three questions about people he definitely doesn't want to stand by.

5:28 pm

Fri June 22, 2012

Paraguay's Congress Votes To Oust President

Credit Jose Cabezas / AFP/Getty Images

Paraguay's congress impeached President Fernando Lugo on Friday over his handling of a deadly land dispute.

By editor

Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 9:11 am

Paraguay's congress voted to remove President Fernando Lugo. The impeachment proceeding was a lightening process in which with both chambers approved his destitution in a little more than 24 hours.

Paraguay's La Nacíon reports that Vice President Federico Franco will assume the presidency after Lugo was found guilty of "performing his duties badly."

5:00 pm

Fri June 22, 2012

A Century-Old Grotto That Might Out-Glitter Vegas

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Credit Denise Krebs / via Flickr

Father Paul Dobberstein began building the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa, 100 years ago. It's covered with stones, rocks, petrified wood and seashells.

Credit Sandhya Dirks for NPR

After he contracted pneumonia, Dobberstein — a priest, a geologist and artist — vowed he would build a shrine to the Virgin Mary if he survived. The Grotto of the Redemption is that shrine.

Credit Sandhya Dirks for NPR

Just about everyone in West Bend — population 785 — is connected to the grotto, which was built over a period of 40 years.

By Sandhya Dirks

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 5:11 pm

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The Midwest is known for its roadside attractions — world's largest ear of corn, heaviest ball of twine, biggest truck stop.

But it's also home to one of the largest collections of grottoes in the world. Most of these man-made caves were created by immigrant priests at the beginning of the 20th century. And the mother of them all — encrusted in $6 million worth of semiprecious stones — is in West Bend, Iowa.

This weekend, the Grotto of the Redemption turns 100.

4:47 pm

Fri June 22, 2012

40 Years On, Title IX Still Shapes Female Athletes

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Credit Matthew Stockman / Getty Images

Michelle Marciniak (right) of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers attempts to elude the defensive pressure of Nykesha Sales of the UConn Huskies during the 1996 NCAA Women's Final Four.

Credit Roberto Schmidt / AFP/Getty Images

Brandi Chastain celebrates after kicking the winning penalty shot to win the 1999 Women's World Cup final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., in 1999.

By Tom Goldman

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 5:30 pm

Title IX, which turns 40 on Saturday, has helped reverse years of bias, banning sex discrimination in federally funded schools and colleges.

Its guarantee of equal access to sports was a small part of the original legislation. But it's become the most recognizable part of Title IX. That guarantee has not always played out, and the law has its critics. For four decades, however, it's played a huge part in shaping lives.

'I Can Handle This World'

4:12 pm

Fri June 22, 2012

Obama Basks In Latino Politicians' Love After His DREAM Moves

Credit Brendan Smialowski / AFP

President Obama returned a young fan's salute at the conference of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials in Orlando, Fla.

By Frank James

Originally published on Fri June 29, 2012 2:55 pm

Coming a week after President Obama announced that he would defer deportation proceedings for many young illegal immigrants, it was safe to predict that he'd get an appreciative response from an audience of Latino leaders. They didn't disappoint.

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12:56 am

Sat June 23, 2012