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The celebration had hardly begun, when Shohei Ohtani first voiced the theme of the day.

“I’m already thinking about the third time,” he said in Japanese, standing atop a double-decker bus in downtown Los Angeles with of thousands of blue-clad, flag-waving, championship-celebrating Dodgers fans lining the streets around him for the team’s 2025 World Series parade.

Turns out, he wasn’t alone.

Two days removed from a dramatic Game 7 victory that made the Dodgers baseball’s first repeat champion in 25 years, the team rolled through the streets of downtown and into a sold-out rally at Dodger Stadium on Monday already thinking about what lies ahead in 2026.

With three titles in the last six seasons, their modern-day dynasty might now be cemented.

But their goal of adding to this “golden era of Dodger baseball,” as top executive Andrew Friedman has repeatedly called it, is far from over.

“All I have to say to you,” owner and chairman Mark Walter told the 52,703 fans at the team’s stadium rally, “is we’ll be back next year.”

“I have a crazy idea for you,” Friedman echoed. “How about we do it again?”

When manager Dave Roberts took the mic, he tripled down on that objective: “What’s better than two? Three! Three-peat! Three-peat! Let’s go.”

When shortstop Mookie Betts, the only active player with four World Series rings, followed him, he quadrupled the expectation: “I got four. Now it’s time to fill the hand all the way up, baby. ‘Three-peat’ ain’t never sounded so sweet. Somebody make that a T-shirt.”

For these history-achieving, legacy-sealing Dodgers, Monday was a reminder of the ultimate end goal — the kind of scene that, as they embark on another short winter, will soon fuel their motivations for another confetti-filled parade this time next year.

“For me, winning a championship, the seminal moment of that is the parade,” Friedman said. “The jubilation of doing it, when you get the final out, whatever game you win it in, is special. That night is special. But to be able to take a breath and then experience a parade, in my mind, that is what has always driven me to want to win.”

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“[To] do this for the city, that’s what it’s all about,” first baseman Freddie Freeman added. “There’s nothing that feels as important as winning a championship. And if so happens to be three in a row, that’s what it is. But that’s what’s gonna drive us to keep going.”

Last November, the Dodgers’ first parade in 36 years was a novelty.

Much of the group had been part of the 2020 title team that was denied such a serenade following that pandemic-altered campaign. They had waited four long years to experience a city-wide celebration. The reception they received was sentimental and unique.

Now, as third baseman Max Muncy said with a devious grin from atop a makeshift stage in the Dodger Stadium outfield, “it’s starting to get a little bit comfortable up here. Let’s keep it going.”

“Losing,” star pitcher and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto added, in English, in a callback to one of his memorable quotes from this past October, “isn’t an option.”

Doing it won’t be easy.

This year, the Dodgers’ win total went down to 93 in an inconsistent regular season. They had to play in the wild-card round for the first time since the playoffs expanded in 2022. And in the World Series, they faced elimination in Games 6 and 7, narrowly winning both to complete their quest to repeat.

“I borderline still can’t believe we won Game 7,” fan favorite Kiké Hernández said in a bus-top interview.

But, he quickly added, “We’re all winners. Winners win.”

Thus, they also get celebrations like Monday’s.

As it was 367 days earlier, the Dodgers winded down a parade route in front of tens of thousands of fans from Temple Street to Grand Avenue to 7th Street to Figueroa. Both on board the double-decker buses and in the frenzied masses below, elation swirled and beverages flowed.

Once the team arrived at Dodger Stadium, it climbed atop a blue circular riser in the middle of the field — the final symbolic steps of their ascent back to the mountaintop of the sport.

Anthony Anderson introduced them to the crowd, while Ice Cube delivered the trophy in a blue 1957 Chevy Bel-Air.

Familiar scenes, they are hoping become an annual tradition.

“Job in 2024, done. Job in 2025, done,” Freeman said. “Job in 2026? Starts now.”

The Dodgers did take time to recognize their newfound place in baseball history, having become just the sixth MLB franchise to win three titles in the span of six years and the first since the New York Yankees of 1998 to 2000 to win in consecutive years.

Where last year’s parade day felt more like an overdue coronation, this one served to crystallize their legacy.

“Everybody’s been asking questions about a dynasty,” Hernández said. “How about three in six years? How about a back-to-back?”

And, on Monday, all the main characters of this storybook accomplishment got their moment in the sun.

