Yes,
I think the issue is in the PS:
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PS --- By the way, during the course of the afternoon, someone (not me) asked Goldberg-sensei about Dan Harden. Goldberg-sensei's first response was, "If you come to tomorrow's session [also 4 hours], you will have spent as many hours on the mat with me as Dan has." And he recommended that when Dan posts on the subject of aikido on the various Internet forums, aikidoka (and others) should ask Dan: 1) what is his rank in Daito Ryu? 2) who gave him that rank? and 3) what is his present relationship to the Kodokai? Dan, if you're out there, I'm asking.
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Of course, it is not "uncivil" to give the opinions of someone who never posts on E-Budo about someone who does, but it still leaves a bad taste. It is second- or third-hand information. It also lessens my opinion of Mr Goldberg, who, apparently, reads various AIKIDO forums and believes that knowing Mr Harden's rank and relationship to the Kodokai in DAITO-RYU has an essential connection with his posts on aikido. I completely disagree and believe that Mr Harden's posts on aikido stand or fall on the reasoning behind them. But, am I disagreeing with Mr Goldberg or Mr Sorrentino, or the person who Mr Sorrentino cites as asking the question about Mr Harden?
This thread, and the specious reasoning behind it, smells terrribly of some recent threads in Baffling / Bad Budo, with which I am closely acquainted as moderator. Like George, I believe that the various forums in E-Budo have different 'tones' (funiki, in Japanese). Baffling / Bad Budo is rougher than Japanese Language and needs more aggressive moderating.
George, perhaps you should look at Dante's Divina Comedia, if you have not done so before, and expand the choices available in E-Budo.
Best wishes,
Peter Goldsbury,
Forum Administrator,
Hiroshima, Japan