# Pipe Bomber drawing a pipe bomb SMILEY?! $#%$!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 9, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171 "2002-05-09T21:51:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/41 "2002-05-10T20:13:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > \*\*On the other hand, if I wanted to make sure I got off on an insanity plea, I’d sure as hell do something this wacko. \*\* This makes no sense. He wouldn’t need to get off on an insanity plea if he didn’t commit a crime, so why would he commit a crime just to get off on an insanity plea? For the hell of it? That seems pretty insane. I think he really is crazy, and news articles that interview his friends seem to confirm it. He’s just lucky that he didn’t kill anyone, or most people wouldn’t give a shit if he’s insane or not. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/42 "2002-05-10T20:44:32Z")
Does anyone have a link to the assholes band site? It was a punk band called “Apathy”, presumably in Wisconsin. My web searches are fruitless. Kudos to anyone who finds it! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/43 "2002-05-10T20:46:19Z")
“Have a nice prison buttfucking.” ---
**Author:** ![airdisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19adc/32.png) [@airdisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/airdisc)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/44 "2002-05-10T20:54:32Z")
This guy isn’t worth killing. He didn’t kill anybody, he didn’t even seriously injure anyone. This guy is just a rouge numbskull, like the kid in Florida who crashed the Cessna into the skyscraper. Just another attention whore. Don’t kill him. Just stick him in jail for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/45 "2002-05-10T20:56:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*“Have a nice prison buttfucking.” \*\* Heh, and I paraphrase John Stewart from The Daily Show, “He wanted attention, and if he’s ever seen ‘Oz’, he knows that he’ll be getting plenty of it.” ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/46 "2002-05-10T21:20:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by airdisc \* > \*\*This guy isn’t worth killing. He didn’t kill anybody, he didn’t even seriously injure anyone. This guy is just a rouge numbskull, like the kid in Florida who crashed the Cessna into the skyscraper. > \*\* I heard a few people lost some fingers. I’d consider that serious. Maybe we could chop of one finger for each finger that a victim lost. ---
**Author:** ![Dryga\_Yes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Dryga\_Yes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dryga_Yes)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/47 "2002-05-10T22:07:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amp \* > \*\*I heard a few people lost some fingers. I’d consider that serious. Maybe we could chop of one finger for each finger that a victim lost. \*\* Yeah, and then we could reinstitute torture! And maybe get him drawn and quartered! LOL! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/48 "2002-05-10T23:27:14Z")
Scum like Helder is why this Coyote is pro-death penalty. This moron is a complete waste of foot & oxygen. Hang the little son of a bitch from a sour apple tree. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/49 "2002-05-10T23:45:31Z")
Death penalty? Are you serious? You want to _kill_ someone because they hurt other people? Christ, even the Old Testament only asks an eye for an eye. The guy is a scumbag and/or completely insane. He should obviously be punished for hurting people, and endangering others. But you know, we have more punishments than just killing someone. I just don’t get this call for blood that seems to follow every publicized crime. It’s like a lynch mob. Spooky. ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/50 "2002-05-10T23:47:04Z")
Oh crap. I just realized… There are a lot of people out there just as crazed as Helder. There are a lot of people crazier… Someone’s going to try and finish it. Crap. Crap crap crap crap crap. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/51 "2002-05-10T23:49:18Z")
Helder seems mentally unbalanced and confused. Evidences: -Asserted that death isn’t real. -Unsure if he’ll go to jail for his crimes. Cite: [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,52409,00.html](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,52409,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/52 "2002-05-11T00:03:33Z")
Yes, Giraffe, I think death is quite appropriate for this waste of oxygen. It is only through the grace of Jesus, Mithra and Allah and possibly his own incompetence that people were injured, not killed. I am sick to death of all this Christain and liberal bleating about the sanctity of life. Some people improve this planet by departing it. And I want Mr. Helder to improve this planet. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/53 "2002-05-11T04:50:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Does anyone have a link to the assholes band site? It was a punk band called “Apathy”, presumably in Wisconsin. My web searches are fruitless. Kudos to anyone who finds it! **Daoloth:** [This page](http://www.angelfire.com/mn2/Apathy/pagea.html) has been removed by Angelfire. [This](http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/136/apathy-.html) and [this](http://artists4.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Apathy_MN/) MP3 sites are still up, if ya wanna buy his CD. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/54 "2002-05-11T12:48:27Z")
