Sophie Sweatman

If you strip away all the rhetoric, conjecture, superiority and ring-fencing of topics such as nature, we can chart the route away taken since the Agricultural Revolution. The Shift in Consensus For much of the 20th century, the official view supported “balance,” but since the 1970s, academic ecology has largely moved away from that. [1, 2] Academic Influence: Voices from institutions like…

The broad, routine use of “TERF” as a slur against ordinary women (not just known radical feminists) — mothers, school parents, female athletes, teachers, and safeguarding campaigners — for simply discussing safeguarding in schools or questioning risks/threats in women’s contact sports (including boxing) did begin to surge around 2018–2019 and became dominant by 2020.Pre-2018 ContextBefore this…

During COVID i spent some time on Wayback Machine to access links in an article by Shibo from 2005 about SARS vaccine research. The article was open, honest and transparent and shared links to NIAID, WHO, CDC and MMWR, which openly reported virus outbreaks, other events and biosafety events. In 2020, when I first found all these links broken, the Wayback Machine provided snapshots of what was…

Doing my tax return 2013 style. Image by congerdesign from Pixabay I tug open the grey envelope; its plastic stretches like mozzarella on a pizza. The beige post-back envelope spirits away from amongst the forms. I get down on my knees and the musky old carpet smell assaults my nose but the envelope doesn’t assault my eyes. I feel around under the bed and my hand finds something smooth; the…

I keep writing boring poems about politics. I am processing, trying to get my head around a beast of an idea. I remember being at sixth form college in 1987 and there was a debating society, which tackled the thorny issue of fox hunting, a popular activity in Surrey at that time. Today, it would be contenscious to attempt to lay out both sides of that debate. There are two sides of everything…

The following story illustrates how a visual or creative person might understand a new rule compared to someone who has adapted to learn by rote. Today we are told what to do, but we are not told why. Reasoning has now gone and if you do it you will not be catered for. On any topic I will gather the information I need that connects with relevant facts. I don’t retain words if they don’t fit into…

Could you help advise me about the new waste collections? I am a visual thinker and learn and have already had to change the routine I’ve had for 11 years. I bought a private wheelie bin from Penryn Plastics, which my neighbours have shared as I fill about one 50L bag a week and everything else is recycled. I take batteries and thin plastics to collection points at supermarkets. Yesterday I…

The Lost Stories of Early Christendom: Gildas, Arthur, and Glastonbury A friend referred me to Youtube videos, And Did Those Feet (pt 1 and 2) and Light In The West – Jesus “lost years” and Joseph of Arimathea in Britain, which inspired me to read more. Lionel Smithett Lewis, in his book St. Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury, suggests that the 12th-century historian William of Malmesbury…

I have been looking into how certain Community Notes accounts seem to have suspiciously high ratings and their behaviours. No one person can be that aligned with truth to be able to get useful votes on everything they write. Are algorithims and AI at play here? Are these accounts machine generated? I have noticed duplicate content on many occasions, but also low-quality noting. A good community…

Featured image – Tools for Survival after Dismissal – Image by Pexels from Pixabay In October 2024, 3 of my friends in their 50s all got turfed out of their jobs on allegations of ‘gross misconduct’, which it turns out is what must be found to fire someone on the spot. Firstly, they cannot claim unfair dismissal unless they can show there was discrimination involved or if they are a…

I’ve recently heard about sanctions, when someone has been kicked off benefits after 3 months, despite their efforts to find work and their circumstances. There have been reports in the broadsheet and tabloid press about people who have starved to death in their homes due to having nothing to live on. Here’s a fictional scene (from my imagination) of MPs being sent to the job centre. INT. DAY.…

Communication and thought are at the root of accessiblity, fairness and inclusivity. The bottom line is this costs nothing and can increase profit. It also reduces the costs of compensating unfairly dismissed employees. Image by Markus Winkler from Pixabay As new laws come in, dinosaurs lash out, it seems. I have been working with two honest, contienscious employees who were dismissed suddenly…

Communication and thought are at the root of accessiblity, fairness and inclusivity. The bottom line is this costs nothing and can increase profit. It also reduces the costs of compensating unfairly dismissed employees. Image by Markus Winkler from Pixabay As new laws come in, dinosaurs lash out, it seems. I have been working with two honest, contienscious employees who were dismissed suddenly…

Problem solving, lateral thinking, code breaking, photographic memory and other cognitive skills are second nature to people labelled ‘neurodiverse’. This ACAS article shows there is a trend and reading between the lines, neurodiverse employees are not properly valued as of 8th November 2024. As a result of the disconnect between neurodiverse people and employers, many cases of disability…

When discussing this idea with a friend recently, expecting everyone to talk me out of it, I realised that every time I had considered a new venture or starting down any path if anything ahead was not visible, I got serious cold feet. The other realisation I had was that everything I have done, which was worthwhile – including a course during 2020 that paid a stipend and turned out better than…

It’s Friday 1st November and I just put an offer in for a cafe venue in Falmouth. Apparently I might hear back tomorrow. It is exciting whatever the outcome. I’m trying to stop myself getting too attached to this venue as there are more. However, very few have big windows facing the harbour and views beyond. Firstly, I got out the spreadsheet given to me by Oxford Innovation. From the accounts I…

Starting with coffee and then expanding business – Image by Pexels from Pixabay I am sure no one is following this or believes what I say after so many false starts. Online courses, music promotion, editorial publicity, websites for artists, organising artshows, how to guides and carboot sales with help organising homes. Now I have a chance to focus on one thing – a business – and to test my…