1.     Eyewitness – the fare jumper

Had to go to San Leandro yesterday, and when I returned, I saw a very tall young woman leap over the fare gate. This sort of thing really pisses me off. Almost without knowing it, I turned to the woman and said, in a loud voice, “Hey! You didn’t pay!”

I’m constantly amazed at how pedestrian Sheng Thao’s mind works. To be honest, she doesn’t seem very intelligent to me. She possesses a certain girlish charm that makes her appealing to some voters, but when it comes to the chops of running a big, complex city, Thao is out of her league.

It was the worst of Oakland; it was the best of Oakland.

One of the greatest books I’ve read in my adult life is “America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything,” by Christopher F. Rufo. It was published just this year, in hardcover.

When I saw the headline in this morning’s Chronicle—“Both sides claim wins in ruling on sweeps”—my immediate thought was, “That means the people of San Francisco lose.” (The headline was in the print edition. The online edition reads, “New ruling denies S.F.’s request to ease encampment sweep order—but both sides see a win.”)