Official Official Statement.

Not really

That is true.

please, please they are so fun

Yay, Shitstorms, I approve

I think we can dispute that claim rather easily. Not that it's relevant in whether or not the avatar is allowed.

Get your rain coats everyone and stay in the tub. That way when it's over, it'll be easier to clean off.

Which one?

Okay, then they have some redeeming features while Breivik has none (unless you're a big fan of World of Warcraft). It's relevent in the sense that it brings them above Breivik on my made-up scale of avatar suitability.

Uhh, I guess he technically made two claims there, but to clarify, it's this part: "I think the point is that Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler are better people than Breivik."

......That is Absurd, Breivik is a self-extremist , the others are ruthless dictators that did horrible things, that outweighed the good things they did. How can justify a self terrorist and a leader...its like comparing apples and oranges.

I've lost relatives from Mussolini. I don't demand everyone conform. That's no worse than Political Correctness.
And Pineapple Joe can suck it up. I had the Gabrielle Giffords shooting just a few miles from my house and I don't demand that no one use the shooter's image as an avatar.

Again, just like Political Correctness. You're censoring people because it "offends" others.

No we have members in the Americas, Europe, Australasia and a few scattered in remote locations. We have perhaps 4 active members in Norway. And come on there's tons of shooters in American history that are still relatively fresh. If someone's avatar was Lee Harvey Oswald we wouldn't do anything about it.

Yes, but it was still his decision.

I suppose the deed is easily forgivable and even somewhat embraced if it has been a petty 70 years?

And it offends me greatly. Perhaps you should take it down.

It's a loose comparison at best.

You are a moderator. You do not get to silence people for what they believe. You should know that the argument you're using is EXACTLY that, as you're defending one ideology because of the supposed merits of that ideology while condemning another for its supposed merits. That's all well and good, but you're using it to justify censorship.

Chelsea made an inherently flawed, but acceptable argument in the defense of the avatar's removal. She did not consider the ideology relevant, only the level of offensiveness to the userbase (that's the flawed premise part). Between this and other incidents (deletion of my threads in the past, refusal to let people submit videos to the NKVD channel based on your personal disposition, etc.) I severely doubt your ability to act in an unbiased manner. You are not God, and you do not get to tell people what things are right and wrong for them to believe in. Or at least, you don't get to say that and then use it to justify an action you took as a moderator.

Behold Orangeapplestein!

Is your mind blown yet?

Stalin didn't kill that many people?! Well by that logic, neither did Brevik. Stalin killed people because they didn't agree with him, the same reason brevik killed people. And there have been Hitler and Mussolini avatars as well, that's why we mentioned them.

Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini all used terrorism extensively to maintain their control. It's one of the key aspects of their respective regimes: control through fear. Breivik, while clearly on a more limited scale, is fundamentally the same as Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini.

I can't believe we are making such a big deal out of the removal of that guy's picture.

Except Breivik doesn't control anything, and terror wasn't the only weapon in the dictators' arsenals. I refuse to accept that a year playing World of Warcraft followed by a massacre compares with running a country, no matter how brutally that country was run. I think i'll rest my case regardless of what everyone else thinks of it, as this thread is getting a bit silly.

This guy is insane the leaders were not.

I sincerely hope he doesn't get out of punishment with that defence. Okay, now i'll shut up.