The rise of a shadow workforce—workers who perform essential labor without full rights or protections—is not a side issue in the American economy. It is rapidly becoming the model that reshapes work for everyone.
During an April 2020 interview with Kimberly Graham about her U.S Senate race, she laid a framework,
We are some of the hardest working people on the planet. Americans are very productive. We work hard but we are not seeing the rewards of that. We are falling further and further behind financially. More of us are hurting financially. We may have jobs, but yeah, we have two jobs because we can’t make it on one. There’s all the gig economy. We have fewer and fewer unions, fewer and fewer union jobs that come with benefits and come with a pension and all of that. (Blog for Iowa, Kimberly Graham – A Voice For ‘Us,‘ April 2, 2020).
Not much has changed for the better since Graham said this. Increasingly, a shadow workforce performs work, yet are not counted as employees on payrolls. This includes legally present independent contractors, freelancers, gig workers, temporary agency workers, and part-timers. It also includes undocumented workers who are not legally in the country. The work they do is real, yet legal protections are partial, inconsistent, or absent. There are risks in this.
In a discussion with local writer Joel Wells, he said in an email, “We are actively allowing the creation of a permanent underclass of workers with fewer rights, fewer protections, and no real voice. That is not speculation; it is already happening.”
Businesses are designed primarily to generate profit not jobs. That is why public policy must set the rules that protect workers.
Democrats must take the mantle in establishing and maintaining worker protections through policy. What is needed is a clear, understandable framework that voters can grasp and defend. Things like health insurance, retirement contributions, child care, and paid leave are a beginning. There should also be strong penalties for wage theft, labor standards enforcement regardless of immigration status, and whistleblower protections for vulnerable workers. Democrats should bring these issues to the forefront of policy discussions. Since FDR, Democrats have stood firmly with labor. That relationship needs revisiting.
If neglected, the shadow workforce can be normalized, lowering standards for everyone. It has begun to spread… to everyone.
When work is pushed into the shadows, rights disappear first—wages and standards follow. Bringing that work back into the light is not just about fairness for some workers. It is about protecting the future of work for all.
When politicians come after public libraries it gets my dander up. Libraries have become part of who I am and without them we would all be something less. The administration, which doesn’t give a fig about me and what I think, is at it again.
The president’s proposed budget seeks to eliminate funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). It may sound familiar: in 2025, the administration, working with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), attempted to drastically shrink or effectively dismantle the agency—placing staff on leave, freezing or cutting grants, and issuing an executive order to reduce it to a “minimum presence.” In response, people across the country and across the political spectrum took the fight to court, where federal judges blocked most of those efforts. The outcome underscores a simple truth: public libraries and museums continue to matter deeply to both rural and urban communities.
Mine is a simple question: Why can’t the fact that we love our public libraries and museums be enough to ensure their persistence?
What does IMLS do? It is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. IMLS provides grants to libraries that need to replace technology and infrastructure. Among other things, they are directly involved with funding Inter-library Loans, Books for the Blind, preserving veterans’ stories, funding resources for those associated with people who are autistic, providing disaster preparedness for libraries and museums, sustaining Native American libraries, and more. Could we live without these services? Maybe, but not as well.
I read the Republican arguments about ending federal funding for libraries and museums, saying they should be managed by the states. If IMLS goes away, as the administration’s budget proposes, it would affect a number of local museums that rely on project-based grants to fund operations. These museums include the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, the African American Museum of Iowa, and the Iowa Children’s Museum. All of these are sources of pride in the community.
Yes, our federal elected officials may tire of us calling so frequently. However, our public resistance is how we tell them we care about our libraries and museums even if politicians don’t.
The U.S. Capitol switchboard phone number is (202) 224-3121. You can call this number to be connected directly to any Senator’s or Representative’s office by providing your zip code or the name of your representative. Let them know how you feel about shuttering IMLS.
