Those Wacky Psychotics

More from the Associated Press' "Odd" category...

Mich. 'Crucible' instructor accused of witchcraft
FERNDALE, Mich. -- A man assigned "The Crucible" in an adult education English class doused his teacher with a nonflammable liquid and threatened to burn her as a witch, police said.

This isn't "odd." It's a wake-up call that someone is going to wind up injured or dead if something isn't done for Mr. Najor. He's already admitted to attempting to kill someone by dousing her with holy water. Okay - so holy water hasn't proved fatal to anyone outside of bad vampire novels. But still - here is a man who is attempting to kill someone because he thinks she's a witch. He's 20 years old - this isn't a phase.

The fact that the teacher wasn't killed, and the bizarre way that Najor went about trying to kill her, make it easy to see why the AP labeled this story as "odd." But I think that such a label downplays they seriousness of what happened. This is a man who really needs some sort of mental health evaluation. Had he abducted her, and burned her alive at the stake, this wouldn't be a candidate for news of the wacky. If we're going to rely on the news media to inform us, perhaps its time that we ask them to drop the fluff, take serious items seriously, and save the "odd" label for things that are truly offbeat.