<![CDATA[Stephen's Ledger]]>https://ledger.stephenjlu.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tXu6!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9abb5027-8e66-4068-9996-6dad44a7ef31_1200x1200.pngStephen's Ledgerhttps://ledger.stephenjlu.comSubstackTue, 21 Apr 2026 16:58:52 GMT<![CDATA[Striae Origins, Episode 2: The Evolution of Striae's Architecture]]>https://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/striae-origins-episode-2-the-evolutionhttps://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/striae-origins-episode-2-the-evolutionFri, 10 Apr 2026 12:00:59 GMTIn Episode 2 of Striae Origins, Stephen Lu traces the architectural evolution of Striae from five boxes scribbled on a piece of paper to a multi-worker, edge-first forensic platform with same-origin API routing, layered security boundaries, data-at-rest encryption, and cryptographic signing. The episode covers how the Twelve-Factor App methodology, Cloudflare Workers’ V8 isolate model, and the unique demands of forensic evidence handling shaped every architectural decision -- and why security was realized as a gradient rather than a switch.

Topics Covered

  • Five Boxes on Paper -- The initial Auth → SPA → (Data, Images, User) sketch, why a defense attorney’s question (”what else did you edit?”) drove the Images/Data separation, and why case ownership lives with the User database instead of alongside case content

  • The Twelve-Factor App -- How Factors I (Codebase), III (Config), IV (Backing Services), VI (Processes), VII (Port Binding), and X (Dev/Prod Parity) apply to Striae’s design

  • UI-First Development -- Building the skeleton React UI before connecting backend workers, and why that sequence defined the API surface

  • Growing the Architecture -- Adding PDF generation, audit logging, and key management; retiring the Keys Worker in favor of distributed key registries

  • Cloudflare Workers and V8 Isolates -- How isolate-based serverless differs from container-based serverless, sub-5ms cold starts, edge-local execution

  • The Five Workers -- User, Data, Audit, Image, and PDF workers as bounded edge services with modular internal architecture

  • Same-Origin API Gateway (v4.0.0) -- Pages Functions at /api/*, Firebase token verification, eliminating CORS, hiding worker secrets from the client

  • The Thin UI Layer -- Action components delegating to API routes; the client bundle containing nothing sensitive

  • Security as a Gradient -- Firebase Auth and transport security first, hash integrity to manifest signing (RSA-PSS), then AES-256-GCM data-at-rest encryption with envelope pattern and key rotation

  • Development Timeline -- Major releases from v1.x through v5.4.x mapped to architectural milestones

Episode 1 Callbacks

  • C++ and encapsulation -- The instinct to separate concerns into bounded modules traces back to learning object-oriented design in high school C++

  • Forensic reasoning as architecture -- The defense attorney’s cross-examination question shaped storage boundaries before any code was written

  • MS-DOS and constraints -- Understanding platform constraints (the 640K barrier) as a design driver, applied now to V8 isolate memory limits and edge compute boundaries

  • Networking the computer lab -- “The layer you can touch is the layer you can attack” -- the basis for making the browser UI a thin, secret-free client

About the Host

Stephen J. Lu is a retired crime scene investigator and forensic firearms examiner with seventeen years of experience in forensic science, including forensic biology, firearms analysis, and crime scene reconstruction. He has testified as an expert witness in state courts in Arizona and California and in U.S. federal court. After retiring from active casework, he earned an Executive MBA and shifted his focus to leadership development, writing, and web development. He is the author of CSI to CEO: What the Dead Can Teach Us About Life and Leadership and the founder and developer of Striae.

About Striae

Striae is a cloud-native, open-source forensic annotation platform for firearms examiners. Built with TypeScript, React, and React Router on Cloudflare’s edge infrastructure (Workers, Pages, KV, R2), it provides secure comparison image annotation, authenticated confirmations, automated report generation, and immutable audit trails. Licensed under Apache 2.0.

Links

References and Further Reading

Next Episode

Episode 3 goes deeper into Striae’s unique Authenticated Confirmation System: how it came to be, how it digitizes a traditionally paper-based process, and how it ensures integrity and authenticity for firearms examiners. You can find this release in the first week of May.

]]><![CDATA[Striae Origins, Episode 1: From the Command Line]]>https://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/striae-origins-episode-1-from-thehttps://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/striae-origins-episode-1-from-theSun, 05 Apr 2026 17:59:26 GMTEpisode Summary

In the debut episode of Striae Origins, Stephen Lu traces the programming journey that laid the technical foundation for Striae, an open-source forensic annotation platform for firearms examiners. Before the crime lab, before the casework, before the courtroom -- there was a blinking cursor on a black screen.

