ISACA accepting speaker proposals

North America CACS 2014—Call for Papers [and Speakers] ... Sure, share your expertise and your proposal that is based on my strategies, tactics, and techniques ...

Yes, I did request that my voidable spouse refrain from using my business development ideas, strategies, tactics, and techniques for mining big data ... but one cannot stop a self-absorbed, dishonest, guilt-free, and exploitative person from stealing what is not theirs ... unless they have been found out. 

Habits of mind

Finally finished sorting through, [re]classifying, and [re]stocking the condiments and seasonings in the kitchen cabinets.  

Found so many duplicate, opened, half-used containers and bags of herbs and spices used in Chinese and other cuisines, in various sizes—Five-Spice Powder, Bean Sauce, Soy Sauce, Sesame Paste, Kadoya Sesame Oil [four opened, already-used bottles in 5.5 fl.oz. and 11.0 fl.oz.], Bull Head Barbecue Powder [two opened, half-used 5.8 oz.], Louisiana Cajun Seasoning [opened and half-used 8 oz. and 17 oz.], Tapioca and Corn Starch [four opened and used boxes, which would have kept indefinitely in a cool, dry place if properly stored with mites-prevention in mind] ... 

As most have already past their dates of expiration, the contents were dumped, and the containers cleaned and placed in recycle bins awaiting Tuesday pickup.
  
Throughout this protracted cleanup, I couldn't help thinking about the kinds of cultural norms and values, along with the specific family structures enabling the psychological traits and mental habits of a vacant, scattered and disorganized mind in a human adult; behaviors and habits that continue to cause embarrassing and expensive mistakes.  

And No, I am not talking about the kind of organization that involves decluttering the office, the home or buying the latest help-me-organize apps.  I am talking about the mind's ability to attain a higher order—a calm, wise, positive, and strategic perspective—and the skills it requires to arrive there in all domains of life.

By understanding the variables that influence the cultivation of an effectively organized mind, I'll know what to look for in my reaction to the process of socialization, since it is through socialization that norms, values and beliefs are being implanted not only to the young members but also to the adult members of a society ...  I'll be better able to discuss their effectiveness with my son in helping him to develop his own day-to-day strategies, so that he'll have become his own self-coach and take specific actions on his own on the ongoing process of self discovery ... as many of us are.

Getting to the freelance life

I love the freelance life ... to have time for my passions, for purpose, for projects, and for people that I care about.  Yet there are days when I question myself about the paths I have taken for it is not easy to make a living and to do it well.  As project- and solution-focused as I am, being assigned work or clients I don't like has never been an issue, however, there are always that one or two clients that I would not wish on my worst enemy ... 

Exactly what I do depends on whether I want to leave the door open for future business.  Sometimes, a little creative indulgence in a private fantasy is called for ... no mudslinging the network though before resuming the work [and believing in myself]. 

Bursting with flavor

What could be more tempting than biting into a well-seasoned juicy burger grilled just the way you like it?  For me, it's watching my fifteen-year-old relishing his food.  If you love zesty burgers that pack a spicy punch, give these winning recipes a try ... they are from the Sutter Home Build A Better Burger Contest.

What is the underlying motivation for ...

... exposing a thirteen-year-old boy to Internet porn?

Rational and empathic thinking has been eluding me since last Saturday early evening when my fifteen-year-old recalled and related his memory of how he was introduced to images of lesbian carnality through an incident involving his father and my voidable spouse.

My fifteen-year-old told me how, when at 13 years of age, he witnessed his father watching an explicit online video involving two women engaging in sexual acts, and when he asked if what his father was viewing is porn, his father answered Yes and then proceeded to issue an invitation for the thirteen-year-old to join him.  When my son declined to do so, his father shrugged off his response and resumed watching his pornographic flick ...

And No, the thirteen-year-old did not trespass into his father's private space; he was on his way to his bedroom when the soundtrack and the motion picture coming from my voidable spouse's desktop and work computer—which was set up in an open area originally designed as a family playroom—caught his attention.

Even though I was flooding with anxiety [for my son] and contempt [for my voidable spouse] throughout his retelling of the event, my son and I had a positive discussion about that experience with an emphasis on what he can do to protect himself and his relationships through anger management [think suppressed feelings of embarrassment and shame], while allowing others to maintain face and finding a solution that is relevant to his values.

