I'd like to comment that I read the purple thread but didn't write anything because the op really seemed disturbed (though of course I cannot tell from just reading some outbursts). But towards the end it got more calmed down and had an interesting topic - how important is camera gear in comparison to other real world issues?
I found some thoughts on this valuable, esp. since I recently spend the money originally reserved for top 5d3+24-70ii gear for other, but more important real world purposes, so I'll end up with a 6d+24-70vc ... but I'm happy with my decision.
Could not agree more, the karma thingy was removed as well due to thin skin of some.
As far as I remember karma was removed because there was some abuse and, imho more importantly, it just didn't work - people confused "agree/disagree" to a particular post with an overall rating of a poster, so being critical esp. towards Canon products drove your karma into the ground which I find unfortunate for matter of fact discussions.
It ended with the racist rant. Most countries have laws about that.... to allow it to remain, particularly after the moderator was made aware, is to invite legal action against CanonRumors.
Well, I didn't read the post, but there's always freedom of speech that has to be weighted against opinions (idiotic as they may be), to remove a racist post is probably more good taste and common political sense then preventing a lawsuit.