There was, as team broadcaster and rally emcee Joe Davis described him, “the Hall of Fame-bound” Roberts, who now only trails Walter Alston in team history with three World Series rings.

“We talked about last year, wanting to run it back,” he said. “And I’ll tell you right now, this group of guys was never gonna be denied to bring this city another championship.”

There was Game 7 hero Miguel Rojas calling up surprise October closer Roki Sasaki, on his birthday, to dance to his “Bailalo Rocky” entrance song; a request Sasaki sheepishly obliged by pumping his fist to the beat.

Yamamoto, coming off his heroic pitching victories in Games 6 and 7, received some of the day’s loudest ovations.

“We did it together,” he said. “I love the Dodgers. I love Los Angeles.”

Muncy, Ohtani and Blake Snell also all addressed the crowd.

“I’m trying to get used to this,” Snell said.

“I’m ready to get another ring next year,” Ohtani reiterated.

One franchise face who won’t be back for that chase: Clayton Kershaw, who rode into the sunset of retirement by getting one last day at Dodger Stadium, fighting back tears as he thanked the crowd at the end of his illustrious (and also Hall of Fame-bound) 18-year career.

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“Last year, I said I was a Dodger for life. And today, that’s true,” Kershaw said. “And today, I get to say that I’m a champion for life. And that’s never going away.”

Kershaw, of course, is one of the few still around from the club’s dark days of the early 2010s, when money was scarce and playoff appearances were uncertain and parades were only things to dream about — not expect.

As he walks away, however, the team has been totally transformed.

Now, the Dodgers have been to 13 straight postseasons. They’ve set payroll records and bolstered their roster with a wave of star signings. They’ve turned the pursuit of championships into a yearly expectation, proud but unsatisfied with what they’ve achieved to this point.

“I think, definitionally, it’s a dynasty,” said Friedman, the architect of this run with the help of Walter’s deep-pocketed Guggenheim ownership group. “But that to me, in a lot of ways, that kind of caps it if you say, ‘OK, this is what it is.’ For me, it’s still evolving and growing. We want to add to it. We want to continue it, and do everything we can to put it at a level where people after us have a hard time reaching.”

On Monday, they raised that bar another notch higher.

“This parade was the most insane thing I’ve ever witnessed, been a part of,” Kershaw said. “It truly is the most incredible day ever to be able to end your career on.”

On Tuesday, the Dodgers’ long road toward holding another one begins.

“I know they’re gonna get one more next year,” Kershaw told the crowd. “And I’m gonna watch, just like all of you.”

Nvidia‘s (NVDA 0.27%) announcement that it will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI is being hailed by the company as a massive bet on the future of artificial intelligence (AI). Still, investors should take a closer look at what is really going on here. The money OpenAI receives will ultimately be plowed right back into Nvidia hardware, mostly through Oracle‘s cloud buildout, where the two companies recently signed a massive $300 billion deal.

OpenAI plans to deploy Nvidia systems that need 10 gigawatts of power, which is equal to roughly 4 million to 5 million graphics processing units (GPUs). If that sounds like a lot, it is, as it’s about the same total number of GPUs that Nvidia will ship this year. The first $10 billion of Nvidia’s investment will be deployed as soon as the first gigawatt of capacity is up, and the rest will be rolled out in stages as new data centers come online.

Image source: Getty Images.

Circular financing

On paper, the OpenAI investment helps secure billions of dollars in future demand. But it’s worth remembering that Nvidia is now helping finance one of its biggest customers to keep buying its chips. This is called circular financing.

Nvidia is essentially funding its own demand. This is exactly what Cisco Systems (CSCO -0.93%) did during the internet bubble, when it provided credit to telecoms so they could buy more Cisco routers. Those sales looked great — until the capital dried up and the entire market collapsed.

This is also a defensive move by Nvidia. More and more of Nvidia’s largest customers are designing their own custom AI chips. Alphabet has its TPUs, Amazon has Trainium and Inferentia, and Microsoft is working on its own chip. OpenAI itself has been developing custom chips to bring its costs down, and before this announcement, it placed a $10 billion order with Broadcom for custom chips to be delivered next year.

This is the same threat that Nvidia saw play out in crypto, where ASICs (application specific integrated circuits) displaced GPUs for Bitcoin mining. Nvidia doesn’t want to see that happen again. By investing in OpenAI, it’s trying to keep one of its biggest customers locked into the Nvidia ecosystem.

