Love curling up with a good book? Tired of re-runs and brainless internet surfing?

Want to help your favorite authors? Want to find new ones to entertain you?

Then please support your local bookseller. Otherwise…

By DAVID TWIDDY, Associated Press Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Wayne has amassed thousands of books in a warehouse during the 10 years he has run his used book store, Prospero’s Books. But when he wanted to thin out the collection, he found he couldn’t even give away books to libraries or thrift shops; they said they were full.

So on Sunday, Wayne began burning his books in protest of what he sees as society’s diminishing support for the printed word.

“This is the funeral pyre for thought in America today,” Wayne told spectators outside his bookstore as he lit the first batch of books.

Wayne said he has seen fewer customers in recent years as people more often get their information from television or the Internet. He pointed to a 2002 study by the National Endowment for the Arts, that found that less than half of adult respondents reported reading for pleasure, down from almost 57 percent in 1982.

Mike Bechtel paid $10 for a stack of books, including an antique collection of children’s literature, which he said he’d save for his 4-year-old son.

“I think, given the fact it is a protest of people not reading books, it’s the best way to do it,” Bechtel said. “(Wayne has) made the point that not reading a book is as good as burning it.”

NBC San Diego has a story about a video that the FBI uses to demonstrate how gang violence is perpetuated.

In it, a toddler in diapers and his dad spend a day together. First, dad shows junior how to execute a drive-by shooting: the baby pretending the drive the car while dad “shoots” from the back seat.

Then they spend some quality time bagging drugs together. Dad uses this opportunity to continue to bond with his son by teaching him swear words and giving him alcohol to drink.

Finally, dad and junior practice quick draw skills as dad pulls a toy gun from the baby’s diaper and shows him how to hold it and threaten someone with it.

Ahhh…the joys of fatherhood.

Okay, I’ll bet you’re expecting this to be about the Grey’s Anatomy finale.

Nope, this is real life. From Reuters:

BERLIN (Reuters) – A 36-year-old German mother-of-five drove her son to a jewelry store he wanted to rob because she was afraid he may come to some harm, Bild newspaper reported Wednesday.

While her 17-year-old son and his two accomplices stabbed and robbed a jeweler in the eastern city of Dresden, the mother waited outside in the car.

“I knew he wanted to rob the shop and I was very worried about him,” top-selling Bild quoted the mother as saying.

A court sentenced the woman to three years and ten months in prison, a spokeswoman for the court said.

The scariest thing? The women has four other children! Gee, wonder what those kids have learned from their adult role models?