Some big pennies are dropping this week. The biggest, probably, is the US disengagement from Ukraine. It's not just Ukrainians that are being given the heave-ho, it seems to be Europe as a whole.

We also look at the big statement about energy for an independent Scotland and the promise of a third off bills. Is that realistic? of course, it actually is, but quite how would you get there? And does John Swinney have to spell it out? We analyise the nuclear consensus amongst Labour, Tory, and the Westminster parties. Why on earth are they so keen to have new nuclear plants in Scotland? We talk about Lord Malcolm Offord and his defection to Reform to stand for the Scottish Parliament. And we look at the Sandy Peggie verdict. Does anybody really see clearly what it means?

The A'Chraobh Forest Project
Producing a professional film from the footage will cost £600-£1000.
The Spiral Forrest at Borgie in Sutherland is an attempt by descendants of the people cleared by the Duke of Sutherland from Strathnaver to have their say about the landscape. It’s composed of the 18 trees native to Scotland which are also part of the unique Gàidhlig alphabet. Lesley planted the first tree in 2000 along with hundreds of school kids from North Sutherland and returned this weekend with organisers, some of those children now adults and their own children, to commemorate 25 years of a very different kind of woodland. She captured footage while she was there and is looking to raise some money to pay an editor. If any Sutherland folk or people who feel strongly about native Woodland or indeed the clearances, want to contribute, please contact her at hello@lesleyriddoch.com

Links

Norway the Twin Nation
https://youtu.be/oUbMAFO6kA4

Makar Homes
https://www.makar.co.uk/

In this week’s episode, we have a long reflection on the trauma that's around at the moment. Some of it is faced by people who have campaigned against things like the battery storage plants that are abounding around rural Scotland. Sleepless nights, disappointment, disillusionment. That may not seem like a big deal in the face of all the other trauma going around, the terrorist attack on Jews in Australia, the enduring horrible genocide being experienced in Gaza, and the suggestion by President Netanyahu that you can't speak about one without getting on the wrong side of the other.

So we discuss all of that. Donald Trump's allegation that, putting it bluntly, Europe is crap, and perhaps the difficulty in managing to get a common position when giving funds to Ukraine would bear that out. We also discuss the Question Time furor over the question about school children and fluency in English, which turned into a debate about second languages among young people All that and more.

Links
Jen Strout - Night Train to Odesa
https://birlinn.co.uk/product/night-train-to-odesa-2/

Jim Sillars - The New Case for Optimism
https://www.vagabondvoices.co.uk/rants/the-new-case-for-optimism

This week, we learnt that there was no black hole in the UK finances all along. We discuss Rachel Reeves and her doom and gloom pre-budget speech, the controversies that have followed and the stoochie caused by the Office for Budget Responsibility having already told the chancellor that she had some money in the kitty after all. The resignation of the head bummer of the OBR and calls for the resignation of the Chancellor.

We discuss all things Saint Andrew’s Day, planning nightmares in the Highlands over wind farm expansion.
That and Barclays Hamden Stadium, whether anybody will ever call it that, and does it matter?

Links
Find out more about the Birthplace of the Saltire and the new Saltire Monument
https://saltire.scot/