This also comes at a time when the market is shifting more toward inference, where Nvidia’s moat is much smaller. Training large language models (LLMs) is where Nvidia’s CUDA software platform shines. However, inference isn’t as complex and doesn’t require the same deep software integration. That’s why hyperscalers (owners of massive data centers) are so motivated to build custom chips.

Inference is also a continuous cost, so the economics of cost per inference start to dominate the discussion. That’s why Nvidia also took a $5 billion stake in Intel and announced a collaboration on AI processors, as it’s also trying to stave off Advanced Micro Devices in the inference market and keep its grip on this next phase of AI computing.

Is this a house of cards?

There’s no question that Nvidia is in a dominant position right now, and the OpenAI deal only strengthens its near-term outlook. But its OpenAI investment clearly looks like a defensive move that adds risk. When Cisco used circular financing during the internet boom, it looked brilliant, until the customers it was funding went bust.

Both Nvidia and OpenAI are better positioned, but the principle is the same: Nvidia is using its balance sheet to keep demand high. That works as long as the AI boom keeps running, but it makes the company more exposed if spending slows or if hyperscalers switch to cheaper solutions.

Nvidia remains the key player in AI infrastructure, but this deal is a reminder that its growth isn’t risk-free. A lot of Nvidia’s success is now riding on an unprofitable company that is bleeding massive amounts of cash that it is financing. OpenAI hasn’t actually proven yet that it has a great business model, and if it fails, this becomes a house of cards that collapses onto Nvidia.

BOXING fans were left seething after Netflix started experiencing technical issues just hours before Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford’s super-middleweight melee.

It was announced in June that the streaming powerhouse had acquired the rights for the historic undisputed 168lbs showdown.

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The service was nigh on flawless up until the interim WBC super-middleweight bout between Lester Martinez and Christian Mbilil.

Fight fans started experiencing a host of issues, with some joining the party later on unable to open the live programme on the app.

And several flocked to social media to express their frustrations.

One wrote on X: “Netflix already down. That’s a fine how do you do.”

Another said: “Stream quality is going down as we approach the main event.”

And another said: “I decided to stick it out and Netflix is DOWN!

“TRY AGAIN LATER is the message! For a Live Event!

One remarked: “Netflix is on their BS again.”

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CANELO VS CRAWFORD LIVE: ALL THE LATEST FROM THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY

Another chimed in: “Netflix don’t ever stream another fight again.”

Despite a litany of viewers having issues, several had no problems streaming the card and praised Netflix for the quality of the stream.

One said: “This Netflix stream ain’t buffered not once.”

And another said: “How does Netflix stream in 8k so well?”

Netflix experienced similar technical issues when it streamed Mike Tyson‘s crossover clash with social media sensation Jake Paul last November.

The intense demand to watch Iron Mike’s return to professional action led to issues with the stream’s quality and left several fans unable to log in to the app entirely.

SAN DIEGO — When he was finished rounding the bases at Petco Park on Sunday, Shohei Ohtani made a detour on his return to the Dodgers’ bench.

Seated by the visiting dugout was a fan in a San Diego Padres cap and brown Fernando Tatis Jr. jersey. The spectator had spent most of the afternoon reminding Ohtani of how much he’d stunk in the three-game series.

Ohtani initiated a high-five with his tormentor, who playfully bowed in deference.

Manager Dave Roberts howled with delight. Teoscar Hernández showered Ohtani with sunflower seeds.

These were like scenes from the good old days, the Dodgers hitting bombs and laughing as they celebrated.

But was this a mirage?

Even after avoiding a sweep by the Padres with an 8-2 victory, even after moving back into a tie with them for the lead in the National League West, the Dodgers continued to be an enigma.

Who were they? The team that trampled the Padres in the series finale? Or the team that rolled over in the two previous games of the series?

“They’re gettable,” said a scout from a rival NL team who was in attendance.

The kind of game the Dodgers played on Sunday, however, prompted the same scout to attach this qualifier: They can’t be counted out.

One of baseball’s worst offensive teams over the last two months, the Dodgers blasted four home runs, including two by Freddie Freeman. The Dodgers claimed the lead on a three-run blast in the seventh inning by Dalton Rushing.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto did his part on the mound, picking up his 11th win by limiting the Padres to two runs over six innings.

The Dodgers have 31 games remaining in the regular season and they expect a number of their injured players to return over that period. The form they take will dramatically affect their chances in October.