Exploding Bombs? Smiley Faces? Well, the defense will clearly be that it wasn’t his fault. He lost his ability to distinguish between computer games and reality when he got addicted to Mindsweeper. “I did it, but I was crazy. I’m not crazy now, so I shouldn’t be punished.” Oldest defense in the book, and it rarely works. ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/55 "2002-05-11T13:14:40Z")
To follow up on what **DDG** posted- if you try out the handy little Internet Archive site, you can take a look at the sight as it was on Oct. 13, 2001. There’s not much to see- all the picture links are broken- but in randomly clicking the broken links, I was able to find the one that was on Helder. [Main Apathy Website](http://web.archive.org/web/20010803180749/http://www.angelfire.com/mn2/Apathy/pagea.html) [Apathy page- Luke Helder](http://web.archive.org/web/20011013175238/www.angelfire.com/mn2/Apathy/Luke.html) There’s no anti-government babbling, no talk of bombs or things that go boom, or anything else out of the ordinary. It’s just a run of the mill web site that’s promoting a band and the people in it. The more I read about this guy, the more I believe he’s far from being the ‘batshit’ or completely insane noodle people are making him out to be. Obviously something went wonky, but I’m convinced this was more than ill-conceived joke designed to get attention or make a name for himself than anything else. It’s still fucked up, but it isn’t anything that it’s being said it is [IMO]. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/56 "2002-05-11T17:44:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Peyote Coyote \* > \*\*I am sick to death of all this Christain and liberal bleating about the sanctity of life. Some people improve this planet by departing it. And I want Mr. Helder to improve this planet. \*\* Um, great. That’s just lovely. You know, if planetary improvement is such a passion of yours… ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/57 "2002-05-11T19:08:13Z")
The Smoking Gun has a file on Helder: > **[Pipe Bomb Suspect's Grungy Past](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/pipe-bomb-suspects-grungy-past)** > > Luke Helder, the 21-year-old college student arrested tonight (5/7) in connection with the mailbox bombing investigation, fronted a rock band called Apathy and used an e-mail address that seems to con His “manifesto” is utterly creepy. I think someone else has said this already, but at least the Unabomber’s manifesto was articulate and well-written. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/58 "2002-05-11T19:40:03Z")
Much kudos indeed to Duck Duck Goose and the others who found more sites. What the hell was up with his e-mail address? [Dirdjew@hotmail.com](mailto:Dirdjew@hotmail.com)? I have a feeling that’s said like “DirtyJew.” ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/59 "2002-05-11T22:39:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by knock knock \* > \*\*Am I the only one who thought the smiley face thing was kinda funny? Obviously what he did was wrong, but I wish they would’ve shown a map of where he’d struck. > > Maybe I’m just one sick, fucked up mother fucker.🙂 😕 \*\* Haven’t read the entire thread, so forgive me if this is redundant, or if I’m posting after **knock knock** has been fully humbled. I don’t find it “funny” as such. However…however…the part of me that watches Jerry Springer, the part of me that clapped and yelled “Fight! Fight! Kick his ass!” when people fought in the halls or cafeteria in my high school, is laughing at **Helder**. There’s just something in me, and, I think, in a lot of people, that loves to watch people exhibit unbelievable arrogance and then get busted for it. Yes, I’m aware that people were hurt by this. I’m outraged on behalf of the victims, and every postal worker who now has a new worry to speed them on the way to getting old before their time, and every rural citizen who can no longer take opening their mailbox for granted. But at the same time, I’m yelling at Helder, when he passes across the screen of Headline News, “Eighteen bombs, and only six went off! Not only are you a complete asshole, you’re an **incompetent** asshole!” Put it this way. I wouldn’t laugh if someone had died. I also wouldn’t laugh if all eighteen bombs had detonated. And if Helder had completed his smiley, I would be horrified at such corruption of a completely innocuous logo\*. But since he didn’t even accomplish what he set out to do, I can say [Nelson Muntz]Ha-ha![/Nelson Muntz]. \*Although it’s hard to think of the smiley as innocuous when you think of how it’s creator was robbed. Perhaps Helder was trying to avenge him. And yes, I know that’s not the way to go about doing so. ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171/60 "2002-05-12T05:33:03Z")
Did anyone see this on Conan last night? I thought he was joking when he said that the mailbox bomber’s plan was to make a giant smiley face. I laughed my ass off, actually. I still can’t really believe that is what he was trying to do tho. Why make a giant smiley? “Let’s blow off people’s faces as they open their mailboxes to make a giant symbol of peace and happiness across the US!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipe-bomber-drawing-a-pipe-bomb-smiley/108171.md?page=4)