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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Permission Denied

 
I used to be able to read Shalini's blog Scientia Natura: Evolution And Rationality but now when I try to read a posting I get ...
This blog is open to invited readers only
http://shalinisehkar.com/

It doesn't look like you have been invited to read this blog. If you think this is a mistake, you might want to contact the blog author and request an invitation.
Does anyone else get this message or is it just me? It was one of the best blogs and it would be a real shame to restrict it to invited readers only.


48 comments :

Anonymous said...

George in Oregon

It has a login. I guess invitees only.

Martin said...

This must be a recent switch, since it was readable yesterday. Shalini has had an inordinately nasty troll problem for a long time (there is apparently no depth to which fundamentalist behavior will not stoop), so I'm wondering if it's just gotten even worse, or if she's been hacked (possible, it happened to Possummomma). Who knows. Shalini ain't talkin' yet, at any rate.

Anonymous said...

Hm. Happens to me, too.

RBH

Anonymous said...

Same here. How does one contact the Blog Author when one cannot get on the site?

Salad Is Slaughter said...

How does one contact the Blog Author when one cannot get on the site?

My question as well. It looks like even her RSS feed is by invitation only. The last update I saw was called "No transitionals from the Devonian period?" with a time stamp of 12:00 AM.

Brett W. McCoy said...

Yeah, can't get in either, directly or via Google reader.

Gregory Lynn said...

That totally blows. Her anti-theistard rants were phenomenal.

Brian Seitzman said...

Thanks for pointing me to this thread, Larry.

I, too, have lost access to Scientia Natura. I hope whatever trouble she's having is cleared up soon. A day without Shalini is like a day without sunburn!

Efrique said...

Same problem for me. I seriously doubt Shalini would intentionally just block us all without any comment whatever.

I suspect she's been hacked or something.

Loren said...

I get "invitation only" also; you people are far from alone. I miss Shalini's blog also; I especially like what she suggested that opponents of animal testing do -- volunteer to be experimental subjects.

Kristjan Wager said...

I contacted her yesterday, when I first became aware of this.

There is some bad stuff going on at the moment, which is why Shalini has closed her blog.

Hopefully it'll all clear up soon, and we'll get her blog back.

Anonymous said...

She's having a VERY bad time right now.Hope that everyone would try and give her extra moral support.

Anonymous said...

The situation is horrible! The martyrs of science weren't only persecuted in medieval times.

Larry Moran said...

Shalini is in trouble for promoting atheism and she had to close her blog.

Let's hope she gets through it. Stay tuned—she may need our help.

Brett W. McCoy said...

We're not allowed to promote atheism on Blogger? WTF?

Kristjan Wager said...

It's not a blogger issue, unfortunately. That would be easier to resolve.

Shalini will presumably explain it all when it's over and done with.

Brian Seitzman said...

Waitaminnit...

If it's not Blogger that's giving her a hard time for promoting atheism, that doesn't leave many other possibilities.

I can only think of two...

1) Some fundigelical group is suing her, or

2) Her university is giving her a hard time about it.

That's all I can think of, anyhow, and if either one is the case it's a good reason to raise hell.

Moreso if it's her university, since the fundies wouldn't have much case for a lawsuit over such things in the first place.

I don't have any specific info, but I do NOT like the feel of where this is going.

Anonymous said...

To those in the know, thanks for the information. Until Shalini is back, I will check here for updates, if that is ok with Sandwalk.

Martin said...

I can't imagine she got kicked by Blogger for "promoting atheism." That's not illegal, and my atheist blog is on Blogger as well as hundreds of others. I'll be interested to hear what's really going on.

Anonymous said...

I heard about the issue and it is not only serious, but it is a blatant case of religious persecution. She needs all the help she can get from atheists. Sometimes we need to show that atheists do not stand alone.

I think that if push comes to shove, the time has come for us atheists to say enough is enough. I hope all of this blows over, but somehow I don't think it will. I'm also staying tuned.

Martin said...

Well, is it something you can talk about or not? It'd be nice to know some details at any rate, if only to nip the rumor mill in the bud and stop the spread of unchecked falsehoods. I've also let folks know about Shalini's situation over at The Atheist Experience, just to spread awareness there maybe a godless blogger in trouble.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's worrisome. I hope everything works out. Shalini if you're reading this, let us know if you need anything (or let us know through facebook what your "status" is).

Anonymous said...

Apparently there is a reason it should not be made public as of yet.

Scott Little said...

If there is anyway for us to help please let us know. I would be glad to sign a petition, start an email list or whatever to help her out. She is a breath of fresh air for many of us militants.

Orac said...

"I can only think of two...

1) Some fundigelical group is suing her, or

2) Her university is giving her a hard time about it."