Freddie Freeman, right, celebrates with Mookie Betts after hitting a two-run home run in the seventh inning against the Padres on Sunday.

(Derrick Tuskan / Associated Press)

Winning their division could position them to secure a top-two seed in the NL, which would grant them a first-round bye. Failing to do so would subject them to a dangerous best-of-three wild-card series.

Because of the alarming number of injuries they have sustained this season, the Dodgers have already cycled through a variety of identities, from a team without starting pitching to a team without a reliable bullpen to, most recently, a team without a consistent offense.

In their previous two games, the Dodgers scored a combined two runs, leading Roberts and some players to question the team’s collective approach at the plate.

Just a week earlier, the division race looked as if it could be over. The Padres entered a three-game series at Dodger Stadium as the hottest team this side of Milwaukee. The Padres had bolstered their lineup, rotation and top-ranked bullpen at the trade deadline while the Dodgers did almost nothing.

The Dodgers still swept them.

But their inconsistency on offense kept them from protecting the two-game lead they’d built. They inexplicably dropped two of four games against the last-place Colorado Rockies. By Saturday, after their second loss to the Padres in as many days, they were in second place.

Just as the Dodgers looked as if they could be written off, just as they looked as if they could relinquish control of the division to the Padres, they responded with a performance worthy of their $320-million payroll.

“Today was a game we couldn’t drop no matter what,” Yamamoto said in Japanese, “so I went into the game with more focus than usual.”

The hitters also went into the game with a heightened focus, resulting in more extended at-bats that gradually wore down the Padres’ pitchers. The Dodgers scored seven of their runs in the last four innings.

The Dodgers don’t play the Padres again this season but Freeman said his team should be more concerned about their improvement rather than what its division rivals do.

Asked when he would start to scoreboard watch, Freeman replied, “Maybe in mid-September.”

Reminded only 31 games remain in the regular season, Freeman replied, “It is a sprint. I’ll be honest with you there. It’s a sprint now. You can’t worry about other teams if, like the last couple games, we don’t fix our offense, how our at-bats were going the last couple days. We fixed it today, we did better today. If you’re worrying about other things, that’s just not conducive, it’s not going to lead to quality things in the clubhouse. So maybe mid-September. When I turn 36, we’ll start scoreboard watching, all right?”

Freeman’s birthday is on Sept. 12. Will the Dodgers know who they are by then?

JANNIK SINNER meets Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Cincinnati Open final.

The pair recently clashed in the Wimbledon final, with Sinner getting the better of Alcaraz in four sets.

The Spaniard will be looking for his revenge, having won at the All England Club two years in-a-row before Sinner’s triumph.

Sinner comes into the final as defending champion, while Alcaraz lost his last appearance in the Cincinnati Open final to Novak Djokovic in 2023.

• Start-time: 3pm ET/ 8pm BST
• TV channel: Tennis Channel/ Sky Sports

Follow ALL the latest from the final below…

DEAR DEIDRE: THE inappropriately close relationship I had with my brother is now ruining my experience of motherhood.

I’m so scared that history will repeat itself that I can’t leave my young children alone together, and I panic when they touch each other.

When I was 17 and my brother was 18, we had a secret relationship — which I instigated.

What started as naive, teenage experimentation turned into an incestuously sexual relationship, which lasted until I left home.

I’ve never told a soul about it, and neither has he.

It wasn’t abusive but we are both aware it was socially unacceptable and against the law, and feel ashamed of what happened.

I can’t explain it, except to say that we were brought up in a strictly religious household where sex was considered to be a sin.

Neither of us was allowed to date or go out to parties and the like.

We were also exceptionally close, perhaps because we were so near to each other in age, without many friends.

I’m now 39 and married with two young children — a boy and a girl who are six and four.

He’s still single. We’re still in touch but we don’t talk about the past.

I didn’t dwell on it until my daughter became a toddler, and began to interact with her brother.

Suddenly, I felt terrified of what might occur if I didn’t prevent it.

I started keeping my kids apart, making them play alone in their rooms.

If I see them play-fighting, I pull them apart.

My husband is starting to notice. I know this isn’t normal, and I worry it’s harming their development.

Please help. All I want is for my children to have a happy, ordinary childhood.

DEIDRE SAYS: You’re brave to admit what happened and to ask for help. You’re not a bad person.

Clearly you love your children and don’t want to damage them.

But, as you’re aware, it’s important they are allowed to interact normally.