This episode walks through the languages, platforms, and hands-on experiences that shaped how Stephen thinks about software: from managing conventional memory in MS-DOS and writing a chatbot in BASIC, to designing a horse racing game on a TI-85 graphing calculator, learning C++ and hand-coding HTML in high school, building a Star Trek fan page on GeoCities, studying JavaScript in college, and modernizing the website for the California Association of Criminalists. Along the way, the episode dives into the histories of each technology -- who created them, why, and what made them matter.

Topics Covered

  • MS-DOS and Memory Management -- The 640K barrier, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, HIMEM.SYS, EMM386.EXE, and the art of freeing conventional memory

  • BASIC -- Kemeny and Kurtz at Dartmouth (1964), the microcomputer revolution, building a chatbot with INPUT and IF...THEN

  • Turbo Pascal -- Anders Hejlsberg’s $49.95 revolution, one-pass compilation, and the through-line from Turbo Pascal to Delphi to C# to TypeScript

  • TI-85 Calculator Programming -- Zilog Z80 at 6 MHz, TI-BASIC, pseudorandom number generation, the horse racing game with heuristic weighting, and the ZShell assembly hack

  • C++ -- Bjarne Stroustrup’s “C with Classes” at Bell Labs (1979), object-oriented design, the zero-overhead principle

  • HTML -- Tim Berners-Lee at CERN (1989-1990), the first 18 tags, hand-coding in Notepad, building University High School’s first website

  • Networking -- Installing NICs, terminating Cat5 cables to T568B, 10BASE-T star topology, the physical layer

  • GeoCities -- The neighborhoods, Star Trek starship specifications, and the personal web era

  • JavaScript -- Brendan Eich’s ten-day prototype at Netscape (1995), from “glue language” to the dominant language of the web

  • The CAC -- Modernizing the California Association of Criminalists’ website and bridging forensics with web development

People Mentioned

  • Tim Paterson -- Author of 86-DOS, the precursor to MS-DOS

  • John G. Kemeny & Thomas E. Kurtz -- Creators of BASIC at Dartmouth College (1964)

  • Anders Hejlsberg -- Creator of Turbo Pascal, architect of Delphi, designer of C# and TypeScript

  • Niklaus Wirth -- Designer of the Pascal language

  • Bjarne Stroustrup -- Creator of C++ at AT&T Bell Labs

  • Tim Berners-Lee -- Inventor of the World Wide Web, creator of HTML, HTTP, and URLs at CERN

  • Marc Andreessen -- Proposed the <img> tag during Mosaic browser development (1993)

  • David Bohnett & John Rezner -- Founders of GeoCities (originally Beverly Hills Internet, 1994)

  • Brendan Eich -- Creator of JavaScript at Netscape Communications (1995)

  • Dan Eble -- Author of ZShell, the first assembly shell for the TI-85 (1994)

  • Mr. Madden -- Computer science teacher at University High School, Tucson

About the Host

Stephen J. Lu is a retired crime scene investigator and forensic firearms examiner with seventeen years of experience in forensic science, including forensic biology, firearms analysis, and crime scene reconstruction. He has testified as an expert witness in state courts in Arizona and California and in U.S. federal court. After retiring from active casework, he earned an Executive MBA and shifted his focus to leadership development, writing, and web development. He is the author of CSI to CEO: What the Dead Can Teach Us About Life and Leadership and the founder and developer of Striae.

About Striae

Striae is a cloud-native, open-source forensic annotation platform purpose-built for firearms examiners to document, annotate, and review comparison microscope images. Built with TypeScript, React, and Remix on Cloudflare’s edge infrastructure, it streamlines labeling, note-taking, and report generation for forensic casework. Striae is licensed under Apache 2.0.

Links

References and Further Reading

Next Episode

Episode 2 picks up the story of how Striae’s architecture was initially planned and designed.

]]><![CDATA[Burnout Resilience with Kayla Sweet]]>https://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/burnout-resilience-with-kayla-sweethttps://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/burnout-resilience-with-kayla-sweetSun, 05 Apr 2026 17:34:32 GMTTalent acquisition consultant and transformational leadership specialist Kayla Sweet joins Stephen to unpack what burnout really is, why it hits forensic scientists and first responders so hard, and how to spot the early warning signs before you reach a crisis. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re “just stressed” or truly burned out, this conversation is for you.

