Or shameless?

WorldNetDaily (who else?) reports that Joel Henry Hinrichs III (the Oklahoma University student who blew himself up), was -- get this:

a "suicide bomber" in possession of "Islamic jihad" materials. . .

....Doug Hagmann, a seasoned investigator, told WND he was informed by multiple reliable law-enforcement sources familiar with the investigation into the incident that authorities recovered a "significant amount" of "jihad" materials, as well as Hinrichs’ computer.

Hagmann also said those same sources indicated police and federal agents "had pulled additional explosives from [Hinrichs’] house," including triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, "homemade explosive [that is] very potent but relatively easily manufactured."

TATP was also used in the July mass transit bombings in London, CNN reported, and was used by attempted bomber Richard Reid, who packed his shoes with the compound in an unsuccessful attempt to destroy a U.S.-bound American Airlines flight in December 2001.

I see that Rusty Shackleford has linked to this story while expressing skepticism (which I share) -- both about WorldNetDaily and about Hagmann:

Larry Hagmann is the director of the Northeast Intelligence Network, so both stories are based on the same uncorraborated reports. NEIN has been called 'the world's most alarmist website' by a number of people in the past, so we'll let that stand as a disclaimer. It will be very interesting to follow this story and see what really motivated Hinrichs to kill himslelf in this fashion.

However, if the WND/NEIN reports are true about jihadi material, but Hinrichs was not motivated by jihad, then think about what this is saying. If you want to blow yourself up, then who better to consult than the local chapter of the Islamic Society of North America? That's a pretty sad statement.

If this "story" pans out, well, shame on the Philadelphia Inquirer (and especially Knight Ridder). I'd be willing to concede some respect (if grudging in light of their social views) for this news outfit. But if not, I'm afraid I'll be in the category of people who think being fooled twice means shame on me.

I've been tired of shame for a long time, and I'm just not into more.

MORE: I'm still puzzled by what seems like an awful hurry to declare that this was not terrorism. How could they know so fast? American Thinker's Steve Warshawsky hopes it's part of the plan:

According to University of Oklahoma president David Boren, although Hinrich had "emotional difficulties in the past," there is "certainly no evidence at this point which points to any other kind of motivation other than his personal problems." I hope this is simply a ruse, however transparent, to help the FBI conduct its investigation into this apparently botched act of domestic terrorism without alerting Hinrich's possible accomplices. For surely, in the absence of compelling evidence to the contrary, anyone who blows himself up in public near large crowds of people should be presumed to be a terrorist, not a bizarrely suicidal college student.

And this remark by Hinrichs' father's has to be the understatement of the day:

His son also had an interest in explosives, he said. "Every little boy does that," he said. "He went a little further than most."

MORE: Kevin Aylward has another odd quote from the father.

And Bill Quick said "Uh Oh."

AND MORE: Mark Tapscott isn't buying into the official story, and he asks some sensible questions (you know, the type which used to be asked by sensible reporters):

....why was Boren sufficiently familiar with Hinrichs to so quickly issue an opinion about his motive in the bombing? When he resigned in November 1994 as an Oklahoma senator, Boren was chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He left the Senate just after the Democrats lost their majority in the GOP sweep of 1994.

Add to his Senate years the presence of an active and long-established Muslim student presence on the OU campus stemming in great part from the school's excellent Petroleum Engineering program, and it stands to reason that Boren has been privy to intelligence briefings as head of the school. He almost certainly has maintained excellent contacts within the U.S. intelligence community made during his tenure as chairman of the Senate committee. Is that how he knew so quickly of Hinrichs?

Fourth, in one of the photos appearing in the media, Hinrichs appears to have a fresh beard, which is characteristic of new Muslim male converts. His father told The Oklahoman his son was a quiet, intellectual type, but he had no idea what might have incited him to take his own life. We can only assume the father also didn't know of the bomb-making material in his son's apartment. Perhaps we are dealing with a recent or a secret convert?

Finally, if Hinrichs was just a disturbed guy who decided to kill himself with a bomb 100 yards from a crowd of 84,000 people instead of simply putting a bullet through his temple, slashing his wrists or some other traditional way of doing away with himself, why is the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force now the lead agency in the investigation?

Thank God for the blogosphere! In backwater provinces like the city I live in, not only don't reporters ask such questions, the stories aren't even reported.

(Little wonder conspiracy theories like these take hold and thrive.)

MORE: Take with grain of salt, says Goldstein.

Absolutely. But grain of salt or not the story itself should have been reported.

UPDATE (10/05/05): In a report which details Joel Hinrichs' failed attempt to buy ammonium nitrate, Oklahoma University President David Boren (in what is described as a "shift") has specifically refused to describe the explosion as a suicide:

The FBI has not announced details about the bomb, but Channel 5 News reported Tuesday night that Hinrichs' bomb contained acetone peroxide, or TATP. The highly unstable chemical can be made from household items, but it is very sensitive to heat and shock.

Law enforcement found more bomb-making materials Sunday at Hinrichs' residence at the Parkview Apartments, and they were detonated that evening. Earlier last week, Hinrichs tried to buy ammonium nitrate fertilizer from Ellison Feed and Seed in east Norman.

Dustin Ellison said the student visited his store on Wednesday and asked to buy the fertilizing ingredient often used in bombs. Ellison said Hinrichs didn't know how much he needed, and the store operator asked why the fertilizer was needed. After further discussion, Ellison said "something didn't feel right" and decided not to sell any materials to him.

Hinrichs, 21, was a National Merit scholar from Colorado Springs, Colo. Boren said Hinrichs did not participate in a pregame recognition of freshmen National Merit scholars because he was not a freshman.

"Was he in the stadium, did he attempt to enter the stadium?" Boren asked rhetorically. "To our knowledge, at this point, the answer to that question is no."

While saying it appears no one else is connected to the bombing, Boren made a shift in describing Hinrich's death by saying, "I do not say suicide, I say it's an individual death that we're dealing with. That's all we really know."

Now that I think about it, if you're going to commit suicide, ammonium nitrate would be overkill. . .

UPDATE (10/05/05): My thoughts on the nature of this reporting, plus updated links here.

UPDATE (10/06/05): More recent post here.