It has been a rainy week. Too much moisture in the garden to plant, and constant showers to keep me inside. When the weather is like this, I make a point to find space between rain clouds and get in my 30-minute daily morning walk. A two-hour rain delay is typical.
When I finally got on the trail, I took this photo. There are two geese. The one on the left is ducking its head in the water while the other keeps watch. I don’t usually see them this close to shore.
While waiting for the rain to end, I emailed U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst to vote no on HJR 140 which pertains to opening the Boundary Waters to foreign copper mining. It took a couple of minutes. Here is what I said:
I urge you to vote NO on House Joint Resolution 140, the Congressional Review Act targeting the Boundary Waters mineral withdrawal. The Twin Metals mine is owned by a foreign company that has an agreement with China to smelt the copper in China for free — and China gets the copper. The United States gets nothing but the pollution. No United States Senator should support this anti-American bill that would allow China to pollute our most treasured wilderness to gain a competitive edge over us. Please stop it by voting NO.
Bread on the water. The resolution needs only a simple majority, which if they get it, Poof! The Boundary Waters are open to mine runoff. That is, after the inevitable lawsuits end.
On Thursday, the Senate approved the resolution in a 50-49 vote, so folks are lawyering up.
One day this week a beaver was swimming a few yards off shore. They are common in the area and occasionally cut down trees along the lake shore. I have also seen mink on the trail. It reminds me of a time when natives trapped fur-bearing creatures to trade with white people. Typically that was in autumn.
I once visited the House on the Mound in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, built by Hercules Dousman. He managed trading operations for John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company in the Upper Mississippi Valley. The Victorian-style home was luxurious by any standard. It was called the house on the mound because it was built upon an ancient native burial mound. Dousman flourished on the Wisconsin frontier. “As a fur trader, railroad builder, grain-shipper, he became the most influential figure of the upper Mississippi Valley and the Midwest’s first millionaire,” wrote August Derleth in his 1958 book The House on the Mound.
The beaver I saw seemed unaware of the value of its fur.
If we look closely, there is evidence of lives lived long ago all around us. I used to go with a friend to Palisades Kepler Park near Mount Vernon to climb the bluffs overlooking the Cedar River. I don’t do rock-climbing any more, but I used to enjoy it. On top of those bluffs were Native American burial mounds.
According to Google search results, “The Native American mounds located along the bluffs, represent the prehistoric Woodland Indian culture. These sacred sites include conical and effigy mounds that are often knee-high, with some reaching up to six feet, serving as a reminder of early indigenous habitation.” The burial mounds are some of the last remaining in the area. So many of them were turned into farm land, or like the House on the Mound, built upon by white settlers.
Whether it is waiting out a rain delay or observing our habitat, it is easy to feel connected to nature, and to civilizations that went before us. We forget that Iowa wasn’t always a grid of farms, towns and cities. There were woodlands and prairies, and pure springs flowing within walking distance of where we built our home. On days like this I can imagine the grid being lifted, then walking this land like Natives did in the 17th and 18th Centuries. I live for that imagining. It can be who we are.
At a political event in Iowa City on April 11, 2026.
Traveling to the county seat on a Saturday afternoon is unlikely for me. However, I needed to speak with my candidate about the upcoming June 2 primary election, so there I was. About 75 people crowded into a self-described “cozy nook” at the Green House. Framed as a “botanical retreat,” the establishment serves plant-infused specialty cocktails, local beer, and non-alcoholic drinks crafted with local tinctures and herbs. I had none of those as I had come with limited funds and to talk.
Whenever I visit Iowa City I encounter people I have known for years. This makes a sociable visit no matter what the agenda. This event was a joint fund raiser for Democratic congressional candidate Travis Terrell and my candidate for county supervisor Jon Green. There were a lot of speakers.