]]><![CDATA[A Brief History of the CAC Website]]>https://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/a-brief-history-of-the-cac-websitehttps://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/a-brief-history-of-the-cac-websiteMon, 09 Feb 2026 20:24:00 GMT

What is the California Association of Criminalists?

For forensic scientists in California, the CAC is known as a foundational organization. It is one of the oldest regional forensic science organizations in the United States, and members have helped to shape modern criminalistics practice in a wide range of fields.

Lowell Bradford, co-founder and the first CAC Executive Secretary–who served from its founding in 1953 to 1956–wrote and published a treatise on the establishment of the association in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology in September 1962. In 1953, a group of sixteen California criminalists started to plan and organize a professional society focused on the latest scientific work being done in crime laboratories throughout the state to share ideas, disseminate and discuss information, and present casework experience.

In 1954, the CAC was formally incorporated, and at its outset, its stated purpose included fostering the exchange of ideas and information, promoting friendship and cooperation among criminalists, and encouraging high levels of competence and ethics in forensic science.

As the CAC grew and developed, it became widely described as the first regional science organization in the United States, and it became a model for the establishment of similar groups in other regions of the country. Membership expanded beyond California to include examiners and practitioners nationwide and internationally. As more specialties (such as chemistry, toxicology, DNA, firearms and tool marks, and questioned documents) were developed within forensic science, they became included under the umbrella of the organization. By the 2000s, membership had grown to nearly 1000, and its policies and ethics standards were frequently consulted in national discussions on forensic standards.

CAC’s Influence and Efforts in National Standards

In 1976, the CAC formed a Criminalistics Certification Study Committee (CCSC) to explore professional certification for criminalists, one of the earliest organized efforts to create a formal credential in the field. Despite initial rejection in 1978 by a national referendum of practitioners, the CAC continued forward with renewed efforts in 1986, and offered the first certification examination in 1989. Since then, efforts to provide a national certification board for criminalists in the United States evolved through the American Board of Criminalistics (ABC).

Responding to calls made in the National Academy of Sciences’ Report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, aka the NAS Report, the CAC published A Model for a National Code of Professional Conduct in the Forensic Sciences in an effort to codify professional ethical standards for forensic scientists throughout the nation.

Through its early leadership in professional certification and its later initiatives toward ethical and professional standards, the California Association of Criminalists has played a defining role in advancing the professionalization of forensic science. From pioneering certification efforts that ultimately shaped the American Board of Criminalistics to publishing model ethical guidelines in response to the NAS Report, the CAC’s contributions have consistently guided national discourse on competency, integrity, and accountability within the forensic community. Its enduring commitment to excellence continues to influence both policy and practice across the field of forensic science.

How the Emergence of the Internet Changed Communication

As the Internet and the first generation of the World Wide Web emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, organizations like the California Association of Criminalists began to move beyond strictly print‑based newsletters, postal mail, and in‑person seminars as their primary means of communication.

For the CAC, the gradual adoption of a website and electronic versions of the CACNews created a centralized, always‑available hub where members could access archives, seminar information, policy documents, and committee materials without waiting for physical mailings. This shift supported faster dissemination of technical articles and announcements, broadened access to historical issues of the newsletter (now spanning decades online), and laid the groundwork for later use of web‑based forms, social media, and other online tools to keep a geographically dispersed membership connected and engaged.

A well-designed website is vital for an organization like the CAC, the oldest regional professional association for criminalists in the United States. As a cornerstone of member communication, the website serves as a central hub where members and the public can access updates on conferences, engage with the forensic community, and stay informed about its operations. The inclusion of the CACNews Archive is particularly significant, as it is the preservation of decades of the association’s history, writing, insights, and advancements in the field of criminalistics. It creates a deeper connection to its members’ legacies.

The Internet and websites have only been around since the late 1980s, but the CAC has endured since the 1950s. By providing this intuitive and freely accessible platform, the CAC enhances engagement with the membership, ensures the continuity of its mission, and upholds its reputation as a trusted, established resource for forensic professionals worldwide.

Enter the CAC Webmasters

From 1996 to 2019, the original three webmasters were Peter Barnett (1996-1998), Mark Traughber (1998-2010), and Eric Halsing (2010-2019). These forward-thinking professionals laid the foundation for the CAC Website as it stands today.

