A New Sheriff in Town

Could there be life after Lee Baca? Bob Olmsted certainly hopes so — the former sheriff's commander, the subject of last week's cover story (“High Noon,” by Gene Maddaus), wants to be the first person to unseat a living, incumbent sheriff in L.A. County in 80 years.

Some readers remained unconvinced. “I like the way Olmsted says, 'I love Lee Baca, he was a mentor to me,' ” Fc2479 snarks. “You got to wonder about a guy like that. I mean, he's the type of guy who stabs you in the back and smiles at you while he is doing it. I think I would rather stick with Lee Baca.”

J. London is also skeptical. “He was the commander of the jails during the problem period, but never disciplined any of his jail guards,” he claims. “His so-called whistle didn't blow until after he was promoted higher and the investigations started. That is a little late to whistle — and that is why 10 people show up at his campaign stops.“

But others are ready to cast their ballot. Woolseypaul writes, “The article about Olmsted running against Baca and Tanaka together was right on! Let's help out with a rhetorical tour de force that will resonate citywide: THE CHOICE FOR SHERIFF IS BETWEEN OLMSTED AND BACAKA!” Bacaka? We must admit, it has a certain ring to it…

An L.A.-Born K-pop Star

How many ways is Amber Liu of the group f(x) different from the usual K-pop star? For starters, she was born in L.A. — to Taiwanese parents. She's also a tomboy, as Kelsey Whipple reported in a recent profile (“Her Self,” Nov. 8).

Reader Puretoria took offense to Whipple's suggestion that Liu is somehow different. “Why is that fans of Amber always seem to spew up this misogynist garbage about Amber being a unique presence, different from all the cookie-cutter, doll-like, Stepford fembots who apparently exist in drifts up to 60 feet high across Korea? Amber's brand of tomboyish 'charm' is as packaged as any other K-pop artist. Her label had originally planned for f(x) to promote in China and clearly wanted to replicate the popularity of Ella Chen of S.H.E, Jade Liu, Li Yuchun, Denise Ho, Takki Wong and more. If you want to argue that women who dress femininely are cookie-cutter, well, Amber is just as cookie-cutter — just of another batch.”

123Iloveyou disagrees. “The fact that her label, S.M. Entertainment, plays up Amber's natural tomboyish charm doesn't make it packaged or a product of the S.M. system. Amber was a tomboy before joining S.M. and remained so after debuting with f(x). I understand that it might upset some fans when Amber's tomboy image is called something unique, while the other members are seen as kind of … typical K-pop, but that doesn't mean you have to denigrate Amber to make up for it.“

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