that mailbag at u.s. farm report dot com. miss any of today's show? head to usfarmreport.com to watch the program online. u.s. farm report, the spirit of tis the season for giving gifts...and while shopping for the mosttant people in your life is always a rewarding challenge--whahaabout those dear friends of the four leleed variety. baxter black has some thoughts... one of the most difficult questions every christmas for horse lovers is what to get for that family member that brings you the most joy--he's always there when you need him and underutands you better than anyone. no. it's not your horse clinician, or your barista, or pilate's personal trainer. no, it is your horse. this is not to diminish your affection or your hubby, or your children, or your parents, or your gal pals, but in those their fears, you rub their necks, you let them cry on your shoulder, but whose shoulder do you cry on? and who do you tell your deepeststecrets to? and who never calls you sillllor tells you that you snore or talk back? not your dog, that's for sure. dogs are t

that topic is at the heart of a recent mailbag following the nitrate lawsuit in iowa and stan ortman in kokomo, indiana has a good question: "i've followed the des moines water issue from a distance, and would appreciate your insight. are the standards reasonable, or are they set at lowest detectable levels?" stan, i think this is a great place to start to understand this issue a little better. the short answer is, like most detection methods today, we have ways, such as colorimetry to detect down to about one twentieth of a part per million or ppm. given enough time and money i expect we could go much farther than that. under the safe srinking water act, the maximum contaminant level for nitrates is 10 milligrams per liter which is the same as 10 parts per million you'll see it only measures the nitrogen part of the nitrate no3. the nitrogen is the problem. nitrates actually pose little hazard to humans, but when they are converted to nitrites no2 in the gut, they can damage the hemoglobin in the blood, which carries oxygen around the body. and here's the core of the whole issue. in

problems were not yet being felt in mailbags, but people could see them coming down the road. p's were worried. the reason they did the u-turn was the extraordinary lords defeat. the second was the bench is unhappy. and thirdly, it was the most effective thing that the labour party ran on. really odd to have the lords and es beingnd baroness the defenders. >> of course, the rewards for the lords, a thorough review. allegra: the report was that you will not be able to do that in the future. the chancellor try to choose a means that he thought. he chose a statutory instrument. he thought it was a way of getting it through without so much bother. they had other ideas about that. ,o say now it is stratified they do feel that with a labour party that is perhaps not always so focused, it has many internal debates, that it is their job to , assuming it is their job to be the official opposition, there would be noise about that next two months. >> thanks very much indeed. we will have another word in a moment. the government did wreak its revenge. it was recommended to lose veto power

it was one of those political problems that were not being felt in mailbags but people could see comingn the road. the reason they did the u-turn was a series of reasons. the most important was that extraordinary lords defeat. the second was the tory backbenchers unhappy. partly, it was the most effective thing the labour party ran on in the last 100 days. keith: and of course the reward, a thorough review into how they work. >> the reward is you will be able to do it in the future. what the chancellor tried to do is he chose a statutory instrument. he thought if it was a budget bill, lords would have to obey more faithfully. it was a way of getting it through without much bother. they had other ideas about that. as you say, now, lord strathclyde is looking into their not being allowed to do that. they feel that the labour party is not always so focused on the job of being the opposition. it has so many internal debates. assuming it is their job to be the official opposition. but there will be noise about that in the next few months. keith: allegra stratton, thank you very much. indeed,

we begin with harry blackmun talking about what public reaction was in his mailbag after this decision. justice blackmun: there were the expected comments to the effect, your mother should have aborted you, or i have been praying for your immediate death. much of the correspondence is abusive. i suspect i have been called every possible apathetic on name -- apathetic -- epithetical name, pontius pilate, murderer, herod, madman, and the like. host: reaction? melissa: he certainly got blowback for this. there had been calls to impeach earl warren. there were more vociferous calls to get rid of harry blackmun. this was a defining moment in his life as a justice, and he would go on to do many great things on the court but he was defined by roe vs. wade. clarke: the justices completely underestimated the public opposition that there would be. there was discussion in various memos and deliberations in the two years leading up to row about how this would be criticized by the media, but of course, the public opposition and public anger has been more significant and resulted in hundreds of stat

we will begin with harry blackmun once again talking about the public reaction to his mailbag after thisecision. the expected comments to the effect your mother should have aborted you or i have been praying for your immediate death. in much of the course, it is abusive. i suspect i have been called every possible epithet ago name. hitler, butcher, pontius pilate, herod. thennot out run abolitionist judge and i suspect i can out run chief justice robert turning. again, if you want more information not only on this show but others we've done as part of our landmark cases go to the website. you can learn about rove the wade and other cases. more information can be found at c-span.org. beeneek long we have talking to authors as part of our book series and joining us is john whitehead, the author of "battlefield america, the war on the american people". good morning. military officer i had top-secret clearance, i worked on top-secret programs. i have seen some things that really bothered me. i am a constitutional list and believe in the fourth amendment. it says before surveillance is done o