In the Summer 1996 edition of the CACNews, Peter Barnett advertised the first CAC webpage, which the American Board of Criminalistics hosted on their website, https://www.criminalistics.com.

https://web.archive.org/web/19971007021020/http://www.criminalistics.com/CAC/

Adapting from Peter’s first webpage, Mark Traughber had the clarity of vision to create and host the first CAC website in 1998 at https://www.cacnews.org.

https://web.archive.org/web/20001021022712/http://www.cacnews.org/

Finally, in 2010, Eric Halsing relieved Mark and brought his own creative vision to the CAC’s online presence.

https://web.archive.org/web/20161107040756/http://cacnews.org/

As time went on, the website evolved with current technologies and styling, utilizing images and graphics more than text as the foundation of its interface.

In 2019, I (Stephen Lu) took over from Eric, which brings the website to its current implementation today (January 2, 2025).

https://web.archive.org/web/20231226083113/https://cacnews.org/

The Webmasters have made recent updates to the important CACNews archive, which includes an archive browser by year and a search function specific to the archive itself.

Building and maintaining a complex website is not a one-person job, as Mark and Eric would probably be able to discuss in detail. Today, the Webmasters are keeping the CAC Website fresh and up-to-date with current technologies and trends to ensure that the CAC legacy will last for many years more.

References

Barnett P. Advertisement for the CAC Webpage. The CACNews. Summer 1996, page 17.

Barnett P. Certification Programs for Criminalists - Historical Development. Forensic Sci Rev. 2008 Jan;20(1):19-43. PMID: 26247341. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26247341/

Barnett P, Gannett C, White J, Thompson J, Jefferson J, Evans H, Murdock J, and DeForest P. A Model for a National Code of Professional Conduct in the Forensic Sciences. California Association of Criminalists. 2011 Feb.

Bradford LW. The California Association of Criminalists. 53 J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci. 375 (1962).

]]><![CDATA[Twenty-Five Years Later...We Remember]]>https://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/twenty-five-years-laterwe-rememberhttps://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/twenty-five-years-laterwe-rememberFri, 16 Jan 2026 20:14:00 GMT

Where I Was

On this fateful Tuesday, I had woken up in my room in Yavapai Dorm at the University of Arizona and began to get ready for classes. I entered the common bathroom down the hall and started washing up; a radio sitting on the counter near the sinks was blaring, a usual occurrence. I was alone and wasn’t paying too much attention to the radio, but as I started to brush my teeth, I heard the newscaster mention something about the Twin Towers in New York: an airplane had crashed into the North Tower. Dumbfounded, I stared at the radio for a few seconds, toothbrush frozen in my mouth. Upon deeper realization that something serious was going on, I spit out the toothpaste, ran back to my room and shook my roommate, Elijah, awake.

“Dude, there’s something happening in New York. An airplane crashed into the North Tower.”

He bolted out of bed, jumping down from the top bunk and we turned on the small television we had in the room—just in time to see UA175 crashing into the South Tower.

Who I Was Changed

In 2001, I was a freshman just starting my college career. To say that 9/11 had a lasting impact on my life is an understatement. Freshly graduated from high school and on an optimistic path, my country and world had just suffered a devastating wound. I—and the life I had envisioned from that point on—was changed irrevocably.

Wall of Expression

A few days after 9/11, the University of Arizona erected a Wall of Expression on the mall of our campus. It was a slate of free thought, reaction (anger, disbelief, and all the other emotions), and grieving. I documented a few sections of this through photography.

July 2003: Visiting Ground Zero

When I was in Bethesda, Maryland and Washington, D.C. during an internship at the National Institutes of Health in 2003, I decided to visit my cousin in New York and Ground Zero. By this point, most of the rubble had been cleared, and One World Trade Center was still in the preparation and planning phases. Visiting the site in person was a sobering and somber experience.

On August 21, 2002, New York Governor Pataki, New Jersey Governor McGreevey, and New York City Mayor Bloomberg proclaimed that a viewing wall would be erected at Ground Zero to honor the heroes of 9/11/01, inscribing the names of those who were killed in the attack, both on the planes and in the buildings.

Revisiting One World Trade Center in November 2015

In November 2015, around Thanksgiving, I traveled to New York to visit family and returned to the memorial site. The events of 9/11 continue to profoundly shape me and molded the course of my careers over the previous twenty-five years. At a fundamental level, they compelled me to dedicate my life to public safety, and to protecting our way of life and the freedoms we cherish in this country. It is especially fitting that 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States. May we thrive for many years more.

