We’ve all heard about the “fiscal cliff” BART is headed towards. The system is asking the State for hundreds of millions to avert cutting entire lines. At the same time, BART officials admit they’re losing at least $25 million a year to fare jumpers. But what is the system doing about that?

I went for a walk around Lake Merritt yesterday, for the first time in months; and I’m pleased to say Lakeside Park is cleaner and more tent-free than it’s been in years. Granted, every once in a while there’s a dirty little tent, and at the Athol Plaza Tennis Courts, which we finally cleaned up after years of demanding the city do it, the courts themselves remain clear. But they’re surrounded by another growing tent city.

You may have heard this morning about the “hill bomb” skateboarding event that was busted by SFPD over the weekend. Cops arrested more than 100 people for such crimes as vandalism and resisting arrest. Cops were assaulted and spat upon by an unruly crowd, and MUNI vehicles were trashed in the ensuing riot.

In 1931, Sigmund Freud, in response to a query from a friend concerning whether he [Freud] was in favor of “criminal justice reform,” replied: “And if, miraculously, the conviction were suddenly to arise that the reform of the criminal-justice system was to be our civilization’s next and most urgent task, what other result would ensue but that our capitalistic society would not have the means to pay for this reform’s requisite expenditures!”

I had my checkup yesterday at the dentist’s, and while I was paying the bill afterwards, my dentist—whom I’ve been with for nearly 30 years—told me he’s seriously contemplating leaving his Oakland premises and moving elsewhere.