 

 

Legal research



 

  



































Ever since discovering the fraudulent financial document that stated I and my voidable spouse had shared an account since 1993—a document that was submitted by my voidable spouse to USCIS as part of his application for Permanent Residency that was sponsored by my mother—I have had to immerse myself in the study of immigration laws and procedures, especially those relating to sham marriages entered into solely for the purpose of obtaining a Green Card, work visa versus employment authorization document, visa fraud, moral character as defined by the Immigration & Nationality Act, and removal proceedings of an already Lawful Permanent Resident.

Happy to say that what was once a strange unchartered territory has now become more navigable, allowing me to frame my legal issue so that I can approach and organize my research efficiently before putting it to use.

Next up is family law in the form of the Texas Family Code, along with the Texas Rule of Civil Procedure, and the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code ... but a quick gulp of air before I dive into this fascinating and complex ocean of resources, statutes, cases, and more.

Social engineering | Seven great movies to watch and learn from

View the slideshow here, courtesy of csoonline.com/  ...  

The movies are

Matchstick Men
Sneakers
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
The Thomas Crown Affair
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Catch Me If You Can
Six Degrees of Separation

My fourteen-year-old and I have seen and discussed in depth all seven movies ... Sneakers and The Thomas Crown Affair tie as my all-time favorite; Catch Me If You Can comes in second.

Lighter readings for days off work

Catching up on my news ... Yes, I do favor a particular flavor given what has been happening to my life these past six months ...

Product innovation resulting from seeing with new eyes [and self-sufficiency]
US law on recording calls [useful for reporters and anyone interested in this aspect of the law, federal and state]
The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations keeps one playing by rules when contracting with the federal government
Detecting Forged Images
Failure to Encrypt Data Puts Individuals at Risk
Can Threats to the IT Supply Chain Be Mitigated? [follow up on the cited references for an in-depth understanding of the issues]
Huawei Spies For China, Says Ex-CIA Head 

Investigative Report on the U.S. National Security Issues Posed by Chinese Telecommunications Companies Huawei and ZTE 
Universities Facing Increasing Cyber Attacks
GM Daewoo Sues Chinese Car Maker For Design Piracy [if you do not have an account, you can access the story here]
GM Daewoo-Chery Copyright Suit Settled
Chinese Couple Charged Over Hybrid Car Industrial Espionage Plot
China's Internet Spin Doctors
China's The Human Flesh Search Engine

Original state of being

Just a quick post as am on my lunch break ...

I just never realized how thirsty I had been for one of those deep, mind-melding exchanges where you pontificate on everything from conspiracy theories to quantum physics with a fellow sharp-minded explorer, journeyer, or seeker ... especially when accompanied by hidden-behind-glasses eyes that shine with tender affection ... I had forgotten how smiling, laughing, and lightening up can be so thrilling.

Why I filed for nullification of marriage instead of divorce

Because my marriage is based on fraud.

I entered into it without knowing vital facts that were concealed by my voidable spouse.  Had I known these facts, I would have not entered into the marriage, nor remained in it for these last 16 years.  

My voidable spouse lied about the reasons why he wanted to entered into a marriage with me:  He fell in love with me, wanted to marry me so we can start a family he had always wanted.  Naive that I was, I had no reason to question his said motives until I came by documents that caused me to believe differently.  These records were discovered during my cleanup of the garage, the spare bedroom that my spouse occasionally used, and his workspace during the last few months of 2012 when my voidable spouse went on a trip to visit his parents and lover in Taiwan.  

These documents showed my spouse not only set up a sham marriage, but lied about his family background, motives and intentions as to why he wanted to have a family:  so that he can use me and our son—with little care for our well-being and future—as his hostages in order to remain in the United States to secure his permanent residency and / or citizenship.

The timeline of my marriage:  I met my voidable spouse in February 1996; we eloped and married on 21st June 1996.

Some of the documents:  

 


































a)  A letter, dated 17th May 1995, from the chairman of the Department of Economics at the University of Oklahoma stating that spouse's student visa had expired.