]]><![CDATA[ASL Learning Resources]]>https://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/asl-learning-resourceshttps://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/asl-learning-resourcesTue, 05 Aug 2025 19:56:00 GMT

My ASL Journey

Growing up, I got interested in learning ASL and I purchased a book. Back then, I learned the alphabet and a few basic signs, but not much else. Fast forward to today, living with hearing loss and the complete loss of my voice, becoming fluent in ASL has become a much more urgent need for communication and socializing. Throughout my ASL learning experience, I have used a number of resources to learn this difficult language. An essential part of the mindset shift is transitioning from an oral, auditory language to a visual one.

Below are a few of the resources that are available out there. It’s not an all-encompassing list, but maybe it’ll be enough to get you started.

Language Door

https://languagedoor.com/blog/learn-to-speak-american-sign-language-asl/

If you live in San Diego or Orange County, Language Door offers in-person and virtual classes for beginning ASL. I thrive better in structured classes, so these classes were a good jumpstart.

ASL Pinnacle - Jason Gervase

https://aslpinnacle.com/
https://www.instagram.com/aslpinnacle
https://www.tiktok.com/@jasegervase
https://www.facebook.com/aslpinnacle

Jason founded ASL Pinnacle to provide ASL learning in a supportive environment. He also provides tutoring sessions and workshops with specific concept focus to expand on the lessons. In addition, Jason posts a bunch of free content revolving around ASL concepts on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Lifeprint.com/ASLU - Dr. Bill Vicars

https://lifeprint.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@sign-language

If self-learning and instruction are more your speed, Dr. Bill Vicars hosts and posts a ton of free content on his website and on YouTube, as part of his ASL University program. He has massive experience and knowledge in ASL education and in the expression and advocacy of Deaf culture.

Lingvano

https://www.lingvano.com/asl/

Continuing the self-paced learning structure, Lingvano provides a convenient learning experience on the web and phone apps. You can start with a few lessons for free, then pay for more advanced learning. These are small, bite-sized lessons that can be done in 10-15 minutes per day. I’ve found that everyday practice will increase your retention and fluency dramatically. Lingvano also provides the option to view yourself signing the lessons and dialogue. I highly recommend that you not only watch and learn, but you also sign everything yourself. Fluency begins by doing it yourself, making mistakes, and learning from them.

Bob Rumball Foundation for the Deaf

https://www.bobrumball.org/

In addition to a wide range of ASL courses (virtual and in-person), Bob Rumball provides numerous services for the Deaf community. They provide the only long term care facility in Canada for the Deaf, Deaf camp for children, and a plethora of other services from infants to adults and seniors.

Sign Duo

YouTube Channel

Sign Duo Patreon

Ryan and Ellen vlog about navigating life as a Deaf and Hearing couple. When I began to really dive into ASL, I watched their videos to improve my receptivity and to learn a little more about Deaf culture. They are engaging, honest, and heartfelt.

More Online and Printed Resources

]]><![CDATA[Ten Words a Day]]>https://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/ten-words-a-dayhttps://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/ten-words-a-daySat, 28 Jun 2025 19:52:00 GMT

A little over a year ago, I posted this quote in an article about initially losing my voice:

“Time heals all wounds. And if it doesn’t, you name them something other than wounds and agree to let them stay.”

—Emma Forrest, Your Voice in My Head

At the time, I believed I had reached a kind of peace—a shaky acceptance, maybe, but acceptance nonetheless. My vo…

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]]><![CDATA[What Public Service Means to Me]]>https://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/what-public-service-means-to-mehttps://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/what-public-service-means-to-meMon, 25 Nov 2024 20:05:00 GMT

For my entire professional career, I have worked only for the United States government (federal, state, and local), educational institutions, and government contractors. Given this perspective, while financial independence and success were important for living, they were never the sole driving force behind my efforts. As humans, we all have a base instinct to work towards something: money, personal goals and vision, serving others, status and success, and so on.

Through my experiences and observations, I argue that those who decide to work for the public must align themselves with a community-minded spirit—choosing not to attain personal financial wealth or status as their primary goal—in order to be successful, self-actualized, and fulfilled.

This internal argument didn’t come quickly or naturally as I began my professional life. At the start, I was in it for the money; I was a broke college student. However, once I had firmly established my experiences and professional visions for my life, I really started to dig deep into the reasons why I was doing what I was doing. When I applied for a position with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, I looked up their core values. After reading them and observing the way they treated their job applicants, new employees, and the public they served, accepting the job offer was a no-brainer.