The flavor of the event was based on two people I have known for years and were there, John Dabeet and Newman Abuissa. John was born in Jerusalem and is a board member of the U.S. Palestinian Council, an organization “that aims to represent, educate and advocate on issues of concern to Palestinian Americans, strengthen ties between the US and Palestine, and push forward a vision based on liberty, justice, and human rights for all,” according to their website. John spoke at the event. Newman was born in Damascus, Syria and “is a prominent Syrian-American activist, civil engineer, and political organizer based in Iowa City, known for his vocal advocacy for Palestinian rights and his leadership within the Arab American caucus of the Iowa Democratic Party,” according to Google search results. Both identify as Democrats, and have been active in Iowa politics.
Two speakers discussed AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee based in Washington, D.C. Terrell criticized Christina Bohannan, also a Democratic candidate for the Congress, for accepting a six-figure campaign donation from AIPAC. He also criticized Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks for accepting a lesser six-figure amount. What is AIPAC doing in this race? They are not favoring either candidate. Rather, they are guaranteeing the outcome of a member of Congress favorable to Israel, regardless who wins. Terrell hopes to leverage that to win the Democratic primary.
I don’t get out much and the conversations I had about plumbing, farming, compost, contractors, politics, and local culture at the event helped make it a positive evening. There is more to being a progressive than one’s stance on Israel and Palestine. However, that afternoon, those issues were in focus. It’s part and parcel of the diversity within the Democratic Party.
Following are opening paragraphs to a chapter of my work in progress, A Working Life. They begin a section on moving to Big Grove Township in 1993. It occurred to me the second paragraph should happen and I spent an inordinate amount of time crafting it. This opening stands up, I believe.
Big Grove Township was established before Iowa Statehood. The first sawmill was built in 1839 by Anthony Sells on Mill Creek. Put the big groves of trees together with the sawmill and you have us. The oak, walnut, hickory, ash, elm, and cottonwood that once thrived among numerous pure springs were long gone when we bought our lot here. What dominates is the culture we and others brought with us to an area where what was native once existed in abundance yet no longer does. There is something essentially American in that.
Also quite American is forgetting about natives who lived here for thousands of years: ancient, unnamed hunter-gatherers, mound builders, and the Oneota culture, which flourished across the Upper Mississippi River Valley for several centuries and gave rise to the historic tribes later known as the Ioway, Meskwaki, and Sauk. Oneota peoples cultivated maize, beans, and squash; built villages along rivers and streams; and moved seasonally across a landscape defined not by fixed boundaries but by ecological, social, and ceremonial relationships.
Not far from here, a small museum once displayed cases of stone points, pottery, and tools gathered from nearby fields—fragments of those lives, removed from the ground and arranged for viewing, now gone themselves.
In such context, we moved to Big Grove Township in August 1993.
Cookbook by Suzanne Ormond, Mary Irvine and Denyse Cantin.
I want to like Creole cuisine as I had when visiting New Orleans. I even bought Suzanne Ormond, Mary Irvine, and Denyse Cantin’s book Favorite New Orleans Recipes as a souvenir to make it myself in Iowa. The trouble is I became vegetarian since then, and none of the 119 recipes is a fit. Every once in a while I make my version of red beans and rice–using the holy trinity–but the available vegetarian sausages are not the same and by the time I finish, it isn’t really Creole.
Before sending the cookbook to the public library used book sale I reviewed the recipes again. The only thing remotely doable was some version of egg salad. I set the recipe aside and took pen to paper and made my own Creole-inspired egg salad starting with three hard-cooked eggs.
Trinity Egg Salad
I prepared the eggs as per usual: placing them in cold water in a saucepan, bringing it to a boil, turning it off, letting them sit in the hot water for 12-15 minutes, then dunking them in an ice water bath for 5-10 minutes.
Egg salad is sauce and diced ingredients mixed together. For the sauce, I put the egg yolks in a bowl, and added about three tablespoons Duke’s Mayonnaise, one teaspoon stone ground mustard, two tablespoons finely diced homemade sweet pickles, one teaspoon of pickle juice, one half teaspoon garlic puree, a teaspoon of home made apple cider vinegar, and a few dashes of my hot pepper powder. I mixed until incorporated.
