I'M SURE you'll have seen those disconcerting notices pinned to the kiosk in all-night garages, or adorning the walls of post offices (though not of course in Somerset) which say something like: "Our staff have the right to work without fear of violence or abuse" or "Employees have the right to be treated with consideration, dignity and respect"...

I MUST admit I enjoy watching those ancient clips of politicians being interviewed in grainy black and white...

BY now you'll have heard it a hundred times: "That's exactly what the terrorists want"...

If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend reading the superb Better Angels of Our Nature by the Canadian cognitive scientist Steven Pinker...

For Pete's sake; you must have thought; or perhaps worse.

WITH kids of nine and ten, Hallowe'en has become an annual sugar-festival which we're compelled to observe.

IT'S not often that life presents you with that metaphorical bowl of cherries, but the other day I was asked to chair a panel discussion on 'Arts, Culture and Creativity'.

IF you pass Compton Dundon's splendidly refurbished Castlebrook Inn and look west, you can't miss the mound of Dundon Beacon bulging up from the earth.

LIKE many people, I've done one or two interesting things for charity in the past.

LONG ago, in the foggy depths of Greek mythology, Sisyphus tried to deceive Zeus, king of the gods on Mount Olympus.