 


































b)  Academic transcript from the University of Oklahoma showing four (4) Incompletes for the Spring 1995 term of 12-credit-hours, followed by Fall 1995 term of 6-credit-hours, which is 3 credit hours short of the 9-credit-hours full-time enrollment that F-1 Visa graduate students must maintain.  Failing to maintain F-1 status equals out-of-status, which usually leads to deportation from the US. 

c)  A letter, dated 26th August 1997, from Member Service Administrators with his University of Oklahoma student health insurance identification cards, which listed his status as Single.  My spouse and I met in February 1996 and eloped and married on 21st June 1996.  It would have been courteous of him—if not the right action to take—to advise me of his intention to retain his Single status on his health insurance, and therefore, for me to keep my then-job with its full benefits.  Is this an action of an individual who claimed to be ready for and to want the responsibilities of marriage and family?

 


































d)  A letter, dated 8th January 1996, from American Express to acknowledge and to advise of processing for a request from my spouse to add his live-in girlfriend Ming-Jung Li as an additional user on his American Express account; a statement for the period of 1st February 1997 showing billing itemization for my spouse, myself, and Ming-Jung Li.  Again, is this an action of an individual who claimed to be ready for and to want the responsibilities of marriage and family?

 


































e)  An email printout, dated 8th April 1997, showing spouse subscribing to an online Taiwanese matchmaking service via his University of Oklahoma email.  So much for love, marriage, and the marital vows.

 


































f)  A letter from MidFirst Bank, dated 21st June 1999, per spouse's request and to be included in his INS / USCIS application for permanent residency, stated that spouse and myself have been account holders since 1993.  This is a false statement of a material fact—a fact my voidable spouse knows to be untrue since we met in February 1996 and eloped and married on 21st June of the same year.  This is an act of document forgery.

g)  Receipts, dated 4th March, 17th April, and 18th April 2007 and amounting to $1,591.75 to Blue Moon Cabaret.  These visits were two months short of the marriage's first anniversary.  Again, is this an action of an individual who claimed to be ready for and to want the responsibilities of marriage and family?

h)  My voidable spouse lied about his parents' backgrounds.  I was proudly informed by my voidable spouse before and during the marriage that my father-in-law worked and retired as a Taiwanese government officer, who merited his own chauffeur to bring him to and back from work—one reason why my father-in-law did not drive; naturally, I believed my voidable spouse, although there were times when I seriously questioned his stated background given the lifestyle choices he made.  Not until November 2012 while cleaning up the garage did I stumbled across a copy of my voidable spouse's birth certificate whose English translation stated that my father-in-law's occupation was that of a laborer.  Furthermore, it indicated that both of my parents-in-law are of Mainland Chinese origin; only my voidable spouse was born in Taiwan.  This is a huge and shocking surprise to me as my voidable spouse has always verbally and loudly maintained his pure Taiwanese heritage, while looking and talking down on Mainland Chinese as an inferior race.  Had I known otherwise, I would not have entered into the marriage nor have a family with him.

 


































i)  My voidable spouse concealed his lack of a work permit while he operated an international students recruiting business; my voidable spouse was in the United States with an F-1 graduate student visa and did not apply for a work permit until 12th August 1996, which was granted and remained valid between 13th May 1999 and 12th May 2000.  Had I been made aware of this fact, I would not have willingly helped him with his business nor provided a shield—via marriage—for him in violating the law.

What gets my heart pounding ...