Next I added the dice: 1 tbs red onion, 1 tbs red bell pepper, and 1-2 tbs celery, along with the whites of the eggs. Fold everything together with salt and black pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use, at least 15 minutes.
Except for the holy trinity, there is not much to make this a Creole recipe.
I do know the flavor was take off your hat and sit down good. I hope you will try it.
When the heat pads, LED light positions, and folding table in the dining room are full of trays of seedlings, it is time to move the garden outdoors. That means setting up the portable greenhouse. A round of indoor planting has been completed. All that is left is breaking down peppers and tomatoes from channel trays into individual soil blocks, and starting squash and cucumbers indoors when the seeds arrive. From here on, the focus is on planting garden soil.
It took me about 90 minutes to reassemble the greenhouse. I let it sit overnight, then began moving plants from indoors. The forecast is for no freezing overnight temperatures the rest of the week, so it was as good a time to get it up. The forecast Monday and Tuesday is highs in the 80s. Yikes! It’s April 13!
I finished the plot where I started potatoes. Next moving southward are leeks, onions, turnips and radishes. I fenced these in, although I don’t have mulch so I will return soon with the hoop hoe to weed and fertilize.
The roots of the locust tree that blew over in the derecho were finally deteriorated enough to dig them up. Last year I set two brush fires over the stump in an attempt to burn it out. Now the large pieces of root are stacked next to the composter, awaiting disposition. They are rotted enough, and most likely I will take the four-pound sledge to them and work them into the compost. Planting the trees there and leaving them was a mistake that years later has been rectified.
While I was turning soil in the plot for cruciferous vegetables and digging up tree roots, a neighbor walked down the hill toward me from their home on an adjacent lot. She carried a package with pieces of focaccia and sourdough as a gift. We chatted about spring—and the moles in our yards. Moles and voles have spread throughout the neighborhood. It makes no sense to eliminate them in a single yard without eliminating them everywhere. In our country setting, it’s not certain any approach would rid us of them permanently, so live and let live, I say. It’s another part of the habitat.
While moving seedlings to the greenhouse I had a good look at them all. The February plantings are getting big, and this week is time for them to go into the ground. I planted five collard seeds and only four survived, so I planted six more on Sunday. Everything else can use more time in the greenhouse.
I took measurements and decided on a 90″ x 246″ space for the first cruciferous vegetables. That makes four rows spaced 22.5 inches apart with 13 plants per row. Next steps here are to fertilize and till the soil, lay down plastic ground cover and get the seedlings in the ground. There are not enough kale and collard plants to fill all the spots, so I may make two rows of either broccoli or cauliflower or both. I need to count seedlings. However this turns out, the area will get fenced in before nightfall on planting day.
During the first week of gardening, the work simply presents itself. There is no written plan. The seasons of gardening I’ve conditioned into myself over 43 years of growing things on our property guide me, almost unawares.
A joke is circulating on the internet that SMR stands for Spending Money Recklessly. It isn’t funny because it is true, even if big money investors have a plan to recoup their investment in Small Modular Reactors with interest. Regular folks like me don’t want new nuclear power when renewable projects that include solar and wind power generation can meet much of our needs.
Here’s the rub with my way of thinking: renewables are clean, cheap, and safe for the first 70-80 percent of meeting our electricity needs. Something needs to fill the gap so the grid can reliably deliver exactly the amount of electricity customers use. What fills that gap? Nuclear energy is a candidate for that, yet it is beset with problems, especially in the United States, like some I mentioned last week.
In her new book, Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change in 50 Questions and Answers, author Hannah Ritchie has four on nuclear power:
Q: Isn’t nuclear power dangerous? A: Nuclear power is not risk-free, but it’s one of the safest energy sources we have.
Q: Doesn’t it take too long to build a nuclear plant? A: Nuclear plant in the West often have long delays., but some countries can build plants in six to eight years.