I happen to have just learned through a third party that it's neither of the above, and that speculating is not a good idea. I would like to blog about it but will not because right now it would be far more likely to hurt her cause than to help it. I strongly urge all of you to do the same for now and wait until she makes an announcement.

Anonymous said...

If she needs help or moral support I'd be glad to do whatever I can

Kristjan Wager said...

Orac is right. There is a reason why I am vague in my explanations, and haven't blogged about it. Until Shalini tells us otherwise, we should let it rest, at least publicly.

So, please let's give her all the moral support we can, while not doing more to bring attention to her.

Eric Haas said...

Well, if there’s anything we can do to help, let us know. In the meantime, I guess we’ll just have to be patient.

Efrique said...

Several people have said to offer moral support.

Where? Her blog is closed. Without access to her blog, I don't know what sites she reads (I sure don't memorize it any more than she would memorize what I read).

Moral support with regard to what? The comments here are so vague as to be impenetrable. I'm sorry she's having problems, whatever they happen to be. When I know more I can be more specific in my support.

But in any case, moral support is to a large extent like being told "I'll pray for you" - it's nice to be thought of but it doesn't do much.

I'd rather give practical support if I can. If financial help is needed, I can do a small Paypal donation to help out. If there's some political issues that need ranting about on blogs, I can do that.

I'm happy to wait, since the few of you who seem to know anything say that's important, but in that case, I'll just wait without giving any more support than that already described.

I can give specific support when there's some information on what it's about. If moral support (above the level of "I'm sorry something apparently bad is happening, whatever it may be") is to mean much of anything, then I need to know what it's about.

Anyway, I'll just wait and try to be supportive when I have enough information to be supportive about.

Efrique said...

Ah, I can at least load her profile now, which I couldn't yesterday. So there's at least one avenue.

The caterpillar said...

I think that the best support that she really needs right now is that everyone who adores her to stop publicizing the closing of her blog.The more people who dicussed about her problems, the tougher things are for her!

Kristjan Wager said...

Efrique, I tried to locate an email address for you, but there is none on your blog/profile - if you drop me an email (there is an email address on my profile), I might be able to explain the situation a little better.

Blake Stacey said...

Well, this is a frustrating situation. Forbidden to do what we do best — writing volubly and with great vitriol! Best of luck to you, Shalini. When the time comes that you need publicity, we'll all be there.

Martin said...

She just emailed me. It's bad like a very bad thing. No details allowable yet, other than she has not come to any physical harm, in case that was worrying anyone.

Anonymous said...

What is going on? Why can't anyone talk about it if her life is not in physical danger?

Martin said...

In my case, she asked me not to make details public. Let's just say there has been a metaphorical explosion of sorts, and she wants to see how things look once the smoke has cleared before she gives a damage report. She will do that when she's ready. That's the most I can say right now.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Brian Seitzman said...

Folks,

All of this looks like a lot of speculation. PLEASE STOP. If you're really concerned about Shalini, the best thing that you can possibly do for her right now is to stop discussing this entirely and sit tight.

I know it's maddening, but Shalini has asked that we not do this, so let's please respect her wishes.

Thanks.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Martin said...

Charlie, when she is ready to explain, you will understand. Please try to understand that.

Larry Moran said...

Please respect Shalini's wish that we don't speculate about her problem.

Be patient.

Anonymous said...

Her old site appears to have been hacked. I got an rss feed from it today, and it's all cut and pasted phrases with the word "rape" appearing in bold face.


http://scientianatura.blogspot.com/

WTF is going on, people? This is creeping me out.

Scott Little said...

That is not her old site. Her old url is: shalinisehkar.com. She left a comment on my blog yesterday (chromalogia.com). She reiterates that she cannot divulge at this point what is going on, but she does miss her blog. We just have to wait, she will tell us what she can, when she can.

Anonymous said...

If that's not her old site, then she's got a doppleganger, scott. That's where I've been reading her posts and interacting in discussions for over a year now.

Which is why I worry when it's been hacked in such a way that looks like a personal threat made towards her.

Good to know she posted something on your site. I'm just checking to see if there's something the community should be doing for her.

Scott Little said...

Siamang, in that case it is a little scary. The good thing is that she knows we are behind her all the way.

Scott

Anonymous said...

What I'm getting from Mike O'Risal is that the hack of her website is unconnected.

http://vyoma108.blogspot.com/2008/01/what-happened-to-scientia-natura.html

As long as she's okay, that's what matters. I don't need to pry.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all the support - I really and truly appreciate it. Although I am still unable to talk publicly about the exact nature of my problem, it is indeed serious and it's highly unlikely that I'll be able to resurrect my blog. :-(

However, if you enjoyed my blog, something tells me that you would enjoy http://www.evolvedrational.com

Anonymous said...

"However, if you enjoyed my blog, something tells me that you would enjoy http://www.evolvedrational.com"

Wink wink, nudge nudge!