What occurred between you and your brother was unusual – though not unheard of – and it’s very unlikely history will repeat itself, especially if your children aren’t brought up in the strictly religious way you were.

It sounds like you may be more traumatised by what happened – and more guilty about it – than you’d allowed yourself to believe.

Speaking about this to people who understand and won’t judge will help you. You can talk in confidence to nspcc.org.uk (0808 800 5000).

You would also benefit from counselling. Read my support pack, How Counselling Can Help.

PAL HAS CROSSED THE LINE

DEAR DEIDRE: MY boyfriend never liked how close I was to my male mate, but I told him it was platonic.

Now I’m worried his fear was well-founded, after my friend crossed a line.

I’m 29, my partner is 30 and we’ve been together two years. My pal and I have known each other since uni. We’d meet for drinks or text about music and life – nothing flirty.

My boyfriend didn’t love it but I told him there he had nothing to fear.

Yet a few nights ago, when my friend walked me home after a gig, without warning he grabbed me and kissed me on the mouth.

I pushed him away and told him he was out of order. He just shrugged and said he “had to try”.

I told my boyfriend immediately – but instead of supporting me, he called me a cheat and stormed out.

I’m upset at how they’ve both behaved. How can I get life back on track?

DEIDRE SAYS: What your friend did was a serious violation of your trust and consent.

You can contact victimsupport.org.uk (0808 168 9111), who can offer free, confidential help.

You did the right thing by being honest with your boyfriend, but his reaction isn’t fair or helpful.

Jealousy can be painful, but it shouldn’t lead to unfair accusations.

Consider having a calm conversation when he’s ready, explaining how his response to this situation has made you feel.

WIFE’S DOGS ARE RUINING MY LIFE

DEAR DEIDRE: MY wife has just bought another dog after we had to have two rehomed a year ago because the neighbours complained about the noise they made.

They wouldn’t stop barking if we left them on their own and were still pretty noisy even when one of us was there.

I am 44 and my wife is 39. We have been together for ten years.

We both work full time and are often out in the evening, so the dogs were left alone for quite long periods on our work days.

One of our neighbours became very aggressive when he complained about the noise.

He swore at me and my wife and threatened us.

It was a very stressful time and in the end it really got to me – the constant barking of the dogs, the rows I was having with my wife about it and then this neighbour having a go at me every time I went outside.

One day I ended up in a fight with this guy when he saw me in the nearby pub – all because of the dogs. The police were called to break it up.

After that, the only option I could see was that the dogs had to be rehomed.

My wife was very much against it and still resents me for making it happen. I thought that was the end of it, but she has now spent money which we can’t afford on a puppy.

She didn’t even ask my opinion. I arrived home one evening to find the dog in our kitchen.

Worse still, even though it cries all night she is talking about getting another one.

I wish she could see what it’s doing to me.

DEIDRE SAYS: She is disregarding your feelings. You need to talk to her and explain how hurtful her behaviour is.

Things can be different this time but your wife needs to understand the puppy needs proper training.

You can talk to the vet for advice on classes. Your puppy also needs plenty of exercise once it is old enough.

The result will be a happier, more settled dog and your neighbours will benefit, too.

As a parent I have had to take drastic measures and ban Peppa Pig for good after my daughter continued to repeat and awful word

Those of you who have tuned in previously for my Peppa Pig opinion pieces will already know that I am not the show’s biggest supporter.

I have outlined in the past that I would be switching over to Disney’s family fun show Bluey, instead of allowing my two-year-old to follow the likes of Peppa, George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig.

However, there was one occasion since my original statement when we accidentally watched the CBeebies programme. In fairness, it was not intentional, we’d tried desperately hard to find other shows that we felt were more suitable for our toddler. We’d just been watching Justin Fletcher’s Something Special show and before we’d realised, the infamous pigs were next to follow on the channel.

Of course, as Peppa and her family began to chime their snorts in the opening introduction, we were met with a roar of excitement from a toddler – who had not seen the show for sometime now.

I shot a look at my partner, both of us providing a nod of approval that we would make one small allowance – and that she could watch it “just this once”.

What we didn’t realise is that we would pay massively for “just this once,” a mistake that would live with us for weeks to come.

I think it’s worth noting for the record that our daughter, apart from when she’s unwell, is generally a good eater and will chow down most food with minimal fuss. Any way, back to the show and how this all ties together.

We happened to allow our two-year-old to tune into episode 34, of season one, titled ‘lunch”. I would go out on a limb here and say this was probably the worst instalment I’d ever seen and regret deeply ever putting it on now.