Q: Isn’t nuclear power too expensive? A: Nuclear power is expensive, especially in the U.S. and Europe, but some countries are building it much cheaper.
Q: What about radioactive waste? A: We know how to handle radioactive waste safely in deep geological sites, but countries need to prove it.
Ritchie points out there is almost no case for fossil fuels to fill the mentioned 20-30 percent gap in our electricity needs going forward because they are unsafe compared to other forms of electricity generation. When we recognize all their external costs, they are too expensive.
SMR stands for Small Modular Reactor. These nuclear reactors are designed to be factory-built and transported to the installation site as modules, allowing for streamlined construction, scalability, and potential integration into multi-unit configurations, according to Wikipedia.
According to Ritchie, one of the problems of U.S. construction of nuclear power plants is there are not enough experienced workers. We need to build a good number (maybe 10-12) of identical nuclear power plants to train workers in these jobs. Changing government regulations regarding nuclear power have created an environment where each plant is different and that variation is part of the reason construction is delayed. Controlling the design characteristics of Small Modular Reactors by building them in a factory could possibly address the worker issue by standardizing non-site specific differences between nuclear power plants.
As I write this, Eastern Iowa does not have a confirmed commercial SMR project, nor does anyone in the country. There is talk about installing one or more at the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Palo. By “talk” I mean there is policy activity in the Linn County Board of Supervisors, and discussion of existing infrastructure to handle nuclear materials at Palo. Last month, in both the Iowa Senate and House, legislation (HSB 767/SSB 3181) moved to provide sales and use tax exemptions for nuclear energy projects. If enacted into law, it would encourage development of nuclear power projects in Iowa. So far, Iowa is at jump street regarding new nuclear power.
The idea of implementing new SMRs in an environment where there are zero of them in commercial operation in the U.S., seems a bit unlikely. It would be if I were the investor. The role of the federal government is critical in advancing this form of electricity generation.
There is also the legacy to deal with. While nuclear power is safer, by orders of magnitude, than fossil fuel electricity generation, when a problem happens as it did in Fukushima, Chernobyl, or Three Mile Island, it receives global attention. There are other, real-world issues.
Any discussion of nuclear power in the U.S. carries the weight of our earlier nuclear history. Civilian nuclear reactors are distinct from weapons programs, but they share regulations, institutions, supply chains, and a legacy of radiation policy shaped during the Cold War. Uranium mining for both weapons and fuel exposed workers and nearby communities. Atmospheric testing at the Nevada Test Site spread fallout across the country, including in Iowa, and as far away as Rochester, New York, where radioactivity ruined film being produced by Kodak. These experiences led to compensation programs and continue to influence public trust, particularly when new projects or waste sites are proposed. The relevance is not technological equivalence between power generation and weaponry, but the role that historical exposure plays in how communities assess risk today.
One might ask, isn’t the president eliminating regulations to enable the nuclear power industry? Yes and no. While the administration shifted policy direction toward evaluating nuclear reactor proposals more quickly, reducing the regulatory burden, and treating nuclear power as a strategic national priority, it does not mean there are no regulations at all. In fact, the changing regulatory environment is one reason why it takes much longer to build a new nuclear power plant here than in other countries. Every regulation change demands design changes for accommodation. One expects post-Trump administrations to make more regulatory changes.
Small Modular Reactors are no silver bullet, although no form of electricity generation is without issues. Whether SMRs move from planning to commercial use is an open question in 2026.
Trail walking before sunrise on April 9, 2026.Spring flowers.Spring garlic.Zestar! apple buds.Bluebell buds.Leeks, onions, turnips, and radishes planted on April 9, 2026.
Artemis II astronauts in flight. Photo Credit – NASA.
I cannot forget to record the Artemis II NASA mission. Each day since launch on April 1, I noticed the moon on clear mornings, and wondered. What do the astronauts feel? What are they observing? What is the purpose of this trip? It is okay to wonder.
If you would like to learn more about Artemis II, click on either photo and it will take you to a website to read more.
Journey Home 
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