Courtesy of http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/8ggUCv


Writing like the sound of a violin that touches my soul ...
Youngsters with serious appetites ...
A mother's heart ...
Nerves ...
Intellectual honesty ...
Tuesday and Saturday morning grin ...
A life of purposeful action ...
Small changes with lasting impact ...
Precious memories—creating, embedding, recalling ... 
Fine conversation ...
A eureka moment ...
Golden opportunity for laughter ... 
Genuine passion for my work ...
Possibilities for growth ...
Meaningful work ...
A chance to change what isn't working ...
The satisfaction of a job well done ...
Freedom within the established boundaries ...
Genuine acts that come from the heart ...
A healthy relationship based on companionship ...
A melodious voice ...
A tender gaze ...
An embrace from one with a firm, athletic body that makes me feel completely safe ... such a simple act yet so incredibly 
     soothing and healing ...
Springtime-fresh and spotlessly clean space ... or anything, for that matter ...
Industrious and determined attitude ...
Productive strategies toward accomplishing one's objectives ... 
My first crush ... and also first love ...
This sense of peace and wholeness, on occasions—in the silence of the moonlit evenings when things slow down or when am 
     aware of moments without sound, and can perceive how the spirit of loving and living pass in a smile or in a word or in a touch. 
Life-long friends ... 
Good projects ...
Good clients—the ones who are appreciative, intelligent, accommodating, honest, and happy to pay on time.
The opportunity to work with great people ...
A more loving and appreciative relationship with my child, or children ... 
Genuine, caring support, and not just one-way ... 
Four-legged friends ...
Places with interesting history and local culture ... 
Hope with work boots on ...
A house that feels like a bona fide home ...
The bliss of togetherness—connecting with another at the mind and heart levels.
The comfort of a situation I can count on
The willingness to be unconventional ...
A man who relishes spicy food ...
Co-creating with the people I love the most ...
Healthy ways to navigate conflict instead of sweeping it under the proverbial rug or engaging in epic battles of wills ... 
Conversations with people who reveal their thinking ...
The why of an action or interaction ... 
The experience of true connection ...
Precision listening
Shifts in consciousness that enable me to let go of fears ...
Caring with thoughtfulness and style.
Projects that require a strong work ethic and attention to detail.
Unscripted moments ...
Tough love ...
Powerful and important wakeup calls from the universe ...
A fighting spirit ... and the right support
Fresh start and new beginnings
Saying yes to love ... and the things that make me happy
Finding the right work / life balance ... where there's a will there's always a mean!
More practical and intellectually savvy approach to work ...
Exploring untapped potential
Succeeding admirably ... 
Developing new skills
Taking current skills to the next level ... I love all opportunities to learn, improve and progress.
A drive to a beautiful destination
Watching the sunset with a cup of mint tea
Flirting with wild abandon ... letting my quirky side out to play
Feeling freakish when a playdate wants to get seriously serious with me
A meant-to-be relationship
Money-making opportunities
Co-writing a book with my son 
Places designed for contemplation and thought
The benefit of the doubt ... giving it and receiving it
Being a very positive force in another person's life
An energetic debate with a well-informed friend
Authentic sharing ...
Companionable silence ... thank you for simply being with me.
Bringing a special spark to a loved one's eye.
Being held ... 
Learning, growing, and evolving ... in all aspects of living.
Very deep insights or illumination into whatever problem, allowing me to feel purged and empowered. 
Rebuilding ...
Step-parenting and / or adoption.
Rediscovering my authentic self.
My place of personal power.
Being driven by a man who knows how to handle a car with power, speed and style ... it's almost like an aphrodisiac.
Being with someone who values and nurtures authenticity in relationships ... so exhilarating and liberating ... thank you!
The possibilities that an achievement or achievements have created ...
Honest feedback from wise minds.



... totally guilty-free pleasures.

Happy Fourth of July



 




















































































What does the 4th of July mean to you?

And how do you and your loved ones celebrate this national day of considerable importance to all Americans of every conceivable background? 

Whether you make merry by joining a Pride Parade party, or heading to the capital to see the symphony orchestra perform, or perusing arts and absorbing culture at a local festival, do it with a twist of sustainability, and a few prime directives to treat each other with respect and curiosity—including not using sexist, classist, racist or homophobic language; not libeling or defaming; and not being a bully, troll or jerk.

Stay safe and enjoy your weekend of red, white and blue celebration.

On the home front

I hate cooking but it warms my heart to see the people I love eating well, so creatively laboring in the kitchen I must. 

It helps that my fourteen-year-old son, like my mother, loves pasta—one of the greatest foods ever created! 

It further helps that I have a colossal collection of eclectic and soulfully haunting music that I can listen to while preparing the ingredients, cooking, and serving up my son's favorite dishes—from Genroku's Pork and Tofu in Spicy Basil Sauce and Basil Periwinkles, Noodle Avenue's Khao Soi and Chicken Udon, Sichuanese Cuisine's Spicy, Crunchy Fish and Bitter Melon with Black Bean Sauce, to Olive Garden's Steak Gorgonzola Fettuccine and Linguine with Meat Sauce, among others.  

My current auditory obsession is with South Korean funk and hip hop music that I can pop and lock my body to—after finding my current playlist having been seized by my fourteen-year-old and am too busy to assemble yet another one.  ... discovered some really fantastic songs that help me learn and master Hangul and Korean vocabularies in my quest to speak, understand, read and write Korean, so that is what is happily drilling in my head while I am on kitchen duty.

Anyhow, the aromas from cooking or baking also warm my soul, as does the process of making that nourishing food.  It feels good to hear my son's sigh expressing his relief at not having to dress up to go out for his culinary crushes.