First of all I LOVE the idea of ActiveRain profile pictures in the comments.
I've said it before, "We are all visual in nature". We connect things visually. Having your picture in my comment stream for me is great. I can "see" who is connecting with me. Good stuff.
I also like the recognition factor. Nothing is cooler than walking into a Tweetup and not having to introduce yourself or instantly recognize someone just from there avatar. I did that ealier this month when I bumped into Randy Prothero in San Francisco. No need for introductions.... It was straight to "Hi Randy!"
I do think the size of the avatar images is a little too big. Currently they are 35 x 35 pixels.
Now about these badges...
They are overlayed over the profile image of the person who has left the comment.
Between the large size of the Avatars and the added graphic badges, I am distracted while dropping down the comment stream.
Instead, I proposed changing the size of the Avatar smaller and moving the badges to the end of the comment signature line.
A typical comment would then look something like this:
That's my two cents. Do I get a badge for being critical of an already good thing? I hope not.
If so, I already designed it for you: 
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I like your idea of putting the badges at the end of the post. I love the avatars, but am still figuring out how to get mine automatically!
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I like this post . I will one day walk into a tweet up once I know what it is