The HILT of Public Service

The acronym I used to remember these core values is HILT. I likened it to the hilt of a sword of justice. A bit dramatic, but it worked. After the HILT, which I deemed the primary core values, I added the acronym RFDC, explained below:

HONESTY — We are truthful in our words and in our actions.

INTEGRITY — As people of character and principle, we do what is right, even when no one is looking.

LOYALTY — We are loyal to the values of our department and our profession and committed to protecting the quality of life in the communities we serve.

TRUST — We are confident in the integrity, the ability and the good character of our colleagues.

RESPECT — We treat everyone with dignity, honoring the rights of all individuals.

FAIRNESS — We are just and impartial in all our interactions.

DIVERSITY — We embrace the strength of diversity in our employees and our communities.

COMPASSION — We are compassionate in our words, actions, and deeds.

Throughout my career with the Sheriff’s Department, I did my best to live and work by these values, holding myself up to this professional standard in my service to the people of San Diego County. I wasn’t always perfectly aligned, and, on a few occasions, I needed to reorient myself with a reminder. If I were to add one more personal value to this list, it would be accountability.

The Basic Obligation of Public Service

The foundation for ethical behavior in public service is public trust. Thomas Jefferson proclaimed this principle: “When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.” This doesn’t mean the public can demand simply anything they want out of public servants; the individuals entrusted with service should do what they can within the capacity of their power, ability, and duty to serve the public.

The U.S. Department of Interior clearly outlines the fundamental principles of ethical behavior expected of public servants, established by Executive Order 12674 (as amended):

• Public service is a public trust, requiring you to place loyalty to the Constitution, the laws, and ethical principles above private gain.

• You shall not hold financial interests that conflict with the conscientious performance of duty.

• You shall not engage in financial transactions using non-public Government information or allow improper use of such information to further any private interest.

• You shall not, except pursuant to such reasonable exceptions as are provided by regulation, solicit or accept any gift or other item of monetary value from any person or entity seeking official action from, doing business with, or conducting activities regulated by your agency, or whose interests may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of your duties.

• You shall make no unauthorized commitments or promise of any kind purported to bind the Government.

• You shall put forth honest effort in the performance of your duties.

• You shall not engage in outside employment or activities, including seeking or negotiating for employment, that conflict with your official Government duties and responsibilities.

• You shall disclose waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption to appropriate authorities.

• You shall satisfy in good faith your obligations as citizens, including all just financial obligations, especially those such as Federal, state, or local taxes that are imposed by law.

• You shall adhere to all laws and regulations that provide equal opportunities for all Americans regardless of race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, family medical history or genetic information, political affiliation, and military service.

• You shall not use your public office for private gain.

• You shall act impartially and not give preferential treatment to any private organization or individual.

• You shall protect and conserve Federal property and shall not use it for other than authorized activity.

• You shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the appearance that you are violating the law, the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (5 C.F.R. part 2635), the DOI supplemental ethics regulation (5 C.F.R. part 3501), or Executive Order 12674.

This is what public service means to me.

“Mission & Values | San Diego County Sheriff.” Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.sdsheriff.gov/bureaus/about-us/mission-values.

“Basic Obligation of Public Service | U.S. Department of the Interior.” Site page, July 1, 2015. https://www.doi.gov/ethics/basic-obligations-of-public-service.

]]><![CDATA[Something Just for Myself]]>https://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/something-just-for-myselfhttps://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/something-just-for-myselfSat, 31 Aug 2024 19:02:00 GMT

I’ve done a bunch of writing for business purposes, but recently, I realized that I haven’t done much writing for myself; I need another outlet that isn’t tied to some professional purpose—and it doesn’t have to be completely private, either. So, I’ve started this personal ledger.

When something about my life strikes inspiration, I’ll come here to jot it…

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]]><![CDATA[On the Loss of My Voice]]>https://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/on-the-loss-of-my-voicehttps://ledger.stephenjlu.com/p/on-the-loss-of-my-voiceTue, 28 May 2024 19:26:00 GMT

“Time heals all wounds. And if it doesn’t, you name them something other than wounds and agree to let them stay.”

—Emma Forrest, Your Voice in My Head

This past May, I lost my voice.

Although I noticed a few warning signs in the preceding year that told me this might be coming, I didn’t expect it so suddenly. Slight hoarseness here, a little bit of nasalit…

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