I find disturbed people like Artie to be interesting, that's why I had to check back in... I had a debate with a friend at the time about his seriousness-- My friend insisted that "if you want to kill yourself, you'll find a way to get the job done where nobody will come in and discover you." I'm don't think you can be so certain and stabbing yourself in the chest/stomach a half a dozen times is a hell of a way to get attention (especially if there's no guarantee somebody will find you in time).
BTW, I'd compare this to exchange we had regarding ESPN because Howard is obviously racist (I wouldn't say hateful, which most people assume is a necessary part of the term), much more so than ESPN I'd say, but I find him entertaining, so I listen. (Not like he gains from me downloading his show, anyway.) I guess you could say the difference is that you see ESPN as hateful, though I don't know how you feel about Stern and his racism or lack of racism.