In this episode, George, Peppa Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig are visiting Granny and Grandpa Pig, who have collected fresh vegetables from their garden and invited everyone over to sample the goods with them at their table.

As they all dig in, sampling the delicious homegrown produce, George is left looking perplexed. Granny, Grandad, Mummy and Daddy Pig prompt him to try various varieties of salad to which he rudely replies: “Yuck,” and pokes his tongue out, moving his body away from his plate and turning his nose up.

Refusing to try anything put in front of him, he simply tells them: “Yuck,” each time before finally bursting into tears.

Grandad intervene with a clever tactic, turning the salad into a dinosaur, with T-Rex obsessed George eventually lapping up the healthy goods in no time at all.

I can see where the shows creators were going with narrative, that a little bit of creativity goes a long way but to use the word “yuck” in a food environment with impressionable toddlers watching, I simply do not agree with.

As soon as we heard the word “yuck” leave George’s lips, we knew we were in store for trouble. We’re at that age where anything you say aloud will be consumed much like a sponge absorbing water.

Sure enough, even after the episode had concluded, our two-year-old continued to repeat the word “yuck,” finding it utterly hilarious. We’d hoped this would pass but it didn’t.

The next day, we presented our daughter with a homemade lasagne for dinner, a meal I had personally prepared totally from scratch and had probably taken the best part of five hours to cook – over the course of various parts of the day.

As I placed her plate on the table, I was met with the word “yuck,” yet again. I tried to encourage her to eat with playful aeroplane notions and was further shunned as she told me: “Yuck, yuck and yuck,” much like George had done previously during the episode.

It wasn’t just happening in our home and we weren’t the only ones to witness her blatant rudeness. We are fortunate enough that we have parents who help us out with childcare once or twice per week. On a visit, they’d dished up a lunchtime staple, peanut butter sandwiches, but were also met with the exact same response.

On collection, we were left embarrassed as we summarised that George was to blame for her ill-mannered behaviour at meal times. We all mutually agreed that Peppa Pig would now be firmly banned across both households.

Even if Peppa Pig happens to roll onto our screens by accident again, I’ll be lunging for the remote as quicker than Usain Bolt to turn it off because in all honesty, from one parent to another, it’s really not worth the additional stress or red faced apologies.

Peppa Pig currently airs on CBeebies and Netflix.

Josh Jackson’s “The Enduring Wild: A Journey Into California’s Public Lands” is a story of adventures across 41 California landscapes, with photos of beautiful places you are unlikely to have seen, in locations ranging from the Mojave Desert to the Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness in Mendocino County. Early on, the author lays out mind-bending stats: more than 618 million acres in the United States are federally owned public land and 245 million of those belong to the Bureau of Land Management.

Public lands, he notes, “are areas of land and water owned collectively by the citizens and managed by the Federal government.” These lands “are our common ground, a gift of seismic proportions that belongs to all of us.”

Drive across the United States and consider that 28% of all of that is yours. Ours.

Jackson’s assertion that we are all landowners is a clarion call amid a GOP-led push to sell off public land. The shadow of the current assault on public lands weighs heavy while reading this lovely book.

The book has endearing origins. When Jackson could not get a reservation for weekend camping with his kids, a buddy suggested that he try the BLM. Until that moment he had never even heard of the Bureau of Land Management. Yet, 15.3% of the total landmass in California is … BLM.

Jackson starts out with history: All these lands were taken from Native American peoples, and he does not overlook that BLM used to be jokingly referred to as the Bureau of Livestock and Mining. In 1976, a turnaround came via the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which built a multi-use mandate to emphasize hiking and conservation as much grazing and extraction (a.k.a. mining). This effort to soften the heavy use of public lands by for-profit individuals and companies led to the so-called Sagebrush Rebellion and the election of President Reagan. Arguably, we’ve been struggling with finding the multi-use balance ever after.

Jackson’s first BLM foray was out to the Trona Pinnacles in the Mojave Desert, where he and his two older children camped, playing in a wonderland where “hundreds of tufa spires protrude like drip-style sand castles out of the wide-open desert floor that extend for miles in every direction,” while his wife, Kari, an E.R. nurse, stayed home with their newborn. The pandemic shutdown in 2020 inspired Kari’s suggestion, “Why don’t you start going to see all these BLM lands?”

