 out to do stuff, since i'm so distracted. 

At this point, I just don't know what to do. I don't know how to get myself to break out of this cycle of escapism and anhedonia. I know I should be exercising, and I should probably see my school's counselor, but it's so hard when I don't feel like I care about anything (although I know to some extent I do, otherwise I wouldn't be posting this). 

The only thing keeping me going at this point is the thought of how dissapointed my parents would be if I stopped trying and dropped out of school. I'm at least managing to do decent in most of my classes, although this semester has been a brutal workload of programming assignments. Is anyone else feeling this way? Do you have any recommendations? Any advice would be great.The Taliban government in Afghanistan has ordered all local and foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to prevent their employees from going to work, according to a letter from the Economy Ministry, confirmed on Saturday by its spokesman, Abdulrahman Habib. The text prohibits the employees of these organizations from continuing to work “until further notice”, and justifies this new ban on the country’s women alleging “serious allegations” that some of them do not respect the rigid Islamic dress code that the Taliban wants to impose to the Afghans.
“There have been serious complaints about non-compliance with the Islamic hijab and other rules and regulations regarding women’s work in national and international organizations,” said the Ministry of Economy, which is in charge of approving permits for NGOs operating in the country.
This new restriction, which adds jobs in the humanitarian sector to the list of jobs already banned for women, comes four days after, on December 20, the Taliban banned women from studying at the university, a measure that vetoes education for all Afghans over the age of 12, after fundamentalists closed down all girls’ secondary schools. The announcement not only plunged many young Afghan women into despair, who appeared in tears in videos posted on social media, but it sparked a new wave of international condemnation.
See also Flood leaves residents of Ilhéus neighborhood homeless - ISTOÉ DINHEIRO
It is not yet clear how this ban will affect the agencies of the United Nations system, which have a large presence in Afghanistan and whose assistance is considered essential to guarantee the survival of millions of Afghans mired in a serious human crisis. When the spokesman was asked if this ban included UN agencies, Habib said the letter applied to organizations that report to the coordinating body for humanitarian organizations, known as ACBAR. This entity does not include United Nations agencies but more than 180 local and international NGOs. The UN, however, often subcontracts to NGOs to carry out its humanitarian projects.
The aid worker community in Afghanistan believes that female NGO employees, Afghan and foreign, are critical to ensuring that Afghan recipients can access aid. In large parts of Afghanistan, cultural practices prohibit a man from speaking to, examining or offering humanitarian assistance to women who are not close relatives. These practices, aggravated by the strict separation of the sexes that the Taliban have imposed, prohibit, for example, a male doctor from attending to a woman in childbirth, even if the life of the woman in labor or that of the baby is in danger. In fact, the shortage of toilets in Afghanistan continues to be, according to various international studies, one of the barriers that prevents the reduction of maternal mortality. Many of the Afghans who worked in healthcare are employed by these NGOs, which play a crucial role in the Afghan healthcare system and in other areas, such as education.
See also US Submits Resolution to Honor 200 Years of Relations with Colombia
In September 2021, less than a month after the Taliban retook power that they had held between 1996 and 2001, Filipe Ribeiro, then a representative of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Afghanistan, assured this newspaper that the Taliban had guaranteed to his organization that his workers would not have problems.
#Taliban #ban #Afghans #working #NGOsWyckoff Heights Medical Center selects Sunrise™ Abstracting to collect core measure data and monitor key departmental metrics
Allscripts to provide abstracting solution for New York-based health system
SOURCE: AllscriptsNeed a Boost? Attend a Super Saturday!
Yesterday, I attended the VCRW/CFRW sponsored Super Saturday featuring Roxanne St. Claire, Lucienne Diver, and Lorena Streeter. It was a smashing success. It had it all: Excellent Speakers, Cold Reads and Agent Appointments, Basket and Critique Raffles, and finally, an author booksigning. Yes, VCRW is my home chapter, so I am a bit biased. However, it was much more than that.
Here’s my takeaway from yesterday. Writers need other writers. My best friends are writers, and being at an event filled with them nurtures my soul. When our President came down with the flu, members stepped in to help without even being asked. We all worked together, overcame every obstacle, and made sure our Super Saturday was one of the best ever. I came home feeling uplifted, renewed, and ready to kick butt!
My point? Don’t sit home in your writing cave. Join a writers group, attend writing events, connect and share. The winner will be you!
I finished the evening with the premiere of HELL ON WHEELS and THE WHITE QUEEN.
Sue, is truly passionate about romance and I love that. I was lucky enough to receive a pitch appointment and a request. Now fingers crossed.
Find Sue and the newly imagined Loveswept line at Romance at Random.
The STAR Super Saturday was well worth the price of admission. Agent Michelle Grajkowski and Author/Editor Anna DeStefano generously shared their knowledge of the publishing industry with us and took pitch appointments. The food was awesome, catered by Jason’s Deli, and the company was even better.
I left inspired and eager to send off my requested material. Thanks to the STAR Chapter for an amazing day.
I had the privilege of attending the inaugural Futuristic, Fantasy, and Paranormal Chapter’s Fantasy on the Bayou Conference March 2-4, 2012 in New Orleans, La. The editor/agent panel gave me a window into the thoughts of industry professionals on the current state of publishing. I gathered that it’s in flux. No one really knows what’s going to happen, but digital publishing is definitely front and center on everyone’s minds. One thing they all made clear is you must have a social media presence if you want to sell books in the current environment.
Throughout the conference, series and branding were the buzz words. Trilogies are hot sellers and many authors are able to build a career on a series of books. Think Twilight and Harry Potter. Melissa Singer of Tor gave a workshop on how characters evolve and change through a series of books. Angela James of Carina Press preferred her authors focus on one genre to build a readership and create a brand. This way she knows where to focus her marketing dollars.
The biggest treat of the con for me was Maggie Shayne. She gave me my ‘Aha Moment’ of the conference. In her keynote speech, she talked about how she had a deadline of when her youngest child entered kindergarten for when she would be published. She sold in August, right before her daughter started school. I’ve always had a sort of deadline in the back of my own mind. I planned to be published by the time my children were grown and out of school. I was lucky enough to have some face time with Maggie and shared this with her and how it hadn’t happened yet. She suggested that since my children are still living at home, I am subconsciously holding myself back from my goal because I feel they still need me.  Now I have to work on changing that. Maggie is incredibly generous with her wealth of knowledge spanning over twenty years in the industry. And her personal story is beyond inspiring.
One of my favorite workshops was Kerri Nelson’s pitch workshop. She is a true master at creating a two to three line pitch that guarantees requests. She also does her workshop online. I highly recommend it as you will use this pitch in everything from query letters to back cover blurbs.
Then we come to Bob Mayer and his workshop on Digital Publishing. I have to admit to being ambivalent about this topic. I am one of those people who still likes to hold a book in her hand and turn the pages rather than look at an electronic screen. I am being dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age. Yes, I do have a Kindle and have read books on it, but my heart is torn. I can’t imagine a world without bookstores and I do not want to hold a kindle in the bathtub or while relaxing on the beach. You don’t have to charge a paperback!
I also look at the music industry and all the changes mp3 technology and iTunes has brought. Rarely does anyone buy an entire album anymore. It’s only the hit songs. And like the music industry, the publishing industry is dealing with pirates. That said, there are positive aspects: unlimited shelf life (your book will always be available online) and e-pubs are more willing to take a chance on ‘out of the box’ books.
Then there is self publishing, which is what Bob Mayer advocates. He doesn’t believe you need editors or agents anymore. All you need to do is write a good book and spend some money to set it up online for sale. I believe he estimated