Unlike the bomb which exploded in front of the football stadium at Oklahoma University, bombs at Georgia Tech are considered a "terrorist act":

Three explosive devices found in a courtyard between two Georgia Tech dormitories on the East Campus Monday morning were part of a "terrorist act," an Atlanta police official said.

One of the devices exploded, injuring the custodian who found them inside a plastic bag. Two others were detonated by a bomb squad.

The custodian suffered ringing to the ears and was treated at a local hospital. The events led to a temporary evacuation Monday morning.

"It is a terrorist act at this point and depending on the outcome of the investigation it potentially could become a federal violation as well," said Major C.W. Moss of the Atlanta Police Department.

Under Georgia state law, a terroristic act is described as the release of a "hazardous substance," specifically for "the purpose of causing the evacuation of a building" with "reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror."

The custodian found the three devices about 9 a.m. in a plastic-type garbage bag, Moss said. When he picked up the bag, one exploded, as it was designed to do when handled. The explosives were made up of chemicals placed inside plastic bottles and could have seriously injured someone, officials said. Numerous agencies were on the Georgia Tech campus to search for suspects.

Why is this story more newsworthy than the bomb in Oklahoma? Should allegations of a suicidal intent coupled with a bomb actually lessen public interest, or make it any less a case of terrorism?

Can this mean that had Joel Hinrichs simply gotten up and walked away from his bomb without exploding it, that he'd have been a terrorist?

I'd call it a distinction without a difference, but obviously, the distinction makes all the difference.

So what are the rules, anyway?

Unless I am mistaken, the Official Rules To Determine When Bombings Are Terrorism And When They Are Not seem to be along the following lines:

1. "Normal" bombs are considered terrorism if unaccompanied by the bomber, and the incidents may be reported by mainstream media.

2. But if the bomber kills himself with the bomb, that is not to be considered terrorism, even if the bomb goes off 100 yards from 84,000 people -- and the incidents may not be reported by mainstream media.

Hey, I don't make the rules; I'm only trying to make sense of them.

I should try harder?

MORE: Glenn Reynolds links (via LGF) to a report of a bomb discovered at UCLA.

A calm and quiet Westwood was briefly disrupted Friday afternoon when the Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad inspected and detonated an explosive device found within the Midvale Plaza apartment complex on the 500 block of Midvale Avenue.

After responding to a call made at 11:13 a.m., the bomb squad arrived at 527 Midvale Ave. to find "an improvised explosive device" in the building's open-air courtyard, said Grace Brady, a spokeswoman for the LAPD.

No injuries were reported, but authorities have been slow to release details about the incident and the device.

Three bombs, three campuses, three sets of "rules"?

I hope this isn't becoming a pattern. . .

MORE: Michelle Malkin links to another Atlanta report which seems to downplay the destructiveness of the devices, highlighting that they were in water bottles.

Was it (as her readers have suggested) a run-of-the-mill prank?

Why does it seem so difficult for the media to just tell us what they know?

MORE: Via Powerline's John Hinderaker:

Unless you live in Oklahoma and follow the local news, or else read conservative blogs, you probably wouldn't know anything about Joel Hinrichs, the University of Oklahoma student who almost surely tried to carry off a mass suicide-murder at an OU football game.

UPDATE: My thanks to Michelle Malkin for linking this post -- especially in an important discussion of yet another mysterious death, this time in San Diego:

SAN DIEGO - A man who fatally shot himself in his University City condominium during a standoff with San Diego police was identified Saturday as a 29-year-old student.

An autopsy is scheduled tomorrow on the body of Khaled Yasufi, medical examiner Investigator Sal Rodriguez said.

Police were sent to the 8700 block of Costa Verde Boulevard after someone reported a strong odor coming from a condo about 1 p.m. Friday, SDPD Sgt. Jim Schorr said.

A man in the condo told officers everything was fine and shut the door, Schorr said. Within a couple of minutes, a gunshot was heard, prompting police to clear the building, Schorr said.

Police eventually sent in a camera-equipped robot, which transmitted images of a body in the unit. When officers made entry after a standoff of about six hours, a chemical lab was found in the bathroom of the condo, police said. (Emphasis added.)

What on earth is going on, anyway? The thing good that can be said about all these strange incidents is that innocent bystanders don't seem to be getting killed. (Yet.)

UPDATE: There are pictures here of the San Diego incident.

MORE: This is probably nothing:

ENCINITAS, CA - (10-10-05) Authorities are investigating the discovery of an explosive device found under a car in an Encinitas parking lot Monday. Deputies were called to the apartments on the 1700 block of South El Camino Real around 9m. Bomb technicians disabled the device and no injuries or damage was reported. Investigators believe the placement of the device was random. Anyone who may have information about this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-TIPS.

And Glenn Reynolds links to more about the mystery plane, while offering words of wisdom:

Briscoe Field may sound familiar to you. It should. Two of the hijackers who crashed airliners into the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, trained at Briscoe Field. Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi did flight training at the Lawrenceville airport about eight months before the attacks.

Hmm. This is odd, and when you put it together with the bomb incidents at Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, and UCLA plus the New York subway scares and this odd story from San Diego, it sounds like something odd is going on. But is it -- or are we just noticing more odd events in the wake of the New York subway scare? It's hard to say. If this is the much-ballyhooed "Ramadan offensive" by Al Qaeda, then by all appearances it's awfully lame. Of course, it could be a series of distractions, but that seems unlikely, too. I'm going with "chain of coincidences" for the moment, pending some reason to think there's a connection, as a lot of readers seem to.

Another report titles the San Diego story "Home Chemical Lab."

Really now! Running a home chemical lab is nothing to kill yourself over....

UPDATE: Speaking of suicde, after that last comment, I spent several hours researching the ingredients and recipes needed to make TATP bombs, and I stumbled onto a very interesting detail which I think might provide a possible explanation for Hinrichs' still unexplained death. New post here.