Jackson’s love affair with BLM lands was not immediate, as just a few miles into his next hike in the Rainbow Basin Natural Area near Barstow, he was underwhelmed, like he was missing something. A few miles later, he sat and considered a Terry Tempest Williams quote from “Refuge”: “If the desert is holy, it is because it is a forgotten place that allows us to remember the sacred. Perhaps that is why every pilgrimage to the desert is a pilgrimage to the self.” Revisiting this quote on repeat, Jackson had an emotional shift, deciding to stop hiking and … start walking.

On his next trip to the Amargosa Canyon, Jackson began by reaching out to the Amargosa Conservancy, learning about the Timbisha Shoshone people whose ancestral land this is, about past mining and dozens of plant and animal species. Committed to going at the pace of discovery, he admired the enchanting, striated geology of Rainbow Mountain, cherished creosote, mesquite and the brave diversity of desert flora and was struck by the gaze of an arrogant coyote. On his return, he found that in three hours, he had only traveled … a mile.

Yet it was during this meander that his writing made a steep drop into seeing, feeling, connecting, plunging toward transcendence.

A highlight of the book is a repeat trip to Central California’s Carrizo Plain, first during a drought, silenced by its sere magnificence. After the heavy rains of 2023, he joined Cal Poly San Luis Obispo botanist Emma Fryer and was overcome by the delirious beauty of a superbloom, feeling like “I had wandered into the Land of Oz.” Fryer observed that the drought was so severe that only the hardy native seed survived within the soil, releasing their beauty the moment water allowed them to come to life. Seeing the same place twice was revelatory, both familiar and completely new.

It’s hard to tell if the places he visits gets more beautiful over the course of the book or his capacity to appreciate them and share his joy has grown. Despite the frequent paucity of BLM cartographic resources, apparently Jackson never got lost or worried about dropping the thread of a trail. Describing his father, Jackson might as well be talking about himself: “I have no memories of my dad being worried or fearful in unfamiliar situations.” Nevertheless, toward the end of the book, when he and his hardy father camped next to the rushing Eel River, Jackson did worry about bears breaking into their tent. Fortunately, the bears did not arrive but, inspired by William Cronon’s “The Trouble With Wilderness,” Jackson’s heart opened as he realized that “Nature” is not out there; nature is wherever we are.

Back in Los Angeles taking long walks with his daughter, past bodegas and car washes, he saw jacaranda, heard owls and coyotes and realized the wild had been here all along. An urban sycamore claimed its space regardless of enclosing cement and car exhaust, as spectacular and venerable as any sycamore in the state.

Can the places Jackson visited for his book endure public larceny? He is tracking the answer to this question, real time, on his Substack, where he’s currently describing the shocking attempts to sell millions of acres of BLM land.

“It’s been a wild few weeks for BLM lands. 540,385 acres in Nevada and Utah were on the chopping block to be sold off,” Jackson recently noted. “Everyone was talking about the land totals — but no one was showing what the landscapes actually looked like. So, I decided to go see them.”

Great advice: Bring a friend, pack water and go.

Watts’ writing has appeared in Earth Island Journal, New York Times motherlode blog, Sierra Magazine and local venues. Her first novel is “Tree.”

Every weekday, 38-year-old Fatima Musa grips her son’s hand as they step onto a makeshift bridge in Fori, a community in Jere Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State, northeastern Nigeria. Together, they cross the poorly constructed structure to reach the primary school he attends, and later make the same journey home.

The original Fori Bridge collapsed during the devastating floods of September 2024, which inundated Maiduguri and its environs, leaving dozens dead and thousands displaced. The destruction severed vital connections between Bama Park and Market, the University of Maiduguri, and several neighbourhoods.

With no official intervention, local youths erected a makeshift crossing far from Fatima’s home. Constructed from wooden planks, logs, and sand-filled sacks, the narrow bridge hovers precariously over the Ngadda River, the same river that swept away homes, businesses, and livelihoods just months ago.

The disruption forced residents like Fatima to undertake perilous detours or depend on the makeshift bridge, which is far away from her home. 

The community’s improvised fix has restored a semblance of connectivity, but it is fragile. In less than two months, seasonal rains will return, swelling the Ngadda once again. Residents told HumAngle they fear the structure will be destroyed, cutting them off from schools, hospitals, and markets, and deepening the isolation they already face.

The original Fori Bridge, a vital link for residents across several communities in Jere, was the first structure to collapse when the floods ravaged the area. 

A student’s dread

For 27-year-old Zainab Yahaya, a student at the University of Maiduguri, the broken bridge is more than a daily inconvenience, it threatens her future. She crosses the makeshift bridge every day to attend classes. As the rainy season looms, her anxiety increases.

“I use the makeshift bridge now, but when the water returns, the bridge won’t survive it,” she said. “And then, everything becomes more difficult, more expensive, more dangerous and more exhausting.”

Last year’s flood destroyed her neighbourhood. This year, she fears her education may be next. Without the bridge, Zainab would be forced to take longer detours that significantly increase both cost and travel time.

“What used to cost ₦100 will now jump to ₦400,” she explained. “And the hours I lose taking detours, it’s hard to keep up with school. I will be exhausted before I reach class.”

Crossing by canoe is not an option she trusts. “It’s dangerous. The water is unpredictable, the canoes are unstable, and sometimes you don’t even know if the person paddling them is a professional or not,” Zainab added.

Her frustration is echoed throughout the community. “The government hasn’t done anything tangible. No repairs, no support, not even a visit,” she says. “We’re left on our own.”

A cycle doomed to repeat

A HumAngle investigation published in 2024 traced the flood’s origins to a combination of infrastructural decay, poor planning, and delayed emergency response at the Alau Dam.

Originally designed in 1986 to hold 112 million cubic meters of water, the dam’s capacity has swelled to an estimated 279 to 296 million cubic meters, primarily because of unchecked sediment buildup. 

Every year, during the June-to-September monsoon, stormwater flows from the Mubi highlands into the Yedzeram River. This major tributary quickly swells and merges with the Gambole River, before entering the wetlands of the Sambisa Forest to form the headwaters of the Ngadda.

From there, the Ngadda empties into Lake Alau, held back by the Alau Dam, a large reservoir on the outskirts of Maiduguri. When rainfall is heavy upstream, the rivers surge downstream with little delay, raising water levels sharply in Lake Alau.

The dam is gate-controlled, designed to hold and release water in a regulated manner.

However, another dam downstream lacks this control. Without gates, it simply overflows once water reaches a certain level, releasing torrents into vulnerable communities with no warning. This unregulated spillway worsened last year’s catastrophe in Maiduguri.

In February, the federal government announced a ₦80 billion rehabilitation and expansion project for the Alau Dam to prevent any disaster in the future. On March 2, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev, officially flagged off the project, stating it would be executed in two phases over 24 months.

Yet, a visit by HumAngle to the site in May painted a different picture.

Three bulldozers sat idle in the sun. No workers were present. The dam, still visibly broken, lay open like an unhealed wound. A makeshift sand barrier was the only sign of intervention, containing stagnant water where a flowing river once ran.

Nearby, fishermen cast their nets into the shallow puddles, making do with what remains of their vanishing livelihood. 

“They [referring to government contractors] brought those bulldozers months ago,” said Musa, a wiry young man watching the water. “All they did was pile sand to block the flow. Since then, nothing.”

Adamu, another resident and a fisherman, leaned against a tree and shook his head. “This sand is like candy floss,” he muttered. “It will melt when the floods come. Then we’ll flood again.”

At 53, Bulama Isa no longer moves with the vigour of his youth. Yet he frequently walks his farmland along the banks of the Ngadda River, inspecting what remains of his farmland. 

“This place used to feed my whole family,” he says, gesturing at the gaping holes where his garden once stood. “Now I don’t have a farm.” Isa has farmed near the Alau Dam since the early 2000s. He watched the flood swallow his fields last September and his year’s harvest. When the water receded, he was left with a gaping hole. 

Now, with no compensation and no clear plan from the government, he survives on support from relatives and the little his wife makes selling fried groundnuts.

Residents who spoke to HumAngle expressed frustration over the lack of progress and now fear that this year’s flood could be even worse than the last. 

As of May 2025, neither the Fori Bridge nor the Alau Dam has been repaired. 

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has projected that the onset of the rainy season in Borno State will occur between early June and July 2025. In northern states, flooding will likely occur at the peak of rainfall between July and September, according to NiMet. Urban areas with poor drainage systems are particularly at risk of flooding during this period.

HumAngle reached out to the Ministry of Water Resources through the state commissioner, Tijjani Goni Alkali, to inquire about the project’s status and the concerns of nearby communities. As of press time, no response had been received.

With the forthcoming rains, many fear that their lives will be uprooted once again.